Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli sat down with Liz Spencer for the latest installment of Naperville Notables on 630 Naperville to reflect on his first six months in office.
Three role models for Mayor Wehrli
His first two role models are his parents. “They were self-made people,” he said. “They took a chance on me. They adopted me at a young age. They ran their own business here. Hardworking. All the attributes that you would ever look for in somebody who is a real responsible citizen I saw in my mom and dad.”
Another role model was Bill Young. “He gave me some real, practical advice along the way,” says Wehrli. Young passed away in 2014.
Wehrli’s final role model was Mayor Emeritus George Pradel. “Longtime friend of our family, but as I grew up, he was the guy who picked me up as a little kid and took me out on a ride-along. But he also gave me some really solid advice along the way.”
Top three life accomplishments
“Being a good husband, being a good father, and defining my own life. I grew up in this city not knowing what my ultimate game plan was going to be,” said Wehrli. “I tried to apply my own definition of what I wanted my life to be.”
Looking into 2024
“We’ve got a lot of great economic goals,” says Wehrli. “I’m very excited about this corridor committee that we just started creating for the east-west technical corridor. That’s something that’s very near and dear to my heart. We have our corridor committee made up of CEOs of successful businesses in that area. They’re going to help me go out there and reach out to businesses that need to be in Naperville. They just don’t know it yet.
Scott Wehrli was sworn in as Mayor of Naperville on April 30, 2023.
