'Haven't done their research': Bears stadium critic to try to recall Arlington Hts. mayor, trustee

A critic of the Chicago Bears' potential redevelopment of Arlington Park has launched a petition drive to recall the Arlington Heights mayor and a village trustee over what he calls a failure to "prioritize the welfare and interests" of residents.

Tom Svoboda, a longtime village resident and owner of a Rockford-based brick salvaging business, submitted written statements at village hall Friday indicating his intent to file recall petitions against Mayor Tom Hayes and Trustee Jim Bertucci.

Svoboda has started collecting signatures but plans to formally launch the effort Tuesday during the village's Fourth of July parade.

Under village code, Svoboda has four months to collect signatures of 12% of the village's registered voters - about 6,500 - for a recall election as soon as November.

Such elections are rare on the local level in Illinois, but it did happen in neighboring Buffalo Grove in 2010 when voters removed Trustee Lisa Stone from office.

Svoboda opposes the Bears' proposed $5 billion redevelopment proposal over traffic concerns and infrastructure limitations in and around the shuttered 326-acre Arlington Park property the team now owns. But he said what led to the recall effort was a phone call with Hayes last week and conversations with Bertucci in March.

Svoboda said the village officials haven't commissioned a traffic or impact study. And they approved the Bears' request for permits to demolish the racetrack's grandstand building, which Svoboda deems significant "architecturally, historically and economically."

"If you're going to change the town to that drastic effect, you (have to) do your research. They haven't done their research, and that's the crime here. That's why I'm bringing about the recall," Svoboda said.

He said he is specifically challenging Bertucci because he's been a "leader" among the eight village trustees, but he didn't rule out opening recall petitions against the others.

Svoboda says he plans to form a committee with the Illinois State Board of Elections and accept donations, but for now, he's paying for "Recall Mayor Hayes" T-shirts that friends and supporters will be wearing at the parade Tuesday.

In a written statement, Hayes called Svoboda's opinions "unfounded."

"I don't really understand how Mr. Svoboda cannot comprehend the issues associated with the potential redevelopment of Arlington Park given the extensive press coverage over the past two-plus years and the continually updated information on the village's website," Hayes wrote. "I will respond in greater detail to any formal petition filed should it become necessary down the road, but, in the interim, I will stand on my 32-year record of elected service to this great village, including my 10 years as mayor, during which I have always based my decisions on what I thought was best for the entire community."

In May, Hayes said the village didn't have authority to withhold approval of demolition for any reason if an application is complete and if a property owner's plans comply with village code.

Bertucci said the consultants hired by the village to analyze the economic, traffic and parking impacts of the proposed redevelopment would be done only after the Bears submit studies of their own.

All of that is in a holding pattern as the Bears battle with three school districts over tax and assessment issues, he noted.

Bertucci said he and village officials also could face criticism if they didn't look at the Bears opportunity, but right now, "nobody's committing to anything."

"I do what I can to help the town," he said. "I doubt he's going to get enough signatures, but if he did, sure, let's leave it up to the voters."