I was very interested in reading my colleague Trustee Brennan’s letter to the editor on the subject of term limits and her request that the village board simply step up and enact the term limits ordinance reflecting the referendum vote [Viewpoints, Jan. 7].
First off, the vote on term limits should have been tossed once it was discovered that the petitions were flawed. The parties who circulated the petitions should have noticed that there was a deficiency in the petitions: in fact, in an opinion piece to the Wednesday Journal on April 8, 2025, the proponents shared with the public that “the word ‘advisory’ is a scrivener’s error” and further go on to explain the intent. Depending on the party and the person circulating the petitions, a signatory could have one view or another on the intent. That in my opinion and our legal team, was sloppy work from a group who worked so hard to collect the petitions.
Over the past several months, Trustee Brennan is correct that we have asked for legal opinions and have been provided with those from our counsel. We have been told what, if any, legal authority the county or the state has in this matter and have been told that there is none.
So here is where the whiplash comes in: on Nov. 17, at the regularly scheduled meeting of the village board, Item 8 on the agenda asked for a motion “to approve a resolution providing for the submission of a Binding Public Question Concerning the terms of Office for the Village of River Forest at the General Elections to be held on November 3, 2026.”
The motion was made by Trustee Gillis and did not receive a second, meaning the issue was dead. One of the other four trustees, including Brennan, could have seconded the motion, and it would have gone for a vote and codified the advisory referendum of April 1, 2025.
In case you’re wondering, I have never been a proponent of term limits.
Trustee Brennan wrote, “We are told that we find ourselves in ‘a case of first impression’ — a situation that has not yet been dealt with by the courts, and that if the village board enacts term limits (in accordance with the outcome of the residents’ April 1, 2025 vote), the term limits ordinance could be challenged in court in the future,” concluding that she acknowledges the potential litigation that this board will leave hanging over the head of our residents. Trustee Brennan as a lawyer, you just gave River Forest whiplash. I have publicly stated that I will not do that.
Bob O’Connell
Trustee, village of River Forest
