Congratulations, Mayor-Elect Schmidt.  You did it!

And congratulation, Park Ridge voters…for making it happen! 

4,885 of you went to the polls and cast your votes for taking this community back from the let’s-make-a-dealers and special interests for whom “public policy” is measured by un-enlightened self interest and personal profit.

By saying “Yes” to the open, honest, transparent and accountable City government promised by Mayor-Elect Dave Schmidt, you also said “No” to the cheap imitation of it Mayor Howard Frimark and his Alderpuppets have been trying to pass off on us the last two years. You also showed that you wouldn’t be snookered by a big-bucks campaign that became so desperate it resorted to eleventh-hour sleaziness because it had nothing of substance to offer.      

So give yourselves a well-deserved pat on the back.  You earned it.

But Schmidt’s election was just the necessary first step of many that will need to be taken to get Park Ridge back on track.  And the next steps won’t be easy for Schmidt or for the rest of us.

First, Schmidt will inherit Frimark’s Alderpuppets, and don’t expect them to make the new mayor’s life easy.  Five of the six (Allegretti, Bach, Carey, DiPietro and Ryan) regularly opposed Schmidt on Council business and actively supported Frimark; and the sixth, Wsol, showed his true colors with his last-minute, deceptively-worded police station referendum designed to confuse voters and neutralize Joe Egan’s citizen-initiated referendum.  It almost worked, garnering the support of 46.80% of the voters, compared to the meager 16.61% that voted for the new cop shop on Egan’s referendum.

Despite the clear defeat of both cop shop referendums, however, expect Wsol and the other Alderpuppets to push forward with that project in some way, shape or form.  As Allegretti said: They were elected to make decisions like that, without input from the public.  That’s why we also can expect them to try to get redevelopment going in Target Area 4, even though the results of Target Area 2 are singularly unimpressive and the Uptown TIF fund is millions under water.  That’s because – from what we hear – the speculators and owners of those TA-4 properties are chomping at the bit to cash out while they still have the Alderpuppets to rubber-stamp the process.

Mr. Mayor-Elect, maybe it’s time to look into whether the City Code gives the mayor any veto power.

Second, Schmidt will inherit a financial mess.  After $3 million in budget deficits over the past two years and a proposed budget that is flirting with a $2 million deficit for this coming year, the new mayor will need to hold City staff’s and the Alderpuppets’ feet to the fire to reduce the risk of a financial melt-down.  Time for City Manager Jim Hock and Finance Director Diane Lambesis to earn their salaries – and for the Alderpuppets to learn about fiscal responsibility.

Third, Schmidt needs to walk the walk on changing the Culture of Secrecy.  Start with cutting down on closed sessions for everything but litigation and sensitive personnel issues, or at least making it clear to the Alderpuppets and citizens alike that (as the Illinois Open Meetings Act unequivocally permits) anything discussed in closed session is fair game for disclosure. Force those secrecy cultists to make their case for closed session every time one is proposed. We’ve had more than our fill of our mayor running around negotiating sweetheart deals and then telling the Council about it in secret.

Fourth, Schmidt needs to do what he can to make information more readily available on the City’s website.  He can start by digging up the applications for all of the people serving on the City’s boards and commissions and posting them, so that we can learn at least something substantive about the qualifications each of those individuals bring to those bodies. And how about putting in some reasonable biographical information about the City Council members, starting with the names of their employers?

Fifth, he will need to make a sound appointment for his replacement as First Ward Alderman, someone with a thick skin and a strong work ethic who is ready, willing and able to do what Schmidt has done for the past two years.  Four years ago Frimark picked a lapdog (Allegretti) – Schmidt needs to pick a bulldog.

These are just a few of the many things that will provide challenges to our new mayor the moment he takes the oath of office, a solemn vow with which we trust he will abide continuously and scrupulously. 

Because if he doesn’t, rest assured that it won’t get past the Watchdog.