Jane Adams' Letter

A letter from former councilperson Jane Adams, sent to members of the city council this week. A condensed version of this letter appears in this week's Carbondale Times. Letter posted with Adams' permission:

To my elected representatives,

I wasn't able to watch the zoom City Council meeting last night, but have read the Southern's and Scott Thorne's accounts. I'm frankly perplexed:

You have stopped some, perhaps many, City services. The ones I most notice as a resident is the administrative policy of not enforcing our weed and grass ordinance, and as a landlord, the temporary suspension of the rental inspection program. But with the City Hall/Civic Center closure, receptionists and others whose jobs required a lot of face-to-face contact with the public, as well as managing activities in the Civic Center, now have no obvious work to do. Have these workers been reassigned to other jobs? Or are they simply home drawing a paycheck without working?

If the former, the residents of this town have a right to know how staff who are underemployed are being reassigned. If the latter, they should be furloughed immediately, while the $600 weekly federal stimulus monies can be added to their regular unemployment benefits. 

You know -- and can calculate -- the amount of revenue the City is losing by not getting food and beverage and lodging taxes. And you can assume that, even if the stay-at-home orders are lifted the end of May (or perhaps earlier), those revenues will remain depressed at least through the end of this calendar year. And if predictions are accurate that students will be reluctant to return in large numbers until a COVID-19 vaccine is available, the City's economic depression may well continue for at least another year.

I don't understand your reasoning at all. It makes no fiscal sense to me, and seems to be a wasteful and irresponsible use of taxpayer monies. This crisis is putting a great deal of pressure on our community as the many small-scale, often sole-proprietor, businesses are closed, the "gig economy" collapses, and retirement portfolios shrink. This is a time for the City to take seriously the need to re-energize investments in, for example, promoting restoration of the large amount of blighted housing and business stock, helping our local hospitality and retail businesses restart, and making the community attractive to visitors and residents. That was at least part of what the new taxes were earmarked for. To take those revenues, without first furloughing temporarily redundant workers, is unconscionable.

Our restauranteurs have taken an enormous hit, and they're stepping up to help our entire community through the Southern Illinois Kitchen Collaborative and other initiatives. People have taken it on themselves to make masks for front-line workers. The University is providing food and learning materials for their students. All over the region people are stepping up to help those most deeply affected by this crisis. 

Where is the City? Raiding the local improvement fund to keep redundant workers on staff. If they, like so many small businesses, contract workers, and retirees in our community, faced penury if they were laid off, I'd say keeping them employed would be the right thing to do. But this is one place where our social safety net has actually been strengthened -- at least for covered employees -- by federal stimulus money. Take advantage of it!

Jane Adams

MLK Jr. St.

Also on the agenda for Tuesday's city council meeting is a proposal to investigate changing one of the streets in Carbondale from its current name to Martin Luther King Jr. Street. A student group pushed mightily back about 2008 to change the name of a street in town to that of MLK Jr. but the push for that only lasted about a semester and ended when the prime movers in the group graduated and left town. Since this impetus for a name change now apparently comes from community residents rather than students without long term ties to Carbondale, something will more likely happen.

Since any name change would result in significant inconvenience for any residents along the street, due to them having to update their addresses on all official correspondence. One proposed way to get around this is to make the name change unofficial as when the council voted to unofficially rename two streets after retiring council members Chris Wissmann and Jane Adams. Doing this would put King's name on street signs in town but the official name of the street would remain the same.

Mayor Henry

Heard a rumor that this will be Mayor Henry's last term as he wants to move on and do something else. Opens up the mayoral race for another shot by either Jane Adams or Nathan Colombo.

Jane Adams on Park District Referendum

Past councilwoman Jane Adams is running for a spot on the Carbondale Park District board. Since one of the items on the ballot is a referendum on merging the Park District into the City, I emailed for her take on the question. Below is her unedited response:


It’s one of the most important items on the April 2 ballot. Short answer:

Kirsten Trimble and I support the question on the Advisory Referendum that will be on the April 2 ballot: “Should the City of Carbondale and the Carbondale Park District explore merging their operations?” 

We need to know more to commit to supporting a merger of the Park District into the City.

Here’s how we see the issues:

For decades the Park District has faced fiscal crises; in response proposals to merge some or all of the District’s operations have been proposed. Discussions between the City and the  Park District regarding continued leasing of City properties by the Park District have made public the massive amount of deferred maintenance and focused attention on the Park District’s inability to adequately maintain the city’s parks. It’s widely recognized that they do a good job with programming, particularly (but not solely) for children. They also do a good job of collaborating with other units of government.

