The Oak Park and River Forest District 200 Board of Education will hold two community meetings to gather public input on a way forward after what appears to be a successful drive by residents to force a $17.5 million working cash bond issuance onto the March 15, 2016 ballot.
On Jan. 11, a Cook County election hearing officer decided to overrule an objection to the roughly 4,300 petition signatures gathered by residents to force the bonds, which would help fund a $37.5 million 50-meter pool at the high school, onto the ballot.
Although the hearing officer’s decision is not legally binding — his recommendation will be strongly considered by a three-person county electoral board, which will make the official decision — the referendum question has already been certified to appear on the ballot.
In a statement released on Jan. 12, Board President Jeff Weissglass announced that the board “has the right to withdraw the resolution of intent to issue bonds and remove the referendum question from the ballot in March.”
Weissglass noted that, if the board decides to remove the question from the ballot, it will have to take action within the next few weeks.
He stated that the board might withdraw its resolution of intent in order to “defer the timing of a referendum to allow completion of the parking plan needed to replace the current garage,” provide the Park District of Oak Park with time to “conduct its feasibility study regarding a community center, which could possibly include a pool,” and provide more time to educate the public before another opportunity to hold a referendum comes in the Nov. 8, 2016 election.
The two community meetings to discuss the board’s possible actions will be held Thursday, Jan. 14, at 6 p.m. (where the board will gather community input and engage in preliminary discussion) and Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 7:30 p.m., where the board will make a final decision. Both meetings will take place at OPRF High School.