A push to place a referendum on the April 4 general election ballot to change Waukegan’s form of government — to one run by a city manager rather than a mayor — is accelerating, pending action by the City Council and an independent petition drive.
A pair of council committees discussed four potential referendums for the April 4 election prior to Monday’s council meeting. Three are related to a managerial form of government, and the fourth would make elections for city officials nonpartisan.
Only three referendums can be placed on a general election ballot for a municipality, either by a petition circulated by voters or legislative action, according to Illinois law.
The City Council plans to vote whether to place any, or potentially three referendums on the April 4 ballot at 7 p.m. Dec. 19 at City Hall in Waukegan to determine the future of the city’s government and how its voters choose their elected officials.
Before the Code Revision, Appeals and Negotiations Committee began its discussion of the three referendums pertaining to the managerial form of government, Ald. Gregory Moisio, 3rd Ward, wanted to know if it would prohibit a referendum to move to nonpartisan elections.
Stewart Weiss, the city’s corporation counsel, said if the council decided to place the nonpartisan election referendum before the voters, only two of the referendums pertaining to a managerial form of government could appear. Moisio said he was concerned about so many changes.
“This would be a tremendous amount of change all at once,” Moisio said.
Weiss said if the election question takes one of the slots available for referendums, the council can still give the voters the opportunity to decide on a referendum for a managerial form of government and retain a city council with wards.
“Shall it be one alderman per ward would be left to a future election question,” Weiss said, referring to a third potential referendum limiting the number of council members. “Any changes would not take place until April, 2027, so conceivably the question of how many aldermen per ward could be taken up at any time before 2027.”
Should voters choose a managerial form of government, Weiss said unless they also approve keeping wards, state law would mandate six council members elected at large by all voters. If there is no decision on the number of aldermen, state law requires two per ward which would expand the size of the legislative body to 18.
Ald. Thomas Hayes, 9th Ward, has spoken in favor of a managerial government at several committee meetings. He said placing only a referendum to change the form of government could give the city a chance to simplify the situation.
“I trust voters will go into the voting booth, discern what this is and make an informed decision,” Hayes said. “It gives us the opportunity to remove any confusion, and maybe only put (the managerial question) on the ballot this time around. The other two items we would address down the road.”
The quandary over which referendums to place before voters may become moot. When the question of a referendum to switch from elections with partisan primaries to a nonpartisan election was discussed at a meeting of the Committee of the Whole later Monday, it was rejected.
The Committee of the Whole voted 6-3 not to recommend it to the council when it meets Dec. 19. The committee recommendation is not binding, and it could still go on the ballot. Moisio, Ald. Edith Newsome, 5th Ward and Ald. Keith Turner, 6th Ward, voted yes.
Hayes, along with Ald. Sylvia Sims Bolton, 1st Ward, Ald. Patrick Seger, 2nd Ward, Ald. Roudell Kirkwood, 4th Ward, Ald. Felix Rivera, 7th Ward, and Ald. Lynn Florian, 8th Ward, voted no. When Moisio first suggested the idea of a nonpartisan election a year ago, Florian and Rivera favored the idea.
Rivera said after the meeting he wants all three referendums impacting a managerial government on the ballot at once so voters can make all decisions then. Florian said she takes a similar position, but believes giving voters a sense of an alderman’s values based on their political party is a good idea.
“I have not had a single resident contact me about nonpartisan elections,” Florian said after the meeting. “I have had many ask why we still don’t have a city manager.”
Florian also said during the first committee meeting, a petition drive is circulating to place the question of shifting to a managerial government before the voters. Either method gets the question on the ballot. Only three referendums can be on the ballot, regardless of whether they get there by council vote or petition.
Mayor Ann Taylor, who made moving to a managerial form of government one of her first campaign promises more than two years ago, sent an email to supporters recently with a petition form attached encouraging them circulate two sheets among voters.
“Five Aldermen on the council are blocking the placement of a referendum for a city manager through council vote,” Taylor wrote. “To move this issue forward, we are seeking to add the referendum to the April, 2023, election through citizen petition. We need to collect 3,000 signatures by Christmas.”
