Anybody can say anything to get elected and most people seeking office do exactly that. The idea is to get elected and hope everybody forgot what was said in order to get elected.
So how has Naperville mayor Steve Chirico done regarding his campaign commitments? He announced his platform with six pillars of commitment to Naperville residents including:
- Reduce city debt.
- Reduce commercial vacancies.
- Establish strong business policies to ensure Naperville continues to thrive.
- Keep Naperville safe.
- Supporting police and fire departments.
- Quality city services by improving efficiencies.
Has he honored his campaign commitments, and is he continuing to do it? The answer to both questions is a resounding yes. Whereas his predecessor, Mayor George Pradel, focused on establishing Naperville as family-friendly, Chirico’s leadership has established Naperville as a thriving city known throughout the country. Pradel helped Naperville secure the roots, while Chirico has cultivated Naperville with wings.
There was a time, not that long ago, when speaking with someone outside of the Chicago area, you would have to spell “Naperville”; not so much anymore, if at all.
Chirico, along with city manager Doug Krieger, has assembled a strong leadership team, allowing Naperville to forge ahead, with clear vision and a focused mission. Most recently the announcement of Jason Arries as the new Naperville Chief of Police has furthered strengthened Naperville’s leadership team.
Mayors Pradel and Chirico, roots and wings, a winning combination.
Barf. Not too long ago you said “…Naperville’s Municipal Center (City Hall) was considered a hostile work environment, and Naperville’s city manager Doug Krieger was given a verbal reprimand, and ordered to participate in the city’s ‘harassment prevention and diversity awareness’ training.”
Apparently someone who requires harassment and diversity training is the best Naperville can get to run the City.
If we seek someone who is flawless, I only know of one, and HE is already helping us.
WHO said anything about flawless, not I. He could be replaced by any any number of candidates who are not in need of ‘harassment prevention and diversity awareness’ training. If someone who needs harassment prevention and diversity awareness’ training is the best Naperville can get, than shame on us.
It’s been said that given a sufficient amount of time, anything that can happen will happen, hence there by the Grace of GOD are we. Ultimately, technically every one of of us could find ourselves required to participate in diversity awareness training. If I smile at someone and they consider that to be sexual harassment, should I be required to attend sexual-harassment re-education training? Similar to getting a ticket for failing to make a complete stop at a stop sign, and being required to attend drivers education training in order to satisfy those ‘handing out’ the punishment. There isn’t one of any of us who couldn’t be doing a better job, hence each of all of us could be replaced. If something happens once, it’s a mistake, if it happens more than once it’s a problem. Common sense and understanding need to be part of the equation of life.
“Let he who be without sin cast the first stone” The reality is we all make mistakes so long as we learn from them and do not repeat them then they should not be held against us, otherwise whats the point of changing?
Is Naperville city hall still considered a hostile work environment? Has Krieger received further reprimands? Has the city manager been instructed to take courses on “harassment and diversity training?
Actually the answer to the last question would be yes, because all city employees are now required to take such training along with sexual harassment training. This is actually not unusual most organizations (government, charity, businesses, etc) require all employees to complete these types of trainings. Even elected and appointed city government members have to complete these trainings in Naperville today.
These events happened back in 2014, when Councilman Krause was engaged in a vendetta to get rid of Krieger (part of Krause’s mayoral campaign platform was to terminated Krieger if elected). Krieger made the unforgivable mistake of challenging Krause on many issues publicly, something Krause did not like. If we are going to tell stories of the past lets make sure to tell the whole story.