One of the best decisions Naperville councilwoman Becky Anderson made for the residents of Naperville was her decision to not run for re-election. It’s not easy winning an election with a double-digit vote total. Anderson has not been a magnet for voter support. Her likeability quotient measures in the negative.

Whereas some council members, including Judy Brodhead, are harmless, more like an empty seat, others including Anderson cause problems. When Brodhead leaves the council, it will be as if she was never there. However when Anderson departs, it will immediately increase the average IQ of the entire council. Anderson’s mode of operating on the council has been defined as underhanded and not in a subtle way. If you look in the dictionary for the definition of ‘conflict-of-interest’ there is a good chance of seeing a picture of councilwoman Becky Anderson.

As an example, during the March 19th Naperville city council meeting, rather than expressing her opinion of Mayor Steve Chirico’s possible (but untrue) conflict-of-interest regarding the Central Park Place development on Washington Street, she waited until Chirico recused himself from that portion of the meeting before leveling the accusation.

Watch and listed as Mayor Chirico recuses himself, followed by Anderson’s cheap shot:

Anderson’s specialty on the city council is her propensity of exercising her lack of judgement on her own conflicts-of-interest.

Watch and listen as councilman Kevin Coyne chimes in with just a few of Anderson’s conflicts-of-interest without mentioning Anderson’s name:

• Should a council-member vote on a petition which her family member presented.
• Should a council-member vote on public resources being used for an event outside of her business.
• Should a council-member vote on a special service area if she has a building in that area.

Coyne didn’t wait until Anderson wasn’t present. She was there in full living color slinking into her seat. Coyne didn’t throw the punch, until after Anderson threw her sucker-punch at Chirico.

Councilman Benny White then steps in with a common-sense thought of his own;

Anything could be considered a conflict-of-interest. However when it comes to Becky Anderson she specializes in a plethora of conflicts-of-interest including:

• Voting for library funding while owning a book store.
• Voting for downtown improvements when she owns a business in the downtown area.
• Voting for a Harry Potter event again while owning a book store.
• Improper use of quasi governmental bodies such as NCTV and Naper Settlement for financial benefit.

Becky Anderson has never been accused of being a class act. During the April 3rd city council meeting watch and listen as councilman Paul Hinterlong congratulates Mayor Steve Chirico on his re-election victory. Every council member joins in by clapping, except for Anderson seated second from the left.

The bottom line is that the Tuesday April 16 city council meeting will be councilwoman Becky Anderson’s last meeting. The really good news is that it will allow Anderson more time do some industrial-strength dusting and vacuuming in her book store, which is sorely needed.

Most of our NCAA brackets are busted by now, but we still have a chance to identify four winners out of the 11 candidates running for Naperville’s city council election. There are comparisons between the NCAA tournament and the city council election. I may pick Michigan State and Auburn to win without liking them, whereas I can identify Nevada and Murray State as having winning programs without thinking they will win.

The ‘Michigan State and Auburn’ of the 11 candidates are Paul Hinterlong and Patty Gustin. They both have a great chance of winning, not because they are among the four best candidates, but because they are incumbents. It’s not easy beating an incumbent. Name recognition is like gum on your shoe on a hot August day; it’s difficult to ignore. It never seems to go away like Hinterlong, and Gustin still talks too long, too much and doesn’t know when to stop talking.

So who are the ‘Final Four’? Which candidates are Duke, Kentucky, Virginia, and Texas Tech , worthy of Watchdog endorsements. Choosing two (Duke and Virginia) was easy; Patrick Kelly and Whitney Robbins. Neither had to read their opening and closing statements, their comments and answers were clear and concise, and both appear likeable and sincere. Kelly communicates effectively and demonstrates courage, while Robbins creates an environment of trust with the ability to maximize relationships. She is the least political of the bunch but the most relatable.

The third choice for endorsement (Bruce Hanson/Kentucky) was relatively clear until he stumbled awkwardly when asked a question about evaluating the leadership of the current city council members. Rather than embracing the question with confidence, he couldn’t wait for his time to run out so he could pass the ball to the next candidate. As bad as that moment was for him, he brings a wealth of experience to the dais. Hanson becomes Kentucky with a reluctant endorsement to the Final Four.

Six candidates remain for the Final Fourth (Texas Tech) endorsement. This is where it became difficult. Joe McElroy’s unorthodox style looked appealing, but negative press quickly bumped him off the list. Theresa Sullivan’s agenda didn’t seem like a good fit with the current council. The only time Brad Miller cracked a smile was when a straight face would have worked better.

