The fate of an effort by River Forest resident Deborah L. Borman to impose term limits on the office of village president through a binding referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot is unknown after a challenge by village resident Carolyn Kilbride and an initial River Forest Electoral Board hearing.
The electoral board hearing was continued to 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4 after the members of the electoral board and attorneys representing Borman and Kilbride agreed to adopt rules for the proceedings.
Borman filed petitions July 15 seeking placement of the question, “Shall the terms of office of the Village President of the Village of River Forest, Cook County, Illinois be limited so that, effective upon the passage of this question as certified by the election authority no person may serve as Village President for more than a total of eight (8) years?” be placed on the ballot at the Nov. 5, 2024 Presidential General Election.
The 90 petition sheets contained 753 signatures, well past the required 396 signatures. By state statute the number of signatures required is not less than 8 percent of the number of total votes cast in the previous gubernatorial election. In 2022, 4,941 votes were cast locally in that election.
Kilbride filed an objection to the petitions Aug. 12, leading to an electoral board hearing Aug. 20. By state statute, the initial electoral board consisted of the village president, village clerk and longest tenured village trustee, Cathy Adduci, Jonathan Keller and Respicio Vazquez, respectively. However, toward the end of the hearing, Adduci recused herself, citing a possible conflict of interest. At the suggestion of Vazquez, it was agreed that the board will ask the chief judge of the Cook County Circuit Court to appoint a third member, preferably a member of the general public and not a member of the village board. State statute allows a replacement to be the second longest tenured village trustee but three of the current trustees were elected at the same time.
At issue is the validity of the petitions. Areas in which objections are raised include the checkmarks and headings on the petitions and their notarization.
The electoral board also voted 2-1 to request that the Cook County clerk conduct a records search of the signatures on the petitions to determine their validity. Keller cast the negative vote, saying the board was “putting the cart before the horse” for not waiting until other matters had been decided.
Borman was involved in civic activity as leader of the Lathrop-Ashland-Franklin Neighbors group, specifically regarding issues surrounding the demolition of three neighboring buildings on Madison Street and Ashland and Lathrop avenues in 2023.
She said the group expanded to include other village residents in an organized effort to oppose proposed changes to the village zoning ordinances that were introduced in late 2023 and eventually voted down by the village board in June.
“We hope to enhance and increase participation in village government,” Borman said in explaining her decision to fight to impose term limits. “We hope to encourage new voices.
“We want to improve the village. River Forest has been under essentially the same group for 40 years. There are a lot of things that need to change.”
As to why she is proposing term limits only on the village president and not the full village board, she said she is “starting at the top and working down.” As to other village board members, “We haven’t gotten that far yet.”
Borman criticized Kilbride’s objection to her effort.
“This is all to prevent voters from deciding a simple question,” she said. “This is being done at great expense to the village and is taking a lot of time and energy.”
Kilbride did not respond to requests from Wednesday Journal for comment but previously stated her position in a letter to the editor published in July.
“Imposing term limits on the elected position of president of the River Forest Village Board is not good policy,” she said in the letter. “A term-limit policy penalizes the residents. The democratic process allows residents to vote in or out candidates they find acceptable or unacceptable. Term limits circumvent the democratic process. Additionally, imposing term limits can have a detrimental effect with the loss of valuable experience and expertise. Let the voting process work. If a resident is unhappy, vote them out!”