Sun-Times file Once again, the Cook County Board of Review is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. This time, it is Tammy Wendt, one of the board’s three commissioners, who allegedly hired her first cousin to be her chief of staff at an amount quickly bumped up to $150,000 a year, $15,000 over what a source close to the board said is the usual starting salary. The County Board’s ethics ordinance bars hiring first cousins. But — and we guess this shouldn’t be a surprise — the Board of Review had its own ethics ordinance that was, shall we say, vague on the point, banning only familial relationships, which is subject to interpretation. Wendt has not denied her chief of staff is her first cousin.