The Madison County Board approved an advisory referendum that would allow the board to explore the possibility of the county becoming part of a new state. (Photo courtesy of Madison County)

The Madison County Board on April 17 gave the green light to an advisory referendum that would allow the board to explore the possibility of the county becoming part of a new state.  

A resolution which passed along partisan lines after some 75 minutes of audience comment and board debate authorized the placement of a nonbinding advisory referendum on the Nov. 5 general election ballot. If passed, it could lead the County Board to begin work with some 26 other Illinois counties interested in exploring the possibility of legally separating from Cook County and seeking approval to forming an entirely new state.  

The referendum reads: “Shall the board of Madison County correspond with the boards of other counties of Illinois, outside of Cook County, about the possibility of separating from Cook County to form a new state and to seek admission to the Union as such, subject to the approval of the people?” 

The proposal, which was brought before the County Board last summer, has been the focus of numerous county committee meetings. It was placed on the April board agenda after passing out of the Government Relations committee April 2.  

Referendum proponents have been criticized for not being willing or able to gather the required 8,500 signatures from registered voters, and instead opting to go through the County Board.  

Asked during a March 5 Government Relations committee meeting to estimate the number of signatures collected so far, referendum organizer David Stopher put the number between 1,500 and 3,000. Opponent Byron Holt opined that the signature count “indicated a lack of widespread support.” 

More than 15 people signed up to speak at the April 17 board meeting, requiring the board to suspend its rule limiting public comment on a single issue.  

In his comments, Stopher didn’t explain why proponents opted to forego the petition route, saying, “This is not a vote for secession, this is a vote to communicate with other counties … This is a democratic process, and we ask for the ability to speak.” 

Echoing a common concern of referendum proponents, Robert Sylvester bemoaned the “stranglehold that Cook County exerts over Illinois, particularly with ballooning pension obligations, weighs heavily on Madison County taxpayers.” 

He said that “across 26 counties an average of 74 percent of voters (of those who voted) have expressed their desire to explore the possibility of separation.” 

Opponent Darla Hoffman criticized the board for “bypass(ing) the 8,500 signatures needed to add this resolution,” and said she was “really tired of the posturing and grandstanding at County Board meetings.” It all was a waste of time, she said, “until there have been petitions with 8,500 signatures (and) details presented with accurate data driven information to the public.” 

Sam McKenzie, who recently moved back to Madison County after retiring from the Air Force, was both eloquent and challenging. Chicago, he said, was a “world class city of art and commerce,” and he was “proud to be associated with the city that inspired the poetry of Carl Sandburg, and where Frank Lloyd Wright honed his craft … where Ida B. Wells and Jane Addams spoke truth to power.” 

“Of course, Chicago has its problems,” McKenzie said. “But so does Madison County. Problems that aren’t being addressed because we’re busy addressing a nonbinding resolution that is a pipe dream of amounting to anything tangible.”  

“It takes an awfully cynical group of people to want to destroy a state that our ancestors built over the past 200 years … “This is the Land of Lincoln, not the land of Jefferson Davis. We don’t do secession here. Vote no.” 

There was a clear partisan divide on the board.  

Democratic board member Alison Lamothe, who said she was the only member of the Government Relations committee who voted against it, said she “cannot in good conscious vote for a nonbinding resolution that promotes division and is based on false assumptions.” 

“Proponents have tried to downplay the impact of this resolution by emphasizing that it is nonbinding and by characterizing it as a public opinion poll. But it’s more than a poll, it’s a goal, to create a new state that excludes Cook County, our most populace county and also the one which produces the most revenue.” 

Democrat Michael Holliday called the referendum proposal “the worst resolution brought to the full board in my 26 years on the County Board,” and said it stood no chance of passing Constitutional muster with either the U.S. or Illinois constitutions.”  

“If you want to secede to the State of Missouri,” he said, “move over there.” 

Republican Paul Nicolussi dismissed those concerns, saying, “If it’s voted down, we don’t bring it up again.” He opined that “A lot of people feel their views are very unheralded and they don’t get respect and a few counties up north control the entire state.” 

Democrat Bill Stoutenborough said he was “amazed this issue has gotten as far as it has. We tend to hear and believe what we want to hear and discount what we don’t want to hear.” 

Challenging the reason for the proposal, he asked, “What are the issues that have convinced people that this is a worthy thing?” 

“I don’t have a problem with Chicago,” Republican Robert Meyer said. “What I have a problem with is Chicago running Springfield.” 

Meyer referred to a recent Democratic attempt to pass a bill he said would adopt California’s emission standards “verbatim.” 

“It’s got to be a certain year or newer, nothing grandfathered in, (or) you’re off the road,’ he said. “There’s not a farmer around me that has a truck that will pass these emissions (standards).” 

“It’s pretty easy to identify a problem; it’s not very easy to take care of a solution,” Democrat Nick Petrillo said. “I sympathize to a degree, understand the problems, the frustration. (But) so far, all I’ve heard is, we’ve described a problem — Chicago and Cook County. I’ve only heard one solution — let’s be a new state.” 

With public and board comments concluded, Stoutenborough moved to table the motion, with Petrillo seconding it. But the motion failed and the roll call vote on the referendum then passed.