Senate approves Sen. Holmes’ government reform measure

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) this week overrode a veto of a measure to address the election of trustees for the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District. Senate Bill 2830 requires the trustees be elected rather than appointed. The bill had been vetoed by the governor in August and Holmes successfully overrode that veto today in the Senate.

“I believe it is important that those who represent the citizens of our communities should be elected and not appointed,” Holmes said. “This bill provides for trustee candidates to go on the ballot during consolidated elections. It represents government reform that will better serve water quality needs in the future for people in the Fox River Valley.”

The Water Reclamation District was created in the late 1920s and today
serves nearly 300,000 residents in Aurora, North Aurora, Boulder Hill,
Montgomery, Oswego, Sugar Grove and portions of Yorkville and Batavia,
according to the Board’s website.

Senate Bill 2830 provides that trustees will be elected at consolidated
elections, rather than appointed by members of the General
Assembly, beginning with the 2019 consolidated election. Current members
of the Board can continue to serve until their terms expire, at which time an
elected trustee will take their place on the Board. Trustees will be elected to
staggered 4-year terms. The Board will continue to have 5 total members.

Approved on a vote of 50-5 by the Senate, the measure now moves to the House for concurrence.