Recently in Napergate Category

Okay - you wanted it you got it. Moderator Jim here to open this new thread for the home page. The old threads, as you know, are easily accessible, but here's another one due to popular request. However, I would like to make a point that Ted has repeatedly made and I have reiterated. We here at the Naperville Sun can do nothing to further this matter without having access to an ongoing investigation, documentation and cooperation from the Napergate Man. So, please let's try to refrain from blaming the messenger.

The Naperville Police Department complied with our Freedom of Information Act request for a report of the July 8, 2006 arrest of Basim Esmail, the liquor store owner behind the series of Napergate ads that ran in The Naperville Sun years ago. Here's a copy of what they gave us.

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.

Was Basim Esmail, the liquor store owner who orchestrated the Napergate series of newspaper ads in the 1990s, unfairly targeted for arrest and harassment by Naperville police in 2006?

In Sunday's Sun we feature - or revisit - the case of the Napergate Man. A liquor store owner who believed he was unfairly targeted by Naperville government officials back in the early '90s, he battled long and hard against City Hall and won. He became such a thorn in the side of city officials they eventually setlled with him after a lengthy court battle.

Although the Napergate man was a local businessman, his case does have some parallels with the current federal civil rights lawsuit brought by Councilman Dick Furstenau against the City of Naperville and several of its officials. We thought this was the right time to go back and take a look at the Napergate man and you can read all about him ONLY in this Sunday's (1.20) Sun. Be sure to tell us what you think - or, if you want to get the party started now, fire away you bloggers. And, try to stay warm this weekend. It's hard to type with frostbitten fingers.

We've got a host of personalities populating this corner of cyberspace. Who do you like, and why?

Time's up: A year has passed since the Naperville City Council imposed a one-year no-build restriction on 6 acres near Plainfield-Naperville Road and West Street, between two bodies of water owned by the Naperville Park District. Unless the City Council takes further action, a developer could move forward with plans to build homes on the land. What should happen with the Ponds of Hobson West?

In response to a comment by Marybeth posted today, we have a Napergate ad that ran in The Sun.

NOTE: There's more discussion about Napergate where it started in the Free Form Friday thread and in some of the Furstenau threads.

Every so often we like to ask Potluck visitors to suggest what topics you want to discuss. So here's your chance. Tell us what issues you want to talk about.

Amidst a throng of supporters pleading his case, the City Council enacted the "C" word, as in censure, against their colleague Dick Furstenau at Tuesday night's city council meeting. The vote was 8-1 with Furstenau casting the lone nay vote. It seemed - and this was probably the case - that the vote was pre-ordained from the beginning. The general atmosphere inside the chambers was somber as council members all echoed the same theme, as in "we all have to do better" before coming down on one of their own. What was also noteworthy is that Furstenau was praised by his peers for the job he does on the Council but, apparently, not for the way he does it. So,where do we go from here? Will it be business as usual as we move forward, or will hard feelings come to the fore, especially in light of Furstenau's civil rights lawsuit that now hangs like a dark cloud over Naperville, even on that rare sunny day. The only person that did okay last night - really more than just okay - wasn't even in the room. That's former city manager Peter Burchard after the Council okayed a severance package that gives him $32,000 in cash, forgiveness on a $50,000 loan and medical coverage through June of next year. Not a bad deal, since Burchard voluntarily quit, which ususally - but not in this case - takes severance off the table. Thoughts, anyone.