Out With The Old City Council, In With The New

Sunday May 2nd marks the day when three city council members depart, and three new council members are inaugurated. Naperville councilman Kevin Coyne left on his own accord deciding not to run for re-election, John Krummen got booted out by the voters, and Judy Brodhead was termed out by voters.

New council members, Ian Holzhauer, Paul Leong, and Jennifer Taylor will join re-elected councilman Benny White ‘at the dais’ this Tuesday May 4th. With council meetings occurring via Zoom, new council members may not have to worry about taking the wrong seat during their first meeting, so the pressure is off.

Mayor Steve Chirico may have asked the most important question of the night during council-member orientation, when he asked Jennifer Bruzan Taylor if she is OK being Jennifer Taylor. Seemingly caught by surprise, she gave the green-light for the shorter version of her name. We’ll have to see what her name plate shows.

Not only will council member Jennifer Taylor have a learning curve, somehow she garnered additional pressure by being selected to be the first Mayor-pro-tem for the ‘new’ city council. It could be punishment for barely squeaking in for the fourth open seat, by a mere 57 votes over fifth-place finisher Allison Longenbaugh.

Considering the industrial-strength spending Taylor did campaigning with multiple mailers, yard signs, etc., a huge chunk of her council-member salary will be spent covering her expenses. It took a lot of dollars to secure that 57-vote victory over Longenbaugh.

One more yard sign strategically placed, or one-hour more of glad-handing at the train station, or one more endorsement, could have made the difference with Longenbaugh in and Taylor out.