Batavia council picks new 1st Ward alderman
The Batavia City Council decided Tuesday that 10-year resident Carl Fischer is the person to fill a vacancy as alderman for the 1st Ward.
Fischer, 44, will be sworn in Oct. 20.
He was one of three men to apply for the spot. Garran Sparks resigned in September because he moved to North Aurora. The other applicants were Carl Dinwiddie and Dan Pepin.
"I'm just a big believer in community," Fischer said during his introduction. He said he learned that from his father, who served on the city council and a school board in Antioch.
Fischer is married and the father of three teenage boys. He has been involved in Batavia youth sports organizations.
The council spent an hour interviewing the three men in a session open to the public. They then went into closed session to rank their choices and make their recommendation to Mayor Jeff Schielke, who makes such appointments.
The council asked the candidates about their ability to commit time to the position, how they would answer questions from angry constituents in cases where they weren't at liberty to reveal confidential information, their vision for the town and the top three issues for the town.
Fischer listed his top three as the cost of electricity due to the city's involvement with the Prairie State Energy Campus; zoning and rezoning for the 1st Ward, where neighbors recently protested plans to build an industrial park on land zoned for townhouses; and the vitality of the downtown.
"A big one for me is I adore the downtown. As much as I drag myself to Third Street in Geneva to enjoy a good dinner every once in a while, I would rather do that in Batavia," he said.
Fischer attended the meeting via Skype, because he was on a business trip in Philadelphia. He said he has the ability, as a manager, to arrange his work schedule to attend council and committee meetings. Batavia also allows aldermen to attend meetings by telephone, if they are sick or out of town on business.
Fischer is a vice president with The Allant Group, a marketing firm in Naperville.
He will serve through the end of April, when Sparks' term expires. Fischer said he will run for election in April.