The Park District's financial inability to maintain our parks for public usage has risen to the level of a true crisis. Given the Park District’s virtually complete reliance on property taxes, merging the Park District into the City may turn out to be the only solution. 

The Park District Board of Commissioners has begun collecting the data to help Commissioners (and the public) determine whether there are other solutions or if merger is the best solution. With adequate data and citizen input, I need to weigh all options before making a final determination that merger is the best option.

Here’s our expanded response:

1. Is merger possible? 
Advice from Illinois' leading municipal law firms shows that, despite very restrictive language in theIllinois Constitution, a merger of a Park District and a municipality is still possible. Here’s how it can be done:

• The Park District can contract with the City to take over Park District operations, including financial management, maintenance, and/or recreational and other programming. The Park District agrees to reimburse the City for some or all the costs of these operations.
• The Park District continues to levy property taxes and pays down its debt. In the case of the Carbondale Park District, it appears this can be accomplished in 7 years.
• The Park District asks the City to annex any properties that lie outside the city limits; the City does so.
• The City Council and Park District Board of Commissioners then submit a binding referendum to the voters seeking a merger of the two taxing bodies. If a majority of those voting approve it, the Park District would cease to exist as a separate taxing body.

2. What would be the benefits? 
From what we currently know, there appear to be more benefits than risks in merging operations:

• There should be cost savings by eliminating duplication, especially in financial management; maintenance equipment, staff, and management; and some staff duplications in programming. The amount of duplication looks as if it will increase as the City takes over Piles Fork Creek Greenway and Trail from the Park District and as it develops more parks and activities in the Downtown area (Founders Park, Town Square Pavilion, the developing event space on Washington Street, and more). 
• Due to its larger size, the City can exercise greater financial oversight and eliminate inefficiencies due to inadequate software and number of staff.
• For the same reason, the City can more easily cover absences of management and other key personnel.
• Due to its much larger and more diversified budget (a variety of sales taxes as well as property taxes), the City can cover dips in income for which the Park District currently must borrow, at relatively high interest rates, with tax anticipation warrants.
• The City Manager has stated that all current Park District staff can be integrated into the City staff with a minimum of disruption.

3. What are the risks?
The greatest risk that we see is that the Park District Board of Commissioners currently focuses entirely on the Park District. The public’s ability to influence Park District priorities might lessen in a merger with the City.

4. Proposed next steps.
We believe this risk can be averted in two ways:

• As long as it remains an elected Board of Commissioners, the Board should undertake strategic planning, set clear priorities, and develop written criteria for accountability. These should guide negotiations between the Park District and the City. Strategic planning and setting of priorities needs to be done whether or not the Park District Commissioners decide to merge their operations with the City.
• If voters approve merger of the two taxing bodies (after bonds are paid off), The Board should be reconstituted as a Parks and Recreation Commission that meets regularly, advising the City Council on Parks and Recreation Department priorities.

In principle, we believe that fewer units of government lead to lower property taxes. Further, 48 of our 50 states have parks and recreation within City governments. Only Illinois and California have (some) independent park districts. Those 48 states’ municipalities offer residents excellent parks. We can do the same if we choose to take that route.

Effect of Residency Challenge

I rather think that the challenge to Mike Henry's residency early in the campaign only helped his successful campaign. Whether those who brought the challenge or not had a strong legal case, it remained that, for the average voter, if you lived in Carbondale for the required period of time, you were a resident, no matter where your utility bill might be sent.

Also, the challenge received extensive coverage in the local papers and on tv, both when the charges were filed and when the electoral commission dismissed them, giving the Henry campaign two shots of publicity, while providing comparatively little mention during the same period of his opponent Jane Adams.

Bob Grimmer Post

This post on Facebook by Bob Grimmer regarding Jane Adams'campaign has been getting a lot of attention.

Southern for Mike Henry

In case you missed it, The Southern ran an editorial over the weekend saying that while both candidates for mayor had good points and both had indicated they didn't care much for their opponent, the editorial board felt, based on his business experience, Henry the better candidate.

We will find out who the voters prefer on Tuesday.

Loyalty Oath

The latest kerfluffle in the race for mayor is over loyalty oaths, or rather the signing of one. It appears that in the packet of papers each candidate receives is a loyalty oath, which has been included since the "Red Scare" days of the 1950s. Councilwoman Jane Adams says Mike Henry questioned if she had signed the loyalty oath (he says he did not) and she expanded on the situation in an email sent out today:

Loyalty Oaths in 2015?
 
In 2015 it’s hard to imagine that whether or not someone signs a Loyalty Oath is an issue in a city campaign. But just before the League of Women Voters debate began, Mike Henry came up to me, leaned very close to me, and in a low voice asked me if I had signed the loyalty oath that is included in petitions for running for public office. He had submitted a FOIA for my petitions, he said, and he didn’t see it.
 
I was too dumbfounded by his question to make much of a response. He turned and walked away. It was a momentary encounter. But quite disturbing. Why in the world would a Mayoral candidate challenge another Mayoral candidate about signing an obsolete and basically meaningless document?
 
I posted the incident on my Facebook page, where it has elicited a number of responses. Here is why I found the encounter disturbing:
 
I am old enough to remember when I had to sign a loyalty oath in order to work as a student worker in the cafeteria at SIU. I was about to embark as a volunteer for Freedom Summer – a project that aimed to gain voting rights and other basic civil rights for African Americans in Mississippi. At the time, many state governments, including Illinois, required all state employees to sign a loyalty oath.
 
In many places, organizations like the ones sponsoring Freedom Summer (NAACP, SCLC, SNCC, CORE) were considered “subversive”; in Mississippi the State Sovereignty Commission spent a lot of time and energy monitoring our activities. 
 
Nationally, the FBI kept files on tens of thousands of citizens who protested against the status quo, including participation in civil rights activities. Loyalty oaths could be, and were, used to threaten people’s jobs. Many academics and others – including a number who were refugees from Nazi Germany – were blacklisted. It was not a happy time for defenders of our civil liberties.
 
Thankfully, those days are behind us. In 1964 the U.S. Supreme Court found that Washington state’s loyalty oath was unconstitutional; as the Southern Illinoisan’s article states, Illinois’ loyalty oath was struck down by the State Supreme Court in 1969.
 
The Loyalty Oath that Mr. Henry questioned me about sounds increasingly archaic as the Cold War fades into history. As the Southern quotes Jackson County Clerk Larry Reinhardt, “It is a completely irrelevant form.”
 
If, as Mr. Henry states, the issue of whether or not I had signed the loyalty oath “had been brought to his attention by voters,” and, ”if he “didn’t think much of it after reading it,” why did he approach me in such menacing manner?
 
Whatever the case, this campaign is not about questioning citizens’ loyalties; it is about the future of Carbondale. As I said after the Southern Illinoisan debate ( video link here), voters have a clear choice: a “can do” attitude vs. “it can’t be done”; a primary concern for the future of the City, its residents and businesses vs. concern for the internal workings of City Hall; enlisting the energy and talents of our community to grow our economy vs. shrinking back to the “core obligations of our city government;” and developing strategic approaches to fiscal constraints vs. continually raising taxes.
 
My record is clear: During my four years on City Council I’ve written 166 posts (this is number 167) about issues facing the city. If you elect me Mayor, you will know where I stand on issues. And you will know that I will respond to your communications – and respond with respect, whether or not I agree with your views.
 
As a young woman I risked my life in Mississippi to help make the American promise of “liberty and justice for all” a living reality. There’s not a chance I’ll back down from that commitment now.

Brightfields Confirmed.

I saw in this morning's Southern that city council voted to issue the special uses permit to Brightfields for the installation of the solar array on the old Koppers property. When I saw the vote ran 5-2 in favor, I guessed that the 2 "no" votes were Jane Adams and Carolin Harvey and my guess proved right.

Bradshaw had already come out in favor of the project and I had heard second-hand that Jack and McDaniel had as well. Fronabarger is generally in favor of projects like this and Monty leaned toward it, with severe reservations, the last time I heard him discuss it.

Adams, however, had moved from strong support for the project to increased questioning about it as controversy and protests from those living nearby had increased. Since Harvey had remained non-committal in public regarding her stance on the development, I figured it a safe bet that they cast the two no votes.

Political Yard Signs

Apparently 'tis the season for political yard sign abuse. According to an email I received, the Henry campaign says over 90 of its yard signs have gone missing since their placement. The Adams and Kang campaigns have also reported signs missing or damaged, though not in such large numbers.

I also heard, (secondhand) of a landlord requiring a tenant to remove one candidate's signs from the yard, who then replaced them with signs supporting the other candidate. If true, this violated the tenant's 1st amendment rights six ways from Sunday.

