It’s not difficult to impeach a politician, considering impeachment is nothing more than an indictment; it’s been said you can indict a sandwich. President Trump set a record by being impeached for a second time. This one didn’t take long, just a few days, which means with Trump having three days remaining in office, the democrats can squeeze-in one more snap impeachment, giving Trump a total of three impeachments; a record which will be difficult to beat. Now there is a movement in California to recall Governor Gavin Newsom, which will likely happen.
It got me thinking, what would it take to jettison a Naperville city council member from the dais. I did a very quick search, (my attention span is limited) and I couldn’t find an answer. Having heard that Naperville politics are transparent, I decided call somebody who surely had the answer; the City of Naperville’s legal department. I had a simple question, ‘Does the City have a process for removing a council member from office’? A simple answer ‘yes or no’ would suffice. The answer I received was, ‘we can’t provide legal advice’. I responded by saying, “I wasn’t looking for advice or how the process works, I just wanted to know if there was a process in place”. This time the answer was more firm, “We can’t do that. Good bye sir”. OK, so I guess that’s transparency and customer service rolled into one.
I’m confident that one or more of Watchdog’s readers knows the answer. It can probably be answered in 5,000 words or less, but one word works, ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
Loosely defined, impeachment means ‘misconduct’. That’s a broad net for making a politician’s life miserable. Misconduct can apply to anybody for almost anything, so maybe a council member can be booted out of office for misconduct. Based on that, what misconduct or misbehavior could current council members be booted out the door:
- Judy Brodhead: being on the council too long, (going beyond her expiration date)
- Kevin Coyne: making too much sense (a no-no for politicians)
- Patty Gustin: talking too much, without saying anything (grabbing too much face time)
- Paul Hinterlong: his head is too big on Zoom (and finds things funny that are actually funny)
- Pat Kelly: too little experience on the council, (he needs to look older, thereby conveying some wisdom).
- John Krummen: being an ambassador for Smart Meters (he can’t get away from that one).
- Theresa Sullivan: being a contrarian (showing too much independence and courage)
- Benny White: not doing enough of (whatever)
- Mayor Steve Chirico: being too pragmatic (another no-no for politicians)
Now word comes out that Sleepy Joe, as he is affectionately known by friends and foes, will face articles of impeachment on day one, by a new congressional house member. Is it any wonder why Nero fiddled while Rome burned.
I for one appreciate all of the city council members. It’s not easy being an elected official these days. We have all made mistakes; a stupid comment or a vote we regret. At the end of the day, who should represent us in government? My fear is that good people will no longer volunteer to put themselves out there because of the current political environment and as a result, we will get nothing but activists or single issue candidates running for council. In my view, Naperville is best served with elected council members who have a balanced approach and are still open minded enough to consider alternative ideas.