Highland Park City Council Passes Liquor Amendment After Locking Hoobler Out of April Election

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 12, 2025

Highland Park City Council Passes Liquor Amendment After Locking Hoobler Out of April Election

Highland Park, IL – The Highland Park City Council voted unanimously Monday to allow liquor license holders to serve in city government – but only after the last opportunity for candidates to register for the April election had passed, preventing former Councilmember Jeff Hoobler from seeking re-election to his seat as a write-in candidate.

An overwhelming 82% of Highland Park voters passed an advisory referendum supporting this change on November 4th yet Mayor Nancy Rotering refused to place the measure on the Council’s agenda throughout November, December and January.  The deadline for registration of write-in candidates was January 30th.

For a year, the community fought tirelessly to rectify an outdated, 90-year-old law that had no relevance today, particularly since Illinois law has permitted liquor license holders to serve in towns under 55,000 residents for decades—with strict ethical safeguards in place. Yet rather than take swift action, the Council delayed, ignored, and obstructed at every turn:

*   March 2023: Voters elected Jeff Hoobler to the Council, the top vote-getter in the election.

*   Nine months later: An antiquated law was suddenly “discovered,” preventing Hoobler from having his license renewed.

*   The Council had the power to amend it with a simple one-paragraph change—but instead, they launched “studies” and subjected liquor license holders to an exhaustive ethics review, ignoring the fact that no other regulated profession faced the same scrutiny.

*   Three Council members – Rotering, Kim Stone and Tony Blumberg – blocked the amendment when it was first presented in February 2024.

Hoobler was forced to resign when he had to renew his state liquor license, stripping the community of their elected choice.

The people of Highland Park acted:

*   300 emails flooded the Council, demanding a vote. No action.

*   2,500 signatures gathered to force the issue onto the November ballot. No action.

*   82% of voters—one of the highest consensus margins in Illinois—demanded change in the November referendum. Still, no action.

*   Five more Council meetings passed, including two in January 2025. No action.

Then, conveniently, on February 10, after the deadline for new write-in candidates had passed, the amendment finally appeared on the agenda—and passed unanimously with virtually no additional “study”. The timing is impossible to ignore.

“By slow walking the amendment, Mayor Rotering and her Council allies, Tony Blumberg. Barisa Bruckman and Kim Stone effectively kept liquor license holders off the April 1, 2025, ballot, when Highland Park voters will elect four new Council members,” said Irwin Bernstein, Co-Chair of Highland Park Forward, a community-based political action committee that has been at the forefront of advocating for more transparent, open and fair governance.

In her statement at the Council’s meeting, Councilmember Annette Lidawer said, “This wasn’t about careful governance, it was about political self-preservation. Several members of this body protected their own seats over the will of the community.”

Councilmember Andres Tapia also mentioned in his statement at the meeting, “The victims of this delay? The people of Highland Park. Former Councilmember Hoobler. Local restaurateurs who were interested in public service but were blocked from running in April’s election.”

Former Councilmember Hoobler attended and endorsed new candidate, Jon Center, to replace him in the two year contested slot, Hoobler’s remaining term. Center is also endorsed by HP Forward.

Addressing residents in attendance at the meeting, Lidawer stated, “Highland Park residents refused to back down. Through persistence, smart advocacy, and unrelenting public pressure, they forced a change that should have been made months ago. In spite of delays, this change has been affected because of you. Democracy may be slow—but it will eventually be served.”

For inquiries, click here to contact:

Irwin Bernstein

info@hpforward.org