Experienced ...... news flash, these guys all get paper copies, even though they have internet and laptops etc.... at their disposal. It was suggested that they receive entire packets electronically, and only print out the pages they actually NEED, and one councilman, not sure which civic minded genius this was, had a fit - and insisted they all continue to get complete printed copies.

Again, the City Council does NOT make sacrifices!!!!! That is for the rest of us - you know, all of us who Furstenau and Wherli always say "just don't understand". Much like Miller getting all huffy at a meeting and saying that if they all decide to go and have dinner (on the City of course) after a meeting or whatever, it made no difference. See, the rich are entitled to make all the decisions, and impose hardship on anyone they please here in Naperville - that is their right according to Council and City Management.

It would be fine to provide some basic service availability to those serving on City Council ..... but do we need to be paying for these wealthy elitists cell phones, dinners, magazines, and yes, hundreds of thousands of pages of wasted paper every other day? Should we pay the Mayor a salary, a pension (two if he get's 20 years in he will get IMRF as well) ...... buy him a nice Hybrid, pay for his magazines, his cell phone, his internet access, meals, health insurance, and who knows what else? Hey, if someone did that for me, I might have 1/3 the money someone like Furstenau or Wherli or Boyajian ....( insert name of councilman here) has stored away while they are stealing pennies from the rest of us to support themselves and their friends. Not ONE councilman we have sitting up there needs any of what they take - they simply take it because they think they are entitled. Shame they don't have the same compassion for the citizens who live and work here.

Anonymous | January 21, 2011 11:18 AM | wrote:

No perks would include: no cell phone, no computer, no internet service, ....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, are we going back to spending large sums on paper printed agenda packets? Over 200 pages x 2 regular meetings per month x 7 councilmen and mayor [probably 11 under the new mixed district and at large set up] = 2800 pages per month of paper, toner, staff time, copier upkeep, cost of delivery on Friday before meetings, etc. That doesn't count workshop meetings, printing of the budget on paper, etc.

Or, will we going to limit elective offices to those who can afford laptops and internet service that can be used both at home and in the council chambers [laptop only for the latter]?

This City Council will never give anything up - they think they are somehow more deserving than the rest of us - they truly believe this, and they aren't about to give anything back to the residents out of their own pockets. Taking it away from the people who work there, now that they have no problem with, though that won't go back to the residents either, that will pad the pockets of the City Manager and his inept team and/or their friends in behind closed door deals.

The leadership of this City has absolutely no integrity whatsoever, and that starts with the City Council, and filters down throughout management. At this point, mid level managers have bought into Mr. Kriegers approach of respect no one and stab those who do the work you get credit for in the back. It's pathetic, and will not lead to anything positive for the City - hope everyone is ready and willing to live and work in Potterville.

I don't believe City Council members deserve ANY perks.

Council members are given a reasonable salary for what is really a part-time job and that should be the total extent of their compensation. I could also see reimbursing them for travel while on official business to represent the City of Naperville in the most cost efficient manner, but no reimbursement for local travel within Naperville. Getting out and about and being in touch with voters is part of the job and is something a council member needs to do to get elected and to get re-elected.

No perks would include: no cell phone, no computer, no internet service, no newspaper or magazine subscriptions, no city car, no health insurance, no life insurance, and no retirement.

Especially in these lean economic times out elected officials absolutely must lead by example and that example must send a clear message to all city hall staffers and city workers that they must be as lean and frugal as the city council itself. If they can not or will not do it individually or collectively then they don't deserve to be council members.

I say take away the City Council perks (primarily health insurance) and see how many stay and stay and stay. I have absolutely NO faith in the local voters to actually pay attention and vote outside the myopic boundaries of name recognition.

Page 3 article "City Council to examine bank, liquor rules"

Now let me start by saying I have no particular love for banks but I'm not sure there is need to limit how many may exist downtown. Simple economic pressure should be the deciding factor, not anything else. Without competition too few banks would make the current banking environment even worse than it currently is.

As to the liquor rules... the developers, landlords, city council, and city hall staff all stood by idly and let the look and feel of downtown Naperville get changed forever in terms of bars and restaurants. Gone forever are the ma and pop stores that made downtown unique. Most of what we had was sold out in favor of sales tax and license fees that could be collected from bars and restaurants. The only reason city hall is against banks is because they can't collect any sales tax on a bank and would have more revenue is some other kind of retail business was located in the same spot.

The Chamber of Commerce has marketed downtown Naperville as a dining and party destination. Are we now saying we have too much of a good thing? We have so many sales tax dollars we don't know what to do with the surplus so turn off he engine that delivers it? Are we saying the police department can't handle all of the problems that come with all of those food and drink sales? That kind of comes with the territory I would think when we got in bed with the devil so to speak, but if the city council wants to drive up prices then go ahead and limit competition. The best way to solve the problems that come with food and drink sales is to hold the business(es) that are over serving patron responsible. When was the last time a bartender was arrested or a business owner? Has to be over 20 years. When was the last time a downtown business had their liquor license suspended or revoked? Has to be over 20 years too! Yet the Naperville police department arrests drunk drivers leaving downtown Naperville like shooting fish in a barrel. On any given Friday or Saturday night there are more police officers than taxicabs in downtown Naperville and our city council continues to be indecisive in terms of if or where or how long someone who drinks too much can park their car rather than risk becoming a drunk driver. What did they expect was going to happen when they issued over 30 liquor licenses in a 4 square block area?

Maybe these issues would be better put on hold until after the election. If Naperville is lucky maybe, just maybe, we can elect some city council members who have some focus, vision, and consistency. Mostly we need a new Mayor who knows how to lead and who has a vision that is focused on the future more than it is on the past.

God knows the current city council has been a disappointment and embarrassment. We can only hope the next one will serve us better.

The 911 system knows exactly what kind of a building exists at every address in Naperville. They know if it is a house, a school, a hospital, a church, a warehouse, a store, etc. They know if it has sprinklers, where the nearest fire hydrant is located, and all other sorts of information like if it contains hazardous materials or elderly or disabled persons... if they registered with the fire department.

Most of the overstaffing that we see is a direct result of someone in the fire department having a personal desire to have the fire department accredited. While that is kind of nice achievement it drives the fire department into the highest level of compliance with a myriad of standards (none of which are controlled locally) and none of which have any kind of a return on investment in terms of insurance premiums for the average property owner... regardless of what type, kind, or size.

