Elmhurst Rule Keeps Council Tempers In Check

ELMHURST, IL – It's often said nothing good happens after midnight. The Elmhurst City Council makes sure it doesn't even get close.

Under an unwritten rule, the council's version of midnight is 10 p.m. Meetings should end by that time or shortly thereafter.

Other public bodies don't follow such a rule and, at times, have apparently suffered the consequences.

Asked about the rule, Mayor Scott Levin said he remembered attending meetings of the city's Zoning and Planning Commission years ago about the Crescent Square development, just south of Pazzi di Pizza.

"The meetings went well past midnight," he told Patch in an email this week. "Tempers flared and little was accomplished."

Years later, Levin said, it became apparent during City Council meetings that after a long day and many hours, the aldermen were exhausted. He said no urgency existed to meet late into the night.

"I believe that the 10:00 PM cutoff started under Mayor (Steve) Morley, and I and other alderman thought it was an excellent concept," said Levin, who was elected mayor in 2021. "I suppose by continuing it into my administration, it has become a tradition."

This week, Levin reminded his colleagues of the 10 p.m. deadline during a budget meeting. The aldermen finished up a particular topic and ended the meeting at 10:03 p.m.

Morley took office in 2013, so the rule has been around for as long as a decade.

In 2021, a bitterly divided Hinsdale High School District 86 board held meetings late into the night, debating curriculum changes.

After one session concluded shortly before midnight, a board member left the building pointing his finger at another member, using the f-word repeatedly and then touching him on the shoulder. A couple of minutes later, the second member approached the first member's car and told him not to touch him again.

After an investigation, both men admitted their roles.