Why are elected officials so afraid of democracy?

The United States is a representative democracy, which means we elect people to represent us at different levels of government. It’s why we have senators, representatives, trustees and the like. Still, there are some issues that are so large that the people must make the final decision. This is why the NPD117 Board of Education decided to put the issue of what happens next at Conrady Junior High School on the April 9 ballot.

After studying the options and costs, the BofE decided it was time to put the matter before the community. Whether it was a complete teardown or a renovation/addition, the BofE needed voter approval due to the costs involved.

There was a lot of heated BofE debate and the same solution kept coming up: put the issue before the voters. Surprisingly, some elected officials were unhappy, even angry, that the BofE decided to go to referendum. Two of those people – Michael LeBarre and Kelly Pavloski – were BofE members who voted not to go to referendum.

Why would you vote not to go to referendum? The only thing I can think of is they didn’t understand the question before the BofE. The question was to ask voters what to do about the future of Conrady Junior High School. If the voters passed the April 9 referendum, the building would be torn down and rebuilt. If the voters rejected the April 9 referendum, the BofE would work with the community to prioritize projects to renovate and add-on to the existing building. The voters needed to decide which way to go so the BofE knew the direction to proceed. It was really that simple.

Yet, after the vote to put a referendum question on the ballot, Michael gave an angry diatribe about how people were suffering. He ask how the BofE could do this to the community? I kept wondering what he thought the BofE was doing? As far as I could tell the BofE was asking the community to decide the future of our junior high. In his mind I can only guess that he thought the BofE was making the decision for the people. Otherwise why would he get upset that the BofE was doing its due diligence and asking the community to make the final decision?

Of course, this isn’t the first time I’ve wondered if Michael knew what was going on at a BofE meeting. At a previous BofE meeting (I believe it was the October 2012 meeting), Michael voted no on a question before the BofE. He then turned to the recording secretary and said something like, “For the record, I don’t know what we’re voting on, but I vote no.” And he was so serious that he said it twice. I would have written down exactly what he said, but I was so stunned that a board member would want something like that on the record that I didn’t look for a pen. (Michael LeBarre was recently elected a Palos Township Trustee on the Republican ticket.)

Later other elected officials got on the “how can you do this to people” bandwagon. On our Facebook page, Palos Hills Alderman Mary Ann Schultz left a comment questioning how we could take the issue to the voters. This one really surprised me as the people she represents attend school district 118. First, I’m not sure why this was of concern to her since it didn’t affect her constituents. Second, I had heard from many people that she was angry with the district when representatives appeared before the Palos Hills City Council during an informational meeting. I’m not sure why all her anger was directed at the district, but there she was on our Facebook page demanding to know why the district put the question in front of voters. Who did she think should have made the decision? It’s a community issue and the district asked the community to decide.

It’s amazing, isn’t it? People who are supposed to represent the community spend so much time questioning why the community should decide its fate. Perhaps this is why people are so jaded when it comes to elections and elected officials. As soon as they are elected to office these people seem to think winning an election gives them the ability to make all decisions. They forget that they merely represent the community. There are still decisions the community needs to make. Elected representatives are simply enabled to make a limited number of decisions on behalf of constituents. The big decisions still rest with the people.

On the April 9 ballot, the NPD117 community decided the fate of Conrady. The plans and progress will probably be discussed at every BofE meeting. I hope more NPD117 community members start to show up to those meetings. It’s important for the community to understand the upcoming decisions and make their voices heard.

I hope more people start to show up at the Palos Township and Palos Hills City Council meetings to see what happens when people stop campaigning and start governing. I think most people would find it eye opening.