Surveys and polls are not scientific nor are they accurate, however they are interesting. Watchdog’s just completed poll is a classic example. The numbers are accurate, but how they are interpreted and how they were submitted create interesting topics of discussion.
After two separate polls, culminating into a third and final poll to determine which Naperville city council member was most deserving of a lump of coal in his Christmas stocking, the results were as follows:
- Steve Chirico 74%
- Dave Wentz 19%
- Joe McElroy 4%
- Doug Krause 3%
Hence, based on the numbers, councilman Steve Chirico was the winner of a symbolic huge lump of coal in his Christmas stocking. Please note that I said ‘numbers’ and not actual eligible voters. Who knows who voted and where the actual votes came from for any of the candidates.
For example, if Watchdog asked the question, “Which Naperville city official deserved the best gift in his or her Christmas stocking, it would have been easy to stuff that official’s stocking with votes from supporters of that candidate. By wording the question as Watchdog did, it eliminated that possibility, however the wording would then allow a candidate to ‘stuff’ an opponent’s stocking with negative votes.
Watchdog is not saying that happened, but it was interesting that in both polls involving Chirico, a huge number of votes were submitted over a very short period of time. which seemed more than a bit unusual, especially considering it was the same number of votes over the same period of time for each of the two polls. Watchdog could blame it on the North Korea, or on a candidate who had much to gain by a rascally, political maneuver, however we won’t do that.
Councilman Chirico took the results of the poll in stride, and he positioned it in a positive manner, as is his style, and said the last time he was given ‘coal’ around Christmas time, it worked out pretty well for him. His wife’s name was Cole, and they were married around this time of the year. He followed that by saying, “so I guess I will just have to take my lumps”.
Councilman Chirico knows, that the real-deal poll happens exactly 100 days from now, on April 7, 2015, the date of the municipal election. He just might turn that lump of coal into a diamond.
Which candidate will pledge to return financial sanity to Naperville? The city must stop the spending, stop the borrowing, and sell the Electric Utility before it bankrupts the taxpayers. The citizens need to know that they are becoming property tax farm animals, plowing for insiders with grandiose “good intentions” to enhance our city with even more luxury museums, parks, symphonies, and crony business schemes. While the city has to have special committees to figure out how to economically help Seniors, and the reported 16% of District 203 students living at the poverty level, they ignore the most obvious. Lower the property tax and utility burden so that families can afford their homes or pay their rent.
There were plenty of people in and out of Michigan State government who warned about public obligations that Detroit had taken on and were ignored. The financial cracks on Naperville’s foundation are obvious. Naperville’s “home rule” status allowing Council unlimited power to tax our homes and businesses has ended up as an ATM card for big spenders. It is putting us all in jeopardy and in debt.
Yeah, I know…It can’t happen here.