Articles filed under Referendum

• Are term limits good for the suburbs? Jan 14, 2013 12:00 AM
  While Arlington Heights residents may get to vote in April on whether those on the village board should adhere to term limits, officials in other Northwest suburbs that created limits years ago are still debating whether its been a good thing. Some say term limits are the only way to give the booth to those who have been in office for a generation, while others complain that it pushes good people out of office.
  

   

• Term limits referendum thrown off Arlington Heights ballotJan 14, 2013 12:00 AM
  Arlington Heights residents won't have the chance to vote on term limits for elected officials in April after a petition to place the issue on the upcoming ballot was thrown out Monday. However, proponents of the issue vowed bring the question back at a future election.
  

   

• Objection filed against Arlington Heights term limits petition Jan 11, 2013 12:00 AM
  An objection has been filed to the petition calling for Arlington Heights to place a binding referendum on the April ballot that could impose term limits for elected village officials. The Arlington Heights Electoral Board will meet at 9:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 14 to hear the objections and rule on the petition.
  

   

• Arlington Hts. reviewing term limits petition Jan 8, 2013 12:00 AM
  Arlington Hts. officials are reviewing more than 2,700 signatures turned in this week on a petition calling for a binding referendum on the spring ballot that would require term limits for trustees and the village president. The public has until Jan. 14 to view and file objections to the 79-page petition, said Village Clerk Becky Hume.
  

   
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  Buffalo Grove group seeks referendum on project Dec 14, 2012 12:00 AM
  A Buffalo Grove citizens group opposed to a massive downtown redevelopment proposal is asking the village board to put the question of its final approval to voters and then to abide by the outcome. If the proposal turns out to be something trustees themselves find fault with, a referendum would be an unnecessary expense, Save Buffalo Grove member Marilyn Weisberg said Friday.
  

   

• Park district ref didn’t convince her Dec 14, 2012 12:00 AM
  Letter to the editor: Cherryl Crouch of Arlington Heights says the park district didn't make its case for the tax increase it requested. "It's time for the park district to convince residents that they offer value for the money they currently receive-much less ask for more," she writes.
  

   

• Village to blame for failure of parks ref Dec 7, 2012 12:00 AM
  Letter to the editor: Margaret Kaden says she wanted to vote for the Arlington Hts. Park District referendum, and believes the repairs are warranted. But she blames the village of Arlington Hts. for lavish spending on the village hall and police station. "If the village would ask us for money for these extravagances we would say no, but they don't ask us. So we say no where we can, and the parks, tragically, suffer," she writes.
  

   

• Bartlett puts electric aggregation on ballot again Nov 20, 2012 12:00 AM
  Bartlett voters will have a second chance next spring to decide if they want the village to solicit bids from electricity suppliers other than ComEd. On Tuesday, the village board approved putting an electric aggregation referendum on the April 2013 ballot.
  

   
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  National group spent money to defeat Arlington Hts. parks bondsNov 14, 2012 12:00 AM
  The Illinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity made about 7,000 robocalls a few days before the election telling people to vote "no" on the Arlington Heights Park District tax increase, which lost by about 800 votes. This was one of 12 municipal level races they were involved in around Illinois, including others in West Chicago, Wauconda and Gilberts.
  

   

• Residents want to support park district Nov 12, 2012 12:00 AM
  Letter to the editor: Roland Ley of Taxpayers United says Arlington Heights voters would have supported a smarter park district referendum than the one that failed Tuesday. "Taxpayers in Arlington Heights want to support our outstanding park district, but with huge property tax increases in recent years we believe the park district should be more careful with our money," he writes.
  

   
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  In Island Lake, new debate over new village hall Nov 9, 2012 12:00 AM
  Island Lake residents trying to quash plans for a new village hall may have an unexpected ally. Trustee Chuck Cermak believes officials should reconsider the effort, now that 76 percent of voters opposed the proposal in an advisory question on Election Day. The overwhelming opposition "tells us what the people want," Cermak said Thursday.
  

   
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  Voters in 10 counties say they want concealed carry Nov 8, 2012 12:00 AM
  Residents in some Illinois counties sent a message to lawmakers this week: Give citizens the right to carry concealed weapons. Measures supporting concealed carry were on the ballot Tuesday in at least 10 mostly rural counties — Adams, Bond, Henry, McDonough, Mercer, Randolph, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stephenson and Warren — and passed overwhelmingly in every one.
  

   
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  Quinn vows to keep working on pension reform Nov 7, 2012 12:00 AM
  Gov. Pat Quinn played down voters' rejection of a proposed amendment to the Illinois constitution that would have made it harder to expand public employee retirement benefits. A day after the elections, Quinn says he remains optimistic he can get lawmakers to agree on a plan for bringing down spiraling costs of pensions for government and other public sector workers.
  

   
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  Legal battle looms over marijuana initiatives Nov 7, 2012 12:00 AM
  The approval of ballot initiatives legalizing recreational marijuana use in Washington state and Colorado on Tuesday could set the stage for a significant legal battle with the Justice Department, one that may bring fresh scrutiny to federal drug policy.
  

   

• Lake Michigan water ref passes in Wauconda; Island Lake votes down appointed clerkNov 6, 2012 12:00 AM
  Wauconda voters Tuesday decided they wanted to get their water from Lake Michigan rather than rely on village wells. Island Lake voters, however, voted down a referendum on change -- saying they wanted to continue to elect their city clerk over having an appointed one.
  

   

• Voters back amendment targeting SuperPACsNov 6, 2012 12:00 AM
  Voters in Lisle Township and Warrenville overwhelmingly backed a proposed amendment that would strip constitutional rights from corporations and special interest groups funneling large amounts of money into political campaigns. With all 114 precincts reporting, there were 34,786 "yes" votes and 20,282 "no" votes, according to unofficial results.
  

   

• Voters approve new fire station for E. DundeeNov 6, 2012 12:00 AM
  The East Dundee Fire Protection District's bid for a new fire station was headed toward approval Tuesday night. With six out of seven precincts reporting, 986 voters endorsed the $5.5 million ballot question while 826 voters rejected it, according to unofficial results.
  

   

• DuPage voters say no to dual officeholdersNov 6, 2012 12:00 AM
  With all 748 precincts reporting, a whopping 90 percent of voters Tuesday answered "no" to a nonbinding proposal asking if public officials should be able to hold more than one office simultaneously.
  

   

• Tax increase diving for Old TownNov 6, 2012 12:00 AM
  About 65 percent of the voters Tuesday rejected a tax increase for the Old Town Sanitary District, putting the system at risk of running out of money, said Prospect Heights Mayor Nick Helmer. Residents voted 2,696 to 1,433 to reject the tax increase, according to unofficial results on the Cook County Clerk's website.
  

   
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  State pension amendment fails Nov 6, 2012 12:00 AM