Mayor's power a key issue in Aurora race

It's an in-house race for control of Aurora as Mayor Tom Weisner squares off Tuesday against two aldermen in a contest that is largely focusing on how well the state's second-largest city works.

But the election battle also is centered on whether the mayor should continue to directly run city operations or whether a nonpartisan city administrator could help Aurora operate more effectively.

Vying for his second term, the 59-year-old Weisner likes the current system, saying he answers directly to the voters.

"They have the ability to fire me if they want," Weisner said. "That's a direct level of accountability."

Adding a city administrator hired by the city council, he contends, simply increases the level of politics, which would hamper operations in the city of about 170,000.

"It puts politics at a city council level,'' he said.

He points to continuing drops in the far west suburb's crime rate -- major crimes plunged to a 29-year low last year -- and a fairly stable economic situation, contending the sole tax increase he approved during his tenure was to fund the construction of a new police station due to open next year.

"I feel good. I think we've accomplished quite a lot,'' Weisner said.

Richard Irvin, a 39-year-old attorney who has served as an alderman since 2007, also favors keeping the current structure of city government, though he has been critical of how Weisner has run the city as mayor. Irvin, who has won the backing of the city's police union, has said he plans to look for ways to cut the city's budget -- including in the mayor's office -- and work hard to attract more businesses to the suburb.

But Stephanie Kifowit, 37, an alderman since 2003, favors adding a city administrator to oversee the operation of the city and diversify the power she contends is now concentrated too heavily in the mayor's office.

"Too much power in one position can lead to things that aren't beneficial to the community,'' she said.

She has repeatedly blasted Weisner for exerting his authority during his first term without consulting the city council -- including firing most of the city's legal department, then hiring a Chicago law firm to do much of Aurora's legal work.

"There's no checks and balances,'' she said.

As for public safety, Kifowit criticized Weisner for politicizing a lower crime rate that she says largely mirrors a national reduction in crime rates.

"Aurora is following a national trend,'' she said. "Crime is down now, but it's an ongoing fight. Crime is always cyclical."

Photo: Tom Weisner ; Photo: Stephanie Kifowit ; Photo: Richard Irvin ;