Skip to content
  • Image
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Podcasts
  • Email
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • News
  • Features
  • Comment
  • Store
The Arab Daily News

The Arab Daily News

Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem

  • About
    • About
    • Our Writers
    • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
    • Book Store
    • Contact
    • Submit Book Reviews, Press Releases
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Corrections Policy
    • Profile on Ray Hanania
    • Submit Press Release
  • Features
    • Food
    • Book Review
    • Humor
    • Movies
    • Travel
  • Arab Stores Targeted
  • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Heritage America resources
    • Directory
      • Groups & Organizations
      • Mosques, Churches
      • Restaurants
      • 2008 & 2014 Arab Media Directories
    • National Arab Heritage Month
    • Video: Chicago Arab History
    • Video: Photo Array of Chicago Arabs
    • Overview of Arabs in America
    • Hanania standup comedy
    • Arabs on the Titanic
    • Obituaries
  • Podcasts
    • Arab News Ray Hanania Radio
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • Podcast Info
    • Hanania Podcast intro
    • Live Arab Radio
  • Your Views
  • Hanania on Tiktok
  • Toggle search form
  • Arab Democratic Club Feb 12, 2023 Forum & Brunch flier
    Arab Democrats host forum for Chicago and suburban candidates Feb. 12 American Arabs
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced Dr. Manal Fakhoury has been elected to the position of Chair of the National Board of Directors, and that attorneys Spojmie Nasiri of California and John Floyd of Texas have joined the organization’s National Board.
    CAIR Announces Dr. Manal Fakhoury as New Board Chair, New Board Members Spojmie Nasiri and John Floyd American Arabs
  • AHRC Executive Director Imad Hamad
    AHRC: Honor Dr. King Day with Civility, Unity, and Action American Arabs
  • Citgo Gas Station and Quik Mart at 3759 W. Chicago Ave in Chicago ordered closed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot because a street gang member with an AK-47 killed someone in front of the store. Only Arab and Muslim stores are being closed by the Mayor
    When Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot targeted Arab businesses in 2021 and 2022 Activism
  • Hussam al-Mayman, The Mayman Show, podcast Arab News
    Arab News launches third season of The Mayman Show podcast Arab News
  • State Rep. Cyril Nichols interviewed on live Arab American radio in Detroit with host Ray Hanania Friday Dec. 9, 2022
    Nichols discusses need to improve Arab-Black relations in Chicagoland American Arabs
  • Voting sticker issued to voters in Cook County elections in 2016. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Gov. Pritzker Announces Six Appointments to Boards and Commissions — no Arabs included American Arabs
  • Closure notice posted on the doors and windows of Arab American businesses during Mayor Lori Lightfoot's closure of Arab owned stores in June - Sept. 2021. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Pritzker again ignores needs of Arab businesses in latest appointments Activism
  • Arab American Democratic Club (AADC) official candidate endorsements for the November 8, 2022 General elections.
    Arab American Democratic Club issues endorsements for Nov. 8, 2022 Cook County Illinois elections Activism
  • Arab Democrats urge NO VOTE on Gov. J.B. Pritzker re-election bid Activism
  • Assyrian American GOP issues endorsements in Nov, 8, 2022 elections
    Assyrian American GOP group endorses candidates in Illinois Activism
  • Abdullah Hammoud, elected Mayor of Dearborn Nov. 2, 2021. Photo courtesy of Abdullah Hammoud Facebook Page
    AHRC’s 2022 Spirit of Humanity Gala a Great Success American Arabs
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts Arab World
  • Rep. Cyril Nichols to be feted by supporters at fundraiser Saturday Oct. 22 Activism
  • Stand up For Human Rights website, United Nations
    UN experts condemn Israel’s ‘sadistic’ punitive measures against French-Palestinian rights defender Salah Hammouri Activism
Arab American Democratic Club President Samir Khalil, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, and Hassan Nijem at a ceremony int hich Pappas recognized the community service of Khalil and Nijem. Photo courtesy of Hassan Nijem

Pappas names Hassan Nijem as Deputy Treasurer for Arab Community

Posted on May 15, 2021May 15, 2021 By News Editor News Editor No Comments on Pappas names Hassan Nijem as Deputy Treasurer for Arab Community
SHARE ...
40         
 
  
40
Shares

  • Tweet

Pappas names Hassan Nijem as Deputy Treasurer for Arab Community

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas presents her new informational brochure in Arabic with community leaders on Sunday morning May 16 at Nikos Banquets

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas named Palestinian American Businessman and community leader Hassan Nijem as an Honorary Deputy Treasurer to work as a liaison with the county’s growing and influential Arab American and Muslim community. With Nijem, Pappas will host an unveiling on Sunday, May 16, at Nikos Banquets, 7600 S. Harlem., Bridgeview Illinois at 10 AM of a new Arabic language brochure to promote benefits for the county’s taxpayers.

