Secession Still an Issue in Palatine

By Kevin Robinson in News on Apr 7, 2009 2:20PM

As voters in the Fifth Congressional District head to the polls today to decide who will finally and once and for all (or at least until 2010) replace Rahm Emanuel in congress, voters in Palatine, Barrington and Hanover townships will consider an advisory, non-binding vote on leaving Cook County. Anger over recent tax hikes is still very much an issue in the northwest suburb. The Northwest suburb started talking about leaving Cook County around this time last year, after the county sales tax increased the cost of retail purchases. For most Chicagoans, it's a fate they're largely forced to accept. But in Palatine, which borders Lake County, sales have dropped as people do their shopping across the county border.

"I think forming another county would be worth looking at,'' Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins told the Sun-Times recently, but not without changes in state law and more support from other municipalities. In fact, leaving Cook County isn't a new notion. In the 1970's, those three suburbs, along with Wheeling, Schaumburg, and Elk Grove Village considered breaking away to form Lincoln County. Former Palatine mayor and state senator Wendell Jones was long a proponent of the idea. And in 2004 a group of 55 south suburban municipalities tried to organize around secession as well, although they were motivated by economic development, an issue they felt Chicago politicians were ignoring. Neither proposal went far.