Naperville councilman offers helping hand to resident in need

It was the 10th day of Christmas, but lords a-leaping just didn't seem like the appropriate gift for a Naperville woman and her children who fell on hard times and had their home's water turned off.

Happily for the family, Naperville Councilman Bob Fieseler had the ideal solution.

Remi Kelani came before the city council Jan. 4 and told officials how she and her three children had been living in their home for nearly a week without water.

Kelani said she was struggling financially and couldn't afford to pay both the $325 deposit necessary to reconnect to the water system and the nearly $450 she still owed for unpaid water bills. She could pay the back fees, she said, but not the reconnection fee.

Fieseler told her he might be aware of a revenue source that could help her out.

Soon after, he left the dais and came back without saying a word until days later when a reporter asked what happened.

“I left the council chambers to get her contact info and three people gave me cash, enough that we all were able to accumulate the $325 she needed and she was able to walk out of the building with the deposit,” Fieseler said. “I was at the dais wondering and praying how I could come up with the money and lo and behold it came about.”

All that praying may have helped, but Fieseler also had some more practical help.

“I do keep a portion of the money I'm paid by the city as a councilman in a separate fund so I can help people out as situations arise, but I didn't have enough that day to cover all that she needed,” he said. “I've done things like this in the past and I'm happy to continue doing them under the right circumstance.”

Kelani's water was turned back on by 4 p.m. the next day and City Manager Doug Kreiger confirmed her bill was paid in full.

“I am very thankful to the councilman who assisted me that night,' Kelani said Monday. “I will be sending him a card or some other token of my appreciation.”

Fieseler said he never expected to get paid for any work as a part-time local elected official, so he thought the idea of using a portion of his council earnings to help residents in need was in keeping with his desire to serve the residents.

“I started to put aside money with the first monthly paycheck I received from the city in 2007,” he said. “I get paid $789 per month after taxes and deductions, but I try to keep about $500 at any given time available for resident emergencies I become aware of.”

Since 2007, Fieseler said he's dipped into the fund for such things as buying a needy family athletic passes so they could see their son's basketball games and has donated funds for a local student to buy a used laptop computer.

“Every three to four months, something seems to come up that gives me a chance to donate to a resident who needs help,” he said. “I once met someone from another suburb who told me that his car had been towed from Washington Street one afternoon, and that he would never come back to shop or dine in Naperville. I bought him a gift card for a nice dinner at one of our high-end restaurants and he wrote me afterward to tell me how much better he now felt about Naperville.”

Several other councilmen said they give back to the community in other ways, but most were unaware of Fieseler's emergency fund.

Mayor George Pradel, who himself has helped residents with utility bill payments and other emergencies with some of the funds raised during his annual golf outing, said he was impressed with Fieseler's actions.

“He's a giving, loving kind of guy. I know he does it because he believes in always trying to help someone make it in life. I just love that big ol' teddy bear Bob” Pradel said. “It really touched my heart.”

Councilman Grant Wehrli agreed.

“I had no idea that's how Councilman Fieseler was doing what he's doing. Good for him. That's very nice of him.”

Wherli said. “My practice is to give a portion of my overall income to charity and do that at my own discretion.”

Councilman Kenn Miller gives to his church, and Doug Krause said he gives to charities.

“I've made my own private donations to causes important to me and (Fieseler), on several occasions, matched my donation,” Krause said. “So we all do it, just in different ways.”