Barring success of a last-minute court appeal, an advisory referendum question that’s been debated for months will be on the Nov. 3 village of Oak Park election ballot.
An objection to the question, “Should the state of Illinois repeal laws that ban state investment in businesses that boycott the state of Israel?” was overruled 2-1 Monday by a village electoral board consisting of President Vicki Scaman and Trustees James Taglia and Chibuike Enyia.
Enyia joined the board Monday after Village Clerk Christina Waters was disqualified by a Cook County circuit court judge after a 9 a.m. hearing that same day. The electoral board began its proceedings an hour later.
At a hearing Aug. 19, attorney Michael Kasper of the Chicago government-relations law firm Kasper, Holmes & Dring, representing the referendum question objectors Alan H. Peres and Piergiorgio Uslenghi, pointed out Waters had signed the petition in support of the referendum question. He requested her recusal and Waters refused.
On Monday, Waters entered council chambers shortly before the 10 a.m. hearing and was asked by Brooke Lenneman, partner for village attorney Elrod Friedman, to step into an adjacent hallway.
She did not return. Enyia subsequently joined the board at the council table.
Lenneman wouldn’t say whether Waters was aware she had been disqualified. Waters could not be reached by phone or text later Monday.
Lack of language use questioned
Enyia ultimately cast the deciding vote on the matter, after Taglia voted in favor of the objectors’ argument that “the circulators’ affidavit did not include an explicit certification that the signatures are ‘genuine,’” i.e., actual use of that specific language, according to the board’s findings and decisions document made available to Wednesday Journal post-hearing.
After Taglia, Scaman voted against the objectors’ argument, and Enyia did likewise.
The findings and decisions document went on to say the “objectors have failed to establish that the absence of the word ‘genuine’ in the circulator’s affidavit renders any of the signatures fraudulent, undermines the integrity of the election, or affects the guarantee of a fair and honest election.
“Absence any showing of actual fraud or misconduct, the omission of the words ‘and are genuine’ from the circulator’s affidavit substantially complies with Section 28-3 of the Election Code.”
Prior to the roll-call vote, Scaman made it clear that the electoral board was not making a decision on the substance of the referendum question.
“Our job here is solely to determine whether it meets the criteria of being on the ballot,” she said. “The case law does not support the objection of these petitions.”
In his statement prior to the vote, Enyia noted he had given much thought to the matter. That included during a 25-minute recess after Kasper and Scott Erdman, attorney for the proponents Oak Park residents Caren Van Slyke and Jesse Bauer, had made their individual cases before the board. Lenneman was clear that Scaman, Enyia and Taglia could not deliberate together outside of the council chambers during the recess, only retaining the ability to confer individually with her as needed.
“Hearing some of the key answers that I received back from the petitioners’ attorney who drew up the petition, I don’t think there was any sort of workarounds or thoughts to deceive signers or petitioners or those reading those petitions,” Enyia said in his statement prior to the vote.
“I would say if there was some finding of fraud to go along with this, then we really are in that mode of there is something here. But there was nothing found along those lines, just this phrase was left out.”
After the proceedings, Kasper was asked if he would appeal the decision.
“Probably,” he said.
“A victory for democracy”
Erdman declined comment after the hearing. But Bauer and Van Slyke, members of Oak Parkers for Free Speech, both said they were pleased with the outcome.
“We’re happy with the result,” Bauer said. “I think there’s no evidence of fraud. That was what we expected; a line-and-sheet challenge to every single page, that’s usually how these things go. That’s what our attorney told us to prepare for.
“We were meticulous in vetting our signers and training our volunteers and our circulators. We knew we had a very high quality signatures and petitioners who signed. So I think the decision reflects the will of the Oak Park voters.”
As far as the term “genuine” being left out of the petition, Bauer said it was “a scrivener’s error. It happens.”
Van Slyke said she was pleased by the outcome.
“I’m so delighted that this board understood that 3,500 people put their names on something to say that the whole community needs to decide on this referendum,” she said. “I think this is really a victory for democracy.”
As far as an appeal, which has to be made before Thursday, the date by which the referendum question is added to the Nov. 3 ballot, Bauer said Oak Parkers for Free Speech will reevaluate if served with court documents.
The group Jewish Community and Friends for Democracy, which was not affiliated with Peres and Uslenghi, declined comment Monday.
Specific guidelines crucial
Enyia said he was presented with packets of material by Lenneman regarding the referendum ahead of being tabbed for the electoral board, just in case Waters would not be able to participate.
“I mean, I think it’s democracy, right?” he said of the 2-1 vote. “You are presented these two sides to this case, they give us very specific guidelines that we’re allowed to interpret from and having no specific prior precedent case to actually work off of, it makes it hard to determine. It could have gone either way.
“It really depended on that finding of fraud. I think that’s what it really came down to, was there any indication that fraud was shown. Knowing that that element wasn’t there made it difficult to rule one way or the other.”