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Health & Fitness

Dual Elected Duty: A Horse Designed by our Finance Committee Might End Up Looking Like a Camel.

Our constitutional right to define the qualification of elected officials is now controlled by Alderman Steve Hipskind, the Finance Committee Chairman, and Co-Chairman Alderman Kevin York.

On May 31st of last week Senator Don Harmon’s efforts to amend HB 5078 was defeated in the Illinois House.  Whatever the reason, the bottom line is it did not pass, along with other amendments attached to that bill by a 40 to 75 vote. 

This must be a severe disappointment to dual elected duty supporters and candidates, since their plan was to change the law before the election.  This basically means the illegality of dual elected duty remains the Law of the Land of Lincoln and will be through the upcoming election season.  Whew. 

We are still the Land of Lincoln right?  It says so on my license plate.  

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Now we await action by the Finance Committee in regards to Alderman Mulliner’s referral, asking for an ordinance restricting dual office holders.  The speed and success of this motion is controlled by 4th Ward Alderman Hipskind, the committee Chairman. 

For those of you that don’t remember, let me remind you.  Alderman Hipskind was responsible for some of the worst publicity Elmhurst ever received.  We were ripped and embarrassed nationally by David Letterman, Jay Leno, and even by Minnesota Senator Al Franken on the floor of the United States Senate.  If you do a Google search on “Elmhurst Eye Rolling” you will see all the results.  Remember?

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An Elmhurst Citizen was removed from a Finance Committee meeting in 2010 at the request of Alderman Hipskind, for simply rolling her eyes.  Since I started fighting this unconstitutional dual elected duty effort, I have often felt like throwing up watching the duck and cover tactics that are played at City Hall, and the bold statements of “common sense” and “protection of the children” when political favors are handed out. 

Eye rolling seems like a pretty soft reaction, don’t you think? 

In regards to dual elected duty, some council members don’t know what they can and can’t do, and seem to be looking for any other excuse for inaction that can be used.  Is political positioning more important than protecting the rights of the citizens they represent?  At the Elmhurst City level?  How ripe is the fruit? 

The Mayor, and every elected City Council member all take an oath swearing to uphold the Illinois Constitution.  Then they get their picture taken. 

Alderman Mark Mulliner of the 7th Ward has courageously taken on this task, and should be commended.  It is obvious he takes the oath to uphold the Illinois Constitution seriously, and has no plans to re-write or defy common law in an effort to consolidate power to the hands of the few.   He leads by example and so far is the only member of the Finance Committee to let his position be known to the public.  He simply wants to let the people decide as defined by Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.

I’m guessing Alderman Mulliner read the Illinois Constitution before taking his first Oath of Office and then skipped the photo session. 

I’m also wondering if Co-Chairman York has Mayoral aspirations.  Political positioning can sometimes be more important than protecting the rights of constituents.  You know how that goes.  It’s why most citizens tune out, and just pay the tax bills.  It’s why we’re lucky to get fifty percent of the voters to the polls.  Yes, I admit it, the more time I spend at City Hall the more cynical I become in the reasons some people seek to represent us. 

Our constitutionally guaranteed rights now lie in the hands of these two men, as they have the power to move, delay, or stop any effort to send the Alderman Mulliner’s dual elected duty referral to the Council, and then to the people for an up or down vote this November.    

Why they would stop this from going to a vote I have no idea, but it wasn’t even important enough to appear on last week’s Finance Committee agenda; an agenda controlled by the Chairman Hipskind.  They’re waiting for the lawyers, when even a child can understand this conflict.  We have an August 20th deadline, and we’re not going to know anything until late June.  Really? 

Don’t you love when people turn the simple into the complicated, and tell the rest of us, “you just don’t understand how it works.”  Fortunately, we do.   

The fact of the matter remains, that with the failure to amend HB 5078 Dual Elected Duty remains illegal.  Now that our Mayor has propped open this Pandora’s Box for our community, it is our Constitutional right to close it, or leave it open through a public referendum, and a City Wide public vote this November.

Mayor DiCianni, in conjunction with Cook County politicians, has let slip the dogs of power consolidation in our community.  They need to be put back in the dog house. 

Dual Elected Duty restriction via ordinance thru referendum must now move forward because the leader of Elmhurst, or Mayor brought it to us.  A resolution by the Council would also be appropriate so the citizens of Elmhurst know where everyone on the Elmhurst City Council stands.  We have a right to know. 

True leadership is a quality gifted to the unselfish few.  Those like George Washington, who refused an offer to be King, and then after eight years of the Presidency basically said, “Let’s give the keys to someone else.  I’m going home.  That’s what I fought for.” 

I fear that this dual elected duty referendum, a simple horse, might end up looking more like a camel if left in the hands of the Finance Committee leadership.  Please contact them if you agree with me and ask them to let this go to the voters.  

Just don’t roll your eyes.

 

Steve.Hipskind@elmhurst.org  - 4th Ward, Finance Committee Chairman

Kevin.York@elmhurst.org – 4th Ward, Finance Committee Co-Chairman  

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