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Jeff Ward

By Jeff Ward
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December 28, 2012

2012 Columns in Review

It's time to look back on the major 2012 Geneva news stories as I saw them.

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In the famous but somewhat paraphrased words of the fictional Margo Channing, “Fasten your seatbelts folks, it’s going to be a bumpy Geneva 2012 retrospective ride.” Since we’ve got so much to cover, let’s get right to it!

In January, responding to a make-a-prognostication-before-the-fact challenge from eminent readers Colin Campbell and Ken Loebel, this columnist predicted the president would prevail one more time.

My theory was that a combination of pandering to far-right lunacy and the contenders’ willingness to tear each other to shreds during the primary would ultimately lead to the GOP nominee’s downfall. And that’s essentially what happened.

February brought us the sad revelation that Geneva streets Superintendent Steve LeMaire misused a city credit card to the tune of $24,000 over eight years. He was eventually convicted and terminated, losing a promising pension as a result.

My theory was, though we’re ultimately responsible for our actions, had the city implemented basic fiscal controls this theft never would’ve happened. And I’m still not convinced they’ve applied the appropriate checks and balances.

March meant it was primary time, and we attacked that prospect from a couple different angles. Of course, the most fascinating story was the race for county board chair.

On the Democratic side, former St. Charles Mayor Sue Klinkhamer defeated former Carpentersville Village President Bill Sarto without even bothering to campaign. Sarto tried to chalk it up to the Limbaugh/Sandra Fluke “slut” fiasco, but that only proved he was sillier than Sue.

State Sen. Chris Lauzen walked away with the nomination after a contentious GOP race in which a series of missteps lead to Mayor Kevin Burns failure to carry Geneva.

As those spring breezes released us from winter’s grip, Joe Stanton’s attempt to tear down the iconic Pure Oil building dominated the April news.

After a number of heated full capacity City Council proceedings, a compromise was reached where the blue roofed structure would be preserved by converting it into a rather unique bank drive through.

Sometimes things work out exactly as they should!

The future of our quaint downtown was on everyone’s mind in May. Not only did we discuss how the aldermen might think outside the Third Street grocery store box, but that the demise of Cole Travel was an Internet warning shot we simply cannot ignore.

Even though we’re seeing signs the great recession may be waning, that inevitable short-term bounce doesn’t mean we’re out of the downtown woods. The master plan is a great step, but the time to take the bull by the horns is now!

How many jewelry stores can any self-respecting business district support?

Despite some merchants’ vast overreaction, June brought the annual bike race back to Third Street and what a spectacle it was! Watching professional and Cat 1 riders do better than 30 mph for more than an hour thrilled the throng of eager spectators.

The story in July story had to be the heat which brought four straight days of record-breaking, triple-digit temperatures. On the rare occasion we actually got some precipitation, the event tended to be rather violent leading to lengthy west side power outages.

In August it was back to backyard chickens, and I’m still stunned at how close the City Council came to permitting those foul backyard fowl. This is one instance where I had no problem with the mayor’s tie breaking proclivities.

If you really do want a residential chicken coop, then please move west of Peck Road. I can barely tolerate the aldermen, much less noisy and smelly birds.

Then it was on to September where the prospect of a new teachers contract galvanized this bedroom community like nothing I’ve seen before. My hope was that, by discussing both sides of the debate in a two part series, cooler heads would prevail. Sadly, we that was not to be the case.

October opened with the City Council’s attempt to end the proliferation of parking lot donation boxes. In an ensuing investigative piece we discussed how these purported clothing recycling companies aren’t charitable in the least.

But while I proposed banning the boxes outright, the alderman ultimately decided to charge an annual fee and put ‘em up against the buildings. Those out-of-compliance letters are set to go out in January, so we’ll see what happens.

November brought us to the brink of a teachers strike, something previously unthinkable in Geneva. As we inexorably moved towards that precipice, I wrote one last ditch column asking the teachers to truly consider the consequences of their choices.

Sometimes it is all about the timing.

But this time, cooler heads did prevail and, thanks to a last-ditch negotiating session, the deal got done.

Which brings us to December and a contested mayoral race. It looks like TaxFACTS head honcho Bob McQuillan and incumbent Kevin Burns will square off this spring. As noted in this column, it’s always good to have political competition.

Our final month also brought us the sad news of the passing of original fiscal conservative and long time Geneva alderman Paul DesCouteaux. You can’t walk down Third Street without seeing Paul’s face. He will be missed.

So that’s it for 2012. Next time, we’ll discuss what I believe will be the major Geneva news stories in 2013.

About this column: Jeff Ward is an opinion columnist who writes for Patch and his blog, The First Ward. He is the owner of Lapinator Incorporated and does part-time consulting for the Kane County Clerk's Office. Related Topics: 2012, Jeff Ward, and Year in Review