As soon as he won the 5th Congressional District special primary and it became clear his days on the Cook County Board were numbered, Congressman-elect Mike Quigley began calling for a "very open" process for filling his 10th District seat. In the end, the all-too-familar process of backroom negotiations won out.

Following yesterday’s appointment session, which resulted in Aon lobbyist and former Daley admistration aide Bridget Gainer being tapped for the seat over crowd favorite Kim Walz, 43rd Ward Committeeman Michele Smith told us she plans to study the way county board vacancies are filled. “We need more research on special elections,” Smith said. “We need to ask ‘Is this the right way?’”

It’s worth pointing out that Ald. Tom Tunney (44th Ward), who chaired the replacement committee, was credited by his peers and constituents for at least attempting to make the process more transparent.

But as Smith pointed out, good intentions are no substitute for reevaluating and reforming the process. In the meantime, she said, “We should begin having these [deliberations] out in the open." Makes sense to us.