I'd be interested in this spreadsheet if it is still available. Couldn't find a way to email you directly though. Thanks for your help.

Three observations about the proposed ward boundaries:

First, put lipstick on a pig and it is still a pig. Call a ward a "district" and it is still a ward. You have to wonder if the city council is so ashamed of ward politics why in the world did they ever put a binding referendum question on the ballot to convert Naperville to a ward system?

Second, do a side by side comparison of the proposed ward boundaries with the weekly garbage collection map and they are literally identical with only a few very minor differences. District 1 is Tuesday pickup, District 2 is Monday pickup, District 3 is Thursday pickup, District 4 is Wednesday pickup, and District 5 is Friday pickup. Here is a thought... instead of District 1 through 5 how about naming them District Monday through Friday and everyone will know what district they are in by what day their trash gets picked up? City hall staffers were charged with coming up with the proposed ward boundaries and they spent how many months "studying" the proposed boundaries to have a proposal that is essentially the same as the existing trash pickup schedule? And no one else picked up on this?

Third, don't expect these proposed wards to get approved easily by this council and especially with 5 council members in District 2 (Monday) They alone have a majority to defeat it and considering how long a council majority has historically been clustered in this area. If you are a betting person the smart money is on a redraw that will save and preserve current city council members from District 2 (Monday).

SNT, all tru but that is still no excuse for the deliberate insults and condescending comments when citizens disagree with them.

If you have missed them all than you did not attend many meetings, especially those on the smart meters (versus the grid upgrades).

I like the idea of ward-based representation. It brings the Council members closer to the constituents whom they represent, and gives them a better idea of geographic/neighborhood concerns (case in point being the contested widening of the intersection of 75th and Washington; no Council members lived near that neighborhood at the time of the vote).

Glad to hear that people are coming to Naperville to see the carillon (wouldn't be high on my list of things to do, what with Chicago and Oak Park right nearby, but, hey, whatever floats one's boat). My big complaint with the carillon: dull music. Let's get some Anthrax on the play list...

Anon, mon ami: to quote William Hurt in "Body Heat:" "You. Aren't. Listening. To. Me."

Never in my posts did I advocate blind acceptance of and undying fealty toward our beloved Council members. But I did say that I do not believe that their actions spring from sinister motivations or Machiavellian backroom deals.

What in the world does the smart meter nonsense have to do with a discussion about the new proposed district map?

I also have no safety fears, but many out there do have them.

My issue is with the arrogance and gross mistreatment of citizens by the council. Asking for $25/month extra to keep the old meters is the sign of a bullying group that is out of touch with their neighbors and other citizens.

There should be NO punitive extra cost to keep your old meter as

A)the city will still be reading water meters so there is no real extra cost,

B)it does not cost $25 to read a meter even if one is naive enough to believe they cannot read them when they read the H2O

C)if they are not asked for, they should not be forced down our throats

Hi, anon at 9:01 PM.

As the man said, "I'd agree with you if you were right." But I reviewed some of the anti-smeter comments in the old blog posting, and here are some gems:

"This is all about electrical department revenue. This is all about implementing a tiered rate structure. Anyone who tells you differently is lying through their teeth."

"Smart thermostats are here now, voluntary today, mandatory tomorrow. Anything with a processor and software can and will be hacked."

"Now we can brag that we have the Florida based Lang Gang targeting Naperville too. It is very nice to add to our cultural diversity a Carribiean (sic) origin gang of criminals to our growing base of home grown transplanted Chicago thieves."

To be honest, I don't even begin to follow the third comment, but I included it because it's so, well, entertaining.

A lot of the people who complain about this issue keep talking about the fact that the city hasn't put it up for a vote so the people can decide. We don't have that kind of government system here. California's referendum system, wherein the people can directly enact laws, has bred madness, and I really don't want it here.

Our system of government is simple: We elect Council representatives based on our perception of their abilities and intent. We elect them to do the job and make sound decisions. If we like the job they do, we vote for them again. if not, we vote for someone else. Sounds simple to me. It's okay to complain when you disagree with those decisions. What bugs me -- and what's shameful -- is when people imply corruption and cronyism every time they don't like a Council decision. That's laziness. That's paranoia. And that's simply not fair.

You'll have to excuse me now; I have to run down to the Carribiean (wherever that is) and enjoy some down time with my favorite band, the Florida based Land Gang. I always liked their first albums, although their later releases seemed a bit derivative.

Hey, Who Dat.

Thanks for the info. I visited the anti-smeters blogs and, after review, am underwhelmed. There's no info on who supports one, and another is supported by a guy who hates cars. I have reviewed other sources and am not concerned about safety at this point.

And you have a point about our fair council. While some may say that the Children's Museum was a bad deal (I think in the long run it will be good for the city), and that involvement in the carillon was the wrong move (no argument there; while I think a council needs to keep its eyes on the larger prize, I still resent giving up one of my brush pick-ups per year), I still think people need to realize that the council is not a devious, sinister bunch; just a group of people who are trying to make decisions to help run a city. Some decisions are good; some are mediocre; some are bad. We review their performance at election time and make our choices.

