Letter: Reasons to support mayor candidate

I support Benny White for Naperville mayor because he is:

1. Someone who understands public service is pursuing a goal for the public good, rather than a dollar for personal enrichment. Benny White's resume is wall-to-wall public service. I'd prefer a mayor who has the receipts showing he consistently avoids putting his personal interests first.

2. Someone with the experience to wield government. Government is not a business - and we'd be outraged if it put profits first. A mayor can't count on obedient subordinates or even making hiring choices. He has to get things done by actually finding common ground with those who oppose him. Benny has done that. Business owners can fire anyone who doesn't respect their authority, which is a far different operational dynamic.

And because of what Benny is not:

1. Benny doesn't have extensive conflicts of interest due to business dealings and connections. So with Benny, I don't have to worry about who is steering his decisions behind closed doors, nor me being a big enough "player" in town to warrant getting a true audience for my concerns.

2. Governing offers plenty of opportunities for someone to profit, just not people like you and me. Benny doesn't have a business to benefit from his position. Scott Wehrli has a precast concrete company (handed to him), the kind of company that builds a list of things this city needs.

3. Based on my past experience with local development, I'd rather have a mayor who isn't dismissive about residents' concerns in pursuit of maximizing developer profits. Benny shows up when people have issues. His words have never written off residents as being in the way.

4. Benny is not aligned with groups who see certain demographics as "less than" or "a threat to our kids" purely in service to partisan ideology.

Dominic Nugent

Naperville