Naperville residents now have a fourth candidate to consider when they vote in 2025. Naperville Park Board Commissioner Mary Gibson has announced her intention to run for council. We give props to anyone willing to get into politics these days. It’s a tough time to run so kudos to all candidates getting into this or any race.
Gibson appears to be pretty much the picture of the suburban local candidate. She takes a pleasant picture and sounds very nice while speaking. She brings an impressive academic and community resume.
She also brings a lot of questions.
The primary question being just how tied to the hip is she to these fringy progressive activists who have emerged around town? Failing to distance himself from such groups was the cause of the heavily favored Benny White’s demise in his mayoral race (that and his not paying any taxes for years on his million dollar house). Will Gibson make the same mistake?
Gibson certainly seemed tied to the hip with her Park seatmates Ruffing and Thompson while running for Park Board in 2022. Thompson and Ruffing clearly meet the definition of political fringe by anyone’s definition.
Gibson went along with the preposterous and embarrassing inquisition into whether or not then Park Board-member Josh McBroom having placed a smiling emoji on someone’s social media post was censurable. Taxpayers paid an expensive Ivy League lawyer to investigate this absurdity. The lawyer found the claim against McBroom was baseless. What a juvenile and partisan waste of staff time and taxpayer resources.
Gibson also was fully on board with keeping all Park programs closed during COVID, no matter how extreme and heavy handed the Governor’s mandates were. However she was not nearly as concerned about COVID when she joined her colleagues for a taxpayer funded trip to the free State of Tennessee for a conference in Nashville. All of her fellow COVID fanatics on the Board joined her on this trip. She supported making your kid wear a mask while playing basketball yet on her time she takes a taxpayer funded trip to a State that did next nothing on COVID.
Most recently, she seemed to go along with her liberal peers who wanted to pass on a free plaque honoring those lost in the American Revolution. Masses of people showed to protest this very strange Park decision. With the crowd in attendance to put the pressure on, all of the Park Board members voiced support for the plaque. Minutes of the pre-meeting and accounts from people who were there say the opposite had occurred. Gibson seemed to follow her liberal peers in preposterously declining the plaque honoring our veterans. Why would she do this?
Gibson has a very good resume and will no doubt get votes. But right now the Watchdog urges caution. Is Gibson a well intended and thoughtful moderate leader or is Gibson yet another duplicitous liberal politician who will place pandering to progressive activists over sound policy. Illinois is run by such officials with tragic results.
If Gibson can establish she is the former, she would be worthy of consideration. She has the resume. Unfortunately right now there is too much evidence to suggest that Gibson is the latter.
Right now the Watchdog’s advice is to stay away from Gibson until she demonstrates she is more then just a progressive proxy.
Josh McBroom is tied to the hip of fringy radical conservatives activists and PACS in town and it got him a win. Her stances on park district will help her during the city council election. Glad to see this gladiator enter the ring with the others.
Mary Gibson was the top vote getter in her election to Park District and she did this by her thoughtful and articulate campaign. Her campaign was successful in all parts of Naperville and I predict will be again. CVWD lack of support for her is the best possible endorsement for her. The irony of you calling her too closely tied to fringe elements when you share your posts regularly to right organizatiom like Safe Suburbs PAC and your lavish praise of McBroom, Leong, Wilson and Taylor does not go unnoticed.
Another cheap shot at Benny over earned veteran benefits that are no longer in effect but somehow you fail to mention that.
I think you’re replying to
the wrong person.
Noted. Thanks ‘Dog, this is the kind of actionable thought-provoking consideration we should be giving to all who consider asking for our trust.
Hard pass on woke Gibson.