A group of residents on Wednesday dropped efforts to dissolve the Darien Park District, vowing to try to revive the effort next year.
The decision halts an election board hearing scheduled for Thursday to review petitions the group filed with the DuPage County Election Commission in December for a referendum question on the March 16 ballot.
The organizers, backed by Darien Mayor Carmen Soldato, complain the district is not run efficiently and envision the city forming its own department to oversee parks and recreation programs.
Supporters of the Park District had filed objections to the petitions, alleging that the 3,800 signatures were tainted by forgeries and a pattern of fraud. Burt Odelson, an attorney for those seeking to dissolve the Park District, said his clients opted to “retreat and wait to fight another day.”
He denied any fraud. “No one went out and round-tabled [signatures] or sat and copied names.”
He said attention would turn to the next Park Board election in April 2005. Park Board President Jack Durkin, who has been heavily criticized by those calling to dissolve the Park District, is up for re-election at that time.
Odelson said he was surprised to learn that about 500 people who signed petitions were not registered voters–“an extraordinary amount.”
A preliminary review by the Election Commission whittled the number of valid signatures down from 3,800 to about 3,100.
Though the 3,100 signatures were still more than what was needed to place the issue on the ballot, Odelson said he believed enough additional “technical” problems existed to reduce the number below that minimum.
Kenneth Shepro, an attorney representing Park District supporters, called Odelson’s comments “an amusing spin.”
“I would have to speculate that the reason they withdrew it is the large number of subpoenaed witnesses were very afraid of taking the witness stand,” Shepro said.
Shepro, who had arranged for nearly 60 people to testify at the hearing, said he will turn over information with “substantial evidence of fraud” to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.
Gloria Anderson, who objected to the petition drive, said, “Obviously, I’m very pleased that the truth basically is coming out on this, that all the hard work by a lot of individuals that went into this has paid off.”
Even if the issue had made it to the ballot, it would have needed support from at least two-thirds of those voting to dissolve the district.
The city reviewed the cost of running a parks department and found it would be roughly the same as the district spends, at least at first, Soldato said.
Formed in 1974, the Park District serves a population of 25,000, including all of Darien and a few small unincorporated areas. It has 13 full-time employees, about 15 part-time employees who work year-round, and 70 seasonal employees.
