'It's been exciting': Wehrli discusses first month in office as Naperville mayor
Whether it's meeting with mental health experts or joining police officers on a check for liquor permit compliance, Scott Wehrli has been a busy man this month.
Wehrli, a lifelong Naperville resident with community roots dating to the 1840s, topped Councilman Benny White in the April 4 mayoral contest to replace Steve Chirico, who chose not to run for a third term.
Wehrli, 53, has led a family-owned business, Dukane Precast, has been a member of Naperville's liquor commission and works for the park district police. Now, as Naperville mayor, he sat down with the Daily Herald to talk about his plans for the city.
Here is an edited transcript:
Q: How would you summarize your first weeks in office?
A: It's been exciting. I went in with an open mind and had a fairly decent knowledge of what to expect. But you don't actually know until you're in the seat. With that in mind, (on May 1) we had our first meeting on mental health. It's something I talked about in the campaign and something I heard in the community. We assembled 21 of the top mental health professionals in the Naperville area. We shared our concerns and shared how important it is for our community. My first city council meeting was the next day. It was a relatively light agenda, but it was a great opportunity for us to implement some new things.
Q: You mentioned meeting with mental health experts. What other groups have you met with since taking office?
A: I met with the League of Women Voters to discuss board and commission appointments. I've met with members of our Asian American and Pacific Islander community. I just visited the (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temple in Naperville. I met with a representative from Nitra, Slovakia. I spent a half-day at Nokia with the chief financial officer at a town hall meeting for the employees there. I've been bouncing all over the place, listening and learning about what's going on in our community.
Q: Development in the Indian Prairie Unit District 204 area of Naperville was among your campaign priorities. What is your vision for boosting the tax base there?
A: You've got a very limited amount of commercial development and you've got primarily residences, which almost always feeds the district more kids. We've got to make sure commercial development in District 204 is operating at its highest and best and producing as much income as possible. There's a lot of opportunity there.
Q: You've brought up issues during the new business portion of city council meetings, and you've started a Mayor of Naperville Twitter account. How important is communication with the community?
A: Anything I bring up in a meeting, I've already talked through with staff. We've got outstanding professionals in city hall, and I don't want to surprise them with anything at the dais. Communication and transparency are huge. As we are in this world of social media, and rumors and innuendo, having official information out there from our leadership is extremely important.
Q: You've said not every city council vote will be 9-0, but compromise is key. Do you see potential with this group of council members to maintain progress?
A: I think we've had really good conversations so far. To have good group process, you have to have disagreement from time to time. We've got to have difference of opinion because that's how you get to the right answer.
Q: Do you envision revisiting ordinances such as the city's ban on the sale of certain high-powered rifles?
A: Any ordinance could potentially be revisited. It's just a matter of if council chooses to do that or not. I'm not able to really discuss things that are in litigation (like the gun sale ordinance). But right now we're looking again at the (office, research and industrial) zoning ordinance. That'll be a revisit. The change to make warehouse a conditional use, that was an ordinance change that the prior council did, and we're looking beyond that potentially. And it's not just me. There are eight other council members who could bring topics to the table.
Q: What can we look forward to in the future in Naperville?
A: We're going to continue on a very active pace of making sure we're doing everything we can to deliver what we said we were going to deliver. And that is a safe community, a thriving economic engine and a city that's as well-run as it possibly can.