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SERVING DEKALB COUNTY SINCE 1879
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Park board declares seat vacant Faivre’s place to be filled by appointment, person will serve until 2017 By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – A name plate and microphone were set out for Per Faivre at the DeKalb Park Board meeting Thursday, even though he hasn’t considered himself a commissioner for almost a week. But as far as the remaining DeKalb Park District Board commissioners were concerned, Faivre’s seat wasn’t vacant yet. They unanimously voted to declare it vacant Thursday. The board’s attorney Jim Rock said the vote means they can now start the process for appointing someone to fill the seat. Unlike general election law that considers a resignation effective when it’s submitted, Rock explained, park district law stipulates a vacancy exists once the board has declared it. Because of the timing, instead of the seat being open for election in April, park board commissioners will appoint someone who will serve until 2017. “It’s not discretionary,” Rock said. Faivre, who voters elected to a six-year term in 2013, gave board President Phil Young his resignation last Friday. In his letter, Faivre cited his recent move to Wisconsin
Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Brittany Ellis, who has worked for Ducky’s Formal Wear for four years, walks across the salesroom floor Wednesday in the store’s new location at 250 E. Lincoln Highway in DeKalb. This is Ducky’s second location since January, when a water pipe burst in the building it shared with Otto’s. Ducky’s owner Diane Hosey bought the building where the store is currently located in May.
Compromise plan advances More support for revised proposal for building inspections gram, business and building owners said they finally feel like the city is going to Old proposal New proposal DeKALB – Diane Hosey address problem buildings, n Inspections conducted by n Inspections conducted by said she hopes the city’s while not scrutinizing every outside contractor firefighters new business inspection commercial and industrial n Business owners cover costs n Costs absorbed by city program will stop the kind building in town. The City n Annual in-depth inspections n In-depth inspections every Council has planned two of deterioration she endured three years, annual walkpublic hearings on the profor years. throughs posal in January before a Hosey’s business, final vote. Ducky’s Formal Wear, was The program, which aldisplaced in January when dermen first reviewed Monfreezing conditions caused other occupant, Otto’s, shut ago. “Somebody dropped the day, calls for firefighters to a pipe to burst at its location down, leaving an abandoned at 112 E. Lincoln Highway. building at the entrance to ball,” Hosey said. “It seems perform basic fire inspeclike maybe now they will be tions of commercial and Ducky’s has since moved to downtown DeKalb. industrial buildings every It all could have been more accountable.” a new building at 250 E. LinAs the city of DeKalb three years on a rotating coln Highway that Hosey avoided, Hosey contended, if purchased in May. Mean- the city had done something moves forward with a new See INSPECTIONS, page A6 while, the first building’s about the building a decade building inspection pro-
By KATIE DAHLSTROM
kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
DeKalb building inspections
What’s next? DeKalb Park Board commissioners in January will discuss how they want to find and select candidates to fill the seat left vacant by former commissioner Per Faivre. The person appointed will serve until 2017. that made him ineligible to be a commissioner. “I wish you and the other commissioners the very best and hope that you continue to push the park district to higher expectations and capabilities,” Faivre wrote. State law says that if there are more than 28 months remaining on the departing commissioner’s term and 123 days between the vacancy and the next election, that seat would be up in the next election. If there are less than 123 days, the term is filled by appointment until the second regular election. Illinois State Board of Elections General Counsel Ken Menzel had said Wednesday that because Faivre gave his resignation with 123 days left until the next election, a new board member would be elected to fill the remainder of Faivre’s term in April. But Menzel said Thursday he wouldn’t disagree with
See VACANCY, page A6
Approved state checks limited after Topinka’s death The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – As state officials contemplate replacing late Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, the clock runs down for those dependent on the checks the office issues. There are a limited number of checks she approved before her death, raising the specter of a possible funding gap for schools and social service agencies should a successor not be chosen soon. Topinka, a moderate Republican from Riverside, died unexpectedly Wednesday from complications of a stroke, just weeks after the 70-year-old was re-elected to a second term.
Operations in the comptroller’s office can continue as scheduled for “several” days, but a new official must be named to the post to approve future payments, spokesman Brad Hahn said. Yet, the appointment is on hold as officials seek answers to the interpretation of Illinois’ 1970 Constitution, which orders the governor to fill a vacancy “until a successor is elected and qualified.” There are two terms to be filled – the current one that ends in January and a fouryear term that ends in 2019. Some have suggested outgoing Gov. Pat Quinn may name a replacement to serve both terms, but two experts said language in the state law says, “the
appointee shall hold his office during the remainder of the term, and until his successor is elected.” Quinn could fill the post now, and GOP Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner would get his own pick on Jan. 12. But with the state facing its first politically divided government for the first time in more than a decade, some lawmakers in the legislature have raised the possibility of an early January special session to consider legislation that would set up a special election for the seat. The constitutional situation is murky because of the state law’s succession language, said Charles Wheeler III, a journalism professor at the University of Illinois-Springfield who
covered the 1970 constitutional convention. The state Constitution carries the same succession language as its predecessors, documents penned in 1870 and 1848, according to Ann Lousin, a professor at John Marshall Law School who was a research assistant in 1970. Ideally, Quinn would confer with Rauner on a single pick, Wheeler said. But that’s unlikely, as Illinois history shows a governor almost always chooses a member of his own party. While Rauner is pushing for Quinn to appoint Nancy Kimme, Topinka’s chief of staff and a member of Rauner’s transition team, to the interim post, Quinn has said it is too early to discuss succession plans.
AP file photo
Judy Baar Topinka (right) takes the oath of office for Illinois comptroller from her son, Special Officer Joseph Baar Topinka, during inaugural ceremonies Jan. 10, 2011, in Springfield. Topinka won a second term in November, but she died Wednesday. She was 70.
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