Peru clerk turns in pool referendum to be placed on November ballot

It’s official: Peru will have a referendum on the November ballot for a municipal swimming pool.

Former Alderwoman Sherry Mayszak, who has been working on the referendum since last fall, turned in 562 of the 331 required signatures July 25 to have the question placed on the November ballot.

City Clerk Dave Bartley handed over the petition Wednesday to La Salle County Clerk Jennifer Ebner. The objection period closed Aug. 12.

Ebner previously said petition-based referendums have until closing Aug. 5 to be turned in to the affected government – in this case, Peru. If no one objects to that entity, Peru has until Aug. 29 to pass it along to the county clerk’s office, and her office then will tell the vendor to put the referendum on the ballot.

The referendum will state: “Shall the city of Peru construct and operate a municipal swimming pool funded by the use of the hotel/motel tax?”

The referendum, however, is advisory and nonbinding. This means Peru still may not construct a pool, but the results may serve to give guidance to the City Council.

Alderman Tom Payton brought up the referendum during Monday night’s council meeting, requesting a town hall or Facebook Live session to bring the plans for the pool project to the forefront before the election.

“Let everybody see what you want to do, where you are going to put it, how much it is going to cost,” he said. “What’s it going to be for the average person to get in.”

Payton said he thinks that asking people to blindly approve and restrict hotel/motel tax dollars is not what the city should be doing. Mayor Ken Kolowski floated an idea in March 2022 that would have increased hotel/motel taxes in Peru to pay off the loan for a new pool at Washington Park, but the idea was met with skepticism and questions that went unresolved. The idea was dropped. Peru, however, did increase the tax collected for hotel and motel that stays within city limits from 5.64% to 7.5% in May 2022.

Payton said he believes the finances need to be further explored, whether a new pool comes at the expense of something else in the city’s budget or if it comes as a result of a tax increase.

Alderman Mike Sapienza said the public needs to hear the other side of the story, adding that he is not certain which side he lands on, but he advocated for an open discussion before election day.

“A resident was presented with the idea, and I asked her, I said, ‘Did you sign the petition?’ and she looked at me with a big smile, ‘Well, why wouldn’t I want a pool?’” Sapienza said during Monday’s meeting. “And that’s exactly the point Alderman Payton is making. ... We all want it, but do we get to have it or not is another thing. Is it fiscally responsible?”

Bartley said he chose not to put informational flyers inside city bills in March because it was not an issue to be debated through the utility bills.

“And now that [Mayszak] has been successful in her endeavor, we’re going to turn it around and make it a political issue leading up to the residents voting,” he said.

“I think it’s up to the residents to vote,” Bartley later added. “And then the earnest is on the council to respond and formulate a plan based on their recommendation.”

Payton said asking the public to restrict a fund without having all of the facts is wrong, and he also has other questions.