Naperville seniors who count on the Senior Task Force's programs, residents who rely on the city's disability access advocacy, and environmental groups that pushed City Hall on its electricity contract all lost their official connection to city government on July 21, when the Naperville City Council voted to sever ties with three civic task forces.

The Senior Task Force, the Accessible Community Task Force and the Naperville Environment and Sustainability Task Force (NEST) will no longer appear on the city website, receive administrative support or carry city-endorsed status. The decision took effect immediately.

City Attorney Michael DiSanto told the council there is no definition for a task force in the Naperville municipal code and no formal process ever existed for the designation. A June 2026 city manager's memorandum raised concerns that hosting private groups on the city website amounted to a public endorsement, according to NCTV17.

"It raises questions, legitimate questions, about equity and endorsement and appropriate use of city resources," DiSanto said at the July 21 meeting.

What the groups lose

Unlike formal city boards and commissions, whose members are appointed by the mayor and subject to the Illinois Open Meetings Act, the task forces operated with wide latitude. They handpicked their own members, held private meetings and appeared on naperville.il.us as city-affiliated organizations. The Senior Task Force and the Accessible Community Task Force also received administrative support from the city, which ends under the new policy.

Going forward, the city says it will treat all three groups the same way it treats any other nonprofit: they can still participate in public comment, apply for city grants and engage with the council, but without the city's name behind them.

A quiet exit for NEST?

Councilman Josh McBroom, who had previously called for NEST to be stripped of its status, suggested the blanket decision was a way to cut ties with the environmental group without singling it out. NEST has drawn criticism for its advocacy against renewing Naperville's contract with the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency, a topic Naper Today has covered as the city weighs its open-market power plan.

"They made a lot of unsubstantiated claims about our staff in this process that I've talked plenty about," McBroom told the Chicago Tribune on July 23. "It's clear that it was no longer tenable to have an affiliation or an implicit endorsement of that organization with the city."

City spokesperson Linda LaCloche said the decision was not driven by any one group but by a desire to treat task forces equally with other non-city organizations.

What comes next for residents

All three groups say they will continue operating independently. Senior Task Force chair Gwenn Lloyd told the Tribune on July 23 that the group plans to keep running its Senior of the Year Award and Silver CPR classes, though she acknowledged uncertainty about delivering services for seniors without city backing. The Senior Task Force, established in 2014, helped create Ride Assist Naperville, a nonprofit that transports seniors to medical appointments.

NEST energy chair Joe Hus told the Tribune on July 23 that the group will continue its environmental advocacy in Naperville.

The Accessible Community Task Force, formed in 2016 at the request of the city's Advisory Commission on Disabilities, has not publicly commented on its plans. No timeline for the transition or next public hearing on the matter has been announced.