Petitioners want to keep SSA at forefront

Not much has happened lately in regards to the petition opposing Special Service Area No. 7. But Jeanne Ives is making sure no one forgets about it.

"I'm here to remind you that the objectors to SSA No. 7 are waiting for an answer as to the certification of their objections," Ives said Monday, addressing the Wheaton City Council.

Ives is a driving force behind the petition opposing the special levy designed, in part, to provide a financial backstop for the planned $14.7 million renovation of the Wheaton Grand Theater.

The special levy of up to 0.95 cents per every $100 of assessed valuation — on downtown property owners only — can be defeated by a petition showing more than 50 percent of both the downtown district's property owners and electors to be in opposition.

Ives provided signatures Oct. 9 that were thought to be sufficient to defeat the measure. But at the Oct. 19 council meeting, city attorney Jim Knippen raised doubts about the validity of the opposing petition, saying "questions exist as to who is an elector and who is an owner." Legal research has been ongoing on the matter ever since.

Ives made it clear she thinks the city has had more than enough time to figure things out.

"It is only fair that you finish a process you started in a timely fashion," she said, stressing that by not making a decision, the city "impugned the integrity of the petitioners against SSA No. 7 by doubting their authenticity" and put any potential sellers of property in the downtown district in a position where they could not tell prospective buyers if the property would have additional taxes which could run for up to 20 years.

Ives reminded the council that she had offered her help in determining who the property owners and electors were, saying "the property owners list is not nearly as confusing as you make it out to be … I'll provide phone numbers, if needed."

Ives also made a direct response to supporters of the levy, one of whom, Derek Bromstead, said at the Oct. 19 meeting that opponents do "not appear to be significant property owners."

Ives pointed out that two of seven signatories to a letter of support for the levy offered by Bromstead were not listed as property owners, even though they claimed to be.

City Manager Don Rose said he couldn't say when a decision would be made on the petition, but felt it would be "sooner rather than later."