Census will determine whether Geneva needs more aldermen

Should Geneva aldermen make room on the dais for four more people?

If Geneva's official population hits 20,000 or more in this year's decennial census, they will have to, according to Illinois state law. The Illinois Municipal Code says that cities with populations of at least 20,000, but less than 40,000, must have 14 aldermen. Geneva has 10 aldermen, based on its 2000 population of 19,515.

Since then, a special census taken in 2003 showed the city had at least 21,115 people.

There is a provision in the law that allows cities to have a smaller council - as long as they vote on the matter at least 180 days before the first municipal election after they receive decennial census results.

The problem is, Geneva doesn't expect to receive those results until December at the earliest - and maybe as late as March 2011, said Mary McKittrick, the city's administrator. And the consolidated nonpartisan election is in April.

"There is no way to make a change and stay within the law," she said.

Geneva is supporting legislation introduced by state Rep. Kay Hatcher to give cities more time to make the change, up to a year after receiving census results.

The bill is due to be discussed by the House's Cities and Villages Committee Tuesday. March 12 is the deadline to move legislation out of committee for the spring session.

Hatcher's proposal would also affect cities with populations of 40,000 to 50,000; instead of being required to have 14 aldermen, they could have 16 aldermen.

The problem was created in 2001, when state law was amended to give municipalities the option to keep their current number of aldermen, rather than automatically increasing. At that time, there was plenty of time for municipalities to consider their options, since the next municipal election wasn't until 2003, said Joe Schatteman, a research and information services coordinator for the Illinois Municipal League, which supports the bill.

Schatteman says he has not heard of any opposition to the bill. "This is more along the lines of a cleanup, to allow municipalities to keep their choices at home," he said. Hatcher agrees, calling herself a "big believer" in letting municipal governments decide such things. The matter came up when she began meeting with municipal officials throughout her district during her freshman term in 2009. "I suspect there are a lot of communities that will be impacted," she said.

"I don't really have a strong position one way or the other" about whether Geneva should have five or seven wards, 1st Ward Alderman Sam Hill said Friday. His term expires in 2013, and he does not intend to seek re-election, he said.

However, he does want the 1st Ward boundaries to change, if the city has to add wards after the census or chooses to redistrict. He thinks the area north of the railroad tracks and south of South Street belongs in the 1st Ward because it has more in common with the 1st Ward then the 5th Ward. The 1st Ward includes much of downtown and near west side Geneva.