Naperville thanks longest-serving mayor Pradel for 'energy and enthusiasm'
The Pledge of Allegiance was boisterous. The applause was booming. The "thank yous" were many.
Tuesday was Naperville Mayor George Pradel's final council meeting in 20 years of leading the city.
He planned on thanking each city council member with a plaque and a listing of his or her accomplishments, and he did that at the beginning of the meeting.
But he didn't know he'd be honored with a proclamation read piece-by-piece by each council member, or with a video of Naperville resident Bill Foster reading a statement in his honor Tuesday evening on the U.S. House floor in Washington D.C.
"The mayor led Naperville with his signature mix of charm and compassion," Foster said in front of his peers in Congress. "Your dedication to the community and your energy and enthusiasm for serving Naperville will never be forgotten."
The Foster video and tag-team proclamation were all in honor of the city's leader, a 29-year Naperville police officer and Marines veteran who used to dream of leading an orphanage and always has made helping children a priority.
"We want to do our best to honor Naperville's best cheerleader," council member and Mayor-elect Steve Chirico said.
Pradel "selflessly dedicated 50 years of his life to the service of our city," the beginning of the proclamation in his honor read.
He helped create Naperville's Safety Town and taught kids how to be cautious around railroads, buses and schools. He became known as "Officer Friendly" and even has a statue showing him in that role outside Washington Junior High School.
Pradel didn't think he'd win when he was encouraged to run for mayor 20 years ago, council member Paul Hinterlong said during his part of the proclamation. But when the voters chose Pradel anyway, he resigned from the police force one day before being sworn in as mayor.
Now he's less than two weeks away from serving his final day as mayor before handing the reins to Chirico, who will be sworn in May 3.
Pradel smiled, laughed and wiped a possible tear or two during different portions of the thanks he received. He then gave one brief message of thanks of his own.
"All I can say is it's a wonderful feeling to be the mayor of such a beautiful city and wonderful, wonderful people. Thank you," Pradel said. "Ok, we'll move on."