Naperville mayor forges full steam — and full-time — ahead

The Naperville mayor's job is what Steve Chirico thought it was.

Full-time. Multifaceted. Challenging.

A big, significant responsibility. His responsibility.

“I went into it with eyes wide open,” Chirico said during his eighth month on the job since being elected last April. “I knew it was going to require full-time to get the job done to meet my expectations.”

Chirico expected to address financial concerns and prioritize economic development. He expected to engage former Mayor George Pradel as a continued community presence, but to do things his own way.

Punctual, cordial and businesslike, he's done much of that since being sworn in May 3.

“He is very easy to work with and I think he's done an excellent job, especially in conjunction with the city manager and our finance director, of expressing his vision for what the city needs over the next decade,” city council member Judith Brodhead said. “Steve is smart; he has a vision of what he thinks should happen and he keeps his eye on the prize and manages to stay very calm and focused.”

Collaborating with the council, he's set three new financial principles and backed them up with higher revenue from garbage fees, electric rates and the city's first home-rule sales tax.

He's persuaded the out-of-state owner of a long-vacant store on Ogden Avenue to explain his efforts to finally fill the space.

He's created a new position — an unpaid gig called Mayor Emeritus — to keep Pradel doing what he does best: being a municipal ambassador and spreading Naperville pride.

Chirico has been called “focused,” “efficient,” “visionary.” He calls decisions during his term so far “impactful.” And his leadership has many in Naperville comforted that voters chose the right person — although a very different person — to step up after Pradel's 20-year reign.

“I think he's done a very good job of putting his mark on the city,” said Bob Fischer, president of the Naperville Area Homeowners Confederation. “I look forward to what the next 3½ years will bring.”

Money talks

Chirico made no campaign promises to be like Pradel. For one thing, he's more vocal about his votes.

“He talks a lot more than I ever did, so you really know where he's coming from,” Pradel said.

For two years before the April election, Chirico engaged voters in conversations about Naperville's budget — its reserves, debt, spending and property taxes. The city had been consciously spending down reserves for a decade, especially during the recession, to keep property taxes stable. By early this year, those extra reserves were running out.

The financial principles set a goal of increasing reserves to 25 percent of yearly operating expenses by 2023. In the same eight years, the city aims to reduce its $120 million debt by 25 percent and to provide services with a goal of continuous improvement. They're goals Chirico calls “reasonable, attainable and still impactful.”

“He's being extremely proactive in trying to follow through on what he said in his campaign, and that was to make sure that Naperville is focused on economic development and being very judicious in budgeting,” said Tom Miers, president of Naperville Bank and Trust.

After a series of compromises and split votes Chirico calls “politically courageous,” the city approved a $10.35 increase in the monthly garbage fee, an 8.3 percent increase in electric rates, a 0.5 percent home-rule sales tax and a $2 million property tax abatement.

“We have a responsibility to look for opportunities to be a more efficient government,” Chirico said.

Respectful reaction

Chirico hasn't made any enemies, but some of these votes had their opponents.

Take Jim Haselhorst, a dental practice manager and one of three mayoral candidates Chirico beat to win office. Overall, Haselhorst says, Chirico is doing fine.

“There's only a few things that haven't gone as well as one could hope,” Haselhorst said.

But one of them was making deeper and more sustainable cuts instead of increasing revenue to balance the budget.

“The way they did it isn't really transparent that what they did is revenue generation,” Haselhorst said. “But he's said from the beginning it's going to take revenue.”

One new revenue-generator, the home-rule sales tax, didn't have support from the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce. But President and CEO Nicki Anderson says Chirico is taking charge and getting the job done.

“He's there to get work done and he's not there to waste anybody's time,” Anderson said. “He's there to make the city run efficiently.”

It will cost $255 more for the average homeowner to live in Naperville next year, and Chirico is conscious of the increasing burden.

“It's a concern,” he said. “We have to protect that brand that people move here and stay here for, but it's tough because of rising costs.”

Time constraints

Chirico is confident the city's finances are stabilized, so that's one of his campaign promises checked off the list. But he hasn't spent as much time as he'd hoped on attracting new businesses or filling long-standing vacancies.

The public duties of being mayor of Illinois' fifth-largest city, a hub of cultural activities, service clubs and ambitious nonprofits, have kept him away.

“I've spent more time doing the social part of it than I anticipated. I hoped that I could focus much more on the business side of it and stick to that,” Chirico said. “But I do feel that a lot of members of the community feel it's important that I be at events.”

Chirico, a 54-year-old Naperville native, estimates he spends between 50 and 70 hours a week on city business. He's handed over day-to-day operations of his business, Great Western Flooring, to his daughters and stops in only occasionally to sign checks or keep things running. He attends multiple events each day — sometimes as many as five — and makes another stop or two on the weekends.

“If he's not actually at city hall, he's thinking about city hall,” his wife, Julie Chirico, said.

And all of this is with the help of Pradel, 78, as mayor emeritus.

Residents said they love Chirico's decision to create the title for Pradel, giving the elder statesman official status from which to continue making appearances and representing Naperville. Pradel meets with Chirico weekly to compare calendars, to divide and conquer everything in Naperville for which the mayor's presence is requested. Months removed from holding the office himself, Pradel said he feels respected in the emeritus role.

“I respect him 1,000 percent. And I know he respects me because he made me mayor emeritus,” Pradel said. “I keep praising him and he keeps calling me mayor and praising me for what's happened in the past, forming a foundation that he could build on.”

Building a vision

Building Naperville to match Chirico's vision is going to be a process. Especially when it comes to stubborn vacancies, such as those in Ogden Mall and nearby shopping centers on Ogden Avenue between Naper Boulevard — the eastern edge of the city — and East Avenue.

The increase in online shopping is making strip malls of the past potentially obsolete. At Ogden Mall, a former Kmart has left a large hole and the strip of stores is controlled by several owners. This creates layers of moving parts — owners and buyers and tenants — and with so many people involved, things take time, said Christine Jeffries, president and CEO of the Naperville Development Partnership.

“It wouldn't be uncommon for him (Chirico) to talk to all three parties and really try to build consensus,” Jeffries said. “Having the mayor leading the charge in reaching out to prospects as well as developers has been a real bonus for us. It shows that the city is deeply committed to the redevelopment.”

Chirico sees himself as a consensus-builder. So reaching out, listening and finding agreement is how he operates. At Ogden Mall, he's envisioning revitalization. He wants creative zoning to bring in something that will work. Something with shopping, entertainment, restaurant and residential components.

“I'd love to see it so when you drive west on Ogden, you're like, ‘We're in Naperville now,'” Chirico said. “That's what I'd like to see. We're a long way from that, but that's my goal.”