Electoral Reform

Glenview is one community, but not one neighborhood. People that live in the Glen have different characteristics then those that live in the Willows. Some people live in single-family homes while others live in townhouses, condos or apartments. Some people may support a new development in one area, while others will not. The point is, we might all live in Glenview but we do not all think the same and may have more in common with our immediate neighbors.

This underscores a flaw in the way we elect our representative body, the Village Board of Trustees. Currently, Glenview’s Board of Trustees is made up of 6 trustees and 1 president, all of which are elected at-large. This means that every two years 3 trustees are elected by the same voters. Now this may not seem like a major problem at first until you consider the drawbacks of such an electoral process. Today I will describe three drawbacks of the at-large elections—the minority opinions do not get heard, certain areas will be underrepresented, and a lack of connection between the voters and those elected to represent them. Of course, I will also provide my thoughts on a solution—dividing Glenview up into 6 trustee districts, one for each trustee seat.

First, the opinions of those in the minority or a particular neighborhood may not be heard. If all trustees are accountable to the exact same voters, then on issues where 49% or less of voters have one view, their opinion may not matter at all. As long as at least 51% of voters at large think one way on an issue, the trustees are more likely to vote as the 51% desire so as to protect themselves at election time. District level Trustee elections would provide opportunities for more local representation since Trustees are beholden to the voters in their district and will vote on issues the way their district wants them to. So even if a particular issue only impacts 40 of the residents, they are more likely to be heard if they are concentrated in a couple districts.

Second, certain areas may be overlooked. Let’s face it there may be areas in Glenview that do not have as many residents that participate in the local elections as other areas. If so, the population in that particular area has less of a chance to be heard and is more likely to be ignored at the Village level. A good example of this occurred in 2012 when the Sunset Village neighborhood faced extremely unsanitary living conditions, among other problems, but were completely ignored when those residents reached out to Village officials. Had Sunset Village been within a district with one Trustee beholden to them, there is a very good chance they would have been better represented in Village government. We might like to think the Village has everyone’s best interests at heart, but unfortunately this is not always the case.

Last but not least- Trustees will have a better chance at getting to know the voters if they are only responsible for a particular district as opposed to the entire Village. It is impossible for a Trustee to get to know all of Glenview voters. However, as the area of representation shrinks, a Trustee is better able to get to know the residents of a particular district. With at-large elections turnout will always be low because Trustees are likely to focus on the few thousand voters that voted in the last municipal election rather than the whole Village. If trustee candidates only had a particular district to worry about, they are more likely to expand their outreach. This also would allow Trustees to build better relationship with voters, as smaller districts allow them to connect with voters in the district rather than trying to connect with the entire Village.

In the end, district level elections will very likely increase participation and competition. If people can run in their local districts instead of at the Village level, it is likely that more residents will take up the calling to serve at their local level. District elections will allow for more voices to be heard and disperse the local party power that Citizens for Glenview has had for the past 18 years, as their candidates would now have to compete in their own districts instead of working as a group to exclude competing voices at the Village level.

The good news is, Illinois law allows villages of over 25,000 residents to elect their 6 trustees by district rather than at-large. So with a Village of nearly 50,000 people and growing, why are we still using a highly unrepresentative electoral system? Glenview is much larger than we think, and it is time we give its residents better representation and a better government. Such a system will increase participation, increase representation, and provide a closer connection between voters and their government. It is time we take an important and first step to reform our Village government.

- Benjamin Polony, Candidate for Glenview Trustee (Credit also to Glenview resident Cathy Wilson for thinking this idea up with me)