On Sunday David Shestokas filed a supplemental Memorandum of Law in support of his petititon for Judicial Review in Siracuse versus Dullard.
That case is in response to the Town of Normal Electoral Board ruling for Patrick Dullard, who objected to a petition filed by Kathy Siracuse that asked Normal to put an amendment on the November 8th ballot to allow the public to vote on the town being divided into districts to select its trustees.
Dullard objected to the petition saying it only apples to cities and villages, not towns. The electoral board agreed. Shestokas maintains Normal is legally a village.
The latest memorandum from Shestokas is in addition to previous information he has presented in the case. It regards what Shestokas calls the 1970 Precedent.
In 1970 Normal made a similar argument through it’s electoral board when it ruled against a petition that was presented to the town by citizens to change Normal’s government to a City Manager form of government. That decision was also appealed through the judicial review process.
The issue of whether the petition process for converting to a city manager form of government applied to towns arose prior to the March 2, 1970 election.
According to a Pantagraph article, on January 30, 1970, Associate Judge Wayne C. Townley ruled that “to deny Normal the right to such an election would be unconstitutional when other municipalities generally are granted that privilege by statute.”
If it Looks like a Village and quacks like a Village….it’s a Village!
As per Judge Townley’s ruling, the question of whether Normal would adopt the Managerial Form of Government was put to the voters on March 2, 1970. On that day a majority of voters in the town of Normal voted yes and the amendment passed.
According to Shestokas, “In 1970, the referendum by which the “Town of Normal” adopted the Managerial Form of Government was conducted pursuant to the law of Villages.”
