West Suburban Bureau

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Naperville Sun) ― He is one of the most visible men in Naperville.

Often seen sitting by the parking garage next to Barnes and Noble on Chicago Avenue, 56-year-old Scott Huber is homeless and has been since February 1999, when he said he was evicted from his Naperville home.

He stands more than six feet tall and wears a maroon winter cap and light-gray sweatshirt with a black jacket over it. His brown pants aren't quite long enough, exposing his many layers of socks between his pants and brown boots.

And, as of April 3, he is an officially registered write-in candidate for mayor of Naperville in Tuesday's election, according to the DuPage Election Commission.

Huber said he wants to be mayor to right a local political and judicial system that is corrupt and caused him to be in his situation.

Huber, a 1969 graduate of Joliet Township High School and a 1971 graduate of Joliet Junior College, said he came to Naperville in 1989 after learning about the city's booming economy. He said he had an electronics business and shop in Lemont and wanted to grow the business in Naperville. But his life did not go as planned.

He said he was evicted from his Naperville home in 1999 after he said Ameritech demanded he pay in excess of $1,000 for services provided, which he contested. That was his last permanent residence. And Huber said the local government officials, police officers and judiciaries have "railroaded" him and purposely squelched his chances at growing his electronics business, A and A Electronics and Televisions. He said his business is currently "frozen" because of a lack of income and communication resources.

A self-proclaimed "entrepreneur and businessman for over 30 years," Huber takes exception to being kicked out of local eateries and public places for "hanging around," and said that local government officials and police officers have no right to do so.

He's spent about a month total in the DuPage County jail as well as 16 hours in a Chicago jail for loitering.

Naperville Police Chief David Dial said he's very familiar with Huber and he is not a threat.

"I don't think there's an indication that he's a danger to himself or others from a legal perspective," Dial said. "If he was ... he would be taken into custody and taken to a mental institution."

Dial said police receive few complaints regarding Huber. He said police officers have bought him coffee to keep warm and suggested he go to a shelter. But he refuses saying that he doesn't need it.

Few people pass Huber on the street without staring or snickering ... even during the course of a 30-minute interview. But it doesn't seem to bother him. Many times it's children staring at him, seemingly unfamiliar with why a grown man would be sitting out in the cold for no apparent reason.

"Hi there ... bye there," he said to a little girl of no more than 3 years old who was being led down the sidewalk by her mother's hand, staring directly at Huber as she walked. "One of my admirers," Huber said.

A lifelong bachelor with no children, Huber splits his time between Naperville, where he said he spends two-thirds of his time, and Chicago, where he researches various laws and court cases in an attempt to strengthen his stance that business and government have conspired against him. He takes the Metra to Chicago and buys a day pass for the CTA so he can have unlimited "L" and bus rides for a day.

His average day consists of moving between downtown Naperville and the train station, campaigning for his mayoral bid.

Money is hard to come by for Huber, who estimates he pulls in a meager $3,000 a year, exclusively through donations.

Meals can come from anywhere. He buys food - typically at Burger King, Chipotle or other downtown restaurants - with money given to him. People buy him food or give him leftovers as they come out of Rosebud or other downtown eateries.

According to the National Coalition of the Homeless, the two major reasons people become homeless are the shortage of affordable rental housing and the increase in poverty. About 3.5 million people in a given year will experience homelessness, according to a study by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.

So why not try and find a job?

"This is my job," he said, noting his disgust of local press for not giving him as much coverage as mayoral candidates Mayor George Pradel or Councilman Doug Krause. "I'm an entrepreneur; I'm a self-employed person. I work the turf. I work the grass roots."

Generally, Huber feels like an outsider, even though he's lived in Naperville for almost 20 years. He said he's been doused with beer, urinated on and beat up for reasons seemingly no greater than because it would be funny.

(CBS 2, the Naperville Sun and the Aurora Beacon-News are news partners covering stories in the western suburbs of Chicago.)