Council Message – Inclusion Imperative | 5th Ave Goes to Workshop | Bansal Runs For Foster’s Seat

Council Message – Inclusion Imperative:

Residents spoke out against racial discrimination at last night’s Naperville City Council meeting. Several public commenters addressed the Buffalo Wild Wings incident on October 26, where a group of 18 people of multiple ethnicities say they were asked by staff to move tables to accommodate a regular customer who did not want to sit by black people. The staff members involved have since been fired. The speakers said words are nice but actual change is needed to make a difference. Councilman Dr. Benny White offered one option – adding language around diversity and inclusion in Naperville’s mission statement. That idea was supported by a unanimous show of hands at the end of the meeting.

5^th Avenue Goes to Workshop:

Also at the council meeting, more than 30 public commenters discussed the future of the 5^th Avenue Redevelopment Project. The project was put on hold last month after council voted to deny developer Ryan Companies’ baseline concept due to lingering concerns from residents about the size and density. City staff presented six options to the dais, but they eventually settled on a workshop where staff will define goals and objectives for the project. That will be scheduled for January 2020.

Krishna Bansal Runs for Foster’s Seat:

Krishna Bansal has announced he’ll make a run for the 11^th District Congressional seat currently held by Democrat Bill Foster. The vice chairman of the Naperville Planning and Zoning Commission will enter the 2020 Republican primary. Bansal is the CEO and owner of Q1 Technologies Inc., and the chairman of Indian Community Outreach for the City of Naperville. Also challenging Foster for the seat are Will County Board member Rachel Ventura, a Democrat, and Rick Laib of Joliet, a Republican.

Boys Soccer Super Sectionals:

Two of our local teams competed in the boys soccer Super Sectionals last night with a trip to the state tournament on the line. Benet Academy scored a goal in each half to shut out Peoria Notre Dame 2-0, winning the 2A Sterling Super Sectional plaque. It’s the first trip to state for the Redwings since 2016.

Naperville North went head to head with Morton in a back and forth clash that went through double overtime and penalty kicks to decide a winner. Morton outscored North 3-1 in PK’s to end the Huskies three-year championship run with a score of 4-3.