Pappas has made all of the county’s ethnic and religious groups a priority since taking office ensuring that every taxpayer regardless of their ethnic background, religion or heritage will have equal access to services offered by her office. Nijem, who is the President of the Arab American Chamber of Commerce serving the Chicagoland region, will assist Pappas in ensuring that the Arab American community will be included.

Pappas, accompanied by Hassan Nijem, Founder/President of the Arab American Chamber of Commerce, will unveil her office’s new brochure in Arabic available at cookcountytreasurer.com.

Arab American Democratic Club President Samir Khalil, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, and Hassan Nijem at a ceremony int hich Pappas recognized the community service of Khalil and Nijem. Photo courtesy of Hassan Nijem
Arab American Democratic Club President Samir Khalil, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, and Hassan Nijem at a ceremony int hich Pappas recognized the community service of Khalil and Nijem. Photo courtesy of Hassan Nijem

Other prominent Arab-American community leaders joining Pappas’ event are:

  • Samir Khalil, Founder/Chairman Arab American Democratic Club
  • Tasneem Abuzir, Palos Township Trustee
  • Mazen Barakat, Founder Hyatt Magazine
  • Phil Abed, Palos Township Alderman
  • Rush Darwish, President Arab American Professionals

“The 27 new multi-lingual informational brochures assist homeowners to better understand the complex property tax system,” Pappas said.

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas with elected officials and Arab community leaders at the Arab American Heritage celebration at Oozi Restaurant April 10, 2019. Photo courtesy of Anthony Caciopo
Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas with elected officials and Arab community leaders at the Arab American Heritage celebration at Oozi Restaurant April 10, 2019. Photo courtesy of Anthony Caciopo

Pappas named President Nijem as her Honorary Cook County Deputy Treasurer to act as a liaison between her office and the Arab-American community.

“It is a true honor to support Treasurer Pappas on her mission to inform Arab-Americans,” Nijem said.

Tasneem Abuzir is the first ever Arab American elected to the Palos Township Board of Trustees. Mazen Barakat is the only print newspaper publisher serving the Chicagoland region. Samir Khalil has been a stalwart leader of the Arab American Democratic community hosting forums which have allowed all Democratic officials and candidates to address the community several times each year.

Former Chicago City Hall reporter and veteran award winning journalist Ray Hanania praised Pappas calling her one of the most responsive and representative public servants to ever hold office in Cook County.

“Since serving as a Cook County Commissioner and later winning the office of Cook County Treasurer with the largest vote of any county official, Pappas is a true public servant who has been dedicated to ensuring that every voice is included in the operation of her offices,” said Hanania, President and CEO of Urban Strategies Group and the US Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper.

‘The Arabic language brochure is but one of many that provides information in the languages of all of the people of Cook County. This is truly an unprecedented move on the part of any Cook County and Illinois official.”

Nijem’s family is originally from the village Sarafund el Amr near the city of Jaffa, but he was born and raised in Bethlehem. He immigrated to America in 1986 to embrace the American dream. Nijem has operated many businesses including in 1986 Layala Inc., which  sells general merchandise, electronic and other merchandise.

For more information on Pappas’ public service visit her website at www.cookcountytreasurer.com.

Bio on Maria Pappas

Maria Pappas is Treasurer of Cook County, Illinois, a post she has held since 1998. She was elected to a sixth four-year term in November of 2018.

Pappas hit the ground running when she became Treasurer, moving with amazing velocity to remake an antiquated office. She is still running and, if anything, is moving yet faster.

Cook County is one of the world’s largest economies, with 5.2 million people and the nation’s third-largest city, Chicago. The Treasurer’s Office handles $18 billion a year, almost $13 billion in property taxes on some 1.8 million parcels of property. The property tax revenues then must be distributed to 2,200 local government agencies such as municipalities, school districts, police and fire districts, library district and others that tax properties. It has to be done right and it has to be done fast.

Pappas didn’t like what she saw when she walked into her office for the first time. For one thing, piles of cardboard trays were on the floor. A mess? Yes, but of the worst kind, a financial mess that had no reasonable explanation. There were more than $30 million in payment checks on the trays, undeposited and gathering no interest for the County. This was going to be a daunting task for the new Treasurer.

Was Pappas prepared to straighten things out? She was.

Early Life and Education

A lawyer with a degree in counseling psychology, this granddaughter of Cretan immigrants was born on June 7, 1949. She was raised in Warwood, West Virginia, a town of 2,000 near the coal-mining city of Wheeling. As a child, she studied the Greek language and all kinds of music. She played the electronic pipe organ, directed the choir and traveled around the country with the all-state band as bass clarinetist. As a drum majorette, she won nine gold medals in baton-twirling competitions.

