C4CH Open House
Thursday, May 31st – 7:00pm
Clarendon Hills Library
We invite YOUR input. Stop by and let us know what’s important to you.
HOME RULE RECAP:
Home Rule Power Grab Defeated 86%-14%.
Citizens for Clarendon Hills (C4CH) organized in 2012 with the first goal of stopping the Village Board’s home rule power grab. We opposed home rule to protect residents’ voter rights, to control Village property taxes, and to limit unnecessary growth of government.
On March 20, Clarendon Hills residents defeated the referendum 86%-14% (2,012 No / 324 Yes). This was, simply, a monumental defeat of home rule that future Village boards should not ignore. To put this in some perspective:
46.39% – VOCH voter turnout rate (2,366 / 5,100)
20.27% – DuPage County overall voter turnout rate (106,686 / 526,358)
6 – Number of home rule referenda on ballots throughout Illinois on 3/20/2012
1 – Rank of VOCH by biggest percentage margin of defeat of home rule referenda in Illinois in 2012 (This was the biggest defeat of home rule in all of Illinois on 3/20/2012)
#13 of 334 – Rank of this VOCH decision by biggest percentage margin of defeat/victory of all 334 referenda in DuPage County in the past ten years. (The #1 ranked margin was 89.47% of Addison Twp voters wanted to be reimbursed for O’Hare expansion on 11/5/2002)
NONE – No other voting bloc in DuPage County in the past decade defeated home rule by a wider margin than VOCH just did.
By this vote the residents told the Village that home rule is NOT a good idea—at all—for our Village. Thank you all again for your efforts, volunteering, and involvement.
What’S NEXT?
There is more work to be done. Local governments directly impact our lives – and our pocketbooks (How’s your new property tax bill look?)
C4CH does not exist solely to stop home rule (That’s done). It exists to help address the concerns of our local community. There are MANY more issues out there…. We want to protect our Village and have input on ALL local governments that impact our lives. This includes the Village, the Park District, our local school districts, maybe even the mosquito abatement district.
C4CH wants efficient, prudent project management to solve local problems. We favor lower taxes, less regulation, and smart growth. We want to keep our local governments in check and responsive to the public. We support strong development grounded to our Village’s history and community. We seek transparency of our local governments.
C4CH seeks your input and help to tackle the next issues. And involvement.
C4CHOPEN HOUSE:
We Invite YOUR Input! Thursday, May 31, 7:00 p.m.
C4CH is hosting an open house at the Village Library on Thursday, May 31, at 7:00 p.m.
We want to listen to you. We want YOUR input and ideas as to what issues about local government are of concern to YOU. Come by, tell us what is important to you. Come by to say hello! Some possible issues we see are the following:
WHAT ISSUES ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU?
- New Village Budget: The Village Board last month approved its new Budget with 12.7 Million in total expenditures (all funds). What’s really in it? How different are the details from what the Board claimed when pushing for home rule? The Board appears to have ignored almost all of C4CH’s proposals (more detail to follow).
- Expert Budget Review Committee: C4CH strongly believes the Village Board should establish a volunteer committee to provide input to the Board throughout the budget process when it decides how to spend our tax dollars. We have been repeatedly asking for this Committee for 220 days (since 9/27/2011).
- Park District Pool Renovation: C4CH strongly applauds the efforts of the Park District to renovate the Lions Pool facility and strongly believe it is a great idea. It will also impact our community for decades. Right now it’s $1.5M. We believe Phase I could be expanded now to include the baby pool and other improvements. C4CH seeks caution in proceeding with Phase II. Is it a cost efficient plan? Is it responsive to the long term needs and wants of the community? What are the long term operational costs? Has a user survey ever been conducted? (more detail to follow).
- Transparency: We want to ensure that a strong light is focused on how our local governments function and how our tax dollars are spent. We believe the processes, data, and documents should be easier to view. (more detail to follow).
- Village Train Station and Downtown Master Plan: The Village Board recently approved a revised plan for a $14 Million overhaul of the existing train station. It is based in part on a now 7-year old idea. What is exactly contemplated for the train station and why? Is it in keeping with our Village? How is to be funded?
- Police Department Consolidation: The Village Board seems to want to consolidate our police department with the Village of Hinsdale PD; this would require new state law. If ever implemented, this experimental endeavor would be the first of its kind in Illinois. Would it create a new governmental entity? Is this appropriate?
- Electricity Aggregation Referendum: Should the Village Board (instead of pushing a home rule referendum) promote a referendum for electricity aggregation that could save us some money (on our electricity bills)? This is a very popular municipal trend. Has our Village Board addressed this yet? If not, why not?
- High School District 86: Plans proceed for a $17 Million capital project for items including “entrance and air conditioning upgrades.” Is this an issue that deserves closer scrutiny?