This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Despite Economy, Kane Voters Say Yes to Open Space Referendum

Aurora Election Commission totals are a "no," but not enough to counter the bigger "yes" in the rest of Kane County.

I think it was George H.W. Bush who said, "Read my lips: No new taxes."

In this economy, that's what a lot of voters have been saying, as well. And so it was with a bit of trepidation that Kane County Forest Preserve officials put forth the idea of an open-space referendum on the April 5 ballot.

The officials apparently knew what they were doing and got their message across to voters, who said, "Read my lips: SOME new taxes" by a margin of 17,136 to 12,372.

Find out what's happening in Genevawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

That's the combined total of the votes from the Aurora Election Commission—which actually said "no"—and the balance of Kane County, whose votes are counted by the Kane County Clerk's Office.

A lot of the success is credited to County Forest Preserve President and St. Charles attorney John Hoscheit and his staff, for getting the message out.

Find out what's happening in Genevawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"He would never say this about himself, but John and a couple of key staff members did a yeoman’s job," said County Board District 28 representative Drew Frasz, who also was actively campaigning for the referendum.

"In the past, we’ve enjoyed real strong margins of support for open space, but with the economy, it was a little bit more of a roll of the dice than in previous referendums," Frasz said.

One of the keys was to show the bang for the buck. Proponents said the referendum would cost only about $12 a year per household for 20 years—for a home valued at $268,000. Because land prices are low, the Forest Preserve District might be able to acquire as much as 2,000 acres of additional land and would be eligible for matching grants that further the value.

"We were banking on the fact that educated voters look at the issue and the extremely conservative amount they would pay for the benefits they would reap and see the value in that. And I thnk that's what happened.

"I'm happy," Frasz added. "I think  we can all say that our generation did what we could in our time. We had great support from the Conservation Foundation and all those people worked really hard. But once again, the real credit goes to the foresight of the people of Kane County."

 

Voting Area Yes No Winner Aurora Election Commission 2,314 2,532 Kane County 14,822 12,372 Total 17,136 14,902 Yes

 

These numbers are courtesy of the Aurora Election Commission and the Kane County Clerk's Office websites.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?