Politics & Government
Plainfield Park Board to Revisit House Bill, Resolution to Add Commissioners
Two votes were set aside last month due to the absence of two commissioners.
The Plainfield Park District Board of Commissioners is scheduled to meet Wednesday to vote on two measures that could expand the board from five to seven members.
The board is slated to meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Heritage Professional Center, 24023 W. Lockport St.
One item up for a vote is a resolution to support House Bill 5593, which would allow state legislators to appoint two new board members in an effort aimed to dilute the influence of the past board majority. After two years, the new members would then be up for election.
The bill, sponsored by State Reps. Tom Cross (R-Oswego) and Natalie Manley (D-Joliet), last month passed the House with 100 yes votes, 12 nos and 2 "present" votes. The measure is awaiting a vote in the Senate, where it is sponsored by Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant (D-Shorewood).
At the board's April meeting, commissioners Larry Newton and Mary Kay Ludemann voted to support the bill, while Janet Silosky voted no, saying that, "from a legal standpoint, it opens up a Pandora's box."
With president Peter Hurtado and commissioner Peter Steinys both absent, the 2-1 vote wasn't enough to legally pass a resolution to support the bill, so it will return for another vote on Wednesday.
Another resolution — this one favored by Silosky — would also add two new board members, but it would be done in house. If it passes, the two new members would not join the board until after the April 2015 election.
That vote was also tabled at the April meeting on the motion of Silosky, who noted, "I think I know how that vote will be."
The board is also slated to select the winner of the Norman Greenway dog park naming contest on Wednesday.
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