Let’s swap city councils.

Have you ever noticed that there is a southern way of doing things, and then there is a big city influence way of doing things? Let’s take for example Keller, Texas vs. Naperville, Illinois. Not that Naperville is a big city, but it does have over 140,000 citizens and ranks somewhere in the top five in population in Illinois. Keller, TX on the other hand has about 40,000 citizens. There is no doubt that Naperville does have that big city (Chicago) influence, and that Keller has that southern hospitality way of getting things done.

The demographics of both cities are similar with regard to income and education. In fact, Money Magazine listed Keller as the seventh best city in which to live, out of the Top 100 cities of its size. Other similarities include they both have a city manager and a mayor/city council style of government.

Now here is where it gets really interesting. Both city governments have embraced the installation of Smart Meters. The Keller city council and city manager have had no issues with residents fighting the local government in court battles, whereas Naperville residents and the Naperville city council are still embroiled in a Federal Court hearing on the forced installation of meters. Now here is the real kicker…the Naperville city council and city manager have approved the expenditure of millions of taxpayer dollars to use a public relations firm out of Chicago to convince Naperville citizens that the installation of Smart Meters is a good thing for residents, and it has not worked. The citizens of Naperville wanted the issue to be placed on a non-binding referendum last March, and the city of Naperville would not approve the referendum. The Naperville Smart Meter Awareness Group, a large group of loyal and informed citizens opposed to the forced installation, have fought conscientiously and thoroughly for the rights of citizens to be heard and respected, with the issue ultimately winding up in Federal Court though millions of dollars have needlessly been wasted on public relations.

Why is it that Keller, Texas can get things done without wasting millions of taxpayer dollars, yet the Naperville city council cannot? We decided to contact Chris Fuller, the Keller deputy city manager, a very amiable and forthcoming city official, and he simply said that the city government works for its citizens, they had open and honest communication with residents, and were receptive to the thoughts, wishes, and rights of the folks of Keller. That’s simple isn’t it? No public relations firms, no loss of millions of taxpayer dollars, (not even one dollar wasted), no court battle, no citizen uprising, and no denial of voter’s rights. It worked. The city has what it needs and the citizens have what they want.

Based on that, I make a motion that we trade our Naperville city council, and city manager to Keller, Texas in exchange for theirs.