Education is her life-long passion. Pappas earned a degree in Sociology from West Liberty State College (now University), in West Liberty, West Virginia, in 1970; a degree in Guidance and Counseling at West Virginia University in Morgantown in 1972; a doctorate in Counseling and Psychology at Loyola University of Chicago in 1976; and a law degree at Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1982.

Public Career

Having come to Chicago, Pappas’ public career grew out of her studies at what is now Adler University and a grant from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office to work in Chicago’s Altgeld Gardens public housing project. At Altgeld Gardens, she managed the Day One Drug Abuse Center, keeping young people free of drugs. Testifying in related court cases involving young people led her to visit prisons and jails, which led her to go to law school, which led her to consider public service. In 1990, she ran for Cook County Commissioner, one of 17 such positions on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, which oversees health care, law enforcement and other matters.

Pappas won and for eight years represented constituents from Chicago’s North Side and North Shore suburbs. As a county commissioner, she made every meeting interesting and built a reputation as a budget guru, a fiscal hawk who supported tax cuts, open government and efficiencies in an inefficient government – which she let people know about.

She successfully fought for human rights ordinances and introduced measures to install reform in areas such as truth-in-lending budgeting, ending no-bid legal and bond-issue contracts, and status reports by outside consultants. She co-authored an extensive study on teenage pregnancy, outlining a program to combat a key societal issue. All along, she heard that she should hold her own office.

In 1998, she ran for Cook County Treasurer and won.

Treasurer’s Office

When Pappas was a commissioner, the Treasurer’s Office was the poster child for governmental inefficiency. The office had four working computers, six typewriters and dozens of letter-openers – payment envelopes were slit open by hand and sums written in ledger books. That may explain the $30 million in checks sitting on the floor.

Pappas immediately obtained a bank lockbox to deposit not only those checks but all future checks on the day they were received. In her first year, interest on deposits went from $4.8 million to almost $19 million. Pappas says the Treasurer’s Office she walked into in 1998 reminded her of some Third World countries she has seen.

With a vision of making her office paperless, Pappas kept changing things, innovating, turning the office into a networked system of computers that integrated collections, deposits, earnings, distributions, refunds and other data previously logged manually. An integrated cashiering and general-ledger system resulted in speedier access to payment and other data for taxpayers and local government agencies.

She established a website, cookcountytreasurer.com, that averages 450,000 visits a month so taxpayers can live the paperless life, checking their payments, searching for refunds, seeing their exemptions, and more. Her Debt Disclosure Ordinance of 2009 provides taxpayers an up-close view of the debts, operational and pension-related, of the governments that tax them – information that goes also on tax bills mailed to taxpayers. Pappas is proud of this extraordinary exercise in data transparency, saying taxpayers now can monitor their governments and the taxes they levy.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
News Editor News Editor
News Editor News Editor
News Editor News Editor
Latest posts by News Editor News Editor (see all)
  • Arab News launches third season of The Mayman Show podcast - December 15, 2022
  • This Thanksgiving, let’s use our Blessings for good - November 23, 2022
  • The Road Ahead for Jordanian Youth - November 15, 2022

  • Tweet

SHARE ...
40         
 
  
40
Shares
 
40
Shares
40         
 
 Tweet 
American Arabs, Business, Civil Rights, Culture, immigrants, mainstream, News, Palestine & Jordan, US Arab Politics Tags:Arab Americans, brochures, Cook County Treasurer, Hassan Nijem, information, Maria Pappas, property taxes

Post navigation

Previous Post: Unique Collective Peace Corps Memoir Published
Next Post: America’s Arab American Youth: Future Leaders for Justice

Related Posts

  • Marie Newman, candidate for the 3rd District
    Marie Newman names Arab American as campaign chairwoman American Arabs
  • Shoeless Joe Jackson and Arab American Major League Baseball Players American Arabs
  • Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones challenges Rashida Tlaib int he Aug. 4, 2020 Democratic Primary
    Jones comes out swinging against Tlaib in 13th District race American Arabs
  • إحصاء السكان الأمريكي و حقوق العرب American Arabs
  • Hunger strike enters 25th day for Palestinian dissident Arab World
  • American Muslims denounce San Bernardino violence American Arabs

More Related Articles

Issa Amro and Palestinians in Hebron standing up to the racist and violent Israeli Jewish settlers. They need your support. First, they came in as tourists, and stole our land Arab World
Abdul El-Sayed with members of the Michigan Women's March in 2017. Photo courtesy of El-Sayed's Facebook Page. El-Sayed offers Michigan plan to protect pre-existing conditions Activism
Abdul El-Sayed with members of the Michigan Women's March in 2017. Photo courtesy of El-Sayed's Facebook Page. Democracy for America endorses Abdul El-Sayed forMichigan Governor American Arabs
American Arab CHamber President HassanNijem accepts the Proclamation from Chicago Ald. Roderick Sawyer at the Chamber dinner March 30, 2022 Chicagoland celebrates Arab American Heritage Month American Arabs
The Battle for Jerusalem: The Struggle for Justice, Truth and Liberty Activism
John McCain, Joe Lieberman and a Palestinian American’s Jerusalem Dream Arab World

