Campton Hills ballot battle goes to judge

The attorney for a group trying to revert the village of Campton Hills to unincorporated territory says his clients' constitutional rights will be violated if a referendum on the issue doesn't appear on the Feb. 5 ballot.

"They essentially would be blocking the voters' right to vote on important public policy, and that violates the Illinois Constitution," said Richard Skelton, attorney for the Stop Campton Hills Public Action Committee.

Skelton also said he plans to ask a Kane County civil court judge Monday to remove appointed village officials from an electoral panel that is scheduled to decide the validity of objections to his clients' petition to put the dissolution question on the primary ballot.

The officials shouldn't be responsible for hearing the objections because they were temporarily appointed -- not elected -- and are openly opposed to dissolution, according to Skelton.

"We believe they've exceeded their authority in attempting to bar the petitioners from raising their issue," he said. "The objections to the petition certainly need to be heard, but if (the panel deciding the case) is biased, they can be removed and should be removed."

Earlier this week, Skelton filed a request to have an emergency hearing on the issue. It is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday before Judge Michael J. Colwell at the Kane County Courthouse, 100 S. Third St., Geneva.

The hearing is expected to be the latest twist in what has become a confusing and locally unprecedented legal mess for the dissolution proponents and village.

The referendum group's primary hurdle appears to be winning a judge's permission to put their question on a ballot already containing three nonbinding referendum questions placed by the village.

Commonly known as the "rule of three," election code allows for only three referendum questions on one ballot in any municipal election.

But Skelton said his clients' question should be given more weight than the others because it is binding and was brought forth by voters.

Even if a judge agrees with Skelton, however, a complaint challenging the validity of hundreds of signatures on the referendum petition has yet to be decided.

That issue is set to be heard Tuesday night by a three-person panel made up of Village President Patsy Smith, Village Clerk Rebecca Lambe and one trustee.

Smith said Friday the village plans to be represented at the court hearing, but she did not elaborate on how officials plan to respond to Skelton's arguments.