Mark,

No one is against tech of and by itself. However, in the case of smart meters we have one where there is enough science, and other evidence such as large cities banning them, to indicate we should tread slowly.

Now you seem to trust the city council members as being smarter than you, or more experienced than you, or having a better grasp of science than you. That does not mean it applies to anyone else.

You can find much info to question these devices, such as http://www.bansmartmeters.com/blog/whats-wrong-with-smart-meters-a-beginners-guide/.

Please note none of this excuses the elitist, arrogant attitude of councilmen, such as Feisler & Werhli, when dealing with citizens on this matter. Nor does it excuse the entire council for being so opaque, backhanded, and sneaky in this and other matters.

For me (I cannot speak for others), this is not health or performance issues. This is about millions in tax money being spent for a luxury that is not needed during a bad economy.

Didn't we have an uproar about laying off a couple of police officers a while back? What about other municipal workers?

The problem is bad decisions over the years by the council. The Carillon was a proposal put forth by a few with donations by business to pay it off. Well, we all know what happened with that and now the city is paying it off. I don't remember the people of Naperville asking for this and any referendum to vote on it. The Omnia Group/project was another example of a few elitists wanting theirs along with the donation of the land (and who knows what the properties were worth). This never had a chance but there were some on the council who were reportedly interested.

The latest now is the purchase of the Children's Museum. I like the museum and have a young son that enjoys it as well. You can go back to the layoff situations so why the need to buy this?

The Tribune had a major article a while back about a coal power plant in southern Illinois in which Naperville was one of the cities invested in this project. Apparently, there are, or will be, huge cost overruns that will cost us all. I did not know about this invsestment so the question is; what did the city get us into and when? Why is the city investing is such a large scale project when we have our own electric department and can shop for the best deal on power?

The mayor has not lead at all in these matters that I can see and he has never met a tax increase that he did not like. He was on the tollway board and voted to raise the toll rates. No different than taxes.

*Sigh*

Dudes 'n' gals: I'm confused as to what "facts" you say I've ignored concerning smart meters (or, as I call them, "smeters"). Again, I ask: why is it you are so dead-set against modern technology being deployed in our fair city? Again, smart meters will not only provide the user with critical data. They will provide the utility with information it needs to set its plans in a careful manner.

I mean, utilities enact rolling blackouts because of stress on the grid, not because they are looking to create a megawatt version of the human wave.

Ye gods. I think all of you had an extra side of paranoia with your breakfast this morning.

As to the charge that "there is not a single reason anyone should trust anything you are saying. This group is out of touch and hasn't an ounce of ethics amongst them.?" Please. You imply all sorts of shady issues, from the Children's Museum to budgets, but give us facts, not innuendo. You say that they have no ethics? Then vote 'em out of office, for goodness' sake. But I think you'd rather froth at the mouth on boards such as this.

And, no, I am not a council member. I think I'd look more washed out than usual on the closed-circuit television broadcasts, and who needs that?

UR right ---- they will be able to adjust accordingly. That is exactly the freaking argument!

Did u ever live out west? Olling blackouts ar controlled by the provider, not nature. Of course, yo accuse us of bein paranoid, but. YOU are a lemming willing to listen to, and follow, anything pitched your way.

Simple comment: you have proved u r wrong on the facts, so I suspect you will continue to move forward with pure emotion and the accompanying name calling.

Get some facts!

Man alive, it's like arguing with paranoid jellyfish.

Smart meters are not only about individuals saving electricity; they save money by providing more accurate real-time data to the energy providers and let them adjust accordingly.

Let me ask all of you black-helicopter types a question: Why are you against the smart meters? What do you think is the bizarre, sinister, ulterior motive of the council and the energy provider? What is it keeping you folks awake at night stocking your fallout shelters with adequate supplies of Glenn Beck's freeze-dried foods?

I, for one, would rely on Spam and Spaghetti-Os in the face of Armagaeddon. Especially because spam has its own key. Neat!

The smartmeters have NOTHING to do with grid reliability ----- that was covered by the other $6-8 million.

Th meters are going to educate one of the most educated towns in the country? that's argument?

Get some data, dude, and quit just mouthing the words you hear from the council.

Dividing up the city is not going to "bounce" current Councilmen out of office right now, and what good will dividing the city do in the future? Why should we need to elect possibly less qualified people to City Council just because they live in a certain part of town? We should be able to elect the "BEST" candidates to City Council available from the entire city. I feel I can contact any and all members of council, and the Mayor right now with comments and concerns, because they all represent my district, and they are all accountable to my district. My district is Naperville!

Seeing DF, and another speaker standing up at the last City Council Meeting telling members of City Council they need to look at the district lines and how they should tweak the borders tells me we need to get ready for the games to begin. I think staff did a good job dividing up the town by population, except understandably the less populated 5th district, and I agree with Councilman Wehrli a computer generated district map would be better than too much human input on it.