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • Tiktok.com/@RayHanania
    Israeli-push behind effort to ban Tiktok in the United States
    January 19, 2023
  • Ghassan Rubeiz
    To what extent is Hezbollah responsible for the current crisis in Lebanon?
    January 17, 2023
  • Image from Rashid-al-Din Hamadani's "A Compendium of Chronicles. Image courtesy of Wikipedia
    Why allow religious extremists to re-define Islam in the West?
    January 10, 2023
  • CAIR Executive Director and co-founder Nihad Awad
    This Thanksgiving, let’s use our Blessings for good
    November 23, 2022
  • NEWS
  • Arab Democratic Club Feb 12, 2023 Forum & Brunch flier
    Arab Democrats host forum for Chicago and suburban candidates Feb. 12
    January 18, 2023
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced Dr. Manal Fakhoury has been elected to the position of Chair of the National Board of Directors, and that attorneys Spojmie Nasiri of California and John Floyd of Texas have joined the organization’s National Board.
    CAIR Announces Dr. Manal Fakhoury as New Board Chair, New Board Members Spojmie Nasiri and John Floyd
    January 12, 2023
  • AHRC Executive Director Imad Hamad
    AHRC: Honor Dr. King Day with Civility, Unity, and Action
    January 11, 2023
  • Citgo Gas Station and Quik Mart at 3759 W. Chicago Ave in Chicago ordered closed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot because a street gang member with an AK-47 killed someone in front of the store. Only Arab and Muslim stores are being closed by the Mayor
    When Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot targeted Arab businesses in 2021 and 2022
    January 4, 2023
  • NEWSWIRE
  • Arab Democratic Club Feb 12, 2023 Forum & Brunch flier
    Arab Democrats host forum for Chicago and suburban candidates Feb. 12
    January 18, 2023
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced Dr. Manal Fakhoury has been elected to the position of Chair of the National Board of Directors, and that attorneys Spojmie Nasiri of California and John Floyd of Texas have joined the organization’s National Board.
    CAIR Announces Dr. Manal Fakhoury as New Board Chair, New Board Members Spojmie Nasiri and John Floyd
    January 12, 2023
  • AHRC Executive Director Imad Hamad
    AHRC: Honor Dr. King Day with Civility, Unity, and Action
    January 11, 2023
  • Stand up For Human Rights website, United Nations
    UN experts condemn Israel’s ‘sadistic’ punitive measures against French-Palestinian rights defender Salah Hammouri
    October 19, 2022

Creative Commons License
All work on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

  • ZiyadBrandLogo-2016BlackRedBackgrnd.jpg
  • 08-09-21-Ziyad-Ad-Pantry-essentials.jpg
  • 08-09-21-Ziyad-Sices-Ad.jpg
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    October 24, 2022
  • Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib, book cover. Photo courtesy of Cune Press
    Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib
    November 1, 2021
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • Hussam al-Mayman, The Mayman Show, podcast Arab News
    Arab News launches third season of The Mayman Show podcast
    December 15, 2022
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    October 24, 2022
  • Comedian Ramy Youssef courtesy of his Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ramysfaceboo/
    “Ramy” cable series melds Arab world reality with every day American life
    October 22, 2022
  • The Ray Hanania Radio Show Live Wed 5 PM EST in Detroit, Washington DC, Ontario and on Thursday in Chicago. Watch the program live at Facebook.com/ArabNews
    Second Season of “The Ray Hanania Show” Arab American radio launches April 6
    April 4, 2022
  • American Arab CHamber President HassanNijem accepts the Proclamation from Chicago Ald. Roderick Sawyer at the Chamber dinner March 30, 2022
    Chicagoland celebrates Arab American Heritage Month
    March 31, 2022
  • New-iTunes-1400-x-1400-The-Ray-Hanania-Show-Podcast-Icon-300-x-300.jpg
  • powerpr300x300ad.jpg
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png
  • Podcast-iTunes-Logo-Chi-City-Hall-1985.jpg
  • terroristbookcover-300-x-300.jpg
Arab News Newspaper Logo
Read the Arab News, the leading English language newspaper in the MIddle East

Follow Ray Hanania at Gab.com, MeWe.com and IDobbinate.com, the alternatives to Facebook and Twitter Censorship.

Click here to get information on The Ray Hanania Radio Show and its podcasts

Copyright © 2023 The Arab Daily News.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme