The Carbondale Observer

Carbondale’s proposed agreement to fund a voluntary summer reading and math program at District 95 was the big issue at Tuesday’s city council meeting. During a public hearing on the city’s FY ’12 budget, one resident spoke in favor of the program. Five residents, including three city council candidates, spoke against the city funding the program.

I’m coming late to this controversy. The people opposed to the plan seem to share a number of objections: we shouldn’t give Carbondale’s tax money to another taxing district, education isn’t the city’s responsibility, there is no way to terminate the five year program early, there are no clear standards for evaluating success, and the program is voluntary (potentially missing the most at risk children).

Supporters say the poor performance of District 95 is an obstacle to bringing new residents to town, that the schools need help and the city has a responsibility to act, and that the city established a precedent for assisting school districts when it helped to finance the construction of the new high school. Supporters also point to the small cost of the program relative to the city’s Saluki Way donation ($750k over five years vs. $20 million over twenty years).

After the public meeting ended, council members spoke. Councilwoman Mary Pohlmann said if the District 95 program is in the final budget, she’ll vote against it. Councilman and mayoral candidate Joel Fritzler also expressed opposition. Councilwoman Corene McDaniel pledged her support for the program, and Mayor Brad Cole said someone has to step in and do something about the schools.

That’s two in favor and two opposed. Councilmen Neill and Wissmann didn’t say definitively whether or not they will support the program. Councilman and mayoral candidate Steven Haynes didn’t stake out a firm position either.

I expect some version of this to pass. Wissmann may have tipped his hand when he pointed out that this program would cost $150,000 in FY ’12, just .375% of Carbondale’s $40 million FY ’12 budget. If Wissmann is in, the proposal only needs the support of one more council member. Haynes will feel pressure from the black community to support the program. Even if Haynes doesn’t support is, I suspect Neill will vote with Cole.

Should the program receive the funds? I’m agnostic on the issue. I think the opponents raise some valid concerns. Some, like the lack of an escape clause or clear standards of measurement can be remedied. Others, like the idea that the city shouldn’t give money to another taxing body, cannot be overcome.

On the other hand, I think the city is trying to solve a problem that has undoubtedly stunted population growth in the city. It may not technically be the city’s responsibility, but the city government is the most competent and professional public organization in the region. If the city doesn’t act, no one will.

Comments are welcome.

The League of Women Voters held its second city council candidate’s forum Wednesday night featuring the six council candidates who were not invited to Monday’s event. Wednesday’s forum included candidates Lance Jack, Rick Jackson, Don Monty, Mike Riley, Candle Wester-Mittan, and Hugh Williams. The five remaining candidates participated in Monday’s forum.

Asked about steps to necessary to balance the budget, Williams pledged to oppose all tax increases. Jack pointed out that rising pension costs are responsible for recent tax increases and urged using “all the tools in the toolbox.” Jackson oppdosed cuts to city employees and increases to the property tax, adding that any plan should be equitable. Monty said that different methods are used to balance different city fund and said tax increases should be a last resort. Riley would keep property and sales taxes static and look for pension savings. Wester-Mittan said Carbondale should reassess its priorities and, as part of that, proposed a forum where representatives from all taxing bodies would be present.

The candidates were asked to name their top two priorities if elected. Jackson said he would prioritize requiring a referendum for any tax increase and the use of celebrations and festivals to develop community spirit. Monty pointed to protecting public health and safety along with protecting Carbondale’s future financial situation. Riley would focus on economic development (including both new and existing businesses) and improving Carbondale’s housing. Wester-Mittan would prioritize economic growth and crime prevention. Williams wants to give subpoena power to the Human Relations Commission and get rid of what he called the “anti-business attitude” in Carbondale, citing parking meters as an example.

The forum seemed almost like a debate when the candidates were asked about whether more citizen involvement is needed on big issues like the city’s controversial twenty year, $20 million commitment to Saluki Way. Jackson, Williams, and Riley expressed support for referendums, and Wester-Mittan for forums. Lance Jack defended his vote for Saluki Way funding and defended representative democracy itself. Monty also defended representative democracy, saying that elected representatives must sometimes make unpopular choices. I agree with Jack and Monty.

The candidates were also asked for their ideas on improving Carbondale’s housing. Monty said Carbondale needs a non-profit housing corporation, attractive neighborhoods, and improvements to infrastructure. Wester-Mittan said the city should work with local banks to develop an incentive program for SIUC and SIH employees to buy houses in Carbondale. Jackson said Carbondale needs higher incomes if it wants to increase the proportion of owner occupied housing. Jack supports keeping or expanding existing programs like the rental conversion incentives.

I thought Monty, Jack, and Jackson were clearly the strongest candidates. I defended Jack in a series of posts when he was driven off the city council last year (see here, here, and here), but last month I expressed some reservations about voting for him. Jack was at his best Wednesday night and he’s certainly back in the running for my vote. I expected Monty to do well and I was already planning to vote for him.

I hadn’t heard of Jackson before this election and I was dismissive of his candidacy in my post on last month’s primary, mostly because he didn’t send a candidate essay to the Carbondale Times and didn’t return the Shawnee Green Party questionnaire. After seeing him in tonight’s forum, I have to say I was wrong. Jackson is a serious candidate and if he doesn’t win this year I hope he’ll run again in 2013.

As I mentioned earlier this week, I’ve made up my mind on two council candidates – Monty and Adams. Judging by the results in the primary, I’m not the only one who feels that way. I need a third candidate, and I think the election is between Lance Jack and Tom Grant. Each would bring strengths to the council. I’ve nearly made up my mind which I’m supporting.

If you want to listen to either city council forum or the mayoral forum from earlier this month, they’re available on WSIU’s website.

Comments are welcome.

The League of Women Voters sponsored a forum Monday featuring five of the eleven remaining city council candidates. Monday’s forum included candidates Jane Adams, Jessica Bradshaw, Lee Fronabarger, Tom Grant, and John Holt. The six remaining candidates are scheduled to participate in a separate forum on Wednesday. I watched from home on channel 16, but I missed the first twenty minutes. I’m hoping for a rebroadcast.

All five candidates agreed that Carbondale should not consider privatizing city services like water, sewer, and trash removal. All six also agreed that Carbondale’s liquor ordinance should be amended to allow beer and wine sales at grocery stores. Several candidates proposed police foot patrols in some parts of town.

The candidates were asked to name their two priorities if they are elected. Adams named three: renew, revitalized, and reinvest in Carbondale. Bradshaw would prioritize revitalizing the downtown and increasing sustainability. Fronabarger would prioritize economic development and balancing the budget while maintaining the quality of city services. Grant wants to prioritize financial stability and public safety. Holt would prioritize building unity in a diverse community and making Carbondale competitive with neighboring towns.

The candidates were also asked about their priorities for implementing the comprehensive plan.  Adams emphasized learning from similar communities in finding solutions to blighted neighborhoods and substandard housing. Bradshaw would prioritize a dog park – though not on the old High School football field – and improvements to the city’s housing. Fronabarger named economic development as his top priority. Grant would prioritize economic development and is willing to be flexible in the implementation of the plan. Holt acknowledged some disagreement with the plan but said he would feel honor bound to implement it. Holt stressed that the plan is a guide, not settled law.

The most interesting portion of the forum asked each candidate to write down a question. The questions were shuffled, and each candidate answered one. All of the candidates asked great questions. If I have time, I may write a separate post later this week dedicated to that section of the forum.

As I mentioned previously, I voted for Adams, Fronabarger, and Holt in February’s primary. I didn’t see anything tonight that would make me change my preference. I liked Adams’ answers best, followed by Fronabarger, then Holt, then Grant, then Bradshaw.

I think the council election is shaping up as a race for third. Obviously it’s tough to predict these things, but we do have one poll: last month’s primary. It’s an imperfect sample; historically turnout in council and mayoral primaries is much lower than turnout in general elections. Still, it is the only public poll available.

In the primary, first place finisher Don Monty (18.9%) and second place finisher Jane Adams (15.6%) were the only candidates to earn a double digit share of the vote. Since the primary, they have run two of the most active campaigns. If the primary is any guide, Monty and Adams seem likely to win in April.

That leaves one seat left to fill. In the primary, one vote separated third place finisher Tom Grant and fourth place finisher Lance Jack. Sixty-nine votes separated Jack from fifth place. Using the primary as a guide, it’s easy to look at the council election as a two person race for the third council seat.

I should point out that nothing should be taken for granted. Primaries are not a perfect guide to the general election. Sheila Simon beat Brad Cole in the 2007 mayoral primary before Cole defeated Simon by a two-to-one margin by almost 13 points in the general election. The primary electorate is different than the electorate in the general election. The number of candidates makes this election particularly unpredictable.

The Southern Illinoisan is reporting on the forum here. The Daily Egyptian has an article here. The February primary results are posted on the Btljuice blog.

Incidentally, I thought Fronabarger had the best line of the evening. He called Carbondale an “oasis in the desert of Little Egypt.”

Comments are welcome.

***CORRECTED: I received a comment (see below) alerting me that I had overstated Brad Cole’s victory in the 2007 mayoral election. The mistake has been corrected. I apologize for the error.***

As everyone knows, Earl Czajkowski, Montana Goodman, Craig Anz, and Jerrold Hennrich were eliminated from the city council race in Tuesday’s primary.  Yesterday, I wrote a post explaining which mayoral candidate I voted for and why. Today’s post explains which city council candidates I voted for and why. I voted for Read the rest of this entry »

As everyone knows, Brent Ritzel was eliminated from Carbondale’s mayoral race after finishing last in Tuesday’s primary. George Maroney finished first, Joel Fritzler second, Sam Goldman third, Steven Haynes fourth, and Ritzel fifth. The Southern Illinoisan has the exact vote totals on their website.

I had a hard time deciding which mayoral candidate to vote for. Every candidate had at least one idea I agreed with, and each had at least one factor that I considered a drawback. I didn’t feel especially excited about any of them. I eventually decided to vote for Read the rest of this entry »

The Southern Illinoisan has an article on the five mayoral candidates ideas for economic development. Goldman and Maroney seem pretty close on economic development, with both citing the airport as a development opportunity and both suggesting that unnecessary regulations have driven business to Williamson County.

I generally agree that Carbondale is over-regulated. Check out the city code (navigation on the left). My favorite silly regulation, which I’ve cited before, is in Title 5, Chapter 8. This regulation fixes the hours of pushcart operators. Did you know a pushcart operator can’t open until 1:00 PM on a Sunday? I’m sure the sky would fall if someone got a Winston Bagel at noon on a Sunday.

I’m not so sure about the airport as an economic development opportunity. The airport isn’t adjacent to an interstate or even a state highway; it’s located on a back road. It doesn’t carry commercial flights. True, SIUC is building a transportation education center at the airport (assuming the Illinois Supreme Court doesn’t overturn the law appropriating the funds), but I don’t see how that would lead to much economic development.

Goldman and Ritzel both cite entrepreneurship as a route to development. That’s a worthy goal, but entrepreneurship is a private sector activity and I’m not sure how much the mayor can do to increase entrepreneurship. Revising and eliminating unnecessary regulations would be one good step, as Goldman mentions.

Fritzler and Haynes both defended the city’s economic development efforts, citing T.J. Maxx and Chili’s as evidence. I found this quote from the article particularly amazing:

“I think, compared to other communities, we have been pretty active,” Fritzler said. “Look at the businesses that have been opening. I think we’re on the positive end of that.”

I’m really not sure what he’s talking about. What other communities? Marion? How many new businesses opened in Marion in 2010, and how many opened in Carbondale? Like it or not, Marion is our competition for outside investment. A new chain store or chain restaurant interested in opening in southern Illinois will either open here or in Marion. Can anyone seriously argue that we’re winning that competition?

And what about the businesses that aren’t here? The former Office Max and Rex electronics buildings have stood empty for years, aside from seasonal use as Halloween stores. Ditto for the old K’s Merchandise space at the mall. Two Doves Photography and Mr. Tuxedo recently moved to a field in Crainville.

Chili’s and T.J. Maxx are nice developments if sales tax collection is the only standard of evaluation. Aside from a few managers, chain stores don’t really provide good incomes. I’d rather have them here than in Marion, but I don’t think we can consider chain stores a substitute for economic development.

The most unusual – and most interesting – idea came from Steven Haynes. From the Southern Illinoisan article:

…Haynes said by offering tax incentives, the city could have a downtown area that combines business and residential buildings, creating a neighborhood that would encourage local shopping.

“They’d walk, they would go to other businesses downtown,” Haynes said. “They would be there during the daytime, the afternoon and the evenings, and you would have a focus on walking traffic and individuals that would promote that particular area.”

If it were well designed, a revitalized downtown with unique local businesses mixed with residences would be a great addition to Carbondale. To actually accomplish this goal we’d have to make a clean break with the past. So far, Carbondale has not been willing to tolerate the density, mixed uses, and publicly subsidized parking that would be necessary to build the downtown Haynes describes.

The developments in the downtown TIF district (First Southern Bank, Advance Auto Parts, Sav-A-Lot, and Stadium Grill) are all auto-oriented, single story, single use buildings. We would have to completely change our development policies – and our zoning – if we wanted the walkable, mixed use downtown Haynes describes. I’d love to see it happen, but I’m not holding my breath.

Comments are welcome.

The Southern Illinoisan had an article Tuesday on potential changes to the Illinois police and fire department pension system:

The Illinois House of Representatives could vote this week on the changes, which include increasing the retirement age from 50 to 55 and requiring employees to be on the job for 30 years before being eligible for their full pensions.

It also caps the salary that public employees could use to calculate their retirement at $106,800 starting next year. (This amount would increase annually by half of the Consumer Price Index.)

The Illinois senate passed a version of the changes, which would apply to new hires, earlier this year. Pension contributions are controversial because the municipal costs are mandated by the state. Municipalities must raise the money themselves.

This year’s increase will cost Carbondale $810,730, and current revenues are not expected to cover the increase. At last week’s meeting, the city council discussed options to meet the rising pension costs for public safety employees. City staff recommended levying a property tax to cover the increase. The city has abated its portion of the property tax since 2002.

Councilman and mayoral candidate Joel Fritzler suggested raising the sales tax 1/4 percent instead of levying a property tax. Fritzler pointed out that property taxes in Jackson County are higher than taxes in Williamson County, while our sales tax is 1/4 percent lower than Marion’s. Fritzler also said that many people from outside the community work and shop in Carbondale, using city services. A sales tax would collect revenue from these people.

Outgoing Councilwoman Pohlmann spoke in favor of the property tax. Pohlmann said the property tax is more stable than the sales tax and the revenue is available sooner.

City council candidate Don Monty spoke against service and personnel cuts during the citizen’s comments. Monty, a former assistant city manager, said he remembers going line by line through past budgets and making cuts. He said all the fat has been cut from the budget and further cuts would be devastating to city services. Monty also favors the property tax over the sales tax.

I can see both sides of this, but I lean slightly toward the property tax. I realize that Jackson County property taxes are higher than those of neighboring counties, but (as Fritzler and Pohlmann pointed out) this is the result of the other taxing bodies in the county. Significantly reducing property taxes would require action from those bodies.

According to Mayor Cole, the additional property tax levy will come to roughly $73 on a $100,000 home. That’s not a lot of money, and it will support the city’s pension obligations. That said, a 1/4 percent sales tax increase also wouldn’t be too great a burden.

Long term, pension reform is necessary. Unfortunately, Illinois state government is dysfunctional and genuine reform seems unlikely unless a pension crisis forces changes. At least in theory, voters could force legislative action, but municipal fire and police pensions aren’t the kind of issue that excites voters.

Comments are welcome.

WSIU and B(ee)TL(e) Juice both had articles Monday on Don Monty’s official announcement that he’s running for city council. B(ee)TL(e) Juice also had a link to the press release. Check out that article for the link. Monty is the first candidate to officially announce his candidacy for city council.

I’m going to pull a couple of quotes for comment:

1. The primary function of the City is to protect the public health, safety and welfare. Police and fire protection are the most basic services. The City also has a responsibility to protect neighborhoods and the public by enforcing codes and ordinances and by following the Comprehensive Plan. The City must maintain a safe system of streets and sidewalks. The City must retain ownership of the water and sanitary sewer systems and assure continued high-quality service. Likewise, the City must continue to operate its own refuse and recycling programs in an environmentally sound and cost effective manner. Read the rest of this entry »

The Southern Illinoisan had an article Tuesday on George Maroney’s official announcement for mayor. From the article:

The first-time political candidate said he would work to improve the city’s business climate, lead the discussion on consolidating elementary school districts to save money and attract young families, and more closely follow Carbondale’s city manager form of government.

I’m guessing the talk about consolidating school districts refers to District 95 (elementary) and District 165 (high school). Or maybe he’s talking about consolidating the various elementary school buildings into one. I assume he’s not talking about consolidating with the Unity Point and Giant City districts.  Consolidating 95 and 165 would be a great idea, but I wouldn’t want to see the elementary school buildings consolidated.

As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t like the talk of a restoration of the council-manager form of government.  An active mayor is an important source of political leadership. The functions of a mayor and city manager are different, and both are important.

But I’m not sure Maroney intends to be a weak mayor:

Maroney said he believes Carbondale’s city government has strayed from its original design and he would act as a CEO, delegating authority to its proper recipients.

Castle Perilous owner and blogger Scott Thorne had a post on the Carbondaze Gazette commenting about this:

Delegating authority to proper recipients is much easier when you are the ultimate authority, as Maroney was during his tenure at Memorial Hospital. The mayor, first, has to respond to a number of different publics and, second, has to convince the rest of the city council to agree with any initiatives he wishes to implement.

Exactly.  I would add that under the council manager system, the mayor is not the CEO. Title 1, Chapter 2, Article A of the city code (navigation on the left) addresses this. The mayor is head of the city for legal purposes in relationship to the Governor and presides over city council meetings.  Title 1, Chapter 3, Article A assigns most executive functions to the city manager.

As Brad Cole has shown, there is room in the council-manager form of government for an active mayor providing political leadership. If people don’t like the direction in which Cole led the city, they should elect someone who will lead in a different direction. We shouldn’t just decide that leadership itself is the problem. I hope voters will make this an issue in the 2011 election.

I’m wondering if a clear Cole successor candidate will emerge.  I also wonder if Cole will endorse anyone.

Comments are welcome.

I wrote three posts earlier this week touching on urban design and I wanted to follow up on those. I found this plaque on the Southeast Missourian Building  in Cape Girardeau. I’m not sure how legible the photo will be in your browser so I am going to quote the important part:

Built in 1924-25  Newspaper owners George & Fred Naeter wrote of their inspiration: “To add in a large way beauty and dignity to one’s town is to express affection for the community and confidence in its future.”

In other words, appearance counts. If building something beautiful and dignified expresses affection and confidence, then building something ugly and undignified expresses contempt for the community and indifference about its future.  Read the rest of this entry »