I think our members of City Council are performing the duties they were elected to do in good conscience. They can't please all the people all the time, and they won't find agreement with everyone on every issue, including me.

I'd like to see a referendum to undo this divisive change imposed on us by the previous referendum.

The benefits are legion: a more reliable grid, more consumer knowledge and input into power usage, potential energy and cost savings, and potential environmental benefits through a smaller carbon footprint. Look, we need to maintain a modern infrastructure; you cannot rely on what was done a generation ago and pretend that it cannot be improved upon.

You folks who are obsessed with this smart grid would probably have resisted the invention of the automobile because the horse and buggy were good enough, by gum!

As to the supposed arrogance of our council: They give as good as they get, and the level and quality of "discourse" at these meetings is pathetic. This is an educated community; citizens should act that way.

For those defending the Council and smart meters, can you share your wisdom with us by showing us exactly what is the economic benefit to Naperville and it's taxpayers of the estimated $14 million (plus about $5 million in interest). Cost of the smart meters?

Than, if you can do that, can you explain then wisdom of elected officials ( examples include Fiesler and Werhli, but are not limited to them) talking down to and insulting citizens because they disagree with them based on the science"

Finally, if your wisdom stretches that far, can you share with us the sense behind the bullying and vindictive. Rules the Council has laid out for those who want to avoid having smart meters installed ($25 per month penalty, which is clearly bullying, when the city is still reading other meters at our homes every month!!!)

Thanks.

Thank goodness the anonymous bullies on this blog are not representative of the Napervillians at large. If they were, I can't imagine anyone wanting to represent them on the Council.

Nothing but complaints, insults and sneers for people who are doing what they think is best for the city. I have never agreed with all of them, and have been downright angry at some, but I never think of them as "dunces," "arrogant" or "bozo's" (sic).

Grow up, for God's sake. Or else run for office yourselves.

Yeesh.

The Smart Grid is just another reason why we need wards and term limits. If anything, for the reason that the city is already running a deficit and spent millions for something we clearly did not need. Just another dumb idea and bad decision making in a line of other bad decisions over the years.

The ward system will do exactly as thought. Put more than one council member in a district in which only one can serve, so the other (or others) are going to be out. There is your resistance to this by those on the council who do not like it. I say too bad and good riddance, and that goes all the way up to the mayor. We need real people on the council to run the city like a business and not an empire. By the way, Grant Wherli was initially appointed to the council and not elected. Yes, I know he has been re-elected since but why didn't the council go to the next largest vote getter from the previous election? Hmmmm.....

At least with a ward system, I will have a voice and someone to voice my complaints to. Unlike the way it has been all the years I have lived here. Does anyone think the council ever shares their concerns? No, they just do what they want and the public be darned.

If anyone still wonders why we need to bounce as many members of this council as possible, just tune in to the City Council meeting from Tuesday night. As is always the case, the Council is arrogantly dismissing every objection to their precious smart grid program. Watch Wherli and his in-law Chirco .... watch this bozo (hair reference intended) from City Purchasing belittle the average citizen with an opinion that doesn't support their pre-decided position.

THEY ALL MUST GO, and they need to take the inept and pompus management team with them.

Are the council members required to live in a district to serve it? I don't think that is the case.

Anything that unseats any of these arrogant bozo's is a great idea. It is truly funny how this is even in question (the should it be done at all) in that THIS was voted upon at the last election. The Voters said yes. Now, the Smart Grid, that these same fellas are forcing through, was never voted upon, yet somehow, the council believes they have the right to force it on us. Here's a clue guys - you work for us - and enough of us are sick enough of you to vote for anything that might get you, your in-laws, and other cronies out of those chairs in favor of some people who actually care about the residents ... and well, anyone besides just themselves.

I don't think the city should be divided up at all. The fact that the decision to divide into districts was by referendum is good testimony that ruling by concensus does not necessarily bring about the best decisions. I also agree that many voters who approved this did not clearly understand the ramifications of their vote.

I believe these districts will just complicate the responsiveness of our local government to our concerns, making each of us represented LESS overall, and opens the door for political tricks.

I don't look forward to the day a Councilman has to tell me I'm not in his or her district, so I need to talk to the Councilman from my area, and it's not their problem.

How do the Wards work in Chicago?

Our new role model.

Couple of things. As for your provocative comment concerning, should this be done at all? If you recall, there was a referendum and the voters voted for this. My take on that is that they are unhappy with the lack of term limits. I get it. People can vote them out. But, that's not the reality. Guys like Krause sit there like dunces for years, put up 5,000 signs, and win. There's not much controversy and much apathy. People moving in and out help dopes like Douggie as well. BTW, what ever happened to Grant "Pompus" Wehrli's idea of challenging the voters on this because one person in his family that he talked to didn't understand the question and mis-voted? Does he not understand how he looks? Of course, he doesn't care. He's smarter than everyone else.

As for the actual districts, I would leave that up to the law and the sitting Councilmen. That's how it works. It would, however, be interesting to see a map showing the proposed districts and where each Councilman lives. Is that available anywhere?