Two out of three county referenda get nods

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Two of the three local referenda voters had to consider throughout the county were successful in Tuesday’s election.

On the county’s north side, voters covered by the Walnut Fire Department approved the creation of the Walnut Fire Protection District. Supporters said the designation was needed in order to receive tax money to help support the Walnut Fire Department, which covers 150 square miles in portions of Bureau, Whiteside and Lee counties.

The referendum passed on a 886 to 244 vote, or 78 percent in favor. Voters in Bureau County approved the referendum on a 779 to 209 vote.

Voters in DePue also gave the thumbs up to a request from the village board to make the village a home rule unit. Mayor Don Bosnich said the goal of becoming a home rule unit would be to aid the village in its legal action concerning the Superfund clean-up.

DePue voters approved the referendum on a 398 to 128 vote, or 76 percent of the voters.

The one referendum turned down was a request by the Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico Community Unit School District for $5.5 million in school building bonds.

Naysayers in the Whiteside, Henry and Bureau counties area more than doubled supporters on a 1,711 to 829 margin. Bureau County voters also voted no on the measure by a margin of 53 to 12.

On the state level, voters turned down a measure calling for a constitutional convention, with 2.9 million, or 68 percent of the voters opposed, to 1.4 million in favor.

Bureau County voters turned the measure down by an even greater margin, by a vote of 11,595, or 74 percent, opposed to 4,090 in support.