The same is true of the insurance ratings for fire departments. We could easily drop one or two rating levels and not see much of a real increase in our property insurance premiums.

In the end it basically comes down to paying a little more in terms of property insurance and paying less in terms of real estate taxes or continue with the way it is.

Notwithstanding the above the mindset in the fire service is the larger they can grow the department the more promotion opportunities exist for themselves and their buddies, the more union jobs, along with more administrative people who want to earn higher salaries because... golly gee... look how many people I manage or supervise...

Never ending cycle that feeds itself forever.

And all the while we quietly forget that 95+% of the time the fire department is sitting around waiting for something to happen... instead of out doing something proactive like fire inspections and other fire prevention activities. And when something does happen Naperville is part of a HUGE mutual aid system with all of the other local communities... manpower or equipment shortages is not a realistic concern.

The staffing and administrative models used by the Naperville Fire Department and just about every other fire department haven't evolved or changed much in over a hundred years. Fire departments still rely on an antiquated, hierarchal management system (as do police departments). Fire departments have not evolved because no one has forced them to and because they have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

Other parts of the country have done away with local fire departments and instead have developed regional or county wide fire departments (same with police departments). This results in lower administrative costs, better purchasing power, and better staging of manpower equipment regardless of communities size or boundaries. AND most importantly these communities do not have any higher fire risk or worse fire incidents (or police stats either) but they do operate at a lower cost to the taxpayer.

Any time this gets brought up the first thing the fire department does is try to instill or spread fear that response times will be slower, staffing will be lower, insurance rates will go up, etc. Then they go on to pull the hometown pride card... the fire department wants us to believe we have the best fire department and service will only go down. Fact is if you go to Aurora, Plainfield, Lisle, Warrenville, Bollingbrook, etc you will find they all think and believe the same thing about their fire department. And if you compare statistics the fire experience in other nearby communities isn't any better or worse than in Naperville.

When it comes to home town pride and being financially prudent unfortunately home town pride ends up costing us more than if we really looked at the value of fire and police protection objectively.

-1,

I agree. Just jumping on the bandwagon.

I would be interested to know if any of our schools, or classrooms, on either side of the city are using the "....right hate speech" crap as a reason for the tragic shootings.

Hey anon 12/29, riddle me this?

From the Sun today...
Q. How many firemen does it take to put out a small house fire?
A. 24, yes 24.

NAPERVILLE — A basement fire caused about $10,000 worth of damage Sunday to a two-story wood-frame house at 1112 Summit Hill.

The Naperville Fire Department responded to a call about 3 a.m. of smoke coming from the basement of the house. When firefighters arrived, smoke was coming from the front door of the single-family residence.

The sole occupant of the house already had gotten out of the home by the time firefighters arrived, authorities said. The fire, which was found in a room in the unfinished basement near the utility area, was extinguished within 10 minutes, the Fire Department said. Neither the house’s occupant nor any of the 24 firefighters at the scene sustained injuries.

The Naperville Fire Department was assisted by units from the Naperville Police Department. The preliminary investigation of the fire is that it was accidental, but the cause had yet to be determined Sunday evening.

Close a station and send twleve, please.

pick the topic .. forced moment of silence)

Today D203 decided to intrude upon the parent-child relationship by observing a moment of silence for the Tucson victims.

http://www.naperville203.org/news/article.asp?NEWS_ID=327

While I understand the sentiment (and I personally observed it), in no way should D203 DECIDE for me and my family that shootings and killings will be mentioned in class (especially Kindergartners??)) without sufficient warning. An email a short time before the moment of silence does not cut it. Every kid 9 and younger will now be scared that they might get shot.

I'm interested in what D204 did.

We have soldiers overseas getting killed in the line of duty. Do they get a moment of silence?

We have innocent people getting killed by drunk drivers and gang wars. Do they get a moment of silence?

Where does this moment of silence fit in to the mission statement?

Bad decision D203.

Bad decision.

-1

Peggy,

Nothing is going to change until enough voters get mad enough to show up at the polling place and cast their vote for a different candidate.

Even then the rotation off of city council doesn't happen all at once. So the newly elected, even if they have a coalition, don't necessarily have enough votes to get anything done unless some of the remaining cross over and vote with them.

That means it is a long two years spent either fighting or not getting anything done all the while worrying if any or all of the new people will be co-opted by the old members and city administrative staff... most of whom are chameleons anyway.

Then after two years we have need another set of reform candidates to try to unseat the rest of the old council members.

If that can happen then something can be done.

Unfortunately, the odds against it are pretty high due to voter apathy in general. The city hall staff knows this and so do the existing council members.

It isn't going to be easy to do and without some kind of organization to spearhead a reform movement it is never going to happen just because a few people are unhappy with how city hall is being run.

The last alarm

My father was a fireman.
He drove a big red truck
and when he'd go to work each day
he'd say "Mother wish me luck".
Then Dad would not come home again
'til some time the next day.
But the thing that bothered me the most
was the thingÕs some folks would say,
"A fireman's life is easy,
he eats and sleeps and plays,
and sometime's he won't fight a fire
for days and days and day's".
When I first heard these words
I was to young to understand
but I knew when people had trouble
Dad was there to lend a hand.
Then my father went to work one day
and he kissed us all goodbye
but little did we realize
that night we all would cry.
My father lost his life that night
when the floor gave way below
and I'd wondered why he'd risked his life
for someone he didn't know.
But now I truly realize
the greatest gift a man can give
is to lay his life upon the line
so that someone else might live.
So as we go from day to day
and we pray to God above
say a prayer for your local Firemen.
He may save the one's you love.

Carved in stone at the National Monument for
Fallen Firefighters Colorado Springs, Co

FIREMAN'S PRAYER

When I am called to duty, God
whenever flames may rage,
Give me the strength to save some life
Whatever be its age.

Help me to embrace a little child
Before it’s too late,
Or some older person
from the horror of that fate.

Enable me to be alert
And hear the weakest shout,
And quickly and efficiently
to put the fire out.

I want to fill my calling
and give the best in me,
To guard my neighbor
And protect his property.

And if according to Your will
I have to lose my life,
Please bless with Your protecting hand
My children and my wife

If they were paid pennies they WOULD be worth every penny they received. Instead they are paid in tens of thousands of dollars and it is appropriate for everyone to question if they are worth it and if the amount of pay is fair and reasonable.

With average Naperville police salaries without overtime now over $80K means that those we trusted to manage the salary of city employees either were not competent to negotiate fair and reasonable salaries, they just didn't do their job properly, or they don't know how.

