Even better than 'Clash of the Titans'

I often joke about bringing a bag of popcorn to some of the meetings I attend.

Tuesday's annual Grafton Township meeting would have been the perfect occasion for a warm, salty bag of popcorn drizzled with butter-flavored topping.

Grafton Township "electors" - basically registered voters who live in the township - packed into a Huntley High School gymnasium to decide where the township government should operate out of and what the township should do with a piece of land it owns in Lake in the Hills.

That land was supposed to house a new township hall until a lawsuit filed by now-Supervisor Linda Moore effectively blocked any action on a new building.

The meeting started with a bang when Tom Halat, owner of Tom's Farm Market and one of the plaintiffs on the lawsuit against the township, made a motion from the gym floor to censure the Grafton Township trustees.

In what would become a pattern for the night, Halat was shouted down and made to return to his seat in the bleachers.

"What's going on?" one woman shouted.

"It's not on the agenda!"

The issue didn't come to a vote because, as the man pointed out, it wasn't on the agenda.

Next, Tammy Leuth, a Coyne Station Road resident who was also a plaintiff on the building lawsuit, motioned to move an agenda item to the beginning of old business. The motion passed.

"Roll call!"

It wouldn't have made a difference; the vote wasn't close.

Later, Grafton Township Trustee Gerry McMahon started to talk about Tom Halat and the fact that Halat was among the group that sued the township to stop the new building.

"What you've heard today is classic spin," McMahon said. "If you don't know the list of characters, how can you not be fooled?"

McMahon was told repeatedly to sit down and shut up.

"If you do not sit down, we will have you removed," moderator Jim Kearns said.

The resolution to unwind the sale of the township hall to the road district passed by a good margin.

"Paper ballots!"

Again, not necessary. The victory was decisive.

The best sound bite of the night came when an older man stood up and asked, "Is this the way Christ would want it?"

No one answered.

For all the ruckus, the weightiest issue won't be settled until November, when voters will decide whether the township should build new offices.

If voters back a new township hall, much of what the electors did Tuesday night will have been for naught.

But at least they'll use paper ballots.