Have you ever had a conversation with someone when you asked a question but you didn’t really care about the answer, and the person answering the question gave you a meaningless answer, and you were both content with the exchange. It would go under the category of ‘socially acceptable non-productive behavior’. It served no purpose other than burning some time while both individuals appear to be intelligent.
It happens every day, and it really happens often the first and third Tuesday night’s of each month during Naperville city council meetings.
The following is an example when councilman Paul Hinterlong asks a question, about snow removal in the downtown area, to Naperville’s Director of Public Works, Dick Dublinski:
So the question is, what exactly did Dublinski learn? No one on the Naperville city council was interested enough to find out. A simple question from a council member could have allowed Dublinski to enlighten the council and all those watching the meeting. Something like, “Well Dick, what exactly did you learn that will help the next time time we have a slushy snow?
Maybe I’m the only one who truly wanted to know. I was sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting to learn something that I did not know about slushy snow, and poof, the opportunity to be enlightened was gone.
I know the council was flying through the meeting, in near record-setting fashion, it only took 37 minutes. Obviously the council members were in a rush to go somewhere, hence the quick exit from the meeting.
It’s always a little concerning when the ‘executive closed-door’ meeting before the regular council meeting takes almost three times longer than the regular meeting. A lot of things can happen during ‘closed door’ meetings that residents not only would like to know, but also need to know. Inquiring residents are always interested in knowing how and why their tax dollars are being spent.
No doubt that the Dick Dublinski is a sharp and knowledgeable Director of Public Works. He has been in position since 2011, and a city employee for 18 years. I’m sure that during the last 5 years he’s has seen slushy snow before in the downtown area. What happened this time, that allowed him to learn something new?
Maybe we’ll never know, or at least not until the next slushy snow in downtown Naperville. It also would help if a council member, any council member, would care enough to ask delving questions in open session.
