I loved Gary Sandberg.

But the man could be a royal pain. Certainly Peoria’s mayors found him to be a pain. He opposed just about every developer make-work giveaway project they could conceive. Developers who have their hand in taxpayer’s pockets certainly thought his “no” votes were a pain.

Even his friends thought he was a pain. He gave me grief about being a Cubs fan, even thought I’m no longer a Cubs fan. His last email exchange with me made an issue of it. There were times I wanted to slug him.

He recently had heart surgery. He was constantly working on his apartment, which was not air conditioned. He didn’t believe in air conditioning, for some stupid reason.

It’s a stupid belief, when you stop and think about it. It’s the year 2013. Thousands of people die every year because the heat kills them. Most of these people are too poor to be able to afford air conditioning. Gary was not rich, but he certainly had enough money to afford a simple window air conditioner.

And now Gary is dead, probably of a heart ailment, probably aggravated by the heat.

Like I said, I loved Gary Sandberg. But I’m mad at him because he had this stupid idea that air conditioning was wrong and wouldn’t use it, even though he had a heart condition that certainly should have justified its use.

He could have spared his friends and family all this grief just by NOT being an arrogant prick by insisting there is something wrong with air conditioning.

Huh? What?

So, Gary Sandberg was eulogized at the Peoria City Council meeting by his co-workers who praised his intelligence, enormous commitment to his constituents and his vast institutional knowledge. Far be it from me to question why they voted against him most of the time.

A few words to Mayor Ardis about who to pick as Gary Sandberg’s replacement.

Mayor Jim Ardis will need to pick someone to fill the remaining months of Gary Sanbdberg’s term at an at-large councilman. I suggest the mayor pick someone who at least represents the same ideological mindset. You will never find anyone with the same amount of institutional knowledge. You will not find anyone with the same years experience in all aspects of running a city. But you can find people in this city who share Gary’s belief that the city should put essential services first.

We need someone on the council who will stand up and defend the idea that roads, sewers, police and fire, should be funded first, before we spend money on ballparks, civic centers, museums and the like. It’s a position you once espoused, back in the days of the “Four Horsemen,” before you ran for mayor and started proposing museums and civic center expansions.

Gary at best kept the city honest, even as it spent millions and millions on things NOT related to essential services. I shudder to thing about what the city would have spent had Gary not been looking at every page in his council packet.

Do not pick someone who agrees with you. Pick someone who will challenge you. Pick an essential-services-first candidate.

C.J. Summers comes to mind.