Fifth Ward alderman Scott McAdams held a ward meeting last week. I’ve listened to a recording of it that’s making the rounds.
One item of note from the meeting is the alderman’s admission that he’s not read the draft update of DeKalb’s comprehensive plan even though the city is collecting public input. I’ve transcribed his explanation (so any and all errors are mine):
[Audience member] Have you as our alderman reviewed the draft of the comprehensive plan, and can you share any thoughts?
[McAdams] The current one? The [inaudible] one?
[Audience member] The draft that’s been disseminated, and had two public discussions?
[McAdams] I have not finished reading it, no. I’ve been looking at it, um, but I’m in the process of — this is a personal thing — um, I had a heart attack in July of 2021, and I’m still recovering. And so I just recently switched doctors, trying a second opinion, a different plan, to try to bring myself back up to speed. The most recent report from my doctor was, “Do not return to work.” It could kill me. Unfortunately, I’ve been very slow to recover, and so, that one I haven’t looked at yet, no.
[Audience member] But you’re doing the job?
[McAdams] Yeah, well, so, constituent services I still do on a daily basis. I’m reading my backup before we vote. I’m talking to members of the state legislature. I do a lot of work in campaigning so I have a lot of contacts in Springfield and I’ve been trying to establish our relationships with Springfield so that we can get things done that we can’t get done here. So that’s been largely my focus. As we turn to the fall and the winter, there’ll be more time for reading, and then I’ll get back to that.
Audio recording of Scott McAdams’ Fifth Ward meeting, August 3, 2022
It’s kind of a muddle, isn’t it? Is Mr. McAdams too unwell to read, or spending too much time at lobbying to do the job he was elected to do?
The alderman has confirmed a run for re-election, so evaluations of his performance and fitness for office are particularly timely.
A link to the piece of audio is here. It’s a little fuzzy, which is why I generated the transcription.