Benjamin (Benny) White: 2023 candidate for Naperville mayor

Bio

Town: Naperville

Age on Election Day: 59

Occupation: Department chair/Senior Army Instructor

Employer: Joliet Township High School

Previous offices held: Naperville City Council since 2017; Indian Prairie Unit District 204 board member from 2012-17

Q&A

Q: What do you consider the primary responsibility of the community's "chairman of the board"?

A: The mayor of Naperville, working with a council/city manager form of government, can be described as a "chairman of the board."

But in local government, most of what elected officials do is collaborative, takes place in public, and requires lots of interaction with and input from residents and staff, unlike a corporate chairman. Our residents are our stakeholders!

Our mission statement is "To provide services that ensure a high quality of life, sound fiscal management, and a dynamic business environment, while creating an inclusive community that values diversity."

That combines providing basic services, like water, electricity, and police and fire safety, while creating a community that makes residents feel included and encourages businesses both large and small. That's a tall order, and the mayor needs to keep all of that in mind while representing the community.

Q: What is the most serious issue your community will face in the coming years and how should leaders respond to it?

A: One very serious specific issue we face is transitioning from fossil fuels for our energy needs, specifically how to move away from reliance on coal for our electric utility.

Decisions about what we do when our current IMEA (Illinois Municipal Energy Association) contract expires have to be made soon, requiring intergovernmental cooperation and discussion about energy sources.

More broadly, the most important thing leaders can do right now is to bring people together. I'm confident Naperville residents all want a safe and healthy community, great schools, excellent parks, and reliable utilities. I've been bringing people together for a long time, both on the school board and the city council. We've made it through the pandemic crisis and are recovering well. That unpredictable event produced effects that we continue to adapt to. We learned how resilient our community has been in responding to the crisis, how to convey information transparently, and how important it is to understand new work and shopping trends.

Q: How would you describe the state of your community's finances?

A: The city is in excellent financial shape. In 2015 and 2016, the city council voted on principles that guide its budgeting process, including a structurally balanced operating budget every year, continuous improvement in the delivery of necessary and cost-effective services, increasing reserves to 25% and reducing debt by 25%.

We have already exceeded those goals: our reserves are now at 27.6%, and debt has been reduced by about 33%. The city did not reduce its services even during the pandemic, and added more online services.

We've maintained our AAA ratings from Standard & Poor's and Moody's. We have done a great job of keeping up with fire and police pensions. Adding a second Costco and carefully siting cannabis sales locations proved to be good for our residents and our financial status. Sales tax revenue is strong and reduces some of the burden on our residents when it comes to their property taxes. We will be able to slightly lower the current tax rate from 0.6874 to 0.6743.

Q: What should be the three top priorities for spending in your community during the next four years?

A: Not surprisingly, I think spending on infrastructure and other capital improvements is the most important, and that includes not just projects like maintaining our roads, bridges, and sidewalks, but projects like the Public Safety Radio Network I mention in answering question #6. Depending on the IEPA (Illinois Environmental Protection Agency) requirements, we will have to keep up with phosphorus mitigation.

Since public safety is a high priority, it's essential for us to keep up with our public safety pensions (which we have been very successful in doing, especially compared to other communities in the state) and continue to attract top-notch employees. We have seen a drop, as other communities have, in applications for the police and fire services and may need to do some additional recruiting to attract the best employees. Investing in our IT structure is crucial to keep our data safe and our systems up-to-date.

Q: Are there areas of spending that need to be curtailed? If so, what are they?

A: We recently completed our budget process, one that I was an active part of, so I would say that the vast majority of choices reflected in our budget document are solid ones.

Although we are adding eight employees this year, as our needs change and as our employees retire or transition to different jobs, it's always worthwhile to reassess our staffing needs. We anticipate a significant number of retirees in the next few years and may be able to save in our overall salary budget as younger employees join our workforce.

Q: What do you see as the most important infrastructure project the community must address? Why and how should it be paid for? Conversely, during these uncertain economic times, what project(s) can be put on the back burner?

A: A city the size of Naperville is always in the midst of significant infrastructure projects, some of which are very visible to the residents, like the road and sidewalk improvement, and some are less visible but just as vital.

One that residents may not be aware of is the Public Safety Radio Network, projected to cost $20 million over the next five years. It's now in the consultation stage, about a million-dollar expense this year. While major, it's necessary so that they will be up to the P25 standard (P25 radios transmit both data and voice).

Another set of projects that may not be visible to the public but are important are the upgrades to data storage and expansion, ACI Implementation (for IT security), and GIS Infrastructure Migration. Those three add up to more than $750,000 this year.

We have $13.3 million in unused federal COVID funding that can be spent in the next three years for some projects, and large infrastructure projects might be a good place to use that funding.

Q: What makes you the best candidate for the job?

A: I've been preparing for this job for the past 40 years! My entire career has been one of service and leadership, from West Point, to 22 years as an officer in the Army, to serving on the District 204 school board, to serving on the city council. I earned an MBA and a Doctor of Business Administration in Values Driven Leadership. All of this combines to make me the most qualified candidate.

We chose Naperville after living in many states and even overseas, and have high standards when it comes to finding a city that offers so much.

In our 17 years here, I have actively contributed to our robust community life by serving on the board of fire and police commissioners as well as on the school board and on the city council. Experience in elected office matters. In the past four years, we have updated the mission statement, followed our financial principles, passed a ban on the sale of assault rifles, and revitalized the East Ogden Corridor, and passed an affordable housing plan.

Q: What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?

A: Naperville's bicentennial is coming up in 2031, only eight years away. It's time to start putting committees together and thinking about how to budget and fundraise for such an important milestone.

The bicentennial is an opportunity to honor our history and celebrate the progress we have made, anticipating Naperville's exciting future. A second idea that I have been discussing is how to engage our young people more assertively in our city government.

We talk a lot about engaging our young people, our most valuable resource. I've been talking for a while about how to engage our young people more fully in the business of the city, including adding more students to our boards and commissions. They bring an important perspective that will be different from that of their parents and grandparents. If we want them to live in Naperville after high school or college, we need their input in the kinds of decisions that Naperville makes about our policies and our development.