Franklin Parkers who made it to the polls voted in favor of three referendums, according to unofficial results Tuesday night.
An advisory referendum on whether the village should spend money to establish “quiet zones” at train crossings was narrowly approved, 51 percent to 49 percent.
“We wanted to find out whether residents wanted us to spend funds for train quiet zones,” said Village President Barrett Pedersen. “If an overwhelming number said no, we wouldn’t spend funds. And people who said ‘Why don’t we spend money?’ we could say people didn’t want us to.”
Another advisory referendum on whether the Federal Aviation Administration should create a “fly quiet” period for planes from O’Hare Airport between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. was approved, 82 percent to 18 percent.
Finally, a term limits referendum that would limit elected officials to 16 years in office — not including time served when the referendum went into effect — was approved, 81 percent to 19 percent.
At one time six different referendums had been proposed for the April 7 election. By Cook County ordinance, no more than three referendums can appear on any given ballot.
Of the six, three dealt with term limits for elected officials. The least stringent of those ended up on the ballot.
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Resident Ken Zurek proposed term limits of no more than eight years and Chris Litwin put forth a similar referendum, also of eight years. Litwin also proposed a referendum eliminating salaries, medical and dental insurance, disability and life insurance benefits for elected officials.
Litwin’s proposed referendums didn’t make it to the ballot, as they were submitted after four other referendums had been submitted. Zurek fought challenges to his proposed referendum in front of a local electoral board, circuit court and appellate court but was ultimately unsuccessful at getting it on the ballot.
Not all voters agreed when asked about term limits at the polls Tuesday afternoon.
Bob Guzik, a local facility manager, thinks term limits are a good idea.
“You need change, people with new ideas” said Guzik, who voted at the District 84 administration center. “To me it should have been less than four terms. Two terms, to me, is more than enough.”
Tina Rodriguez, a customer service representative for an airline, sees it differently.
“I’m not a big fan,” Rodriguez said. “The ones that are doing a good job, why should we limit their time? The ones who aren’t, they’ll get voted out.”
Still, most people interviewed liked the idea of term limits preferred eight years rather than 16 years.
David Rodriguez, a construction worker who voted at East Leyden High School, agreed.
“Eight years, it should be enough,” he said.
So did Bill Ennis, a human resources manager.
“No one should have a dynasty in their office,” Ennis said. “Like the president, it should be eight years.”