None of our neighboring towns have average police salaries anywhere near where our is and some neighboring towns have more and much more dangerous crime to deal with.

In this economy the city negotiators should have looked the police union dead in the eye and said: "No pay raises for the next 3 years. Period. Many of our residents and taxpayers are not getting any pay raises either, many have received pay cuts or work fewer hours, and many have lost their jobs. Now is not a politically correct time to be asking for a pay raise. Be glad you have a job as the alternatives out there are much worse. And be mindful of the impression you are leaving in hearts and minds of those who pay your salaries."

Cops and Fire Fighters are overpaid and their pensions are too high. I say cut 'em. I suspect there is no SHORTAGE of replacement workers willing to do their job for them.

My anniversary is coming up. What are you getting me?

A FIREFIGHTER STOOD AT THE PEARLY GATE
WITH FACE WORN, WRINKLED, AND OLD
AND MEEKLY ASKED THE MAN OF FAITH
FOR ADMISSION TO THE FOLD
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, SAINT PETER ASK
...TO SEEK ADMISSION HERE?"
" I WAS A FIREFIGHTER DOWN ON EARTH
FOR MANY AND MANY YEARS."
OH, THE GATES WERE OPENED SHARPLY,
AND SAINT PETER RANG THE BELL
"COME IN AND GRAB A HARP," HE SAID,
FOR YOU'VE SEEN ENOUGH OF HELL"

Dick Furstenau is a great guy and I suspect all the negatives attacks on here are from those Dick has targeted to cut waste, like cops etc. He was totally railroaded by the cops. I respect no cops that have to bring in hacks from other towns to protest for them. They like to complain about how dangerous their job is. Go down and look in the police department and see how cops have been killed in the line of duty in Naperville. ONE, from the 1920's. Cops are like teachers. fat paychecks, outrageous pensions and whiners to boot.

To Anonymous Dec 23 @ 12:24

Geeesh, save the tear jerker allready....

This isn't conscripted service. No one is holding a gun to their head. These people VOLUNTARILY CHOOSE to apply. No one made them do it. They continue to serve voluntarily. A whole world of opportunity exists if they CHOOSE to do something else.

Fact is most don't because all they need is a HS diploma. The hours are great... one day on... two days off. Great benefits and retirement. Most days in a town like Naperville there isn't much to do and most get a good nights sleep every night. Sure, sure the chance is always there they will be called to action, might even be called back on a day off, might even be injured or worse in the line of duty.

Despite the tug at the heart strings the record speaks for itself. Naperville Fire Fighters very rarely get injured on the job. Naperville Fire Fighters even more rarely get killed in the line of duty. More Naperville residents die in the course of their employment on a yearly basis than do Naperville Fire Fighters... and when they die their families don't get compensated any where near at the same level.

Yes, it can be a dangerous job at time.... but Fire Fighters accepted the risk when they took the job... and they can walk away any time they don't like the pay, benefits, or working conditions.

No one, including me, is wishing Fire Fighters to ever be in harms way but the sad truth is people in all occupations die every day and most of the time it is the result of what someone else did, not them.

Do police and fire have tough jobs... no doubt. So do lots of other occupations and they don't get the pay, benefits, retirement, special laws, or accolades of public safety when they get killed in the line of duty for their work. Any time a worker dies it is a tragedy. To a certain extent it is even more of a tragedy when workers who didn't sign up for that level of risk get killed in the line of whatever their duty may be. For example, when society puts as much value on a construction worker getting killed in a tench cave in as they do a fire fighter or police officer getting killed in the line of duty maybe, just maybe, we will start seeing some improved safe working conditions for all workers.

Look at the LARGE number of fires that have been reported in this and other newspapers over the past several weeks. Look at the number of firefighters that have been injured or taken far to early in life. Now look at your town or village boards and their attempts to cut the number of firefighters on duty to protect you and your family.

This is a very sad day in the Chicago area and our city leaders should wake-up. We need to support our firefighters and show that we care. I for one will be giving a little gift to the firefighters at my local fire station... food, gifts or something.

Please remember those people that are away from their families this and every holiday... And are there to protect you and yours.

GOD BLESS THE FIREFIGHTERS AND MY HE WATCH OVER THEM EVERYDAY.

Speaking of the fake news, did anyone else notice the news this week (CBS) when the national "news" (a very loose term) ran a story on the Bush book, and showed a satire cover instead of the real thing?

Gosh, what integrity. Their official explanation was that it represented the foils of new technology and downloading from the internet.

Inother words, they couldn't help it!

Awwwwww.

Furstenau set up. Now THAT is funny! Like anyone needs to set this guy up in order for him to make a fool of himself. Anyone watch any of the City Council Meeting tonight? Furstenau and Wherli both have one track minds - they don't listen to anyone about anything - they just say what they believe and expect everyone else to fall into place, and when people don't, they just say it louder. Krause isn't any better, just a little bit less into pounding his chest to get his point across.

News for these childish councilmen ...... some people in this City are watching, and some of us even vote. We also have friends, and resources, and I for one will put every bit of that to work in hopes of putting the City out of it's misery by sending you packing.

Just one more word for Mr. Furstenau personally - are you freezing the rents on your apartment buildings for the next three years? I wouldn't live in a place you owned if my life depended on it, but I'm guessing your not. Stop and think about this Mr. Bigshot - the people (and yes, there are people in this world besides you) who live in those buildings are most likely up against a bigger budget problem than this City will ever see (and theirs is actually real). How about you give them a break and cut the rent - after all, even YOU might have to accept at some point that sacrifices have to be made. They should start with you and your other "just say no" buddies.

When is the meeting where we talk about cutting all the wasted City Council spending? The one where we take away every perk you enjoy since not ONE of you really needs them to survive? Is that one the same day when we talk about cutting executive and director level salary cuts? Wait, those people still get raises don't they. Take away the car allowances, the Mayors Hybrid, and start living under the conditions you expect everyone who actually works for a living too - THEN and only THEN will anything you say be taken seriously.

Furstenau was definitely not setup. C'mon.

Anonymous wrote:

I've said it before and I'll say it again... Furstenau was set up and once the wheels were in motion it was all designed to make him look bad politically no matter what he did.

Not quite. If Furstenau had not interfered with a police officer doing his duty, none of this would ever have happened. It was a losing proposition for him the minute he decided to confront the officer rather than work through the proper channels.

