It worked for Pedro, and it worked for Naperville councilwoman Jennifer Bruzan Taylor. If you vote for me, all of your wildest dreams will come true. In a field of 11 city council candidates, with the top four getting elected, Taylor came in 4th place. She was elected by the narrowest of margins (57 votes) over the 5th place, and losing candidate (Allison Longenbaugh).
Taylor said everything she could, to get elected, including 17 campaign commitments to voters:
- Promote local business
- Promote public safety.
- Responsible development.
- Balance residents concerns re: traffic, storm water, and school overcrowding issues with the need to encourage economic growth.
- Any new development needs to solve issues for our neighborhoods, not create new ones.
- Reduce negative impact on the environment.
- Keep Naperville moving forward.
- Ensure everyone has their voice heard.
- Make Naperville prosperous.
- Protect small business and help them survive.
- Create new public/private partnerships to invest in our local businesses.
- Create uses for empty store fronts.
- Address traffic issues with timed lights & vehicle detection lights to reduce bottlenecks at intersections.
- Advocate for attainable housing.
- Reduce permit and impact fees.
- Increase the number of staff in the police department.
- Insure NPD has the equipment they need.
The question is, can Taylor remember just half of the commitments she made to voters? My guess, it’s doubtful. Pedro said more in just 13 words, than Taylor said in 122 words. Pedro kept it simple, Taylor didn’t. Much easier for Pedro to remember what he said to get elected, than for Taylor to remember.
Say what you want about her but anyone that is opposed by Allison Longenbaugh, Holly Hootman, Dianne McGuire, etc. is alright by me and I don’t care if she is a Democrat. At least she’s not a far left whackadoddle like the aforementioned.
Taylor practiced the the Trump and Sanders approach to campaigning. Promise your base everything they want, become the “popular” candidate not the realistic or practical candidate. Unfortunately saying whatever it takes to gain the voters confidence is becoming a standard practice in politics today no matter how impossible or impractical such promises are. And that is what Pedro best demonstrated.
And of course when these type of politicians fail to deliver on these promises they simply avoid taking responsibility and blame it on obstructionism by those people out to make them look bad (be it the people on the left or the right).
But the sadist thing here is that we are no longer talking about city council members as citizen that want to do what is best for our community but as politicians who want to align themselves with a national agenda that provides opportunities for election to higher office. Making our community just a “stepping stone” in their “career” as an elected official. I personally don’t like my city, my community, my home treated as as stepping stone by anyone.
In the end electing career focused politicians and not concern citizens to city council only hurts our community and city. Many people in this community talk about the how bad things are in Chicago and how it hurts us as a community. The reality is that all of what is happening in Chicago is the result of electing politicians (more focused on party agenda and financial constituency) to their city council rather then concerned citizens (that are focused on community needs and issues). And it does not matter what party you talk about, they and their candidates, all do this.
We need to keep our local elections non-partisan and that means not just keeping the parties out of providing partisan support but also not letting the candidates talk about parties and party agendas. Once candidates start these type of conversation (be it by claiming party allegiance, support or endorsement) then they have set us, as a community, on the path toward the type of partisan politics that is the heart of all of Chicago’s problems.