The City Council last week approved an increase of $120,000 to the money set aside by the city to cover litigation costs in the civil rights lawsuit that Councilman Dick Furstenau has brought against the city. The original funding for this lawsuit was in the $400,000 range and, well, just do the math...now it''s more than a half a million dollars. This comes at a time when the city is holding its annual operating budget workshops with the goal of trying to maintain a comparable tax rate to the past few years in the face of declining revenues such as the real estate transfer tax. Isn't it ironic that one of the overseers of the budgeting - the aforementioned Councilman Furstenau - is in a position of being a fiscal watchdog of city money while at the same time $500,000 (and counting) of Napervillians' taxpayer money is being diverted to defend the lawsuit that he himself brought on the city? Anyone have any ideas on this?
City Council: February 2008 Archives
Naperville embraces the Big Brother era in earnest on March 1 when it begins operating red light cameras at two locations, the intersections of Fort Hill Drive and Aurora Avenue and 95th Street and Book Road. Are you going to change your driving habits because of them?
With all the attention on the election this week, few noticed the city council met. In what must have been a record-short 40-minute session conducted by a body known for often convening past midnight, the council continued discussion about taxing downtown restaurants in order to pay for a new parking deck next to the downtown library.
Okay, it's time for the post-mortem. The results are in and who's happy, sad or mad? Dist. 203 got its referendum passed. To say that it was a hot topic in this forum in the weeks and months running up to the vote is a bit of an understatement. So, how do you feel now? Sure, property taxes will be going up. The question is, are those higher property taxes worth it, especially given the fact that as many have pointed out, the District had a ton of cash on hand already? Well, the voters answered that one. And what about the other races? Are you satisfied with their outcomes? Were the right candidates chosen? Did enough people vote? Did anyone get any kind of a mandate? These are all questions that The Sun would like to get your views on. So, let the conversation begin.
Naperville Mayor George Pradel has received a ticket after a snowplow he was driving collided with a vehicle driven by a 20-year-old woman. No injuries were reported.