La Cuc,

I am not defending Furst as much as pointing out all the others are equally to blame (or more since it was a clear set-up from the beginning, and in my opinion was continually mishandled by our City manager and legal counsel.

Note Senger turned the Senate seat down.

Now, back to Furst --look it up! Furst originally only asked for an apology ----- then the crap hit the fan and he demanded the bucks for the Senate contributors. ! Then the City Manager blew it big time, and was rewarded with how many tens of thousands of dollars to go silently into the night? That by itself shows culpability.

As far as the allegd $1 mil, I would really like to see an accounting of that number everyone uses so easily. I think that was the projection IF it continued forward with awards. I also question WHY oh WHY the City spent so many dollars (if they did) prior to ever getting to court. Do you realize how many hours of outside time must have been used to make up $1 mil? That is 2 fulltime lawyers for a year.

TheDudeAbides wrote:

There is absolutely NO hypocrisy in standing up for your rights (constitutional or otherwise). He was bullied (if you follow inside city politics, it is easy to understand that the police were trying to "put him in his place").

If Furstenau hadn't stuck his nose where it didn't belong in the first place, this whole fiasco would never have happened. It may be that DF never struck the cop, but why was he arguing with a police officer to begin with? It wasn't his car being ticketed, and if he felt an injustice was being done, the proper place to address it would have been the next city council meeting. It is not his job to tell police officers in the street how to do their jobs.

-JQP

La Cuc,

You wrote: "You can't encourage extorsion."

And what cops do and get away with every day doesn't amount to a form of extortion? How about the lawyers and most of what goes on in the legal system? Oh, sure they want to call it negotiations and plea deals and so on which is nothing more than spin doctoring what they are really doing!

I've said it before and I'll say it again... Furstenau was set up and once the wheels were in motion it was all designed to make him look bad politically no matter what he did.

Furstenau isn't a bully. Far from it! Is he aggressive? Absolutely. And that is the exact reason why people vote for him and re-elect him. It is also the reason city hall administration and city staff don't like Furstenau.

Let's face it, our city employees have gotten to the point where they want to do whatever they darn well please and they have used most of the bobble heads on city council for their own personal rubber stamp for years. If we loose Furstenau as the one person who has the guts and fortitude to speak up and challenge and expose what is really going on then you better be prepared for a lot more carillons, children's museums, smart grids, and whatever other foolhardy bureaucratic pipe dreams city hall staff comes up with next.

La cuc,

There is absolutely NO hypocrisy in standing up for your rights (constitutional or otherwise). He was bullied (if you follow inside city politics, it is easy to understand that the police were trying to "put him in his place").

Furst was wronged, the cops and eventually the City knew it, and no one backed down. The entire Council, the mayor (instigator that he was!),Furst, the attorney's, and the cops & Chief are all equally culpable.

Let us all remember ----- Furst gave the City many, many chances to stop it all with a simple, verbal apology. Then the escalation began with the type A egos involved.

In short, do you blame the dog for biting, or the person who poked him with a stick?

If we roll back the tape on Furstenau I think we will agree that overall he has the best track record of any city council member in terms of watching spending and challenging city hall staff with some of the stupid ideas and wasteful spending they have come up with over the years. Yes, he was outspoken and some city hall staff, some police staff, some city council members started hating him because he called it like it was and he didn't back down. He did advocate hard for the taxpayers and many of the city hall insiders didn't like him rocking their comfortable little boat and not let them do just whatever they wanted whenever they felt like it. You just have to know they were waiting for the day they could give him payback.

Then along came the fateful towing incident. It all started out with a beat cop doing something really stupid. The beat cop made it worse by not getting his supervisor immediately involved. When Furstenau saw what was happening he did what he was elected to do... advocate for the citizens about something that wasn't right. Here is where it gets gray as to what really happened between the beat cop and a city council member... even though it happened in broad daylight on public street with witnesses... and notwithstanding the fact that on one side we have a person who holds the highest elected position in the city and on the other side we had a lowly beat cop with an attitude that whatever the police dept might want to do is more important than what a city council member might want even though this wasn't any kind of a live or die situation and the smart thing for the beat cop would have been to get a supervisor or watch commander involved. Call it a basic lack of respect but a root cause on the part of the police that nonetheless started a whole bunch of things in motion.

It is also important to point out that the police receive a lot of training in how to threaten, intimidate, and generally manipulate people to get their own sweet way and police generally do not back down gracefully, readily, or easily which leads to confrontations like this. Call it loosing face if you will but more negative police encounters are the result of cops not wanting to loose face than anything else. So it is easy to see why people do get enraged with stubborn police officers especially considering all of the laws written to protect police officers regardless of how badly they do their job. It is a stacked deck and the police know it and even use the stacked deck against people when it is to their advantage.

Another significant root cause in this case that shouldn't be discounted is the "we" versus "them" attitude that is allowed to exist within the police department culture. Police protect each other as if the police are the only good guys and everyone else is either a bad guy who is out to get them or is just another criminal. Blame the police chief for whatever culture exists within his department. But when this kind of mindset permeates the entire attitude of a police force it is pretty hard to expect any kind of truthful and objective fact finding in situations involving one of their own. In fact there is enormous pressure that comes to bear to protect each other... oh the bonds of union brotherhood... and do whatever needs to be done. In this case it took about a week for the police department to do what needed to be done, attempt to get it's story straight, and then file charges.

Once this situation started spinning out of control there was no way Furstenau could win no matter what he did. I hope you realize that. Either way he was set up to look bad.... he was either a criminal who attacked a police officer or a coward who was lying about what really happened.

Then there is the difficulty of separating Furstenau the private citizen from Furstenau the elected council member. If it had been any other private citizen who had a beef with a police officer over cars being towed would any of us had anything to say because the guy defended himself against what he was charged with? I hope not! That is why we have a court system. Should access to the courts or the ability to defend yourself change just because you are an elected official?

When we look at how much was spent (wasted) on this whole mess let's not forget that the city council and the legal department approved this massive amount of spending. The legal department wanted to farm out the legal work rather than do it in house.... mostly because they don't have the legal talent despite how much money they suck up in salary and benefits. But what did they do to manage the cost or minimize the legal expense? Nothing. They let outside counsel ring the cash register on a PETTY DISPUTE to the tune of over a million bucks. Convicted murderers have gone to trial and have been convicted for far, far less... and rationale thinking adults approved over a million bucks to be spent defending a PETTY DISPUTE? Why? Was it their stupid ego's or were they trying to hide something? Or more importantly did they deliberately use the cost of the defense politically against their one fiscal watchdog nemesis... yeah it's payback time... go ahead outside counsel spend all you want... run up the tab... we want you to cover all basis... the more you spend the worse we can make him look politically... Personally, I'd love to see an independent audit of the outside legal bill to see if even half of it is really justified, was even remotely necessary, or if the billable hours even add up.

