State Senator Dave Koehler was at Heartland Community college and he serves in the same district as Democrat State Rep. Sharon Chung, newly elected, and he said there was some murkiness in terms of what Normalites could do as far as running for three offices: Supervisor, Clerk, Assessor, and Collector.
“I think this [Sharon Chung’s bill HB3337] just clarifies…there’s going to be some people who agree with it and some people who don’t. It at least clarifies what the situation is going to be going forward if the legislature passes it and the Governor signs it,” said Koehler .
Were the three petitioners who wanted to be on the ballot for the three positions (Supervisor, Clerk, Assessor) right for trying? Why would Sharon Chung be changing it if they weren’t right.
“I don’t know how to answer that. I think there was some murkiness with what they could do and I think Chung’s bill just clarifies,” said Koehler.
Stan Nord, a current councilman, said that Sharon Chung is changing the state law to make parts of the state law, that originally applied to every incorporated town in Illinois, and making that law apply to only Cicero, Illinois.
“This came about because of folks wanting to have more representation where people could elect people from their own neighborhoods,” said Nord. “And then the follow up when that was shut down by the Town was having these people hold elected offices that other Incorporated Towns get to enjoy.”
Normalites everywhere gathered petition signatures to try and get a question on the ballot that would split the at-large Town Council into a Ward system, similar that of Bloomington. But according to Town Counsel and a judge Scott Kording , after an objection was filed by Patrick Dullard, the Town of Normal was deemed an incorporated town which exempted them from having to abide by the petitions to change to a Ward system.
According to state statue, incorporated towns over 25,000 people have to have certain elected offices…so three people petitioned and gathered signatures again but were met by Town Counsel and the Electoral Board and they argued those positions did not exist and eventually Judge Mark Fellheimer ruled in favor of Normal because of “home rule.”
“The section within the law that the folks, who ran for those three positions, hung their hat on… the Town apparently has convinced our State representative to put forward legislation to change that law,” said Nord. “Something the people of Normal need to understand was that this was moved forward by Town staff without getting any elected approval. So now we have government staff who are actively working to change laws to prevent any future generations in Normal to enjoy these elected offices that other incorporated towns in Illinois get to enjoy.”
Kevin McCarthy represented the Town of Normal as a proponent for Sharon Chung’s bill.
The Illinois Constitution says: No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law nor be denied the equal protection of the laws.
“The reason why this bill is just for Normal is because Normal was not in compliance with the law, which was said by the judge back in the Fall 2022 case regarding districting,” said Marc Tiritilli, a Normal Town council candidate. “He even said, ‘If it’s a town it sure looks likes Normal is not complying with some of this statute.’ This new amendment says: The changes made to this subsection in this amendatory act are declarative of existing law and shall be applied retroactively. In other words…they are trying to say, ‘okay we just clarifying what already existed.’ BUT why does it need to be applied retroactively? You can’t change what was in the past if it was already in compliance?”
