Daily Herald opinion: Effort to remove Arlington Heights leaders over Bears talks misunderstands negotiation process
This editorial is a consensus opinion of the Daily Herald Editorial Board.
We seem to have the lost the art of disagreement.
No longer is it fashionable to offer alternatives to something we find unpalatable. We don't negotiate. We no longer discuss. We deride, vilify, tear down, throw out.
Politicians have different visions for what their town, state or country ought to be and different strategies for how to get there. We might disagree with them, but we have ample opportunities to vote them out of office when their terms are up.
Every so often, we encounter examples of suburban politicians who are completely ill-suited to the office because of boorish or bullying behavior or because they've broken the law, but it is extraordinarily rare for one of them to be recalled.
In Arlington Heights, where Tom Hayes has been mayor for 10 years, a village trustee for 22 years before that and where he has lived for 40 years, he could face a recall election as soon as November - if at least 6,500 people sign petitions - that could cut his current term in half.
Why? Because he is studying a deal with the Chicago Bears to build a stadium and a variety of other businesses on the 326-acre former Arlington Park racecourse.
Village resident Tom Svoboda last week filed his intent with the village to recall both Hayes and Jim Bertucci, one of the more vocal trustees.
Svoboda is a racing fan who has said Arlington could have continued its tradition of horse racing had Hayes and the board not approved the Chicago Bears' petition to demolish the grandstand.
Wishing won't make it so.
The fact is, Churchill Downs, which owned Arlington, walked away from horse racing here and put the property on the market. Horse racing was dead at Arlington before the bulldozers arrived. The village had no reason to deny the demolition permit.
Svoboda also complains the village has not done traffic and community impact studies to learn whether the Bears would be a detriment to the village. He called that a "crime."
No, it's not. The timing is a part of the process Svoboda fails to recognize. These village studies will come in good time - after the Bears make a proposal and provide their own.
To do so now, with no guarantees the Bears will stick around, could end up wasting taxpayer money.
Being the host community for the Chicago Bears could end up being a boon for Arlington Heights and neighboring communities. Or it might be more trouble than it's worth. Time will tell.
We know Hayes and have endorsed him, based partly on his desire to collaborate with others. That seems a characteristics the residents of Arlington Heights would cherish when such a historic proposal is at hand.
Should the mayors of Naperville, Aurora and Waukegan also be recalled, having expressed recent interest in hosting the Bears?
Not to fully examine a potential once-in-a-lifetime deal with the Bears would be a real failure to prioritize the welfare and interests of residents.