Years ago a situation like this would never have happened. There was a certain kind of respect show to elected officials and likewise elected officials behaved accordingly. If a city council member told a beat cop to knock off towing the cars he would have respected the city council member and done as told and just reported to his supervisor.

This situation seems to mostly have come about because the police department thinks it doesn't have to listen to anyone and that it can do whatever it darn well pleases. The police department clearly has authority and accountability issues that sadly have not been addressed or resolved though out this whole mess which tend to infer that nothing has been done to prevent the potential to repeat it in the future.

What saddens me the most about what happened is that despite all of the time, money, and effort that was wasted during this whole ordeal there doesn't seem to have been one ounce of learning that has been put to good use within the City of Naperville structure which speaks volumes about the void of true leadership within the entire city hall senior management team.

We can each call it as we each see it in terms of who won, who lost, etc. On a very basic level one man against an entire city government is always going to come across more or less as a David vs Goliath and a lot of people have sympathy for someone who stands up for himself and fights the system especially when so much is stacked against him.

I honestly respect Furstenau for standing up for himself and defending himself despite what it cost him personally and politically. I hold the rest of the city council more responsible than Furstenau on what it cost because they could have ended it at any time and they rebuffed his multiple offers to sit down and work it out. They deliberately poured more and more money on it to make Furstenau look like the bad guy. They knew going to court was a bad idea since they didn't have an iron clad case and had failed to prove the charges in the criminal case. All of this money was spent outside court on research and preparation and was just a ridiculous amount for this kind of trial and this kind of legal action. The only part of the spending that makes any logical sense is if it was deliberately spent to make Furstenau look bad politically.

The really scary part of happened that should be a sobering thought for every citizen of Naperville is if what happened to Furstenau can happen to an elected official... then what hope does anyone who is a nobody have if we ever find ourselves in the cross hairs of the police department?

La Cuc,

What's the story there? He works for the City Attorney. Now go take a hard look at how much the city of Naperville spends on it's legal budget... how much is spent on salary and benefits, how much is spent on outside counsel, how much is spent on settlements, the average cost per settlement, etc.

There are lots of situations where attorney costs and settlement costs could have been reduced, eliminated, or negotiated and saved the city and taxpayer a lot of money. The more city attorneys fight cases instead of negotiating cases the more attorneys they need and the more it costs us taxpayers in the end. And it becomes a never ending cycle. Problem is all of the smart attorneys figured this out a long time ago and the average taxpayer doesn't have a clue. Just another example of "joe six pack" trusting elected and appointed officials to be watching his back when in fact they are really watching their own.

I know you personally dislike Furstenau because of his lawsuit and what it cost. IMO, there is a lot of pro and con as to what happened on both sides of this dispute so I disagree with pointing the finger only at Furstenau.

Truth is it takes two or more to tangle and the city decided first to file charges against him when t hey clearly didn't have an iron clad case. When Furstenau fought back they could have quietly negotiated a settlement, but they choose to go the route of a costly legal fight. It's not like they were fighting with their own money now was it?

And who do you think was advising the city council on what to do all along? Let's also not forget how emotionally involved the police dept, police union, police chief, asst city manager and retired police officer, and mayor and retired police officer were in making the decision to charge and then to fight. With this many Type A ego's on the line there would be no backing down, no negotiating, no rationale thought process until after an enormous amount of money had been wasted. We can only hope maybe, just maybe they each learned something from the experience, especially something about their own stubbornness.

Nothing flawed with the logic. It's not like it is setting a precedent or anything. It's not like the government is now obligated to transport people to and from court when they aren't being help prisoner.

Call it car pooling if you want to. Why should giving someone a ride be against the law? Why should there be a city policy prohibiting giving someone a ride? On one hand the city is charging him and if they get their way making sure he is in court only helps their game by making sure he is present to stand trial. There is a possibility that if Huber loses he will finally get the message and move on to somewhere else and no longer be Naperville's problem. Goodness knows if he stays and keeps causing problems he is either going to end up being committed to mental health facility or end up in jail so he better start thinking real hard about his future once this court case is decided.

Never said anything about giving DiSanto an award. An attaboy is a token gesture of appreciation. Though all things considered DiSanto might really deserve a true award if you think real hard for a minute about the dolt he has to put up with as his boss day in and day out...

Alphonse,

If city vehicles can be used to take you to jail and then be used to take you from jail to court then why can't they be used to take you to court if you aren't in jail?

Did you ever stop and think that Huber doesn't have an easy way to get to the courthouse and that if he didn't show he would end up being in worse trouble? Did you ever stop and think that while they are letting this play out in the courts, as it should, they aren't trying to add to whatever happens to him just because he is homeless. Did you ever stop and think how much time and expense would be incurred if Huber didn't show and they had to issue a warrant for his arrest?

I'm not shy about pointing out how screwed up some of our city officials and elected politicians are from time-to-time, but this good deed actually makes sense. Way to go DiSanto!

If 0% increases for policemen over the next three years was the only way to avoid laying off 6 officers, and not hiring to fill 12 other open police officer postions, why didn't the city just negotiate on that basis instead of accepting an unacceptable contract? We as taxpayers deserve better. We have to go without 18 police officers to pay other officers more? Bad decision! We got shortchanged.

Fieseler and Hinterlong, please. You are both guilty of pandering. Again, Mayor McBoob displays no leadership. Was a 7-2 vote to cut cops a "team" effort? We're a team, yay team!

We all need to vote, regardless of who we vote for, but I hope we've all seen enough of the current clowns. How can anyone be worse? If anything vote for Miller, say no to Mayor Bumbleweed, no to FURSTA-NO, no to Fieseler.

Anyone watch the City Council meeting? Everyone KNOWS the City Council is pulling all the strings. Krieger is doing a horrible job at the horrible direction of the inept City Council. Every single one of them needs to be voted out - not even ONE of them will stand up for what's right for the people of Naperville or the people who do the work. The City Council does NOTHING for the residents except sit up there and lie cheat and steal from every single one of us.

