The auditorium stage will be shaking. The hors d`oerve plates will be rattling. And someone will have to hold onto the punch bowl so it doesn`t tip over.
That predicted earthquake? Naaahhhhh. Aldo Botti is throwing his inauguration party Monday.
”It`s an appropriate day, isn`t it?” says Botti, the chairman-elect of the Du Page County Board. ”Things will be shaking all over.”
Dubbed ”the coronation” by a few observers, Botti`s swearing-in festivities won`t quite match those of Japan`s emperor. But neither will it resemble the spartan affairs thrown by outgoing Chairman Jack Knuepfer.
There`ll be no fewer than three groups of musicians. That includes a group of opera singers-directed by Velia Botti of Chicago, the chairman-elect`s sister-who will sing ”America the Beautiful.” Also on hand will be the Glen Ellyn Children`s Choir and a string quartet of Wheaton high school students.
Former Du Page Bar Association President Lester Munson, a friend of Botti`s, will be the master of ceremonies, and a few remarks will be offered by Senate Republican Leader James ”Pate” Philip and House Republican Leader Lee Daniels.
A caterer will provide hors d`oevres, punch and coffee in the county Government Center at 5 p.m. All 2,300 county employees are invited, along with 1,000 guests of the 18 newly elected officials. Only four of the inaugurees-Botti and County Board members Robert Heap, Roger Kotecki and Patrick O`Shea-are new faces.
County officials say that no more than $1,000 of taxpayer money will be spent on the event. That`s what`s left over in the County Board`s 1990
”miscellaneous meeting expenses” fund.
”That`s not much,” says Botti, the anti-tax crusader. ”We`ll pay anything in excess of $1,000.”
By contrast, Knuepfer`s last swearing-in ceremony in 1986 cost the taxpayers $201.19.
Heavyweights
Speaking of parties, the bill has arrived for the Nov. 2 dedication ceremony for the new Du Page County Judicial and Office Facility.
The final tally was $2,482.64, which included a guarantee of $2,000 to the caterer for serving hors d`oevres to 250 guests at $8 per head. Between 450 and 500 people attended, according to William Maio, chairman of the Judicial Committee.
The figure does not include the $1,342.35 county officials spent on 300 paperweights handed out as mementos. They`re marble with black metal labels bearing gold imprinted county insignias and the signatures of Maio and Board Chairman Jack Knuepfer.
”This is something you do every 100 years,” said Maio. ”Coronations are pretty common, but dedications of courthouses aren`t. This is something our architect said is commonly done.”
Seriously, folks
Even if everybody else is cool as a cucumber, there`s one guy in Du Page who takes all this earthquake talk seriously.
He has to. It`s his job.
”I think you ought to have it on the back of your mind, yeah,” said Matt Auriene, director of the Du Page County Office of Emergency Management.
”The thing with (Iben) Browning`s prediction is that he has hit on a few in the past. You have to begin to look at it as a possibility.”
Auriene says there`s little to worry about, however, even if southern Illinois does get The Big One on Monday, as predicted by Browning, a New Mexico climatologist.
”I think you`re going to feel it, yeah,” said Auriene. ”If we get a more severe one, you`re going to feel some shaking and there`ll be some plaster cracking. The biggest problem would be things in buildings falling on people.”
As a precaution, Auriene`s office has distributed pamphlets entitled
”Earthquakes in the Illinois Area” to all county offices and topped off reserve fuel tanks for emergency vehicles.
Rumblings
Aldo ”Ax taxes” Botti says he survived several earthquakes while in Tokyo in the military in the 1950s and another more recently in San Francisco. So, with all that experience, what`s his prediction?
”I was in one earthquake once where my bed was literally bouncing toward the door,” he says. ”All the weapons and helmets were falling on the floor.”
”No, I don`t predict an earthquake Monday,” says Botti. ”I predict that the Du Page County Airport Authority will start floating bonds in excess of $15 million. As soon as these (last-minute Knuepfer appointees) start feeling comfortable, they`ll start spending the taxpayers` money.”
