Yes indeed, elections matter and have consequences, whether we like them or not. But do the results provide the winners a mandate and to do what? Given the sparsity of candidates on April 4, voters did not have many choices.
However, what about the paucity of voters? According to the Cook County Clerk’s Office election data, voter turnout for the village of Oak Park was only 16.11%. Faring ever so slightly better was the turnout for the OPRF school board with 16.57%, which included the District 200 voters who reside in River Forest.
The current and newly elected school board members really should consider the few votes they actually received last week when considering the funding mechanism approved for the Project 2 capital improvements for the school building. Compare that percentage of the vote with the 80.3% of voters in 2020 who cast a ballot passing a referenda by 76% to 23% to require voter approval of future referendums for capital improvement expenditures above $5 million. The few votes the new school board members received last week hardly gives them a mandate to do as they please to fund Project 2.
Finally, the nearly 85% of the local electorate who did not vote this year should be ashamed of themselves and vow to do better and vote in 2024.
Chris Donovan
Oak Park