IF Furstenau gets re-elected, it's a travesty - this guy is possibly the worst human being in all of Naperville.

Fieseler is the first to go... that guy is as disconnected with what is going on as any of them up there. Firstenau cost us over a million bucks with his games. Time for him to go too!

I was up at the DuPage County courthouse the other day and missed my Kodak moment. Saw Naperville Asst Prosecutor Mike DiSanto giving Scott Huber a ride to court. Scott Huber in a City of Naperville vehicle. The city has spent thousands of dollars harrassing this poor soul, yet they transport him to and from court in a city owned vehicle....this has to be a violation of some city ordinance. ONLY IN NAPERVILLE!!!!!!

RIP Ron Santo. I beld Cub blue when you were on the team and will admit to shedding a tear yesterday morning at 0530 hrs when I heard the news. We can argue all day about the 69 Cubs as a team, but they were the greatest team of players. I will always remember Ron as that 1961 rookie photo that the Sun-Times published yesterday. And while I do not like the Cubs anymore (because they robbed me of my youthful optimisim over the ensuing years of failure) I will always remember Ron Santo as I guy who NEVER EVER gave up hope despite the failures of the Cubs AND his own personal challenges. He and Ernie are the greatest Cubs.

Has anyone seen the article in the Sun (refers to police layoff situation) that says the City Council is going to put out a Proclamation of support for The City Manager at the next council meeting?? Take a look at the Agenda packet on the City website if you want to see this load of garbage. What a waste of paper and ink!

Not that we should be surprised, but doesn't it seem inappropriate at best to make a formal proclamation of support for a proven liar who as recently as last September was telling everyone that the Budget situation looked very good for the remainder of this year? Makes one wonder, was he lying then to get people to do what he wanted, or is he lying now to get the Unions to do what he wants? Either way, honestly is not a priority for him - and if the City Council votes to proclaim support for the wonderful job he is doing - then obviously the Council also puts no value on honest or integrity.

This whole group lives in a different world than the majority of the residents here in Naperville. I sure don't want my tax dollars going to support this kind of "leadership" anymore. We have to find enough people to vote in the next election to outnumber the friends and associates who benefit in the next election to dump the incumbents (Wherli, Fursentau have to go FIRST).

THe $24.50/household is simply the $1.1million that public works used in the last budget meeting divided by the commonly referenced 45,000 households in the city. I expect that includes the apartments. So, cut it by 1/3 and the cost/ household will go up. Keep in mind, that the city collects property tax from the aprtments and condos, so the average revenue collected is based upon 45,000 households.

Yes, I've watched the crew of 6 pickup leaves. I grew up in a town with many,many trees and watched the city pick up leaves with a crew of two. In Longwood, which is Naperville Township, many old trees, and again, a crew of two, sometimes 3 is sent out to pickup leaves.

My main points in this thread have been: 1, we already pay for most of the cost of leaf pickup in our tax bill. To add a fee of 24 to 36 dollars per year, as proposed by one member of council is tantamount to collecting twice for the same service. 2: The city is using a cost of $94,000 per employee as a basis for their budget discussions. That is either far higher than the actual cost, in which case the budget numbers are not realistic and therefore not meaningful or they are accurate, in which case the city is spending far too much money on this task.

I've been here over 20 years. This is not the first time they've proposed not picking up the leaves. Adding a fee is the same as increasing taxes, it's just a little sneaky as they will later talk about reducing our tax rate. Politicians love to talk about the tax rate, not the tax bill. They love to say our taxes went up because the value of our homes increased. Of course, today, that won't fly. Our taxes should be going down along with housing values. The simple fact is that spending is what drives the tax bill. Hold the spending constant from year to year and taxes will not increase, regardless of what happens to home values. Recently, the City has done a better job of holding the line, but they have a lot of room to cut, in my opinion. Talking about leaf pickup in terms of $94,000 employees is nonsense. In my opinion, it's just a way to get the taxpayers to pay more money.

Just a note, I believe a large number of the workers for leaf pick ups are temporary workers. I think I've seen those jobs posted every year as such on the City Web-site. I'm sure some of the workers are regular employee's, but the majority are hired for the month or two the service is performed.

Sam,

I'm not sure of how you derived the cost of $24.50 per household? I'm willing to bet that number might actually be even higher than $24.50 if we consider how many condos, apartments, and townhouses exist across the city. The city most likely is counting all of these as "households" yet they do not provide leaf pickup, recycling, garbage, and other city services at these kinds of multifamily communities.

I know we all get 3 leaf pick-ups per year. I've watched when the crews come by my house... first 3 guys raking leaves from the parkway, then another guy comes along riding a small tractor with a big leaf blade on the front, then a 2 man truck crew removing the leaves... a total of six workers. It takes maybe two minutes for each of the groups to pass the front of my house. Total labor 12 minutes per leaf pick-up or 36 minutes per year. On top of that there are costs for fuel, equipment, maintenance, etc. God knows there isn't anything Naperville can do that doesn't cost and arm and a leg so I'm kind of thinking they actually do spend this kind of money. However, these six guys times however many crews are working around town at the same time... if they aren't picking up leaves... what are they doing?? Are all of these guys going to be cut from the payroll or not? If no jobs are being cut then I don't understand where any true savings will come from if they will still all be on the city payroll. Maybe we won't buy any new equipment, their won't be any maintenance, and no fuel will be consumed during the 6 6 week leaf pickup season... but those operating costs don't add up to much.

Seems I recall the city wanting us to help them save money by bagging leaves instead of putting them in the street. The city never stated HOW that saves money for them? No one in my neighborhood did it because it costs us MORE to buy the bags than to just rake leaves into the street.

If the city does away with leaf pickup does that also mean the yard waste guy won't take leaves in bags? Maybe the best thing to do would be for everyone to just mulch leaves instead?

sam,

I was not justifying any costs. I was pointing out that using the cost of having an FTE as the actual salary of that FTE is not correct.

Otherwise, I do not have much disagreement with your latest post. It may make sense to see what outsourcing some of the work would cost. Put it out for bid.

To Anonymous ..... I think you are misreading something. From the report " Private industry employers spent an average of $27.64 per hour worked for employee compensation in June 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries averaged $19.53 per hour worked and accounted for 70.6 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $8.11 and accounted for the remaining 29.4 percent. Total compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $39.74 per hour worked in June 2010. " These numbers may not be comparable, though, since they may represent different job requirements. Maybe the graphs on this file will be more clear. It is unclear to me whether state obligation to pensions funds (as in Ilinois) are included in these calculations. That would increase the state and local compensation even higher.