Nancy Turner teetered on the edge between being too controlled and enthusiasm-challenged. She mercifully fell off the edge when she stated her reason for running for council election was sexist-based, rather than quality-based:

Barbara O’Meara had me quickly from the beginning, assertive, strong, confident, opinionated, high energy, enthusiastic, with the ability to think critically and drive change. What’s there not to like, right? Well, there were two things. The first was like throwing a brick for a free throw:

A surcharge on lawn sprinklers! Are you kidding me.

But then she threw up an air ball with this comment:

Misinterpreting hard work, perseverance, determination, managing performance and execution, making things happen, and accomplishing goals as “white privilege” is a gross miscalculation on O’Meara’s part. She could have had the game winning shot with the fourth endorsement. Rather than taking a simple layup, she shot the wildest of air balls.

The fourth endorsement (Texas Tech) goes to Michele Hilger Clemen. She’s not flashy, but she is consistent, with the ability to demonstrate accountability and drive change. She can add to the dais by assessing situations quickly and solving problems effectively.

Watchdog’s Final Four are Patrick Kelly, Whitney Robbins, Bruce Hanson and Michele Hilger Clemen. They may or may not win, but they are winners.

Time is running out for Naperville Mayoral candidate Rocky Caylor to close the gap with Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico. With only 23 days remaining until election day (April 2), Caylor fell short in gaining ground during the two-hour candidate forum Monday March 4. If anything changed, it was that the gap widened.

When the bell rang for the forum to begin, Caylor came out strong, but within seconds his focus diverted accusing Chirico of unfairly gathering research against him, when in fact it was Caylor who released information about himself; probably not the best strategy on the challenger’s part. To Chirico’s credit he did not respond to the jab, and stayed on point.

However later in the forum, the question about researching a candidate was asked by the moderator and Chirico used it to his advantage. Watch and listen as Chirico responds:

Anything less than researching a candidate’s background would be foolish. Imagine a baseball manager not using a scouting report a before a game, or a pitcher not researching opposing batters tendencies, or not researching a cardiologist before choosing a heart surgeon.

Later in the forum, the moderator presented the candidates with a question about using tax increment financing (TIF) as a method to subsidize development:

So Caylor, if elected mayor, would not support offering a TIF, but as a business owner in Joliet, he asked for and was granted a TIF for his company.

Other opportunities for Caylor to garner voting support fell flat, partly because of ill-timed humor (using a municipal mayor’s vehicle to let people know he was driving around), to making statements that he most likely fully understood, but those listening (including myself) had no idea what he was talking about.

Rocky Caylor still has 23 days to become Rocky Balboa and win the battle, but it appears he has inflicted a TKO to himself.

It seems whenever a Naperville city official, other than Mayor Steve Chirico, is needed to take a strong, assertive, stand on a controversial issue, it’s Naperville city councilman Kevin Coyne. He did it again during the February 5th city council meeting, when he in no uncertain terms called for the resignation of newly elected Democrat, Anne Stava-Murray representing the 81st District in the Illinois House.

In less than two months after being elected, Stava-Murray celebrated her victory by insulting a huge chunk of her constituency when she stood by a Facebook comment she posted responding to an individual who called Naperville residents ‘bullies and horrible people’. Stava-Murray apologized to the writer commenting ‘Naperville’s ‘history of white supremacist policies is ongoing’. Apparently Stava-Murray is determined to be a one-term elected official. Comments like that may work for politicians in California or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s, D-NY’s 14th District, but highly unlikely it will work here.

In a statement by Councilman Coyne, he said, “Her actions are the most disgusting that I have ever seen from an elected official” and that “she has made vile comments against the very people she was elected to represent.

Watch and listen to councilman Coyne as he states Stava-Murray:

• Took rhetoric to a new low
• Stated Naperville is a racist city further suggesting that Naperville has leanings toward white supremacy
• Continues to echo dangerous comments
• Alienated herself from both sides of the aisle
• Leveled the worst of insults against the very people in her very own district
• Has no chance that she will effectively represent our community
• And it’s clear that Stava-Murray should resign

Stava-Murray made her situation even worse, when rather than throwing the shovel away after digging herself into a hole, she doubled down and continued digging a deeper hole by saying that Coyne can not ‘shame and blame’ her for his ‘own political gain’. She continued, ‘I am the elected official and you need to get over the fact that we’re more Democrat than Republican now’.

Stava-Murray announced plans to run for the U.S. Senate in 2020 against Dick Durbin. Representative today, Senator in 2020, and why not President in 2024. Let her keep her shovel.