City Council Candidates

We have 4 candidates running for city council in a very quiet election taking place next week. If you would like to find out more about their platforms, here are links to their Facebook and or web pages, if the campaign has one:

Jeff Doherty

Jessica Bradshaw

Carolin Harvey

Lee Fronabarger

I could not find anything on Carolin Harvey's positions, so if anyone has a link to a source for them please send it to me.

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.

A Hunting We Will Go

By a vote of 6 to 1, with Jessica Bradshaw the 1, city council last Tuesday voted to allow bowhunting of deer on the city owned property around Cedar Lake, hoping to address the damage caused by the animals overgrazing in the area. No sure why Bradshaw voted against the ordinance but would bet it had to do with the concerns expressed about people getting injured by hunters in the area.

Unfortunately, something needed to get done about the problem as I have heard property owners in the area complain about the damage the Cedar Lake deer did to their property as well as the land around the lake.With no predators to speak of in the area, though cougars are reported to have moved further south in Illinois, the deer population keeps growing and needs reducing. Barring continued car/deer interactions, some form of hunting appears the current best option.

Business Friendly Council Members

Struck me as I watched the voting at last night's city council meeting that of the current council membership, only Lance Jack currently runs a business.  All of the other council members are either retired (as far as I know) or work for the university., though Jessica Bradshaw did run Rosetta Bookstore for a couple of years before closing it.  This likely influences the way they vote as, if I recall correctly, they were the only two to vote to support all of the changes before council last night including the failed rezoning attempt for Giant City Heating and AC.

Jessica Bradshaw Statement

Asked Jessica Bradshaw (and a couple of other council candidates) what she would bring to the city council that other candidates would not.  Here is her response:

I would bring to the council a wide background in Carbondale. I have experienced Carbondale as a kid/teenager, a business owner, and now a working adult. I think that these experiences give me a unique perspective on life in Carbondale. As a graduate of both the old Lincoln and the old CCHS, I know that life in Carbondale is changing. Our students now mostly must use a car or bus to get to school.
When I purchased Rosetta Stone Bookstore in 2006, I realized how much our community was struggling. I joined the Chamber of Commerce, Carbondale Main Street, and tried to help as much as I could while running a business. (Actually, when I moved the bookstore to the Town Square, I got involved with the Historic Downtown Business Association. When artist Eileen Bowman came to talk to us about having an Art Fair, I suggested making it an Art & Wine Fair, and feature our local wineries as well as our local artists. I had been to similar festivals in California. While I closed up shop shortly after that meeting, I am happy to see it is still going strong!)
I currently work at SIU as an Office Manager for two offices that help disadvantaged youth succeed in college. I am also involved in several community organizations: WDBX, Nonviolent Carbondale, the Association of Civil Service Employees (IEA/NEA), and the Northwest Carbondale Neighborhood Association. I am currently the Chair of the Carbondale Human Relations Commission, which has opened my eyes even more to some of the struggles that residents in this city deal with. The Commission was set up ten years ago to improve race relations and address conflicts between peace officers and community residents. While we still have our work cut out for us, the Commission is continuing to forge the bonds to strengthen our community. I want to further this work as a City Councilmember, and get everyone involved in really making Carbondale a vibrant, sustainable, livable, wonderful place to call home.

City Council Race

In the race for the three open seats on the Carbondale City Council, Yard signs for Navreet Kang and Jerrold Hennrich have been out for a couple of months now.  Brnet Ritzel put out triple the number of the other two a week or so ago and I just spotted the first Jessica Bradshaw sign over the weekend.

City Council Meeting

Last night's City Council meeting got rolling fairly late last night.  I didn't turn on the television to watch until after 8 and the public hearings regarding establishment of the two new TIF districts were still going on.

Given that I had been told during earlier in the day that there was no opposition to establishing either TIF district (incidentally, it rather surprised me to hear both Mayor Fritzler and City Manager Kevin Baity refer to the two TIF districts as established rather than proposed in their State of the City speeches.  Neither has been approved by council yet, hence tonight's hearings), the number of people who rose to speak against TIF district #3, encompassing the old school complex, the National Guard Armory and the stretch of Oakland between the two, surprised me. Almost all were concerned with business encroaching into what is currently an area zoned for residential use.  Baity pointed out the area would have to be rezoned in order for a purchaser to make any business use of the properties.