Adam Loos

Adam Loos has thrown his hat in the ring for city council.  If you want to read his platform, look here. Have seen several of his signs in the same yards as Jane Adams, so imagine their views are complementary.  Of course, I saw a lot of Adams and Fritzler signs in the same yards last election and we saw how that ended up.

Henry for Mayor Website

Mayoral candidate John "Mike" Henry has a website up now, complete with the reasons he is running for the office, including some shots at the other candidate for Mayor, Jane Adams, who has supported Councilman Fronabarger's call for a sales tax increase on restaurants to fund a dog park and skate park

Adams Campaign

J

Jane Adams' campaign for mayor picked up steam as a slew of her campaign signs popped up in yards along this stretch of West Main, along with the side streets in the Walnut Street Historic District. These homes are all located in the Arbor District, so her long association with that organization certainly increased the willingness of residents of the area to host her signs.

Adams also has a pickup with an "Adams Carbondale" A-frame sign mounted in the bed that tooled around town Saturday afternoon. Not sure what parts of town she covered but she was hitting  the square later in the afternon.

Egyptian Corner Supports Jane Adams

Interesting to see that whoever owns the Egyptian Corner has come out in favor of Jane Adams . The stores' street sign advertises Gyros, Shawarma and "Jane Adams for Mayor". First sign endorsing any candidate I have seen.

Henry Challenge

The challenge to Mike Henry's residency and its impact on his mayoral candidacy should prove interesting if it turns out he fails to meet the residence requirement of living a year within the city limits prior to the election. That throws the decision about the next mayor into the hands of city government. Does the three member commission follow state law and declare Henry ineligible to run for mayor, essentially handing the position to Jane Adams, unless someone mounts a strong write in campaign? Or does it override the law, as is its option, essentially saying that giving votes a choice is more important that adhering to the residency requirement.

I hope the challenge comes to naught and that Henry is found eligible, simply because it would be easier on the process but I have to admit, 'twould be interesting to see how the Carbondale Election Board would rule.

Election Candidates

Here are the final candidates for  office for next May's council/Mayor election.

Candidates for Mayor:

L – Jane Adams, 606 West Elm Street

L – John “Mike” Henry, 1210 West Hill Avenue

Candidates for City Council Member:

L – Navreet Kang, 613 South Terrace Drive

L – Adam Loos, 512 West Pecan Street

3 – Angela K. Kaye, 113 North Lark Lane

4 – Rebel Pinkston, 1230 West Short Drive

5 - Tom Grant, 5370 Springer Ridge Road

L - Anna Durrett, 800 ½ West Main Street

L - Lance D. Jack, 1026 North Bridge Street

All Mayoral and City Council candidates run on a non-partisan basis, which means they are not affiliated with a specific political party for the municipal election.  They are also elected at-large rather than from wards, which entitles them to receive votes from all areas of the City. Once the Mayor and Council Members are elected, they represent the entire City and all of its citizens, not just one geographic area or one particular group of people.

The Candidates-elect will take office on May 5, 2015.

Ferguson Protests in Carbondale

Saw about 3 dozen people on the Carbondale Town Square about 10 p.m. last night. A few moved out into the road but the overwhelming majority contented themselves with standing on East Main's shoulder and holding signs up for cards. Also saw about a dozen people inside Curbside watching the televised reports.  Streets quiet otherwise, though I did hear that the Carbondale Police Department had called in a number of extra officers just in case. Councilwoman Jane Adams was out and about last night as well but have not heard about any of the other council members.

Another protest is scheduled for 5 p.m. today, also at the Town Square pavilion

Jane Adams Statment

Here's the statement Councilwoman Jane Adams read yesterday while announcing her candidacy for mayor of Carbondale:

  ANNOUNCEMENT FOR MAYOR OF CARBONDALE

Yesterday I met with family, friends, and neighbors in front of City Hall to declare that I am running for Mayor. Here is the statement that I read:


 
Today I’m announcing that I will be a candidate for Mayor of Carbondale.

Four years ago I ran for Council because I believed that Carbondale needed vigorous action to renew and revitalize the city, and to encourage reinvestment in our neighborhoods and local business districts.

We need now, more that ever, to create the foundation to “catch the next wave” of innovation.

The only other announced candidate for Mayor has a long and successful history as a businessman. He’s by all accounts a good man. The city had done business with him for many years.

But, he made a perplexing statement regarding the current City Council. He’s quoted as saying that for the past year – that is, since Don Monty took over as acting mayor – it’s been dysfunctional.

My experience as a City Council member is that much of City Hall is increasingly dysfunctional, not the Council.