-1

-1,
As a former employer, I am well aware that wages are only a portion of the cost of an employee. That is beside the point. According to our city managers, the cost of labor for picking up leaves is $94,000. I don't care if it's all wages or 65% wages and 35% benefits, it is a gross waste of tax money to pay that amount of money for that type of labor. In my business, highly skilled machinists, with years of training and experience did not ( and do not today) command that level of compensation. As another posted noted, the employees picking up leaves may be paid $14/hour. If so, why are they using $45/hour for budget decisions? Bad data leads to bad decisions. Also, the man said FTE's, he made no mention of overhead, fuel, depreciation, etc. I believe he was talking about labor costs only -- likely including benefits as you point out.

Incidentally, it wouldn't hurt to look at the 35% benefit expense. A large portion is certainly health insurance. In the private sector, and at the federal government level, employees commonly pick up about 30% of the cost. I believe city employees in Naperville pay far less than the average share. Good for them, but someone has to pick up the cost and no costs should be ignored when balancing the budget.

I also saw the Public Works director get hammered regarding both leaf and brush collection. Well, it is the same crews that do both as well as plow snow. They are all union employees, get overtime pay for being out there salting and plowing at night and on weekends. So while their base salary is not over the top, it is the overtime and benefits that would drive up the overall cost of the FTE, and sam is right about including the other equipment costs in the total figure of $377,000.

My observation is not only are the council members out of touch with the expectations of those they serve, but they also don't know the basics of yard care. Seems like most of them can afford to have someone else do it for them. Well congratulations because they are in the residential minority! And any idiot but Furstenau understands that trees need to be trimmed before they leaf in order to do the job properly- Arbor 101. Keep the spring collection.

I have lived here for decades and always understood that leaf collection was part of the property tax base. Since they think we should pay again, it should be a user fee, not another expense attached to our utility bill. In other words, bags and stickers. Why should the guy with 2 miniature parkway trees pay the same amount (for a reduced number of collections) as the homeowner with 20 mature trees? Do the councilmen with their lawn service want to pay 3 times? Idiots.

Really ---- does anyone really believe the City spends more than one million ($1,000,000.00) for leaf pick-up?

I don't. We already own the equipment, and the workers are already on the payroll., This figure smells like a fishy allocation to me.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm

For State and local government, salary is about 65% of the total cost of having an employee.

take .65*94000 = 61750 as a salary -- right at what the WSJ pins as an average non-government job. I'm not saying this is absolutely correct, but understand that employers, private or public, have a much larger cost to have an employee than just the salary of that employee.

-1

Watched part of the council budget discussions last night and was fascinated at the discussion regarding leaf collection. In short, leaf collection costs about $1.1 million. Or about $24.50 per household. The council knows residents think it's important and that we'll pay to continue the collection. I'm already on record as agreeing to that. What I find astounding is that they suggest I'm willing to pay twice what it costs.....Currently, the budget is short about 4% overall. So, my leaf collection is about 96% paid for. But they suggest I might pay an extra $24 to $36 per year to continue the collection. Keep in mind, we are already paying 96% of the cost in our taxes and the new "fee"( $24 to $36/year) will collect between $1.1 million and $1.6 million in additional revenue. That means we'll be paying twice to collect the same leaves....

What they missed, in my opinion, is that the proposed savings related to reducing leaf collection was 4 FTEs (full time equivalent employees) at a savings of $377,000. That's over $94,000 per employee! Pretty high priced labor to use to pick up leaves. According to the WSJ, the average non-government job pays $61,000 per year. I doubt that any landscapers are paying employees $94,000 per year to pick up leaves.

In my opinion, it is obvious this is not a revenue issue, this is a resource allocation issue -- we cannot afford to pay people $94,000/year to pick up leaves or plow snow! Especially when the unemployment rate is near 10%. In the real world, these jobs would be filled at $12/hour, not $45/hour.

Now, I don't know what they actually pay the people that pick up the leaves. All I know is that throughout the budget session last night, the public works director talked about reducing leaf collection costs on the basis of 4 FTEs at $377,000 per year and that is $94,000 per employee. And no one questioned the numbers.

I'm fairly certain I can find a lot of people willing, and qualified, to pick up leaves for a lot less than the numbers the city uses in its budget. This kind of overspending leads to bankruptcy in the private sector. It just leads to higher taxes in the public sector. Our government should be ashamed.

These people have zero experience and it's showing.

The Council knows we want leaf pick up and need snow plowing. This is the ruse to cover up their cutting with no plan and asking us for a revenue increase. And, we'll pay for it.

As for the bonuses and car allowances, come on. Give that stuff up. I heard that the Mayor has a Lincoln Continental with MAYOR on the plates, and a city owned hybrid. Why does the Mayor need a City car? Does he pay for gas? There is no way that the Mayor should have a City car.

While the NPD and NFD pensions have their troubles, these were NOT caused by the city failing to make it's annual payments per the actuaries' calculations, from all that I've heard. Now, whether or not the formula used by the actuaries might have been too optimistic is another issue....

-JQP

That is exactly right Sam, Priorities do matter, and this Council and Management group proves every single day that their priorities are themselves. They just don't seem to get it. They think we are somehow less intelligent than they are, and that we won't see the joke their leaf pick up/snow solution really is. The current "crisis" is really nothing more than a pathetic attempt to make people believe they have to accept less - they want the Unions to accept less (actually, they want them to accept nothing), the want the unrepresented City workers to accept pay cuts and lay offs, and what is saddest of all is they want us, the residents who pay for their bonus's and car allowances and dinners etc..., to accept inferior services so that they can be allowed to reward themselves and their friends with more projects and perks that benefit no one but them.

Krieger MUST be fired, the entire Management team that surrounds him MUST be fired for supporting his lies and poor management, and the City Council MUST be voted out of office. Maybe from the outside looking in they will figure out what it is we have all been trying to tell them - they sure don't get it from where they are sitting now.

Once again, cutting leaf pickup is proposed as a band aid for budget shortfalls.

It's a false economy. In order to save some of my tax dollars, the city proposes cutting leaf collection. ( Combined with reduced snow plowing, this is to save $600,000.) Assuming half of the savings is from leaf collection, that's $300,000. Spread over 45,000 households, that's a little less than $7.00 per household. I'll need to spend over $20 to buy the paper bags to contain my leaves, so the saving the council will brag about will cost me every year.

