On Tuesday, April 28, at Julian Middle School, weary Oak Park voters rejected the latest attempt by an ideological fringe to turn local government into a global-affairs debate club.
This time, the vehicle was an obscure provision of state law that allows 15 voters to commandeer the time of an entire township electorate and board by forcing consideration of a referendum. Oak Park Township is known for its excellent work serving seniors, youth, and people with disabilities — so naturally, the referendum that was forced onto the agenda at its annual meeting concerned foreign policy.
Nominally, the measure would have “supported the right” to express one’s views on Middle East policy with one’s wallet. That First Amendment right is not, of course, in question. The organizers’ poorly concealed aim was to find some — any — vehicle for advancing a larger ideological project, the actual work of local government be damned. Congratulations to them for finding a van-full of people willing to consume the time of thousands of their neighbors for this purpose. And not once, but twice (the initial meeting was shut down and rescheduled due to the large number of people seeking to participate).
The referendum failed, 72.5% to 27.5%. Its backers were criticized as divisive, but in the end they united Oak Park. The only thing likely to have produced a bigger landslide here would have been a Trump endorsement.
Gregory Shill
Oak Park