Lisle Groups Help Citizens Stay Informed, Active in Local Politics

With the municipal elections arriving shortly, Lisle voters have two citizen groups helping residents become more active and informed in local politics—the Lisle Township Democratic Organization and the Citizens for Healthy Development.

Neither group has members running for office, nor are they endorsing candidates. However, they want to get Lisle residents out to vote for the April 5 municipal elections while being informed on the issues.

Jeff Knezovich, treasurer of the Lisle Democrats, said the organization was founded in 1976 as an offshoot of the Lisle Township Democratic Organization and operates in Naperville east of Washington Street, all of Lisle and parts of Downers Grove and Woodridge. The group’s leader is Chairman Joe Heneghan.

“There was a component within the Democratic Party at the time that was split with the Vietnam War,” Knezovich said of the organization’s forming. “What the Vietnam War’s result was within the party was there was this great faction that wanted to pull out and another faction wanted to take there time.”

The Lisle Township Regular Democratic Organization split off from that group and became the mainstay of the organization. About 80 individuals support the group financially with dues; however, a large grass roots network has volunteer committeemen work as election judges and help with campaigns. 

Knezovich said the Lisle Democrats keep in contact and informed with monthly meetings rotating throughout the township for easy assess for all members.

“At each of those meetings, we would pick one very specific topic to focus on,” Knezovich said. “So it’s informational in nature. They are also open to the general public because we believe that one of our responsibilities is to help the general electorate learn about DuPage’s political parties. For a long time, the Democratic Party was looked at as a non-existent party; but it is very vibrant and alive in the county right now.”

The Lisle Democrats have a website for interested citizens to find information about our meetings, upcoming political activities or events that might be taking candidates from the area. The website provides daily and weekly information about the group’s activities as well as a blog.

Prominent functions for the organization include monitoring local and county government’s legislation and taxation and getting people to vote in the municipal elections. Specific issues include resolving open land and open space in the county, environmental issues, and the county budget’s “free spending habits.”

“We are also a watchdog organization for our township activities,” Knezovich said. “(Local governments) have a rather hefty budget and our line item on everyone’s tax bills. We need someone to approach them and have them understand that we are going to be their watch guard. We are going to watch what they are spending their monies for and inform the electorate.”

Knezovich said being an informed voter is vital and a citizen can go to the League of Women Voters website to gain non-partisan information about the candidates, participate in candidate forums and go to the proper campaign websites. The Lisle Democrats works with the League of Women Voters if there is an issue with passing a referendum in the school districts or some state legislative issues like the death penalty.

Meanwhile, Citizens for Healthy Development is a newer organization formed in the fall of 2009 as a response to the Navistar public hearings. Julie Schnell, one of five board members for the CHD, said the organization is a not-for-profit, non-partisan, community-based organization that would have formed if any major development came into Lisle. She did not disclose the group’s membership.

“It’s a way for citizens to become more involved in democracy and in their local politics to effect changes that we see as positive for the environment, the economy and having a positive influence on the things going around us,” Schnell said. “We want to promote citizens to be actively involved in public planning and zoning decision and we want to promote environmentally and economically healthy decision-making within our community.”

Citizens for Healthy Development’s two main focuses are promoting the future environmental and economic health of Lisle and DuPage County, Schnell said. CHD has been against House Bill 1056 in the state legislature and was a major factor in preventing Navistar from gaining a diesel engine testing facility on the Lucent property.

“We want to give people a voice and show them how to do that,” Schnell said. “People are very interested in their environment right now and are very interested in local government’s economics.”

Members keep in contact via email, Schnell said, and have irregular meetings. The CHD also has community forums advertised in newspapers or to a neighborhood affected by a planning and zoning or village decision. Some forums have been at the Lisle Public Library and the Meadows Center.

“The forums are another way to have an open dialogue besides Planning and Zoning or Village Hall meetings,” Schnell said.

The CHD does not bring up issues with the Lisle government directly, but encourages people to bring up their own issues by emailing the village trustees, attending village board meetings or Coffee with the Mayor and any planning and zoning or budgetary meetings to open a dialogue, Schnell said.

Even though the group does not have a political stand, Schnell said it would send out emails to remind citizens of the time to vote and why it’s important to vote in municipal elections.

Citizens for Healthy Development won a Citizen’s Initiative Award from the Citizen’s Advocacy Center in Elmhurst. The group’s website is that has information about its economic and environmental stances and upcoming meetings and events listed. 

Other local groups:

Lisle, IL Tea Party Facebook page