Today marks the beginning of a new Naperville city council. Every council member starts with a new flawless record which is sure to last until this Tuesday’s city council meeting.
A couple of incumbents (Judith Brodhead and Paul Hinterlong) have some special spectacular moments (video clips) that we will try to forget (chickens don’t bark, and let’s screw Uber), until they remind us, by doing or saying something foolish.
Another ‘new’ council member is former councilman Kevin Gallaher who sat at the dais from 1995 – 2002, and was probably as surprised as anyone, that he was elected this time around. His election gives hope to any previous council member not named Dick, that he too can be resurrected for another term.
Gone are Doug Krause who was a fixture at the dais from 1989 – 2015, and Mayor George Pradel (1995 – 2015).
With new council members, new questions surface including:
- Which council member will rise to the occasion, and become the new voice for Naperville residents as Doug Krause was from 1989 through 2015?
- Which council member will have the courage to speak-up as Bob Fieseler did when he expressed his frustration with policy and procedure?
- Which council member will bring common sense to each meeting as Joe McElroy did?
- Which council member will be the first to make a fool of himself or herself and have the moment embedded in a Watchdog posting?
- Which other council members will soon follow the first with more video embeds in Watchdog postings?
- Which council members will deliver on their campaign ‘promises’ built on oak platforms, and which council members will be exposed for having campaign platforms built out of balsa wood?
Fun-facts, about campaign materials (mailers) and answers to interview questions, are on public record for everybody to see and hear forever. So the very advantage campaign mailers provide in getting a council member elected, now begin to work against council members who don’t live up to their pre-elected statements and positions.
Council members will take their oath of office today at 1pm. Shortly after that we will begin to learn which council members are the real deal, and which are pretenders. Let the fun begin.
Too bad the voice of the people has been retired. It appears that money will now replace it.
See Sun Article:
Chirico: Effective run for office demands funds
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/news/ct-nvs-campaign-donations-st-0501-20150430-story.html#page=1
The campaign revenue brought Chirico’s total campaign donations to $116,310 since he announced his intent to seek the office nearly two years ago.
The level of financial support differed from candidate to candidate with the largest amounts going to the winner of the mayoral race, Steve Chirico, who took in 59 percent of all donations reported by Naperville city candidates.
The last of them – $5,000 from International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 in Countryside, and $3,361 from Marilyn Brautigam, whose home town on the donation reports is listed as Coral Gables, Fla. – came in on April 7.
Maher (local 150) was one of the group of union activists who turned out for Tuesday’s City Council meeting, where the outgoing officials voted unanimously, at Chirico’s motion, to shelve a resolution supporting key portions of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s Turnaround Agenda.
BTW .. here’s connection to Marilyn Brautigam …http://www.instituteforcommunity.org/about/leadership/
Connected to Institute for Community, with Nick Ryan on the Board … based out of FL.
Chirico has been bought and paid for. You think your voice matters to him? He has his nest feathered by unions and business insider dealings. Why should he care about you stupid sheep out in Naperville? Need union reforms killed? Slip him a few grand. Need a development plan rammed thru? Slip him a few grand. Think he cares about you? Not in the least. Just watch your property taxes over the next four years. Naperville is going to have to pay for all his promises to the unions and who do you think is going to cover the costs of shady development in Naperville? You the taxpayers. Don’t look now, he already has his hands in your pockets.