On Tuesday, April 5, NIU students and staff will have an opportunity to positively change the direction of the city of DeKalb. Yes, Election Day is once again upon us.

This election will give DeKalb voters a chance to change the make-up of city council that has engaged in a non-stop cycle of tax increases, fee increases and wasteful spending over the past four years.

The good news is that in the 3rd and 7th Wards, we will have new leadership. Both of these wards will be represented by fresh faces that have all promised a leaner city government.

However, in the 1st and 5th Wards, two of the incumbent aldermen, Ald. Simpson and Ald. Naylor, are running for re-election. They both supported: raising property taxes four times (causing your rent to go up), increasing the gasoline tax, raising your water rates and increasing your utility tax.

Both supported that “laughing stock” of a downtown skating rink that cost the taxpayers a bundle. Both supported wasting your tax dollars on the lavish downtown sidewalk to nowhere while at the same time voting to cut social service funding and critical city staffing.

If you rent an apartment or live in the dorms, pay a utility bill, purchase gas or go out to a restaurant or shop in the city of DeKalb, these two incumbents are costing you a fortune.

We need change. The good news is that we have two excellent individuals that are challenging Simpson and Naylor. In the 1st Ward, David Jacobson and, in the 5th Ward, Robert Fischer are challenging the incumbents.

Both candidates have promised a more fiscally conservative approach to government with less spending, less waste and less taxes. This is what the city needs.

Please join me in supporting David Jacobson in the 1st Ward and Robert Fischer in the 5th Ward of DeKalb. Please vote on Tuesday. Your pocketbook will thank you.

Mark Charvat

DeKalb resident

NIU Alumni class of 1985