Naperville City Council - everything you need to know

By LGIS New Service

Apr 20, 2023

The Naperville City Council is a body of local election officials who run the city of Naperville, Illinois. It includes a mayor and eight members elected at-large.

This guide is a one-stop shop for everything you'd need to know about the Naperville City Council. From bios of members to recent news coverage to 2023 election results - everything you need is here.

Council members

Mayor Steve Chirico

Steve Chirico is the mayor of Naperville, Illinois. Chirico, a seasoned business leader, has focused on implementing a long-range financial plan for the city, resulting in the lowest municipal tax rate in 50 years, a return to structurally balanced budgeting, and $33 million added to citywide cash reserves.

He has also worked to improve public safety, encourage development, and address the need for housing options for millennials and senior citizens.

Chirico has lived in Naperville for over 50 years and is actively involved in the community and region, serving on various boards and committees.

He owns a flooring company. He's recused himself from city development projects, such as a downtown library project in 2019. Some council members have asked him to provide more details about his business interests, claiming he has not been as forthcoming as they'd like.

Chirico was a supporter of Illinois' legalization of recreational cannabis in 2019, and voted to allow dispensaries to operate in the city.

In July 2022, Chirico announced he would not seek re-election. He said it was time for someone else to lead the city, and cited his numerous accomplishments while mayor.

Paul Hinterlong

Paul Hinterlong was first elected to the city council in 2009. He has played an important role in several stakeholder and work groups, including the Naperville Comprehensive Transportation Plan, Washington Street Corridor Study, and Downtown DuPage River Trail.

Hinterlong is proud to be a part of Naperville's heritage and history, serving as a liaison to the Advisory Commission on Disabilities and the Naper Settlement Museum Board.

After Illinois legalized recreational cannabis, Hinterlong joined the majority of the city council in voting to ban dispensaries in Naperville.

Paul is a sixth generation Napervillian, and he is known for his community volunteerism. He went to high school in Naperville and attended the College of DuPage.

He enjoys golf, kayaking, softball, running, and biking.

Ian Holzhauer

Ian Holzhauer is a Naperville native who came home from the Air Force in 2014 to continue his legal career and raise his family. He is involved in many service clubs, business groups, nonprofit organizations, and his church. He was elected to the City Council in 2021 and wants to keep Naperville the best place in America to raise a family by promoting respect in our community and protecting our economy.

Holzhauer has a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Florida, a J.D. from Georgetown University, and served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He is a Partner at the Naperville law firm of Nagle, Obarski & Holzhauer, P.C.

Holzhauer and his wife, Julie, have four children who attend Elmwood Elementary and Lincoln Junior High in Naperville. In his spare time, Holzhauer enjoys high-intensity interval training, traveling, reading, and watching his kids participate in soccer or Little League games.

Holzhauer aims to build consensus among the Council to protect the wonderful community he calls home and to work on projects, including extending the Riverwalk south toward the Edward Hospital campus. He serves on the Legislative Committee of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference and as a liaison to the Riverwalk Commission.

In 2022, Holzhauer supported a proposed ordinance to ban certain types of guns in Naperville.

As a veteran who was disabled from his service as a JAG attorney, Holzhauer enjoys the benefit of paying no property taxes on his Naperville home.

Holzhauer’s current term expires in 2025.

Patrick Kelly

Patrick Kelly has been on the City Council since 2019 and brings a fresh perspective to the table, particularly when it comes to decisions that impact young families in the community.

Patrick Kelly is passionate about sustainability, government transparency, and fiscal responsibility. He wants to ensure that Naperville remains a great place to raise a family for generations to come.

He graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and earned a law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

After law school, he worked for the Nevada State Legislature and then for a small law firm in Nevada before moving to Naperville in 2010. In 2014, he opened his own law firm in downtown Naperville.

Kelly serves as a liaison to the Historic Preservation Commission and the Human Rights & Fair Housing Commission.

In 2019, shortly after the state of Illinois legalized recreational cannabis, Kelly voted against licensing dispensaries within Naperville.

He supports banning certain types of firearms within city limits.

In April 2023, Kelly was re-elected to another term, earning the most votes of any city council candidates. Kelly enjoys support from other council members, including a contribution from fellow Councilman Ian Holzhauer in 2019.

