Des Plaines term limit ban off ballot

Any challenge to Des Plaines term limits will have to wait.

A question asking Des Plaines voters whether they want to eliminate term limits for elected officials is off the February ballot.

A city electoral board -- made up of three Des Plaines officials who will have to leave office because of term limits -- on Tuesday found there were insufficient signatures to put the question on Feb. 5 primary ballot.

Mayor Tony Arredia, 1st Ward Alderman Patricia Beauvais and City Clerk Donna McAllister took the advice of City Attorney Dave Wiltse in barring the question from ballots.

Resident Brian Burkross had challenged the petitions to put the question on the primary ballot, saying resident Beverly Becker hadn't submitted the required signatures.

Burkross said the binding referendum needed at least 3,085 signatures to get on the ballot or 10 percent of the number of registered voters in Des Plaines.

"It's a basic numbers game. There's just not enough signatures," said Ellen K. Raymond, Burkross' attorney.

Becker had submitted 123 pages of signatures, or 8 percent of the Des Plaines voters in the last governor's election, or about 1,200.

Becker said she had sought the advice of attorneys on the number of signatures she needed.

"I was absolutely positive that I had enough," Becker said.

But since it's a binding question rather than an advisory one, Wiltse said it needed the 10 percent.

When asked whether she will make a similar push for the November ballot, Becker said she's considering it.

She would need to collect new signatures, but they could be from the same people who supported her effort this time.

Becker said she decided on her own to pursue the issue because she would like to see Arredia, whom she strongly supports, remain in office. Arredia hasn't said whether he would run again if he could.

In 1998, Des Plaines voters overwhelmingly approved limits of two terms for elected officials. Rolling Meadows is the only other Northwest suburb with term limits.

Former Des Plaines resident Vince Powers attended the hearing at city hall Tuesday -- a decade after he pushed for term limits.

He said he still supports the limits and believes that all elected offices should have limits of two consecutive terms to mirror the law governing the U.S. president.