Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) is worried that the vote on a number of referendum proposals on the March 20 ballots in Will County may not be totally representative of the voting population of the community.
“My response is that I would prefer all of these questions be put on the ballot during general elections only,” Batinick told the Will County Gazette.
The veteran lawmaker, who is running in the March 20 GOP primary, is quite clear in his reasoning.
“Consolidated and primary elections have very varied turnout,” he said. “It is often very low. Also, during a primary, the turnout model may vary greatly depending on which party has more interesting political races.”
“Passing a tax increase should have to be done during a high turnout race,” Batinick said.
Set to be on the ballot for the village of Orland Park (Cook and Will counties) in the form of advisory propositions is whether video gaming should be prohibited within the corporate limits of the village and whether gaming should be allowed under certain conditions.
In Wheatland Township, voters will be asked a “proposition to contract, administer or license a refuse collection disposal and recycling program,” while voters in nearby Wilton Township will vote on a proposition aimed at creating a new tax rate for joint bridge tax purposes.
In the Frankfort Square Park District, a proposition to authorize the sale of $1.5 million in bonds will be on the ballot, while White Oak Library District voters will address a proposition to increase the limiting rate.
In Minooka Community Consolidated School District 201 (Grundy, Kendall and Will counties), voters will be asked if $90 million in school building bonds should be issued.
As for his own campaign, Batinick recently shared with the Will County Gazette that his straight to-the-point-message is starting to resonate well with voters. “We need to stop spending more than we take in, focus on economic growth and focus on getting a handle on our growing pension crisis,” he said.
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