Theresa Sullivan

Theresa Sullivan was first elected to the city council in 2019. She's a working mother with school-age children and advocates for quality of life issues in the city.

Sullivan started her own company, Wayfinder Advisors, and worked for big tech companies like Teradata, IBM, and LinkedIn. She also volunteers, working as a coach and for Habitat for Humanity.

Sullivan grew up in Naperville and has lived there for 30 years. She wants to help the city stay strong for the future. Sullivan works with groups that plan events and make the city safer. She also works with a group called Naper Pride that supports LGBTQ+ people and wants everyone to feel included.

Councilwoman Sullivan authored an ordinance that requires campaign disclosures of contributions from people or groups related to ordinances that city council members vote on. She leads the Naperville Forward PAC which is heavily funded by union interests. She was criticized for not complying with the ordinance (which she authored).

She favored passing an ordinance restricting certain firearms in Naperville.

When the council rejected local dispensaries from operating in the city, she voted in favor of the ban.

During the 2023 elections, she was called out for alleged "dirty politics" tricks for sending out a mailer, from her PAC, that made false claims about alleged book bans that were not actually happening in the city.

Sullivan's current term ends in 2023.

Paul Leong

Paul Leong has been a Naperville resident for over 20 years. Before becoming a City Council member in 2021, he served on the Naperville Community Unit School District 203 board for four years. Leong looks to bring financial responsibility, public safety, and responsible growth and development to the Council, using his diverse professional background and life experiences to add new perspectives and ideas.

Leong is self-employed as an IT consultant, and has a dual degree in Finance and Economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

He lives with his wife, Yuqin (Arista) Wang, and their two children, and enjoys spending time with his family, biking, attending live music events, and trying out exotic potato chips.

Leong has showed interest in crime and public safety. After Illinois' controversial SAFE-T Act became law, Leong hosted a public safety and panel discussion about the law.

He currently serves as a liaison to the Financial Advisory Board and the Public Utilities Advisory Board, and his term expires in 2025.

Jennifer Bruzan Taylor

Jennifer Bruzan Taylor was first elected to the city council in 2021. She grew up in Naperville and came back to raise her family. Bruzan Taylor has a degree in History and Women’s Studies, a minor in Psychology, and a law degree.

She is an attorney who worked in patent litigation and as a Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney, and taught Constitutional Law.

Bruzan Taylor is involved in her community, serving on boards and volunteering. She likes to swim, run, and take walks with her family. She also enjoys entertaining, traveling and learning about other cultures.

In addition to her role as Councilwoman, she is also a liaison to the Downtown Naperville Alliance and the Naperville Public Library Board of Trustees.

She has mixed views on business development in Naperville. She voted against a $13.4 million sales tax incentive for the Heritage Square Shopping Center redevelopment project, saying she supported "the project itself" but not the "business district aspect."

She launched a campaign in 2022 for a state House seat, but later pulled out of the race.

Bruzan Taylor’s term ends in 2025.

Dr. Benjamin White

Dr. Benjamin M. (Benny) White is a retired Lieutenant Colonel who served 22 years in the Army as a Field Artillery Officer. He taught leadership skills and helped develop future leaders at West Point and Wheaton College. He now works with the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Joliet West High School. Dr. White is also active in the community, volunteering as a mentor, parent volunteer, and guest speaker at local schools.

Dr. White has a bachelor's degree in Management Studies from West Point, a master's degree in Kinesiology from Indiana University, an MBA from Webster University, and a doctorate in Values Driven Leadership from Benedictine University.

Dr. White was appointed to the Indian Prairie School District 204 Board of Education in 2012 and elected in 2013. In 2015, he was appointed to the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. Dr. White was first elected to the City Council in 2017 and was re-elected in 2021. He serves as a liaison to the Downtown Advisory Task Force, the Naperville Development Partnership, and the Naperville Community Television Board of Directors.

When Dr. White ran for mayor in the 2023 city elections, he was criticized by some for paying no property taxes on his $950,000 Naperville home, as it "shifts the tax burden to other property owners."

White supported allowing marijuana dispensaries to operate in the city, although the council voted to ban it.

He was also criticized for supporting a school mask mandate, while he and his wife ignored mask requirements at a political fundraiser.

