Doctor details her ordeal with infamous Naperville squatter

Editor's note: Scott Huber is a self-styled protester who lived for years on a sidewalk near Washington Street and Chicago Avenue in downtown Naperville. Early this year, a new city law aimed at Huber forced him to move. So he took up residence in front Dr. Kathy Borchardt's office, and he routinely displays a sign challenging her "ethics." In turn, she filed a defamation lawsuit against the 59-year-old Huber. Now, Borchardt has gone public with her plea for the city to broaden its ordinance, keeping Huber away from all businesses in town. Her first-person account, edited for space, follows:

Last December when I read that self-proclaimed city protester Scott Huber was banned from encamping in the downtown Naperville business area, I was dismayed to read that the new ordinance's protections ended at the sidewalk right outside the door into my business. I had a sinking feeling that Mr. Huber would be moving his public protest of nine years to a location close to my office door.

Sure enough, on a Monday morning in February as I was walking to the entrance of my office building, I came upon Mr. Huber's new campsite. He was sleeping on the sidewalk next to his cart of possessions extending out in front of our office building stairs. Mr. Huber's encampment was not the professional, safe presentation I wanted for my patients. As a neuropsychologist I serve many children and adults with disabilities. My co-tenants are an orthodontist, a clinical psychologist, and a speech and language pathologist who also serves children with disabilities. Some of our patients are nonverbal or have limited capacity to ask and understand Mr. Huber's protest and could become easily upset by his presentation.

Therefore, I asked Mr. Huber about his choice of site for protesting his complaints against the city of Naperville. I stated that I respect his right to protest, shared my concerns, and asked if he would consider moving across the street to a parking lot, which is outside of the city encampment ordinance. Mr. Huber immediately responded to my request with belligerence as he chased after me as I ran into my building for protection, and continued to taunt me as I called 911 behind my glass office door. Naperville police arrested Huber and charged him with disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing. Little did I know that the simple act of respectfully asking Mr. Huber to consider moving would result in months of upheaval for me, my business, my co-tenants and my family. The ordeal left me to realize that when a victim reports a crime, he or she can be harassed and subjected to retaliation by the alleged perpetrator under the guise of free speech. I was also left wondering why Naperville's encampment ordinance covered only an eight-block area.

As many news readers are aware, soon after Huber's arrest he made bail and returned to my business. He proceeded to hold up a bright orange protest sign just outside my office building, at the busy intersection of Washington Street and Benton Avenue in downtown Naperville. The sign states, "Boycott Dr. Borchardt Ethics." Until he was court ordered three weeks later to stay 500 hundred feet away, Huber posted his sign at that spot on a daily basis. Afterward, he moved 500 feet north to his new "home" across the street from the DuPage Children's Museum. To this day, Mr. Huber posts his sign about me at that location. This man knows nothing about my ethics, because I had never met him before he was arrested at my office building.

After his arrest, Huber blogged about me on local newspapers' websites as well as on his Flickr and Facebook accounts. He stated that the state's attorney's office filed criminal charges against me, and that I was being investigated by Naperville police. Anyone who Googled my name or did an Internet search about me would have easily been directed to these social websites and blogs that tarnished my reputation. Although the DuPage County state's attorney's office originally indicated to me that Huber would face additional charges if he continued to harass me, the office declined to arrest him for harassment or intimidation of a witness, citing Mr. Huber's overriding right to free speech. I was informed that my only recourse was a lawsuit alleging libel and slander. That suit resulted in my further victimization, because in the pursuit of sensationalized stories some newspapers reported that I, a psychologist, was suing a homeless man. By the way, Mr. Huber has been quoted numerous times insisting that he should be considered a protester and not a homeless man.

Throughout this ordeal I have had to seek private legal counsel because the current ordinances of Naperville and state victim protection laws have offered me no protection from Huber's retaliation and harassment. There are apparently only a few situation-specific victim protection laws in place that prevent an alleged perpetrator from verbally harassing a citizen who reports a crime. It has become quite apparent to me that we need to strengthen victim protections laws in this state. If it could happen to me, it could happen to any citizen or business owner in this city or state. Just ask the young lady at Red Mango Café how she feels about Mr. Huber's Internet harassment of her after she called Naperville police on him.

Regarding our own city's response to Mr. Huber, an ordinance was recently passed to address the sort of encampment in which Mr. Huber regularly engages. Its purpose is "to create a safe and soothing environment needed to effectively engage in business practices, and the promotion of economic vitality of businesses in a safe and pedestrian-friendly environment." Why are the eight blocks of downtown businesses the only ones protected by Naperville's new ordinance?

Perhaps Naperville residents do not know the degree of disruption Mr. Huber has caused. He has caused disruptions on the campus of North Central College. He has been banned from the local PADS shelters because he threw tantrums when TV channels were not changed to his liking. When the Naperville Police Department arranged for a stay at the downtown YMCA, Mr. Huber was kicked out because he ran up a $1,000 Internet bill, which remains unpaid. Our taxpayer dollars are repeatedly used in providing this man with a public defender, and consumed when Naperville city lawyers must continually go to court to answer to Huber's many court challenges to city ordinances and enforcements of laws. Furthermore, when Mr. Huber was camped out in front of my office building, I doubt that the children and parents who attempted to walk past Mr. Huber on their way to Ss. Peter and Paul School felt they had a safe and pedestrian-friendly environment to navigate, given that Mr. Huber's encampment encroached on the sidewalk. What about the children, parents, and commuters who have to navigate past his current encampment on their way to Washington Junior High or to the train station? I suggest the ordinance be expanded to include all businesses within Naperville so that we all may benefit from the protections of the code.

I hope my experience will serve as an impetus for resident to contact our city council to demand the ordinance include all Naperville businesses. Please also contact state Rep. Darlene Senger to support her efforts to sponsor legislation ensuring victims of crimes are not subjected to retaliation for the reporting of crimes. Who in their right mind would not be afraid to report Mr. Huber for any crimes, knowing that he would likely retaliate against them for doing so? I am sure he is well aware that people fear him, giving him more license to continue to engage in his bullying behavior. For too long Mr. Huber has been viewed as a harmless, eccentric person, leading to a collective complacency in our community's response to his behaviors. In these times of economic uncertainty, we cannot afford to remain complacent and have him and protesters like him negatively affect the economic vitality of Naperville businesses and the safe haven of our homes.