Oak Park Township advisory referendum gains majority support

The advisory referendum question on the ballot Nov. 5 for local voters through the Oak Park Township gained an 85% majority of support.

The question read: "Shall the people of Oak Park have the initiative right to amend and propose ordinances by voter petition and enact those ordinances by voter referendum?"

It asked voters if they would like to make changes more directly. But since the question is advisory, the village is just getting an idea of how Oak Parkers feel. To be enacted, the village board would have to put the question on a future ballot as a binding referendum. Or another taxing body could implement it through a referendum, too. Then voters would decide.

The idea is that if residents feel strongly about an issue, they could organize a petition with a certain threshold of signatures to bring an ordinance before the village board. The board would then have the opportunity to vote to pass and enact an ordinance. If it failed, the ordinance would be placed on the next ballot for voters to decide, under majority rules.

Jacob Drews, an Oak Park native and sophomore at Columbia University, was behind the effort. He and Pat Quinn, the 41st governor of Illinois, worked to get the question on the ballot.

Drews said the main benefit of this referendum is the empowerment of voters. If they feel elected officials are not listening to them, this would give them the power to change things themselves. Issues brought forward by voters would generally be local ones, Quinn said. The initiative can give everyday people a bigger voice in their government, he said.

Village President Vicki Scaman said she wants to work with the community and be responsive to their concerns. On this referendum, she said she'd be open to a conversation about possibilities moving forward.

It's important to make sure the referendum question, if ever put on a ballot as a binding measure, is written in a way that meets the intention of residents, she said. Scaman said she'd like that to be a collaborative process, too. A lot of specificity needs to go into drafting referendum language to avoid unintended consequences, she pointed out.

"It is also difficult for me to imagine residents passing petitions to seek the number of signatures that would be required for something like that without us at the board table knowing it and then feeling the need to host the conversation with or without the referendum," she said. "I aim to listen and be responsive of our community's needs, always."

Residents might be skeptical of that in light of the leaf collection dilemma, Scaman acknowledged. But she said the board works to get input from residents before implementing changes.

Arlington Heights already allows voters this ability to amend, propose and enact ordinances themselves.