Naperville mayor touts city's successful partnerships

No man is an island, and neither is the city of Naperville when it comes to being successful.

Mayor George Pradel focused on partnerships Monday as he delivered his 13th State of the City address to a capacity crowd gathered at a Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

"The city of Naperville has progressed much further through joining forces with other organizations than we could have done individually," he said. "Our tremendous success and growth is a direct result of our relationships with all of you."

Partnerships, he said, have led to completing the Ogden Avenue Corridor Study, improving police and fire services and looking at ways to reorganize the Caroline Martin Mitchell property.

He said that approach has helped attract businesses to the city for developments such as Naper Main and Water Street. Health Care Service Corp. recently announced it will lease space in former Lucent Technologies buildings, bringing 1,000 employees to the area.

"They come because of the quality of life we provide for our residents, our low property taxes and electricity rates, the variety of transportation options and cultural amenities including the downtown and Riverwalk," Pradel said.

The speech won praise from business and elected officials in the audience, including Todd Channell, owner and CEO of Sound Inc., which is celebrating its 40th year as a chamber member.

"I thought it was fabulous," he said. "He always hits the nail on the head when it comes to the city and the temperature and climate of what's going on in business."

In terms of future partnerships, though, Channell said he would like to see the city find a way to give vendor preference to local businesses when selecting companies to work for the city.

Councilman Darlene Senger also gave the mayor kudos on this year's speech.

"I thought this was a nice, very uplifting, positive end of the year for 2007," Senger said. "We were kind of sad to see (former City Manager) Peter (Burchard) leave, and this made us all feel that we're doing a lot of great things here and we're going to move forward and continue with the great things that are happening."

Due to the departure of Burchard and leaders of several other groups -- including Indian Prairie Unit District 204, Naperville Park District and the chamber -- the city will be adjusting to some new partners this year.

"It's nice because you've got new ideas, and then we who have been here a long time can kind of slow them down and say, 'Here's the way we can fit in on this and here's a way you can fit in with us,'" Pradel said after his speech.

He welcomed one of his newest partners, Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Richard Greene, during Monday's event. Greene took over the position earlier this month.

"What a wonderful way to be welcomed to the community, and what a generous, gracious man the mayor is," Greene said. "I look forward to a great relationship with the city and the broader regional community."

Naperville Area Homeowners Confederation President Chuck Schlabach said he was disappointed his group was not specifically mentioned in the speech but he thought it was well done and was glad to see city staff get credit for their work.

"Certainly the mayor applauded all of the leaders in the city, and I think that was something that really needed to be done," he said.

Pradel touted several other accomplishments, too, including the city having its lowest tax rate in more than 35 years and breaking ground on a $25 million public works center that will receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.