The Naperville city council “listened” to more than 100 speakers express their opinions regarding gun control, specifically assault rifles during the last city council meeting August 16th. After more than four hours of passionate testimony on the topic, the Naperville city council voted 8 – 1 to prohibit the purchase assault weapons within city limits, the one vote not supporting the ban was councilman Paul Hinterlong.
My guess is if the council voted before “listening” to any of the speakers, the vote would have been 8 – 1, so what’s the purpose of ‘wasting’ time ‘listening’ to people talk and pontificate, if the council already knows how they are going to vote. The answer is simple, council members want to appear they are doing something, and in this case, the ‘doing something’ was to prohibit sales of assault weapons beginning January 1st, 2023. Never-mind the near-do-wels using the weapons, just focus on the guns. It’s easier and quicker to do that, than determining the root causes.
That’s how government operates, either throw money at the problem, or choose the easy option/solution and then everybody can get back to life as usual.
So who wins on this deal? Well, lawyers win with billable hours, city attorney Michael DiSanto wins with job security (he’s going to be a busy guy). Politicians win because they can say they are doing something. Gun sellers outside of Naperville city limits win with an influx of business. Revolving-door sales people win with the increase of lawyers coming and going thru the Municipal Center, doors will need to be repaired or purchased.
What would George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay say? They just might say, don’t bet against the Constitution.
You can’t fix stupid, but you can vote the idiots out of office! The only thing this does is empower criminals and disadvantage law abiding citizens who aren’t the problem in the first place. Have at it morons and the day will come when you and yours get assaulted and you’ll have nothing to defend yourselves with. If you think they will stop at this your nuts!
Outlawing assault rifles on the national level is the only meaningful way to address this issue, and I support doing it. Councilman Hinterlong was right to support a resolution to call for a ban instead of an ordinance. As a small business owner, I am appalled that City Council choose to pass a symbolic ordinance that will not meaningfully address this problem, but will significantly adversely impact two local businesses. Feel good politics in this case comes at a real cost borne not by elected officials but by businesses that pay their salaries, and that is a shame.
Well said
Very well said.
Hoping you will run again
As I stated when I addressed city council on this issue, this is nothing but a political placebo that gives the politicians behind it a false sense of achievement and some residents a false sense of safety, but in actuality changes nothing.
I have always spoken out against ordinances that are either unenforceable or only serve to bring divisive partisan politics to city council meeting and this ordinance is both. The growing trend of divisive partisan politics in city council meeting over the last 10 years is very concerning since it risks creating the same divide government that has resulted in ineffective government at the state and federal level. We simply can not afford this type of government at the local level.
If city council politicians wish to make symbolic statement they can do it through resolutions asking for action at the state or federal level like they did at this same council meeting with no cash bond. This is the way council has traditionally handled these issues without dividing our community the way this ordinance has.
If the real issue, as many stated, is school safety then why were most of the “Where as” justifications for this ordinance about incidents that did not happen at schools? This was not about school or public safety it was about using city council to promote party politics and build political resumes neither of which improve public safety, community unity or quality of life.
When council members loose sight of what their real duty on city council is then it is time for residents to re-evaluate if these politicians should remain on city council.
I am looking at another what I see as a beginning problem. The North side of Washington and Ogden going somewhat South on Washington and somewhat East on Ogden. We have lipo suction LED bright moving lights , Garbage totes left in front of business’s on the sidewalk. Weeds everywhere and we are asked to volunteer to clean up sewer drains. Now we have a floating taco van between Ogden and Loomis and Ogden and Royal Saint George given a 1 yr. permit to park any where in DuPage but only moves between these 2 spots. One being a Marathon gas station when the truck runs on propane gas and the other which blocks the left turn lane onto Ogden by being so far to the street and plugs his electricity into the side of the first building on the strip mall the cord is at least 100 ft laying on the driveway.I love taco’s but the lack of ordinances and codes in Naperville is quite clear. Why are these reviewed for the betterment and the safety of the city….it’s there job. Going to get a petition for this purpose would appreciate any signatures to add to it. Thank You. 630-369-4596 I will come to you for signing.
