People ex rel. City of Chicago Heights v. Richton
| Decision Date | 26 November 1969 |
| Docket Number | No. 41502,41502 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE ex rel. CITY OF CHICAGO HEIGHTS, Petitioner, v. Maurino R. RICHTON, Mayor, Respondent. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Angelo A. Ciambrone, Chicago Heights, for petitioner.
Peter J. Coppa, Chicago Heights, for respondent.
This is an original action in Mandamus whereby the City of Chicago Heights seeks issuance of the writ directed to Maurino R. Richton, mayor of said city to execute public library bonds of the city in the amount of $980,000, which were approved by the voters in a special election held on February 27, 1967, and authorized by ordinance adopted by the city council on May 6, 1968.
Respondent mayor refused to sign the bonds on behalf of the city because he says the bonds are illegal and void and can not be an obligation of the city. He contends that the election held on February 27, 1967, which authorized the bonds was illegal in that it was not held under the authority of the Board of Election Commissioners of the City of Chicago, Ex officio Election Commissioners of the City of Chicago Heights, (hereinafter referred to as the Board), which he contends was the only legal authority for holding and conducting elections in said city since April 4, 1922, when the city adopted the provisions of the City Election Law (Ill.Rev.Stat.1967, ch. 46, article 6, 14, and 18). It is his position that the attempt to reject the City Election Law at the November 8, 1966, election was invalid because it was not in compliance with sections 6--17 and 6--19 of article 6 of the Election Code. Ill.Rev.Stat.1967, ch. 46, pars. 6--17 and 6--19.
Section 6--17 of article 6 provides that whenever 1000 of the legal voters in a city, fitting the description of Chicago Heights, shall petition the circuit court of the county to submit to a vote of the city electors the proposition as to whether such city shall reject the City Election Law, the judge shall order and submit the proposition to the voters at the next succeeding general, State, county or municipal election to be held in not less than 30 days from the entry of such order. If further requires that notice of election 'shall be given by said judge at least 20 days prior to such election by publication in one or more newspapers of general circulation published within such city.'
Section 6--19 of article 6 provides:
On September 26, 1966, the required number of legal voters petitioned the circuit court of Cook County for the submission of the rejection proposition and the circuit judge that day ordered that it be submitted to the electors of the city at the general election to be held on November 8, 1966. The order further provided that the required notice be published '* * * as required by statute.' On October 7, 1966, the Board caused notice of the general election, and particularly the submission of the rejection proposition, to be published in the Chicago's American, a newspaper of general circulation throughout the county. Thereafter, on October 27, 1966, a second notice of the submission of the proposition in said election was published in the Chicago Heights Star, a newspaper printed and circulated in the City of Chicago Heights. The Board certified to the court the results of the November election and on December 13, 1966, the court entered an order declaring the results of the election as 6132 for and 5229 against rejection and directed the Board to transfer all appropriate records to the county clerk within 24 hours after the entry thereof. A copy of said order was filed with the Secretary of State and the Board gave up control and supervision of all elections in the city.
Additionally, on February 13, 1967, the Governor signed a validating statute, H.B 199 (Ill.Rev.Stat.1967, ch. 46, par. 701) which provides: 'When, prior to the effective date of this Act, in any city with a population of 100,000 or less, a majority of the legal voters voting on the proposition of whether the city election law shall be rejected, as provided in Section 6--18 of The Election Code, have voted in favor of the rejection of the city election law and the election is in other respects in conformity with law, the publication of the election notice is declared to be legal and valid and the election is validated, notwithstanding that the publication was only 12 days prior to the election by publication in one or more newspapers of general circulation published within the city.'
It is the respondent mayor's contention that the word 'published' as used in section 6--17, Viz., 'published within such city', means to Print and issue within the city. He argues that the notice of October 7, 1966, in the Chicago's American was therefore inadequate because that paper is not printed within the City of Chicago Heights. We find respondent's argument unpersuasive. In Perkins v. Board of County Comrs. of Cook County, 271 Ill. 449, 475, 111 N.E. 580, 590, the court said: 'The object of...
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