The city government has had significant cost overruns, especially for the new Fire Station and the Schwartz Street repairs. The City Manager projects employee compensation rising at 4.5% a year. Every year they seek more taxes. Our reserves are projected to decline at an alarming rate.

Additionally, we hear increasing reports of non-responsiveness to residents’ and business peoples’ concerns.

Not all of City Hall is broken. I hear excellent feedback regarding our water and sewer department, which provides outstanding water, responds rapidly to water main breaks and sewer problems, and is planning well for investing in our aging water and sewer lines.

But it’s clear that the City’s management must find ways to lower its costs. It cannot come back to the taxpayers every year – especially when most residents’ and businesses’ incomes are flat.

The City must lower barriers to business and residential development

As you know, my husband and I own a number of rental properties that we’ve restored. We know first hand the difficulties with dealing with the City bureaucracy.

There’s no reason that many of the difficulties that we, and other business owners, experience cannot be overcome. It requires effective management systems, use of up-to-date technologies, and constantly upgrading our staff’s skills, as well as making sure that everyone fully understands why rules exist – and getting rid of those regulations that can’t be justified.

Frankly, the City’s management seems to be complacent about the stumbling blocks that many local entrepreneurs experience from the City. These issues must be addressed if the entrepreneurial energy in this town is to be unlocked.

Advancement of women and minorities

City Hall is also a place where women and African Americans have a very difficult time getting promoted to top positions. We need to build more effective mentoring of all employees so that talent rises to the top.

Revitalize Carbondale

There are a number of initiatives I will pursue to revitalize Carbondale, in collaboration with the City Council.

We need to lead in making Carbondale an attractive place to live and to invest.

Carbondale has two large and growing fiberoptic networks. We have a strong knowledge-based economy with SIU and SIH/Memorial Hospital. As a Gigabit City we need strong City and community leadership to seize the opportunities available to be leaders in developing 21^st century industries and services.

Southern Illinois grows wonderful fruits, vegetables, and pastured animals. We need to nurture the local food system with a 12-month farmers market and promotion of value-added manufacturing.

Our aging residential neighborhoods can provide comfortable homes for the people who work here – homes that are close to work and services. We need to implement the suggestions in the Comprehensive Plan as well as find other tools for promoting homeowership and reinvestment in our neighborhoods.

We also need to reduce barriers to new residential subdivisions. The Comprehensive Plan outlined a number of zoning and other initiatives that have, so far, been left on the shelf.

A vigorous citizens’ committee has been planning Downtown development. It must be implemented.

Our city's citizens and investors are on the move. It's vital that City government make this energy work for the entire community.

I look forward to working with the people of Carbondale, the City Council, and the City staff to build a bright future for our town.

Two Candidates for Mayor

John Mike Henry of Henry Printing announced his candidacy for Mayor of Carbondale earlier this week. Councilwoman Jane Adams announced hers this afternoon:

I am formally announcing my decision regarding seeking the office of Mayor of Carbondale on Saturday, November 15 at 1:00 p.m. in front of the Carbondale Civic Center, 200 S. Illinois Avenue (on the Illinois Street side).

City Council Election Petitions Open

Wanna run for city council or even mayor of Carbondale? You can start filing petitions on Nov. 17 through Nov. 24. Councilwoman Jane Adams has said she plans to run for Mayor and I have heard that Lance Jack plans to seek another term on the council, while Navreet Kang will campaign for one of the available three seats.

The Office of the Carbondale City Clerk will be open on Monday, November 17, 2014, through Monday, November 24, 2014, for the purpose of accepting petitions for the 2015 Consolidated Election on April 7, 2015 (or the Primary Election on February 24, 2015, if necessary) for the following offices:

Mayor – one (1) 4-year term and three (3) City Council members – 4-year terms

The dates and times the nominating petitions will be accepted are as follows:
Monday, November 17, 2014 – 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 – 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 – 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, November 20, 2014 – 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
Friday, November 21, 2014– 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
Monday, November 24, 2014 – 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
Petitions for Mayor or City Council member must be filed in the Office of the City Clerk, Carbondale City Hall, 200 South Illinois Avenue, Carbondale, Illinois 62901.
A lottery will be held on December 2, 2014, for all simultaneous filings that are filed at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, November 17, 2014, or that are received in the first mail of Monday, November 17, 2014. Additionally, petitions that are filed between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on November 24, 2014, will be deemed simultaneously filed in accordance with 10 ILCS 5/7-12(6). A lottery for those petitions will also be held on December 2, 2014, in the Office of the City Clerk. Both lotteries are open to members of the public.