Can I Really Fight City Hall?
If people really bought into the adage that you can’t fight city hall, or at least the asserting-your-rights-against-a-state-seeking-to-infringe-on-them principle that it represents, we’d all be British subjects. In truth, we’d be a lot of things, likely all the same things given the unusual mandate authority consistently seems to have for homogeny. But this post isn’t a lesson about the Shakman decrees or the recent end of the Chicago Desegregation order or any other lesson in the history of fighting city hall. It’s a new chapter in the fight and it involves challenging public works projects... anyone thinking they might need to fight city hall or challenge bid awards when Chicago’s 2016 Olympic dreams are realized will want to bone up on the proper procedures for fighting city hall… which is what today’s case is all about.
The plaintiff’s in Ziller v. Rossi (Doc. Nos. 2-09-0511 and 2-09-0592) were fighting town hall, literally… they wanted to keep it from being built, and based on their town board’s inadequate notices for the issues to be discussed at town meetings and improper requests for funding in light of pending requests to present the issues to the electors of Grafton Township, they were successful.
The board was attempting to enter into lengthy installment contracts and pledge public funds in excess of $3.5 million in debt certificates in order to purchase land and construct a new town hall. Plaintiffs were a group of individuals who sought to challenge the board’s authority for the action given the board’s failure to follow the proper statutory procedures and rules for acting in such a manner.
In 2007 and in 2008, the board had voted to purchase land for, and construct, the town hall, but had failed to properly place notification of these actions on the notice of the meeting that was required to be distributed prior to the meetings. They had also passed an ordinance in a similar manner for financing the projects. The plaintiffs challenged the action and sought an injunction from the court to stop the board from taking any steps towards purchasing the land, financing the purchase, entering into construction contracts for the town hall, or constructing the town hall because the notices for the meetings were in violation of the Illinois Township Code (60 ILCS 1/1 et seq.).
In addition to claiming that the board had violated the Township Code and that because of the violation, the boards actions were void, the plaintiff’s also followed the code and submitted their own petition to submit the town hall issue to the electorate during an election rather than allowing the town board to vote on the matter and bind the citizens. (In addition to other issues, the town code allows citizens to submit petitions requiring that question of constructing a town hall, be put to the electorate during the general election and not decided by the town board when appropriate). The plaintiffs sought a second injunction compelling the clerk to certify the question in their petition to the proper election officials to be submitted to the electorate at the general election.
The trial court granted the plaintiff’s request for an injunction and told the board that it could not obligate the township and that its previous actions had not comported with the requirements of the township code and required clerk to certify the question. The town board appealed the decision and the appellate court’s opinion upheld the decision of the trial court. The township code must be followed and the petition should be submitted to the electorate for a vote.
Few issues are as publicly contentious as the use of common property, this is why the procedures for addressing these issues are so heavily detailed in statute. The greater guidance for public deliberation and decision regarding the commons, the less chance a party has to feel like they were not given a voice and heard… This assumes the procedures were followed. When the procedures aren’t followed, not only is it more likely that trouble will result, it is more likely that someone is attempting to assert their rights over another and that the assertion may not be entirely justified or proper.
The municipal codes, county codes and township codes and local government regulations of the State of Illinois are an interesting mix and rarely do the issues of electoral procedure become so entwined with issues of construction, zoning, environmental law and even the private rights of citizens against each other… If you want to fight city hall, the first thing to know is how to fight city hall, and the Illinois statutes, along with the city’s own codes are a good place to start.