Attention to detail has not been considered a strength or high priority for some Naperville city officials, from city manager Doug Krieger to certain city council members. Sometimes it’s something as simple as incorrect spelling on the city website, to a city official’s lackadaisical accounting procedures, inappropriate HR activities, or mis-managing a business enterprise.
It can happen to anybody. In most cases inaccurate attention to detail does not have lasting effects. If the pizza guy delivers a medium rather than a large, or if the dry cleaners folds a shirt rather than using a hanger, it’s not that big of a deal. But if it’s a surgeon who forgets to remove a sponge before stitching, or a dentist who extracts a lower rather than an upper, those are big deals.
Watchdog’s posts have had some dangling participles and split infinitives, and in a past life I threw a few pitches down and away rather than up and tight, resulting in some mammoth, tape measure home runs, ultimately requiring me to find a new career. Mistakes do happen because of lack of attention to details.
Attention to detail builds trust, and isn’t that what we want from our public officials. They have the ability to make our lives better or miserable, with the latter typically being the rule.
If a city council member is going to vote on an issue, you would hope they know what they are voting on, rather than just winging it. You would hope they would learn as much as they could on the topic, rather than rushing a vote.
During the last Naperville city council meeting an agenda item included a local church wanting to conduct some outdoor events. The concern was how loud would the music be. Watch and listen as councilman John Krummen asks a very deep philosophical question followed by council member Patty Gustin’s concerns about the decibel (or is it decimal) levels:
How loud is loud? How high is high, how blue is blue? How goofy is goofy?
Listening to them my question is how dumb is dumb?
Been thinking about this – decibel measurements are used for industrial installations that will emit noise on a 24/7 basis. If it was important for this particular issue, City Staff would have gotten the information, which apparently it did not do. Would the more appropriate measurement have been “is it bigger than the Naperville breadbox” with breadbox being Rib Fest music. If not, what is the problem for a one time, short term event.