Joliet election board hears case on Joliet for Eight

JOLIET – The fate of the Joliet for Eight Districts referendum is set to be determined Thursday by the City Electoral Board.

The board tabled a decision after the petitioners and objector spent most of Wednesday arguing two points before the board: the number of valid signatures on the petitions; and the number of signatures required to put the measure on the ballot.

City Attorney Jeff Plyman told the board 2,392 people signed the petition, which seeks to change the City Council structure from five district and three at-large seats to eight districts. A challenge was filed to the petition after it was file with the city clerk.

“It’s the objectors’ job to persuade you that there are an insufficient number of signatures on the petition,” Plyman told the board, which consists of Mayor Tom Giarrante, Councilman At-Large Mike Turk and City Clerk Christa Desiderio.

The board’s decision on whether to certify the measure will be determined by how many signatures it deems are valid, and which election law it decides to follow.

A decision must be made before the end of the business day Thursday to give the Will County Clerk’s Office enough time, if necessary, to place the measure on the November ballot.

After a five-day analysis of signatures, Plyman, petitioners and objectors each came up with a different number for how many they considered valid.

Advocates and opponents also disagreed on the number of signatures necessary to certify the measure

How many signatures
are valid?

Plyman said he determined 1,465 of the signatures were valid, or about 61 percent of those signing the 308-page petition. Plyman deemed 880 signatures as invalid, and another 47 as “other” that cannot be counted.

Ruth Greenwood, an attorney with the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc., representing Concerned Citizens of Joliet, the grassroots group backing the referendum, said "rehabilitated" signatures would bring the valid number to 1,633.

Greenwood told the board that it should validate signatures by voters considered to be inactive or “on hold” or in line to be purged by the Will County Clerk’s Office. Voters who have moved since signing the petition also should be included, she said.

Greenwood also requested inclusion of several Hispanic signatures. The names, which contain both paternal and maternal surnames by tradition, generated several objections, she said.

Brian Kopman, an attorney with Kavanagh, Grumley & Gorbold of Joliet representing Sarah Andreano, the Joliet woman who objected to the petition, said 1,370 signatures appeared to be valid by his count.

Election law or
municipal law?

Kopman and Greenwood also argued about which law the board should follow to determine whether enough signatures had been collected to place the matter on the ballot.

Kopman said the board should follow state election law, which mandates that ballot measures require signatures totaling 8 percent of the city vote in the last gubernatorial election.

Based on estimates by the county clerk’s office that 33,553 Joliet residents voted in the 2010 election, Kopman said 2,685 signatures were necessary to place the matter on the ballot.

Even if all of the signatures were valid, the petitioners still wouldn’t have enough, he said.

“It’s clear that the petitioners’ referendum should be kept off the ballot,” Kopman said.

Greenwood countered that the board should follow municipal code.

Under municipal law, the threshold to place a matter on the ballot is 10 percent of the number of voters in the last mayoral election. Greenwood estimated 1,547 signatures were needed under that formula.

Greenwood said that many of the petition’s signatories were the young, elderly, Hispanics, African-Americans and others forgotten by the political process.

Greenwood noted that “in a town where it take just over 4,000 votes to get elected mayor,” 1,633 votes should be sufficient to get the measure on the ballot.