For Naperville mayor: Pradel

The rap on Naperville Mayor George Pradel goes something like this: It’s swell to be a cheerleader when things are going great. But things are less than great these days, even in Naperville, the fair-haired model suburb. Governments are struggling; Naperville’s no exception. Once one of the fastest-growing suburbs in the nation, even Naperville lost a few residents in the just-released census tallies. Its robust downtown has some vacant stores; ditto its “second downtown,” roughly centered around Route 59 and 95th Street.

“We need leadership more than someone at every groundbreaking in town,” is essentially the message coming from his two opponents, Doug Krause and Kenn Miller. In fact, they say, without some strong leadership, there may be fewer and fewer groundbreakings to attend unless someone recruits new business to Naperville, once an automatic.

It’s a good point. And it’s very hard to overlook the qualifications of Miller, with his business background, a list of civic involvement as long as your arm and some great ideas to help businesses better navigate the approval process. We also like his ideas for encouraging minority involvement in the community. Krause is a strong candidate, too, a proponent of citizen involvement among other things.

However — and this is a big “however” — since he first ran for mayor 16 years ago as a seemingly hopeless underdog who was less than stellar on the issues, Pradel has grown into the job. Since his upset win in 1995, Napervilleans have shown their approval of his style; he’s been handily re-elected, sometimes with no opposition. Sure, part of the appeal is his enthusiastic, almost carnival-barker style expressing his love for all things Naperville. But Pradel genuinely understands the council-manager form of government set in place by Naperville and the vast majority of suburbs. It calls for the day-to-day operations of the city to be run by the city manager, who oversees the department heads. If Pradel has a question or thinks something needs to be done, he goes to the manager. Too many politicians forget that and feel compelled to micromanage every last detail in their communities.

At age 73, and with some health scares in recent years, Pradel has slowed down a bit. He certainly isn’t as smooth or articulate as Miller or Krause. But he still gets it. He still bubbles with enthusiasm as he looks you in the eye and gives you an aggressive handshake. “Call me George,” has been his trademark over the years. And, above all, he still loves Naperville, heart and soul, If re-elected, Pradel says this will be his last term. We think he deserves to go out with a bang.

Pradel is endorsed.