Or just provide your name and address I will put all in a word file…..Much Thanks and you are wellcome to see the request to the city counsel at any time. Dorothy
I agree that some of the food truck operators in Naperville are more focused on how to operate more like a brick & mortar restaurant then a food truck and are abusing the food truck regulations in Naperville to do so.
But the challenge is how to punish the guilt without also punishing the law abiding. We have seen this in the past, most recently with the “assault” rifle ban but also with the puppy mill ordinance, sign ordinances, downtown district bar ordinance, apartment management ordinance, etc.
But at least your issue is actually a quality of life issue that effects everyone one in Naperville and not a National issue that the city can not really regulate like “assault” rifles and puppy mills. In acting ordinances on National issues with justifications like “sending a message” , “being a national leader” , etc are not about Naperville they are about using elected city offices to further divisive partisan political agendas that only serve the needs of career politicians and national political parties.
Thank You Jim’ The truck is on property that I think is zoned for fixed businesses. It is Not to harm the vendor in the truck it is to look for fairness in our ordinace’s and zoning laws I have heard too many times you cannot regulate what is on private property which is not the case. This is about updating and supporting what is on the book’s so too speak. If this continues it will spread thru out the community. My husband and I look to get on the public input agenda of a meeting and present our thoughts we also look for people to email the councel, email us to add them with other residents we have supporting this. To date we have noted the propane units on the truck are not secured when a worker or owner is gone. We also noted that there is an electric outlet from the first business on the side of the brick supporting the electric to the truck with a 25-5o foot extension cord across the parking lot from the building to the truck. Much more. dpfeuffer@sbcglobal.net a conerned resident in Saybrook. Ogden avenue is an entrance to the North side let us work to keep up code’s and ordinance.
I think I need to clarify my post. If the property owner has given the Vendor permission to setup on their property and the Vendor also has all its permits & inspections past then they are legal operations.
Yes there are health & fire safety codes and inspections that have to be met. Just the other day one of these vendors was shutdown because it failed its fire inspection. But running a long extension cord is not necessarily a violation. If the cord is of the right gauge wire and properly protected it is not a code violation to run it 25-50 from a building to a trailer.
Unsecured propane tanks are a violation but if they are secured during operations and unsecured when closed it begs the question why unsecure them when leaving? If someone is unsecuring these tanks after the workers leave then it is not a code violation but an act of vandalism and the Truck operator is a victim not a defendant.
My suggestion is that if you see a code violation at one of these Trucks or Trailers call code enforcement and report it. Ask that they call you back to update you on their findings. Naperville, like most cities, operation on a complaint driven ordinance enforcement model for most codes, which is not a proactive policy. So it is truly a case of the squeaky wheel getting the grease.
Thanks Jim,
We have done quite a bit of work on this and the property is zoned B3em which does not include temporary structures. This vendor has a health dept. permit to go anywhere in DuPage County for one year. Our concern is not just this particular vendor. Our concern is quite a few area’s not governed by our ordinance’s We think it would be worth while for planning and zoning to review ordinance’s in the city and up date them.
Just because they have a permit for DuPage county does not mean they can operate anywhere they want. There was just a vendor this past weekend sent packing out of Naperville because they failed their fire inspection.
If the cylinders aren’t secure, electrical cords are not adequate or has to many things plugged into it, if no proper fire extinguisher is on site, if cooking ventilation is not up to code, etc. The fire department will fail them and shut them down. And Naperville’s fire codes are the toughest in DuPage County. Many Truck/Trailer vendors do fail them the first time. Of course if they fix the problem they are back in business.
Naperville building zoning does not restrict “temporary” operations like these because many businesses and retailers hold special events utilizing these types of vendors as part of their event. Any attempt to change what is allowed “temporarily” under zoning codes could result in a great deal of push-back from businesses in Naperville.