Some of his council votes have been questionable. He voted to send more than $50,000 in taxpayer funds to a non-profit run by his wife.

Dr. White's current term on the City Council will end in 2025.

Policies and key votes

The City of Naperville hasn't been without its share of local political controversy.

Notable recent issues before the council have been sales tax incentives, local campaign finance reform, mask policy, firearms regulations, and legalized cannabis sales.

Block 59 sales tax incentive

In April 2023, the Naperville City Council approved a $13.4 million sales tax incentive for the Heritage Square Shopping Center redevelopment. The incentive was proposed by a developer in the area.

As written, it imposes an additional 1% sales tax for businesses in Heritage Square until $13.4 million is collected or 23 years expire.

Council members Jennifer Bruzan Taylor, Ian Holzhauer and Theresa Sullivan voted against it.

Campaign finance disclosure

In March 2023, the council passed an ordinance requiring council members to disclose campaign contributions related to any of the official votes they took in city council.

Mayor Chirico voted against the measure.

His reason?

He said that he believed it could make local people nervous about contributing, which would then lead to more non-local, PAC money coming into local elections.

Covid mask policy

Councilman Benny White and his wife Kim White went public and said they were highly supportive of a school mask mandate during the Covid pandemic.

Yet, in September 2021, Kim White held a major fundraiser - and no one wore a mask.

Parents called her hypocritical. "While your kids mask at school, your elected officials dance and toast themselves unmasked," read a Facebook post.

Gun restrictions

In 2022, Naperville City Council considered passing municipal regulations over the local sales of firearms. The proposed ordinance would ban “semi-automatic rifles, pistols, shotguns and large capacity magazines that hold 10 rounds of ammunition by any licensed dealer” in the city of Naperville.

Theresa Sullivan, Ian Holzhauer and Patrick Kelly supported the measure.

Recreational cannabis sales

A month after Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the legalization of recreational cannabis into law, the Naperville City Council held a public forum to discuss the new law. Naperville's public discussion was around city zoning laws, documentation, and the decision of whether to allow licensed dispensaries to operate within city limits.

After much debate, the city council ultimately decided to ban dispensaries from operating within the city.

Current Council members Paul Hinterlong, Patrick Kelly and Theresa Sullivan voted in favor of the prohibition. Mayor Steve Chirico and Benjamin White voted against the prohibition.

2023 elections

One of the more prominent features of the recent city elections was a slate of four candidates who ran as a "progressive slate". Social issues dominated the news, although voters ultimately rejected those ideas.

Issues

Section 8 housing

In the 2023 city elections, a group of Naperville City Council candidates ran on a platform of bringing more low-income, Section 8 apartments to the city's downtown. They promised, if elected, to use city tax dollars to speed up Section 8 development in the city, arguing that Naperville has enough owner-occupied, single-family homes. The planned expansion would give Naperville nearly as many Section 8 units as Joliet (2,541 units) and more than adjacent Aurora (2,140 units).

Mental health vs. police funding

Mental health also topped the list of issues proposed by the Democratic slate. Candidates were interested in prioritizing mental health funding by taking funds out of the police budget.

Controversies

As with most elections, voters weren't quite shielded from a fair number of controversies.

Close to the election, it was revealed that candidate Ashley South had received 14 tickets for speeding and reckless driving. She ultimately lost her race.

It was also discovered that Councilman Benny White, who was running for mayor, had voted to send $50,000 in taxpayer funds to his wife's nonprofit, during which time his wife's salary grew from $59,280 in 2018 and $82,400.

No election would be complete without dirty tricks. Mayor Steve Chirico and former Councilman Kevin Coyne criticized Councilwoman Theresa Sullivan for engaging in “dirty politics" tricks through her PAC, called Naperville Forward. Sullivan mailed out a false campaign ad to residents trying to scare them into thinking there was a book ban being considered, which was not true.

Election results

On April 4, 2023, voters rejected the slate of Democratic candidates who had promised to use city tax dollars to speed up Section 8 development in the city's downtown. Two of the four candidates in that slate won: Patrick Kelly and Allison Longenbaugh.

Election night's four winners were Kelly, Longenbaugh, Josh McBroom, and Nate Wilson.

You can view election results here.