Barring success of a last-minute court appeal, an advisory referendum question\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0been debated for months will be on the Nov. 3 village of Oak Park election ballot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
An objection to the question, \u201cShould the state of Illinois repeal laws that ban state investment in businesses that boycott the state of Israel?\u201d was overruled 2-1 Monday by a village electoral board consisting of President Vicki Scaman and Trustees James Taglia and Chibuike Enyia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Enyia joined the board Monday after Village Clerk Christina Waters was disqualified by a Cook County\u00a0circuit court\u00a0judge after a 9 a.m. hearing that same day. The electoral board began its proceedings an hour later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At a hearing Aug. 19, attorney Michael Kasper of the Chicago government-relations law firm Kasper, Holmes & Dring,\u00a0representing\u00a0the referendum question objectors Alan H. Peres and Piergiorgio Uslenghi,\u00a0pointed out Waters had signed the petition in support of the referendum question. He requested her recusal and Waters refused.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Monday, Waters entered council chambers shortly before the 10 a.m. hearing and was asked by Brooke Lenneman, partner for village attorney Elrod Friedman, to step into an adjacent hallway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She did not return. Enyia\u00a0subsequently\u00a0joined the board at the council table.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lenneman\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0say whether Waters was aware she\u00a0had been\u00a0disqualified. Waters could not be reached by phone or text later Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lack of language use questioned\u00a0<\/p>\n
Enyia ultimately cast the deciding vote on the matter, after Taglia voted in favor of the objectors\u2019 argument that \u201cthe circulators\u2019 affidavit did not include an explicit certification that the signatures are \u2018genuine,\u2019\u201d i.e., actual use of that specific language, according to the board\u2019s findings and decisions document made available to Wednesday Journal post-hearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After Taglia, Scaman voted against the objectors\u2019 argument, and Enyia did likewise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The findings and decisions document went on to say the \u201cobjectors have failed to establish that the absence of the word \u2018genuine\u2019 in the circulator\u2019s affidavit renders any of the signatures fraudulent, undermines the integrity of the election, or affects the guarantee of a fair and honest election.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsence any showing of actual fraud or misconduct, the omission of the words \u2018and are genuine\u2019\u00a0from the circulator\u2019s\u00a0affidavit\u00a0substantially complies\u00a0with Section 28-3 of the Election Code.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prior to the roll-call vote, Scaman made it clear that the electoral board was not\u00a0making a decision\u00a0on the substance of the referendum\u00a0question.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur job here is solely to determine whether it meets the criteria of being on the ballot,\u201d she said. \u201cThe case law does not support the objection of these petitions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In his statement prior to the vote, Enyia noted he had given much thought to the matter. That included during\u00a0a 25-minute recess after Kasper and Scott Erdman, attorney for the\u00a0proponents\u00a0Oak Park residents Caren Van Slyke and Jesse Bauer, had made their individual cases before the board. Lenneman was clear that Scaman, Enyia and Taglia could not deliberate\u00a0together\u00a0outside of the council chambers during the recess, only\u00a0retaining\u00a0the ability to confer individually with\u00a0her as needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHearing some of the key answers that I received back from the petitioners\u2019 attorney who drew up the petition, I don\u2019t think there was any sort of workarounds or thoughts to deceive signers or petitioners or those reading those petitions,\u201d Enyia said in his statement prior to the vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say if there was some\u00a0finding\u00a0of fraud to go along with this, then we really are in that mode of there is something here. But there was nothing\u00a0found along those lines, just this phrase was left out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the\u00a0proceedings, Kasper\u00a0was asked\u00a0if he would appeal the decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA victory for democracy\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Erdman\u00a0declined comment after the hearing.\u00a0But Bauer and Van Slyke, members of Oak Parkers for Free Speech,\u00a0both said they were pleased with the outcome.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re happy with the result,\u201d Bauer said. \u201cI think\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0no evidence of fraud. That was what we expected; a line-and-sheet challenge to every single page,\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0usually how these things go.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0what our attorney told us to prepare for.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were meticulous in vetting our signers and training our volunteers and our circulators. We knew we had\u00a0a very\u00a0high quality\u00a0signatures and petitioners who signed.\u00a0So\u00a0I think the decision\u00a0reflects the will of the Oak Park voters.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As far as the term \u201cgenuine\u201d being left out of the petition, Bauer said it was \u201ca\u00a0scrivener\u2019s\u00a0error. It happens.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Van Slyke said she was pleased by the outcome.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so delighted that this board\u00a0understood that 3,500 people put their names on something to say that the whole community needs to decide on this referendum,\u201d she said. \u201cI think this is really a victory for democracy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As far as an appeal, which\u00a0has to\u00a0be made before Thursday, the date by which the referendum question is added to the Nov. 3 ballot, Bauer said Oak Parkers for Free Speech will reevaluate if served with court documents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The group Jewish Community and Friends for Democracy, which was not affiliated with Peres and\u00a0Uslenghi, declined comment Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Specific guidelines crucial\u00a0<\/p>\n
Enyia said he was presented with packets of material by Lenneman\u00a0regarding\u00a0the referendum ahead of being tabbed for the electoral\u00a0board, just in case\u00a0Waters would not be able to\u00a0participate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I think it\u2019s democracy, right?\u201d he said\u00a0of the 2-1 vote. \u201cYou are presented these two sides to this case, they give us\u00a0very specific\u00a0guidelines that\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0allowed to\u00a0interpret from and having no specific prior precedent case to\u00a0actually work\u00a0off of, it makes it hard to\u00a0determine. It could have gone either way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really depended on that finding of fraud. I think\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0what it really came down to, was\u00a0there any\u00a0indication\u00a0that fraud was\u00a0shown.\u00a0Knowing that that element\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0there made it difficult to rule one way or the other.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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