Who would have guessed that the three people who made the most sense during Tuesday night’s city council meeting would be council members Bob Fieseler, Judy Brodhead, and city attorney Mike DiSanto. As for the rest of the city officials, it was a non-stop kerfuffle of words. It happened during the portion of the meeting dealing with regulations on alcohol. Councilman Bob Fieseler sized it up perfectly when he described it as ‘incomprehensible’. Watchdog’s next posting scheduled midweek will focus on that portion of the meeting.
This posting will look a ‘Public Forum’ moment, when speaker Steven Davis addressed the Naperville city council regarding his and partner Graybar Electric’s bid for LED street lighting. The City of Naperville requested bids for the project, and their bid was the lowest qualified bid.
Watch and listen as Mr. Davis states his case to the council, followed by an understanding comment from council member (Steve Chirico), and then finished off by classic doublespeak from city manager Doug Krieger:
Does anybody have the slightest idea what city manager Doug Krieger was trying to say? That could be submitted to the Mensa Society (the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world) and most likely they’d have no idea what was just said.
So Mr. Davis , along with Graybar Electric followed the rules set by the city, came in with the lowest bid, yet the decision was tabled. It looks like city manager Krieger wanted to change the rules when the ‘game’ was over. That would be like playing a round of golf, and then afterwards announcing that high score wins. That doesn’t put the city in a good light, and it definitely erodes confidence with anyone wanting to do business with the City of Naperville.
It reminds me when the residents of Naperville voted overwhelmingly for District representation. It was a landslide, with almost 70% favoring the change to a more accountable representation. And how did the City respond to the wishes of the huge majority; they decided to have a ‘do-over’ vote, and change the wording of the referendum to confuse the voters. It worked. Naperville city officials lost the respect of a huge segment of residents, but their desire to be respected is miniscule compared to their desire to keep their city council and officials positions.
As for Mr. Steven Davis, city manager Krieger gave him the perfunctory pat on the back, wished him luck in the future, and sent him on his way, thinking nobody would see or hear it. City councilman and mayoral candidate Steve Chirico, noticed it, I noticed it, and I’m sure anyone watching and listening to Krieger’s doublespeak also noticed it. If Krieger is going to do that type of stunt, he needs to do a better job of not making it so obvious, or the Naperville city council needs to look for his replacement.
Krieger also did not mention if he has completed his required participation in ‘harassment prevention and diversity awareness’ training. Apparently ‘transparency’ is just a empty word for city officials with no action.
Finally, there was no apology from any city official to Kim Bendis and her family, for the ‘hell’ city officials put them through with unnecessary legal bullying. (Please note the ongoing survey on the Watchdog home page).
October is ‘Bully Awareness Month’. I wonder if the Naperville city council is aware of that.
This is the oldest scam in the books for corrupt government procurement practices. Write specs that nobody can meet then select what in their opinion comes closest to the impossible and justify the choice on these grounds. The solution to this situation is to disqualify all bidders, rewrite the specs correctly and then have everyone rebid. Audit the last two years of major procurements and if this is the pattern take remedial action like replacing some key people in the process..