Both the City of Blue Island and the Village of Alsip put a two-question advisory referendum to their residents asking: (1) if they supported the idea of their community seceding from Cook County; and (2) if they supported the idea of their community joining with neighboring communities to form a new county called Lincoln County.

COOK COUNTY - Voters in two south suburban Cook County communities had the opportunity to send a message to Cook County government last Tuesday through an advisory referendum testing the popular support for secession.

Both the City of Blue Island and the Village of Alsip put a two-question advisory referendum to their residents asking: (1) if they supported the idea of their community seceding from Cook County; and (2) if they supported the idea of their community joining with neighboring communities to form a new county called Lincoln County.

The results were split. Alsip voters narrowly voted yes on the secession question by a 50.3-49.7% majority while Blue Island voters narrowly rejected the idea by a 52.1-47.9% majority.

Both communities rejected the second ballot question related to the formation of a new Lincoln County.

Blue Island Mayor Don Peloquin attributed the narrow defeat of the referendum in his city to Democrats who leafleted neighborhoods on the east side of the city in the closing weeks of the campaign encouraging people to vote no on both questions.

Peloquin also noted that the second question was a bit confusing and that possibly helped explain the rejection of the Lincoln County concept even among those voters who supported the idea of secession from Cook County.

The advisory referenda came out of a series of meetings among more than two dozen south suburban Cook county communities over the summer and in the wake of the Illinois Gaming Boards rejection of south suburban County Club Hills as the possible site for the states now dormant tenth casino gaming license.

Many mayors and local officials expressed frustration by the lack of help their communities, many of which are in dire financial straits, receive from both county and state government.

At one of those meetings, Jim Sexton, President of the Village of Evergreen Park said, I dont even know who my county commissioner is, said Jim Sexton, President of the Village of Evergreen Park. We dont get anything from Cook County.

Despite that frustration, shared by many leaders in Chicagos Southland, only Peloquin and Alsip Mayor Arnie Andrews pushed the issue through their respective municipal councils in the fall in order to get the referenda on the November ballot.

Despite the narrow defeat, Peloquin remains convinced he did the right thing. The referendum served to highlight the point about the lack of attention we (the Southland) get from our county government and its clear that a lot of our residents feel the same way. Were trying to do something about it.

Next steps? Im not going to spend scarce city resources on pursuing this, said Peloquin. But I will continue to talk about it to bring attention to this issue until we get some results for our residents.

(c) 2004 IllinoisLeader.com -- all rights reserved

_______

What are your thoughts concerning the issues raised in this story? Write a letter to the editor at letters@illinoisleader.com, and include your name and town.

Related stories:

"Illinois 103rd County?" June 30, 2004

"Blue Island Takes Lead on Lincoln County effort" July 15, 2004