Above / Public comments are sought at a hearing on Tues., Jan.10, 2017, in the DuPage County Board Room, 3rd Floor, JTK Administration Bldg., located at 421 County Farm Road, Wheaton.
Wheaton – DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin, County Clerk Paul Hinds and DuPage Election Commission Chairwoman Cathy Ficker Terrill will hold a public hearing to receive feedback on the proposed merger between the Office of the Clerk and the Election Commission.
Information about the proposal is available on the DuPage County website at www.dupageco.org/ECproposal.
Members of the public may comment via an electronic form on the website or in person at the hearing. The hearing will be held at 11:30AM, Tues.., Jan. 10, or directly following the DuPage County Board meeting on Jan. 10, 2017. (Note: The regularly scheduled County Board meeting begins at approximately 11AM and meetings typically run quickly.)
The hearing will be held in the DuPage County Board Room, 3rd Floor, JTK Administration Bldg., 421 County Farm Road, Wheaton.
Timeline to merge DuPage County Election Commission with Office of County Clerk
According to the DuPage County website, the goal—stemming from the implementation of the Accountability, Consolidation, Transparency (ACT) Initiative and as the proposal’s name implies— is “to create an organizational model that merges the operations and responsibilities of the DuPage County Election Commission with the Office of the County Clerk, eliminating an unnecessary layer of government. This new model will increase efficiency, transparency, and the accountability of elections in DuPage County while maintaining an independent, bi-partisan oversight board that offers public access to the decision-making process regarding election policy.”
After the public hearing on Jan. 10, 2017, immediately following the regularly scheduled County Board meeting in the County Board Room, JTK Administration Building (approximately 11AM), legislation will be finalized and introduced in early February for consideration during the spring 2017 session in Springfield.
The next step would be for legislation to be adopted by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor to take effect by Sept. 1, 2017.
Finally, the County Board would adopt the required ordinance to establish a DuPage County Board of Election Commissioners in the fall with a transition period to conclude by the start of the new County fiscal year beginning Dec. 1, 2017.
To download a one-page PDF of this merger proposal to print, click here.
