Townships Rule!

Daily Chronicle editor Jason Schaumburg wants to see DeKalb and all other townships just go away. He opines that cronyism runs rampant in township government and its services could be absorbed and more efficiently performed by the county. He also thinks the proposed advisory referendums on the agenda of the annual meeting of the DeKalb Township electors is a colossal waste of time.

Schaumburg might be the best editor the Chronicle has had since the mid-70s in my opinion. He’s like a good umpire back in my old DeKalb Youth Baseball coaching days. You know it’s a good ump if the fans sitting behind both dugouts are complaining. The coverage is more balanced than ever.

But I’m a 180 on his position on townships and advisory referendums.

Instead of eliminating the township form of government let’s get rid of the gerrymandered county districts replacing those board members with the township supervisors. That approach is not new.

From the Illinois Association of County Board Members, the County in History:

[…] In this form of government, each township elected a supervisor for a four-year term. The supervisors then constituted the county board, much as their counterparts did in colonial New York three hundred years ago. The township form of county government was the most prevalent form in Illinois, having operated in eighty-four counties until 1972 (55 ILCS 5/2-3001 et seq.).

The current form of county government is a mess. Even though the county government has next to zero jurisdiction over the affairs and regulations of any municipality in the county, DeKalb, the largest city has dominant, near controlling representation on the board. Because of the reliance on property tax for school funding and the little that is left for the many other taxing units there is no justification for population based county districts that are at the gerrymandering will of the victor in the partisan struggle of the two political parties.

Township supervisors are paid better than most county board members. Good. Elected officials at the local level should be paid better than they are. The trend towards devaluing elected officials is a mistake. The demands for time, attention and consideration are too high. If the “better pay attracts more qualified candidates” argument has any merit then it must also apply to elected officials.

Here’s another relative passage from the County in History:

Cook County has long had a special form of government that does not derive from either of the traditions noted previously. In recent years the seventeen Cook County commissioners have been elected in the following manner: ten are elected by the electors of the City of Chicago, and seven are elected by electors from towns outside the city (55 ILCS 5/2-6001). The president of the Cook County Board is elected as one of the commissioners. At the same election, electors throughout the county indicate their choice of a commissioner to be president of the Cook County Board (55 ILCS 5/2-6002). This unique arrangement results in Cook County having home rule powers under the provisions of article VII, section 6(a) of the Illinois Constitution.

Aahhh! There’s that Home Rule question again. Cook County is the only county in Illinois with Home Rule. That’s because it’s the only county with a population greater than 100,000 people that has an ELECTED president or chair. That’s the requirements for automatic Home Rule for counties as drawn up in the 1970 constitution convention. Without 100,000 population and an elected county president or chair Home Rule can only be attained if approved by the voters via referendum. DeKalb County tried for a Home Rule referendum. Rejected.

Municipalities can obtain Home Rule authority automatically when their population reaches 25,000. While municipalities have elected mayors or presidents some, like DeKalb and Sycamore, have a council-manager form of government.

From Wikipedia, Council-Manager Goverment:

• Under the council–manager form of government for municipalities, the elected governing body (commonly called a city council, city commission, or board of selectmen) is responsible for the legislative function of the municipality such as establishing policy, passing local ordinances, voting appropriations, and developing an overall vision. County and other types of local government follow the same pattern, with a different title for the governing body members that matches the title of the body.
• The position of “mayor” present in this type of legislative body is a largely ceremonial title, and may be selected by the council from among its members or elected as an at-large council member with no executive functions.
• The city manager position in this form of municipal government is similar to that of corporate chief executive officer (CEO), providing professional management to the board of directors. Council–manager government is much like a publicly-traded corporation. In a corporation, the board of directors appoints a CEO, makes major decisions and wields representative power on behalf of shareholders. In council–manager government, the elected council appoints a city manager, makes major decisions, and wields representative power on behalf of the citizens.
• This system of government is used in 40.1% of American cities with populations of 2,500 or more, according to the 2011 Municipal Yearbook published by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), a professional organization for city managers and other top appointed local government administrators/CAOs.

The other form of municipal government is the mayor-council government. The mayor has the power to appoint and dismiss department heads without council approval and the council possesses both legislative and executive authority with control over the municipal budget.

The two greatest powers granted to Home Rule municipalities in Illinois is the unlimited authority to tax and go into debt without voter approval. Perhaps voters would be wise to demand that the CEO of their municipalities be elected as required of counties seeking Home Rule?

That’s one reason I don’t think the following advisory questions on the agenda of the DeKalb Township annual meeting is a waste of time at all.

• Should the city of DeKalb continue to be a home rule community?
• Should the city continue to operate as a city manager form of government?
• Should the DeKalb Public Library become a library district instead of a municipal library?

These are very local issues that if placed on the November ballot will make local government part of the public discourse and consideration among local voters. That is the very point of annual meetings of the electors of a township — to get their local officials heads out of the political clouds of state and federal government and back to the local issues they were elected or appointed to attend to. Like it or not the electors of DeKalb Township are also the electors of the mayor and city council for the City of DeKalb. The purpose of advisory questions is to give the elected a heads up from the voters.

It only takes four of the aldermen on the city council to make any or all three of the advisory questions binding. Four votes of approval and they are on the ballot and the results would be binding. But even when confronted with a petition signed by more than 900 registered voters the DeKalb city council refused to place the Home Rule question on the November 2010 ballot.

As in the current controversy over the vacated city clerk position the mayor and council think that voters aren’t smart enough to risk being allowed to elect competency or make informed decisions. The self appointed geniuses making public policy today are the product of that asinine antiquated notion. How’s that working out for them?

How’s that working out for us? Well, let’s see. Illinois 50th of 50 states in state deficits, according to a recent financial audit by the Illinois Auditor General. In Chicagoland we’re ranked number one in corruption. DeKalb County is ranked 39th of the 3145 counties in the nation for property taxes as a percentage of median income. DeKalb has the highest sales tax rates in the county. We borrowed $1.5 million to lay off workers.

I would like to see citizen advisory referendum on many issues and hope that local governments themselves would initiate them. Unfortunately the only time local governments appear willing to do so is upon the appointed staff’s recommendation. So what can a citizen do? S/He can exercise their right as an elector of the township they live in to place an advisory question on policy on the ballot.

Some might think that township government is the least of the many taxing units. Upon closer examination the ingredients of We the People emerge. Those looking down their noses might not see that.

Townships rule!