Remap referendum faces tight timetable - Chicago Sun-Times

Remap referendum faces tight timetable - Chicago Sun-Times

I could've sworn that I saw an article about an actual time table for a remap referendum. This Fran Spielman article instead is more about whether or not there should be a referendum on the ballot to reduce the number of Chicago City Council wards:

During the Richard M. Daley-to-Emanuel transition, Emanuel broached the subject of shrinking the nation’s second-largest City Council from 50 to 25 members, only to settle for a 10 percent cut in City Council spending.

But if aldermen can’t forge an agreement on a new ward map, the mayor is prepared to resurrect the issue, said his floor leader, Ald. Pat O’Connor (40th).

O’Connor raised the stakes after the Hispanic Caucus agreed Monday to let Chicago voters choose a new ward map and accept the results — without filing a legal challenge — whether or not their version wins. They asked the other side to do the same — and O’Connor refused.

“If their position is they’re done trying to negotiate and simply want to go to a vote of the populace, that will encourage the mayor to file his referendum to bring the Council down to 25 members,” O’Connor said. “The mayor has been encouraging us for the last several weeks to resolve this. If we continue to show an inability to resolve it and go to the expensive proposition of having a referendum, then that position of going down to 25 aldermen is something the mayor would look at again. He’s already indicated he was somewhat in favor of that.”

O’Connor said he has “no doubt” that Chicago voters frustrated by the prolonged recession and furious about the steady stream of corruption scandals would approve a non-binding referendum to cut the Council in half.

“We’re going to a grid system on how we handle [garbage collection]. We’re already there with Forestry. We’re taking out the traditional role of aldermen. People would see that as an economy they’d be willing to embrace. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what would happen,” he said.

It's interesting that this has been revisited within the past month. It was reported that Aldermen had already started drawing up plans for that possibility. Then at last months ward remap forum in Roseland Heights it was noted by a guest speaker that the odds of keeping the 6th ward intact would increase if there were to be a reduction in city could wards.

I wonder how frustrated city residents are for them to want this to actually happen?