Grinding Illinois Law and Liberty into Sausage

Ever since DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin published his opinion opposing the current dual duty effort being waged by Elmhurst Mayor Pete DiCianni, Democrat Sen. Don Harmon of Oak Park has fired up the constitutional meat grinder downstate in an effort to change current laws and preempt a challenge. The challenges will still come, and we as Elmhurst citizens, are being led like lambs to the lawyers.

The first effort was to try and modify Senate Bill 3332, which made it to its third reading in the state Senate before being temporarily halted. After public consternation, editorials and complaints, it was reported by the Sun-Times on March 12 that Sen. Harmon would back off those amendment efforts to SB 3332 because he didn’t want to affect a political race.  

So guess what? On Tuesday, May 1, Sen. Harmon introduced amendment legislation to House Bill HB 5078 (See the attached .pdf), which also defines constitutional and legal restrictions to dual elected duty. There are two laws not one. Go figure. If you can’t go through the front door, try the back.

Both amendment efforts blow the door wide open on dual duty restrictions, allowing elected mayors, alderman and other officials to occupy County Board seats and municipal offices at the same time, throughout the state, in the name of Elmhurst.  

While we go about our lives, Sen. Harmon, on behalf of Mayor DiCianni, and Mayor Grasso of Burr Ridge, is modifying the constitutional sausage recipe, because frankly, they count on us not watching. Our mayor and a few others are engaged in an effort to remove the liberty protection from the current recipe of one person, one office, and replace it with a cheap power consolidation substitute. 

They tell us it will be good for us and we won’t know the difference. But like most sausage recipes, artificial liberty filler just doesn’t taste as good as the real thing. 

The worst part is, this law is being changed without the consent of a majority of voters. 

In the DuPage County Board Primary, Mayor DiCianni only received 15 percent of the vote in an eight-person field, competing for two seats. Eighty-five percent did NOT vote for him. But he finished top three; easy math. In the General Election, he will face three other candidates, two of whom will be elected to the DuPage County Board with 35 percent to 40 percent of the vote. Not 51 percent.  It’s not needed. 

Adding the fact he won the mayor’s office with about 40 percent of the vote because of an extended field, a 51 percent majority of voters are not needed to obtain either seat, in either election. If I can figure out the electoral math, I'm sure they did too.

To retain both seats, even though the law, Constitution and the State’s Attorney say you can’t, somebody, like Sen. Harmon, just needs to amend the law downstate, and the voters will never get an up or down vote on dual duty. They’ll just serve it to us on a platter, expecting a thank you and congratulations. 

Enter the lawyers. That is where Mayor DiCianni has decided to take us. He is leading us in the wrong direction, as he follows others down the same Cook County path.  

I find the hubris in this effort offensive, and ridiculous. Our constitutional liberties are being diluted and threatened by dual elected duty, which will bring about a local system of power and money consolidation; all for the sake of a few men.  Why? What is the benefit for the citizen? There is none. 

Action is required by the Elmhurst City Council now, in May 2012, while everyone is still here. School is out soon, summer is coming, and by August the focus will be on the presidential election and this will be pushed through the grinder into its new unconstitutional casing, and we’ll be stuck with it. Sausage only; no sweet peppers or liberty giardiniera; they’re keeping the good stuff for themselves. 

This is not where we should allow ourselves and our town to be led. It is bad precedent and will be bad press for Elmhurst. I urge you to write or contact your local City Council members if you agree with me. A local ordinance for Elmhurst, defining that one person can hold one elected office, is urgently needed, and is the obligation of our local elected leaders. Only one has failed us in this situation, hopefully 14 will protect us. 

Luckily, in the end, legislatures trump executives. The City Council members are the official representatives of the people. They will need our support. If we remain silent and sit by, another piece of our constitutional liberty protection will be ground up—into sausage.