Please, increase my taxes by $7.00 and continue to pick up my leaves.....Don't "save" me any more money by reducing services that I have to pay for out of another pocket.

BTW, don't send me a Christmas card. I don't think the president will be offended if he doesn't get one, either.

Priorities matter.

Sure, cut another ambulance, cut the cops, cut snow plowing. Keep the bonus for the higher up bosses, keep everyone in TED where they can plan to spend even more of your money on the riverwalk and towers that are falling apart. This city needs leadership quickly. There is so much money being thrown away. I hope that Dick Tracy can protect us when the cops and firemen are not there to do it. Wake up Naperville! It's time to say enough is enough.

Here is a link to support my earlier comments concerning Police and Fire Pensions.......

AND, here is a quote from paragraph two of the article...

"A Tribune analysis of the Depression-era pension system found that suburban leaders' failures and missteps have collectively helped create another staggering layer of crisis beyond the better-known problems that have the state and city of Chicago in a stranglehold."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-public-safety-pensions-main-20101128,0,3428675.story

I find it strange that the SUN/SUNTIMES NEWS GROUP reports on Fire and Police Pensions reported ONLY what the city leaders told them. At no time did they report both sides of the story. Further they did not look, in depth, at the Dept of Insurance reports and stats that showed concerns on how many city leaders were knowingly under-funding the workers pension plans. The same Dept of Insurance stats also showed that city leaders and top management made sure that their pensions (IMRF) were FULLY funded. Reports show that these pension funds were sustainable, and fully funded, until city leaders started to defer yearly payments. Instead, city leaders only made sure that there pensions and perks were paid.

The Chicago Tribune NewsPapers have reported both sides and show that MANY of these city leaders have been lying to the public over how the pension mess was caused.

City leaders have caused this mess AND many others (lay-offs) with their poor budgeting/spending habits. It's time to tell these rotten eggs to hit the road. Stop spending money on "pet" projects and start supporting core services/personnel.

I would suggest that everyone read the Chicago Tribune Pension Reform article, in the Sunday November 28th paper. The article points out, very clearly, that most of the pension mess was caused by city leaders and top officials. Most pension funds are currently underfunded, per the article, because city leaders did not pay their share or under-paid their share. Most city leaders "deferred" payment to the pension funds for MANY years. Do to the deferrals, pension debt has balloned in recent years.

I find it very "funny" that the pension program for city leaders is fully funded (IMRF) and that many of these leaders will receive a full pension WITH health insurance. They caused the pension mess, and are now lying to you, trying to cover their tracks.

The employees, police and fire, have under-funded programs do to the city leaders not budgeting for the correct investment share (per the article). ALSO, police and fire employees DO NOT get any sort of health insurance after retirement, instead must purchase their own (or buy cobra insurance from the city at a cost of $1200 to $1500 per month for single +1)

City tax money is used to purchase and build commuter parking lots which the city then turns around and rents out to city residents who need to park their car in order to get to work.

City tax money is used to purchase and build parking lots for city employees which the city then turns around allows city workers to park for free.

This strike anyone as fundamentally unfair? How about charging city workers the same price as commuters to park their cars in city owned parking lots? If the city has already determined what a fair market price for parking in Naperville then let's let everyone pay what it costs, including city workers and maybe even visitors to city buildings.

In these tough economic times another couple hundred thousand dollars would help toward erasing the budget deficit.

I agree with Voter, above.

Get salaries, headcount, binuses, and healthcare coverage under control for admin FIRST, then look at cutting stuff we never had inout into like the carillon and the museum, THEN look at safety and convenience issues like PD, FD, leaf pick-up, and salt.

Bottom line is that the City's management spent years rolling over on contracts of all sorts, and now they must really make tough decisions and cut real meat from the budget. Threatening us by goping at PD, FD, leaf, salt, etc., is an old budget trick to make us panic and beg them to take al the money they need from us, just don't cut it!

Replace them, starting with the ineffective mascot we call the mayor!

What ever came of the family at 75th and Washington that were whining that the City didn't live up to their promise of a sound wall? The story made the Tribune but not the Naper Sun.

Apparently, the neighboring Church wouldn't grant the City the easement needed for the wall and the homeowners didn't feel they should have to give up 20' of their property either, so they accused the City of reneging on their promise. Maybe the Sun could check on the status?

The Council is so out of touch with residents. They are terrible. How can they live with themselves? Back room deals, paying for stuff they like, cutting services that residents want. Vote for anyone that is not an imcumbent. They can't be worse.

I 'd guess that the talk about cutting services is designed to force the Council to raise taxes to pay for the things we really want after they spent money on stuff nobody but them, and their friends want. What a farce.

Anyone see the article from tonight's Naperville Sun where the City Management team pretends they are seriously bringing cuts like eliminating leaf pick up, slowing snow removal, and eliminating ANOTHER ambulance to the City Council to try to close the alleged budget gap? Do they really thing we are that stupid? Half the council and the mayor are running for re-election - who thinks they will vote for cutting already near non-existent ambulance service (can we all say law suit waiting to happen), slowing snow removal, and no more leaf pick ups? They are trying to get us all to forget what they have wasted our money on all year - and justify laying off more low lever workers, break some unions - and continue to reward themselves and management with bonus's and perks. How about eliminating those management bonus's - or taking away car allowances? Pay cuts or 100,000 a year employee's paying a larger amount for THEIR health insurance maybe? Nah ....... let them spend what they want, everyone else can sacrifice. Best money saving solution - eliminate this entire council, and fire the entire management staff. Get someone honest to lead the city ..... bet things would turn around faster than anyone could imagine.

Posts concerning the District 204 court ruling about the $6 million should go in the new thread on that topic.

Thanks,
The moderator

Anybody besides me NOT surprised at the judges ruling in the Brach-Brody vs. The Imperial School District 204 land grab case? What does Dorothy French have against children? Or does she not think much of the citizen leadership qualities of the 204 Board? Actually I don't think the ruling is unfair and what is $5mil spread among all the 204 taxpayers anyway? Peanuts. Besides, we have our school. Done. Never mind if it is one of the most hideous buildings in all of 204 land. I cannot believe you could design or select and build a more unappealing building than that place.

Does anyone know anything about the new individuals who are running for Naperville City Council? Some new ideas are desperately needed, but I want to be careful not to vote for a new name who will turn out to be more of the same. Any information would be appreciated.