Iraq referendums: A good idea, but was this the way to do it?

Residents in DeKalb and Sycamore townships will apparently have the opportunity to vote on advisory resolutions that call for reductions in or limits to American troop levels in Iraq. Both were sponsored by members of a DeKalb-area peace group.

Though some questions remain, it appears that participants in annual township meetings legally voted to put the questions on the ballot on Nov. 7.

Members of the DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice showed up at these meetings in DeKalb and Sycamore townships. Similar efforts by other peace groups were made in about a dozen other townships in Illinois.

Many township officials were surprised that actual residents would show up at the meetings. Although Iraq wasn't on the agenda, attendees quickly passed resolutions calling for referendums.

We look forward to the debate on the issues surrounding the war. It will be quite an election.

The vote will, of course, not be legally binding. But it will give township residents the opportunity to express their views on the most serious issue facing the United States today.

The township meetings, though largely ignored by the public, have some resemblance to the old-fashioned New England town meeting.

Traditionally, people have used these meetings to decide on matters such as whether a new snowplow is needed, not what kind of foreign policy our country should have.

In Illinois, the township meetings have largely been ignored. Many people knowledgeable in public affairs didn't know these meetings even existed.

Heck, a lot of people knowledgeable in public affairs didn't know Sycamore and DeKalb townships existed.

And that raises a couple of points.

The Associated Press compiled a series of stories a few years back questioning whether there was a need for township governments. Townships do provide assistance to the poor, and township officials assess property. In other states, county governments have taken over those tasks.

This is not to resurrect that issue. There is no chance that township governments will be abolished anytime soon.

But if the Interfaith Network members were truly interested in democracy at the grassroots, they might better have gone to DeKalb and Sycamore city councils. They could not have packed the meeting and won by default, but they could have pressed aldermen to vote for a referendum or circulated petitions to force a referendum. The Interfaith folks convinced the DeKalb aldermen to vote against a unilateral invasion of Iraq before the war started. DeKalb meetings are televised, and the entire community could see the debate.

If any local governmental body had voted on such an important issue without putting it on the agenda, the Chronicle and good-government groups would be yelping at the top of their lungs about potential Open Meetings Act violations.

These measures about the war in Iraq did not violate the Open Meetings Act, according to their backers. But holding a vote that no one knew would be held - is that a violation of the spirit of open government?

Decisions on matters such as these referendums are always better made when the public knows ahead of time what is coming up. Had this been publicized, opponents could have shown up and we could have had an old-fashioned Illinois-style debate.

Just the same, the measures are on the ballot. We thank the Interfaithers for bringing up the idea and the rock-ribbed Republicans on the township boards for allowing the whole thing to proceed.

It will be an interesting election.

We look forward to the debate.