Stroger's cousin gets new county job -- at half the salary

A year after Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's cousin was forced out as his top financial official amid a hiring scandal, she's landed a job with the Cook County assessor's office -- at half the salary.

Donna Dunnings will be paid $79,000 a year to run the Cook County Stimulus and Revitalization Project, which provides funds to help developers return to the tax rolls properties they buy with large delinquent property tax bills, said Eric Herman, spokesman for Assessor James Houlihan. She starts in 10 days, he added.

As the county's chief financial officer, Dunnings was paid nearly $176,000. Stroger forced Dunnings' retirement in April 2009, after she was caught up in the controversy of former steakhouse busboy Tony Cole, who Stroger hired for an executive post even though he didn't have a college degree. She bailed Cole out of jail while he was employed for the county.