It Will Take a Village to Disband a Village

By Alicia Dorr in News on Nov 20, 2007 8:01PM

Seven months ago, 55 percent of the people living loosely packed together in a space of about 20 square miles voted to incorporate as Campton Hills village in Kane County. There was a lot of back and forth, and harsh words were bandied. Now, in a startling upset, those opposing the village's creation and continued existence may have found a way to shoo away the winds of change.

Yesterday a referendum for the February 5th ballot with more than 2,300 signatures was filed at the Village Hall. The original push to incorporate was based on the desire for simple amenities, like having someone arrange for trash collection. Those who oppose the incorporation, the somewhat melodramatically named "Free Us" group, pointed out that such things mean new taxes, and they want no part of that. Judging by the number of signatures submitted yesterday, a lot of people agree with them.

Despite their impressive showing, however, it's possible that a court will have to decide whether the referendum gets on the ballot at all, since the village already has taken up the three legally allotted ballot positions with their own questions. Of course a court battle could be avoided if the village committee withdraws one of its own questions, but would be like the president voting himself out of office. Just thinking about it makes us go cross-eyed.

Image via stopcamptonhillsspac.com.