Southwest suburban Alsip finds itself at the center of an age-old issue here in Illinois: Term limits.
That village in 2016 imposed upon its mayor, clerk and trustees a limit of three consecutive four-year terms. Now that may soon change, thanks in no small part to one of the primary architects of Alsip’s current term limits.
First, a little bit of history.
Alsip Mayor John D. Ryan, when he was a trustee back in 2016, was an ardent supporter of term limits, in opposition to his political opponent, former Mayor Patrick Kitching. The proposal came in the form of a referendum before voters, asking whether they supported adopting a policy whereby “no person may hold the office of village president, village clerk or village trustee for more than three consecutive four-year terms.” Kitching tried to halt the referendum, but failed.
“I will not allow Mayor Kitching to determine what taxpayers and voters should be able to vote on,” Ryan said at the time.
The referendum moved ahead and voters approved village term limits, making these guidelines the law of the land in Alsip.
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Today, as Ryan stares down the end of his third and final term, which expires in 2029, his mayoral tenure may get an extension.
That’s because Alsip’s board of trustees placed on the November ballot a referendum to — you guessed it — extend the village’s cap to four terms instead of three. It appears Ryan is quietly supportive of the move.
The village clerk told the Chicago Sun-Times that Ryan hopes the referendum passes so he can run for a fourth term.
Talk about a “do as I say, not as I do” moment.
If this all feels depressingly familiar, perhaps that’s because you’ve followed similar stories of local officials working to unshackle themselves from cumbersome limitations on their ability to hold the same office for as long as desired.
South suburban Dolton ushered in a new day when voters rejected former Mayor Tiffany Henyard (dubbed “the worst mayor in America”) in favor of former trustee Jason House.
In 2019, village voters approved new rules limiting the mayor and village clerk to no more than two consecutive 4-year terms.
But House moved to bump limits to four terms instead of two.
“It’s going to take a decent amount of time with one team in place, or the team the voters elect, to be able to make some significant changes,” House said. “I do feel that in our last term, a lot of that term was just spent trying to regulate or trying to minimize damage.” Eighty percent of Dolton voters backed this extension in March.
It’s easier to understand that argument in the context of Dolton, given the disaster wrought by House’s predecessor.
Whatever you think about term limits — and we are of the opinion that they don’t make sense uniformly — such hypocrisy as is on display in Alsip still is bad form. “Rules for thee but not for me” is the credo of those whose commitment to a rule seems to last only until that rule constrains their own political ambitions.
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If a three-term limit made sense back in 2016, it should not matter to Ryan that the tables now have turned. He should stick to his own rules.
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