Rolling Meadows aldermen make term limits official
Rolling Meadows aldermen this week officially made changes to city code placing tighter term limits on themselves in the wake of a binding referendum in March.
More than three-quarters of those who went to the polls favored limiting aldermen in the city's seven wards to no more than two consecutive 4-year terms. While that vote enacted the tighter aldermanic term limits, the city council on Tuesday formally approved the necessary ordinance to codify the election results and formally change city code.
Aldermen authorized the measure without any discussion.
A previous ballot measure limited aldermen to three consecutive terms effective with the 1993 election. Since 1995, the mayor's position has been capped at two consecutive 4-year terms.
The latest term limits discussion in Rolling Meadows was far less contentious - if at all - than in nearby Elk Grove Village, where a resident-led ballot initiative sought to remove the longtime mayor and several trustees starting in 2021. The measure was tossed from the ballot by the Illinois Supreme Court in February.
The Rolling Meadows question was put on the ballot after then-Alderman Rob Banger Jr. persuaded enough of his council colleagues to do so. He lobbied unsuccessfully for the move in 2012, followed by then-Alderman Len Prejna's attempt two years later.