As we prepare to vote in this historic Naperville municipal election, one of the things that strikes me is the contrast between our present slate of candidates and the slate of presumptive candidates for the 2016 presidential election. I honestly believe I could live with any number of the former, but none of the latter.
That is not to say we should simply throw darts at the list of candidates, although that is often the way cynics suggest our elections have been conducted in the past. We may be fortunate that any of our candidates could do a decent job, but we should want more than that.
This time we have the opportunity to elect a council in which the temperaments and experiences of the entire membership can be complementary. This time we can elect a council with a shared vision of the future and the collective will to lead us there on a road that is paved with creative compromise.
I have argued that to select the right mix of candidates we must question them a little less politely than we usually do. Because this is being written on Thursday, I have obviously not heard the third forum run by the Naperville Homeowners Confederation, but believe it will be similar to the others, concentrating on increasing revenue, attracting business, and personal motivation.
That’s fine, but if you’re a long time resident north of the downtown, you might want to see a little more pointed questioning about overlay districts and residential buffers. If you work for a licensed taxi company, you may want to know what the candidates really think about the fact that the ride sharing service Uber plans to offer free rides around the Fourth of July next summer.
Naperville’s involvement with the Illinois Municipal Electricity Agency is a ticking time bomb. The Prairie State Energy Campus plants have design and construction deficiencies, have never run at their promised capacity, and use dirty, high sulfur coal that may be strictly regulated in the future. All the municipal agencies that invested in it will be paying well above market rates far into the future. All but one councilman voted for this thing at the time. Why don’t we ask these candidates what they think we should do?
Since reputable dog breeders never, ever sell their dogs to pet stores or on the Internet, candidates who take refuge in the legalese defining a puppy mill are being evasive. Maybe Naperville doesn’t have the money to defend a legal challenge to an ordinance, but there should be no doubt how each candidate feels about this despicable business.
And it’s the same with tearing down the Central Parking Facility. It’s the wrong thing to do in the near future even if it weren’t so expensive. Also, has anyone else noticed that, in all the discussion of our terrible parking problems and downtown traffic congestion, not one candidate has mentioned public transportation?
I can see why a candidate wouldn’t want to talk about all the hoops we make business owners jump through to open a business here, which may explain our empty strip malls, or how black people feel they are being treated by our citizens and the police. It may be that they don’t know anything about such things, but if they’re going to serve on the council they should find out.
If you don’t know how your candidates feel about these and other issues, you still have time to ask. They all have web sites, and most of them will accept phone calls. You’ll find out eventually, and better now than after they’re elected. As the saying goes, “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”
Bill Mego is a freelance writer