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The Herald & Review Archives
Herald & Review (Decatur, IL)
February 6, 2007
Section: News
Page: A1
Despite more than 500 invalid signatures, group says issue won’t go away
MIKE FRAZIER H&R Staff Writer
DECATUR - More than 500 invalid signatures apparently have dealt a mortal blow to a petition drive to allow voters to decide in April whether the city should be represented by an aldermanic form of government. The issue will not be on the ballot, announced Change Decatur, a group spearheading efforts to change the form of city government. "This, I assure you: We’re definitely going to get on the ballot in the future," said Brian Burcham, a founding member of Change Decatur. Change Decatur needed to collect at least 1,553 signatures for voters to decide whether to carve the community into wards represented by aldermen. The city currently is served by council members who are elected at-large to represent the entire community. The group collected 1,806 signatures in a little more than a week, Burcham said. But 522 of the signatures are not valid, according to a review by the office of Macon County Clerk Steve Bean. Of the invalid signatures, 67 were from people who don’t live in city limits, Bean said. Another 272 signers were not registered to vote, and 154 were registered at an address other than where they lived. "Some were repeat signatures, and 17 signatures appeared to be signed by the same person," Bean said. Bean acknowledged that his employees are not handwriting experts. "But those 17 were so flagrant," Bean said. Court action possibly could be taken regarding the signatures that appear to be from the same person, Bean said. "What happens with that will be up to the state’s attorney," Bean said. Burcham said Change Decatur will not give up in its efforts. "It’s kind of disheartening because of the signatures," Burcham said. "But I still think it’s a strong statement from the people of Decatur. "We’re not giving up on this by no means, believe me. We’re going to move forward." Attorney Scott Rueter filed an objection to the petitions Monday on behalf of Carla Brinkoetter. The city’s electoral board will hold a hearing and rule on the objection, City Clerk Celeste Harris said. The three-member board includes Mayor Paul Osborne, Councilman Michael Carrigan and Harris. The invalid signatures are another apparent setback for the group that seeks to alter city government. Members of Change Decatur seek to abolish the city manager position and replace the city manager and council form of government with a strong mayor and aldermanic system. The group did not discover until the 11th hour that there was a problem with petitions being circulated to abandon the city manager form of government. Change Decatur was unaware that abolishing the city manager’s position would cause the city government to revert back to a commissioner form. People who signed the petitions had no idea that city government would go back to a commissioner form, organizers said. The group hoped to allow voters to decide in April whether to abandon simultaneously the city manager and commissioner forms of government and adopt an aldermanic system. Now, none of the three questions will appear on the April ballot. Change Decatur asked the city council last week to consider adopting an ordinance that would allow voters to decide whether to abandon the current council-manager form of government and the previous commissioner form. The group hoped to get the issue fast-tracked for Monday’s city council meeting. The issue was not on the agenda, and the city council took no action on the request. Osborne said last week that the request violates council policies for setting a meeting agenda, and the council has not had adequate time to study the issue. Osborne said he has no problems scheduling a study session to review different forms of city government. "The council was not involved in this," Osborne said. "Certainly, the petition route the citizens were doing is the correct route to go. "You can’t ask the city council to correct a problem when they were not involved in that process." Mike Frazier can be reached at mfrazier@herald-review.com or 421-7985.
Copyright, 2007, Herald & Review, Decatur, IL
