Cook County's total annual employee compensation, divided by the number of full-time-equivalent employees, has grown by what percentage since Preckwinkle took office in December 2010? Be sure to count the new raises her administration has been negotiating in contracts not yet made public — raises not only for the 2018 election year but for the full, post-election life of those contracts. Greg Hinz of Crain’s Chicago Business reported two months ago that Teamsters Union Local 700 was bragging to 3,500 county employees about all the good things Preckwinkle is giving them in a new contract. The $1,200 signing bonus caught our eye, as did the zero percent hike in health care premiums. And with an election year nigh, the deal reportedly would be backloaded, with raises and “step" increases — essentially, extra pay hikes for employees who keep breathing — coming in later years.