ChangeDecatur Announces Filing of Appeal of Recent Petition Decision.
Failure of City Council to Let Voters Determine Representation Prompts Legal Action.
ChangeDecatur announced today that it has filed a Notice of Appeal with the Fourth District Appellate Court in Springfield, IL, of the recent decision by the Macon County Circuit Court, to sustain an objection raised by a single objector to petitions calling for a strong mayor referendum. ChangeDecatur believes that the court erred in the finding that the current statutes prohibit the vote on adoption of a Strong Mayor form of city government at the April, 2009 election.
Stephen Daniels of ChangeDecatur stated: “We had hoped that the city council last night would embrace one of the important goals of local government reform by empowering voters to choose a better representation model for all of Decatur. The Council’s denial of this opportunity has forced us back into the courts to place the matter on the ballot as soon as possible.” Daniels, Brian Burcham and Keith Anderson were the proponents of the petition for local government reform.
Brian Burcham of ChangeDecatur stated: “We are disheartened that the four member majority of the Decatur City Council didn’t trust our citizens to vote their conscience on better representation. The closed-mindedness of this majority disregards the symbolic importance of last week’s Fourth of July celebration.” Recently appointed Council member Larry Foster, and council members Mike “Tuna” McElroy, Betsy Stockard and Pat Laegeler all indicated they would vote against the council ordinance to place the matter on the ballot.
Mayor Michael Carrigan, Council members Dan Caulkins and Shad Edwards indicated support for the council reform referendum. ChangeDecatur asked the Council to use its home rule authority to place a referendum on the ballot to elect one council member from each of seven newly established districts in Decatur and to elect three council members at-large.
Three times in the last 18 months, ChangeDecatur has been blocked in the courts from providing voters a chance to reform local government to one with stronger leadership and better representation. Recently, ChangeDecatur filed petitions with over 1,000 signatures calling for a referendum to adopt a strong mayor form of city government at the April 2009 municipal elections. Only 678 signatures were required to place the matter on the ballot.
The aldermanic representation model would replace the current six council-members elected at-large. Most major US cities and many major downstate cities use aldermanic representation in their municipal government. Based on council members per capita, Decatur is one of the least represented cities in downstate Illinois.
East St. Louis is one of only two downstate cities, other than Decatur, with all council members elected at-large.
For more information contact Brian Burcham, Stephen Daniels or Keith Anderson of ChangeDecatur – see numbers below. Or go to www.changedecatur.com, or send an email to ChangeDecatur@gmail.com.
Comments