Community members, led by young political activist Jacob Drews, have started collecting signatures for a binding referendum on a right of recall process for the Village of Oak Park. If they are successful in gathering the necessary signatures, the measure would be on the ballot in municipal elections next April.
Right of recall is a mechanism that allows residents to remove a local elected official from their role before the term is completely served through a petition and majority vote. It is a mechanism that Oak Park does not currently have.
“It will be a good democratic guardrail. This isn’t about one issue or one specific person on the board, it’s just good governance,” said Drews. “We have very good progressive values, we have a very involved citizenry, but there are always other things that we can do to improve our local government, and I think adopting recall is one of those things.”
A recall process is often seen in municipalities across the country including all of Wisconsin and Michigan and even nearby villages such as Arlington Heights and Wheeling. The recall process would require 25% of voters in the previous election to sign a petition to get a vote, and then a majority vote would be needed to actually remove the official from office.
Drews began researching the recall process about five years ago while he was in high school and working on another legislative effort with the support of former Gov. Pat Quinn.
Together, they proposed an advisory referendum on the 2024 ballot asking residents if they should “have the initiative right to amend and propose ordinances by voter petition and enact those ordinances by voter referendum?”
The referendum question received an 85% majority vote in favor, however, it has not been voted on by the village board to actually go into effect. Trustee James Taglia shared his support for creating a ballot initiative process should it come to a vote. President Vicki Scaman has shared in the past that she would be open to it as well, but she did not respond to inquiries on where the idea stands now.
Drews said he was disappointed it has not moved forward yet but remains hopeful.
“I am very optimistic that there will be a vote on it in the, hopefully, not-so-distant future. I believe that there’s a responsibility when there’s a mandate by the voters to do something that gets done,” said Drews.
The right of recall petition proposes a binding referendum for the upcoming April 6, 2027, election meaning the government would be legally required to carry out the result should it pass.
The effort is still in early stages as Drews and other volunteers are getting signatures to qualify for the ballot. The requirement is 1,900 signatures, but volunteers are aiming for closer to 2,500 to create a buffer in case some signatures are not accepted.
Volunteer, and neighbor to the Drews family, Maria Ferrera has gotten involved in the effort attending the Oak Park Farmers Market to collect petition signatures.
“I was kind of I was surprised at how angry people were, and obviously rezoning is on everybody’s lips, but a lot of people felt that it was more than that, and that there are a series of things, and that the village board wasn’t really listening to the voters,” said Ferrera. “So I’m really thrilled that we’re making so much progress on it.”
The petition is not due until the end of the year, so Oak Park residents that are registered voters are still able to sign. Rules require all signatures to be pen-to-paper and there is more information on how to sign on the initiative’s website.
“I think that we can affect change at the local level,” said Ferrera. “Oak Park only has like 50,000 people, and so, we as a community should be able to affect change locally.”