| " William Beavers may no longer be a Chicago alderman but his love of patronage didn't die when he left City Hall." " He took it with him to the Cook County Board where, if he could, he'd spread his philosophy throughout the suburbs." " "I'm a patronage person. I love patronage," Beavers said Wednesday as he grilled a representative of the Brookfield Zoo on why so few African-Americans work at the facility." " Beavers, who is black, joined the County Board last month after serving for 23 years on the Chicago City Council, where he was known for his straightforward language, particularly on issues of race." " Beavers was instrumental in winning over the support of Democratic Party leaders for Todd Stroger to replace his ailing father, John, on the ballot for Cook County Board president in November. At the time, Beavers defended the father-to-son political handoff as a maneuver white politicians have pulled for years and that blacks should be allowed to do also." " On Wednesday, Beavers' comments about patronage were in reaction to his seeing for the first time an annual workforce diversity report by the Forest Preserve District. County Board members also oversee the forest preserves." " The percentage of black employees at the zoo and Botanic Garden was 10 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Representatives of both institutions, which receive annual taxpayer subsidies from the district, said they recognize the problem and they are actively working to recruit more black and Hispanic workers." " "You know I've been going to Brookfield Zoo for 65 years. That's a long time." Beavers told Mena Boulanger, the zoo's vice president of government affairs. "And I look down here,
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