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Three referendum questions, including a binding question on term limits, were approved to be placed on Nov. 3 General Election ballots by Niles trustees — with one change made by Mayor George Alpogianis — at the special village board meeting Friday, Aug. 14.  

Before village trustees took their vote on placing the term limits question, Alpogianis asked for an amendment to change the question from allowing village trustees to run for five full four-year terms (20 years) to four full four-year terms (16 years). The amended measure passed unanimously.

In a subsequent interview, Alpogianis clarified questions about term limits. “As of today, I’m in my final term as mayor,” he told the Journal & Topics. “As of today, I have one more term as a trustee. Should I choose to do so (run for trustee), that would be my final term.” 

During the meeting, former trustee Rosemary Palicki decried the board’s consideration and voting on the referendum questions coming at a 4 p.m. meeting on a Friday without much notice.  

Two term limits questions, one by village trustees and one by resident petition, appeared on the 2013 ballot, both of which received more than an 80% positive vote. Village trustees determined that the resident petition question was not self-executing, so a measure mandating that village trustees serve a limit of three terms, or 12 years, and the mayor serve only two terms or eight years was made law. 

In March, a term limits referendum proposed five terms or 20 years for mayor and an additional five terms, or 20 years, for trustee, but failed with 2,179 votes, or 53.67% voting “No” and 1,881 or 46.33% voting “Yes.”

Alpogianis said the referendum question was confusing and since the margin was close, he felt the question would stand a chance of passing if presented again. 

In 2016, a change in law said that including the two offices of mayor and village trustee in the same question was determined to be unconstitutional. Alpogianis said in 2019 the appellate court upheld the law, meaning that there is a danger that the Niles term limit question could be overturned in court. 

However, he said that if the November term limits referendum is successful, the two-term mandate for mayor would still apply because the current term limit law was adopted before the 2016 change in the law. Alpogianis was elected to his second term in 2025. His term ends in 2029.        

“As of today, I’ve given the village 21 years of my life, between serving as a plan commissioner, trustee, and mayor,” Alpogianis continued. “I’ve felt the brunt of the keyboard warriors, the half-truths and the flat-out lies. That’s why people don’t want to run. People don’t want to step up and participate in community organizations, let alone government bodies.”  

Alpogianis and Village Trustee Craig Neidermeier both said that there is a long learning curve in village government. 

“Just about the time you get programs up and running, it may all change with a new person,” Alpogianis said. 

Village trustees also placed a binding question on the ballot abolishing residential vehicle stickers as of June 1, 2027, and an advisory referendum question asking, “Shall the Village consider attracting an indoor/outdoor theatre within the village limits?”

Alpogianis said building a theater with movable walls, which could be both an indoor and outdoor venue, would attract economic investment in the village. He said he envisions a space that could host everything from theatrical productions and music events to graduations. He mentioned how one of his daughters recently graduated from Niles West High School, but that the graduation was held at Northwestern University in Evanston, in part because Niles has no place to host a graduation.    

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