In McHenry County, voters want the townships to stay. In Des Plaines, they want gambling to stay away-at least according to the early returns. And in Cook County, voters want tax caps, overwhelmingly so.
Those were among the dizzying assortment of referendum issues facing northwest suburban voters Tuesday.
Not surprisingly, one of the biggest winners was an advisory referendum initiative asking Cook County voters if they want a cap placed on property-tax increases sought by most government bodies. With 95 percent of the precincts reporting, voters were supporting the measure by a ratio of nearly 5-1.
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In McHenry County, a vote on whether township governments should be preserved also appeared to be a runaway winner. With 124 of 168 precincts reporting, the pro-township vote was winning by a 3-1 ratio.
Supporters of the townships said wiping them away would do little more than remove services from township control and make government officials less accessible.
“There’s more of a personal touch to the townships,” said Grafton Township Highway Commissioner Robert Hight, when asked why he thought the anti-township movement failed.
Another township supporter, Nunda Township Supervisor Anita Sherwood, said the anti-township organizers did a poor job of explaining what would happen if they won. “I just don’t think people are going to buy into something unknown,” she said.
Robert Anderson, the leading opponent of townships, expressed disappointment at the vote.
“After hearing all the people tell me they would vote against townships, I had hoped the results would be different,” he said.
Anderson blamed the lopsided vote on the same thing as the pro-township camp.
“I think the people were concerned that there was nothing in place if the townships were abolished,” he said. “The first big snowstorm is not too far away, and people want to make sure their roads are plowed.”
Two gambling measures, although advisory, also received considerable attention in the months leading up to the election. The vote in Des Plaines figured to be close-closer than the one in Carpentersville, anyway-because it posed a straight up-or-down question: Do voters want casino gambling?
The answer, according to the early returns, was no. With 40 percent of the votes counted, the nays were winning, 55 percent to 45 percent.
Vince Powers, one of the anti-gambling organizers, said he was optimistic about victory. And legislators in Springfield, he said, should heed the anti-gambling message.
“They must listen to the voice of the people or they will be out of office,” Powers said.
Des Plaines Mayor Ted Sherwood, who spent Tuesday evening at home playing bridge-but not for money-said he favored legalized gambling in his city. Sherwood said that although he is not a gambler-the most he will wager is $2 on the golf course-the city would do well to welcome a riverboat casino.
“Pure and simple,” he said, “Des Plaines needs the revenue.”
The Carpentersville referendum initiative asked a question that is one step removed from the Des Plaines measure. Instead of asking voters whether they want gambling, the Carpentersville measure asked whether they wanted the right to vote on any introduction or expansion of gambling there.
With more than two-thirds of the precincts reporting, the vote was running nearly 10-1 in favor of granting residents the right to vote.
Such questions have been approved overwhelmingly in other Illinois communities.
Two communities that have experienced explosive growth put bond measures on the ballot, hoping for money to build schools. Crystal Lake High School District 155 wants a $29.6 million bond issued for a fourth high school, and in Huntley, School District 158 is seeking $16.5 million for new junior high and high schools.
With 48 of 69 precincts reporting, the Crystal Lake measure was ahead, 62 percent to 38 percent. The Huntley measure was nearly even with less than half the precincts reporting.
In Mt. Prospect, voters went to the polls to decide whether its public library should increase its tax rate 26 cents to pay off $18.5 million in expansion and renovation bonds. With 46 percent of the votes counted, the measure was losing, 63 percent to 37 percent.