This, of course, leads to two quetsions:

1. Why is Oakland Avenue Auto Repair still operating in an area zoned for residential use?
2.  What use could any purchaser make of either the Armory or high school buildings unless they are rezoned or granted a special use exemption?  Neither is suitable for residential use as they stand.

The proposal to move appointment of the city clerk back under the city manager passed with only one vote against it.  The major concern appeared that the clerk's position was important enough that the holder of the position should come directly under council control.  However, the rest of the council did not share the same concerns.

The request for more funds for the Convention and Tourism Bureau passed without any controversy. Since I sit on the CCTB board, I will pass on making any further comments.

Next up was a revision to Carbondale's panhandling ordinance banning unlawful panhandling on an business zoned property or any public property.  Two groups spoke regarding the ordinance.   One, business owners and organizations representing them argued that aggressive panhandlers affected business, disturbed customers and made employees feel unsafe. The other, community organizers and activists, argued that the ordinance would made it harder for the homeless and others living in poverty to get money for food and shelter.  Councilman Don Monty pointed out that the ordinance had no effect upon those who stood on a corner with a sign asking for donations, it was aimed at those who asked for money multiple times after being rebuffed originally.  If memory serves, I believe this passed, after lots of discussion, six to one.

During the discussion, it gradually became apparent that there are only about a dozen or so panhandlers in Carbondale that engage in the aggressive panhandling that disturbs businesses.  A reading of the relevant ordinance indicates that aggressive panhandling of the type described during the discussion is already illegal throughout the city, so it's not apparent what effect specifying more places where one cannot unlawfully panhandle will have, since according to the current ordinance, they can't do it already.  Seems to me it would be better to enforce the current ordinance against the dozen or so abusers rather than add on to the code.

If electrical aggregation takes place as I understand it from the discussion over the ordinance and we see the savings alluded to by councilmen Chris Wissmann and Don Monty, this should prove a winning proposition for the city and its residents.  From what I understand, Carbondale, along with Marion, West Frankfort and other communities, selected Select Energy Partners  to negotiate an price for electricity with a supplier.  Once a contract is negotiated, Carbondale will have to purchase from that supplier but could choose a different plan than other communities, i.e. Marion could select a plan that draws 10% of its electricity from green sources while Carbondale could choose one that drew 25%.  Carbondale residents will have the option to opt out, on an individual basis, of the negotiated contract and remain with their current (or another) provider.  This passed unaimously.

Finally, council voted to join the Southern Illinois Municipal Planning Organization, which includes all communities from Carbondale eastward to Marion.  The organization will focus on analyzing transportation needs for the area and federal law, dating back to the 1960s, mandates that municipalities must form one once the region's population exceeds 50,000 or forgo federal transportation dollars. Since we don't want to forgo federal transportation dollars, we join, unanimously.

Since it was now 11:30, I decide to skip citizen and council comments, though I did notice council candidates Jessica Bradshaw and Carolin Harvey still in the audience with Pepper Holder approaching the microphone as I left.

Thoughts on Fronabarger

Been musing on the choice of Lee Fronabarger to fill out Joel Fritzler's term on the city council.  I've asked several of the city council members for their reasoning and will comment on them later.  What follows is solely my reasoning.

According to the city's website, a total of seven people turned in letters of interest in the position:

Jessica Bradshaw, Priciliano Fabian, Carl R. Flowers, Lee M. Fronabarger, Thomas Grant, Navreet Kang, and Mike Riley..

 Of the seven, four--Bradshaw, Grant, Riley and Fronabarger--ran in the election.  Of the others, Fabian is a sophomore at SIUC and apparently active on campus but with no indication of city civic activity.  Kang chairs the city planning commission while Flowers serves on the Carbondale Park District board.  If I was on city council, I'd eliminate these three from selection simply because they did not run.  Bypassing the four people who did  run in favor of one of the three who did not would send a negative message so shortly after the election. (I have the same problem with Sheila Simon getting the nod for lt. governor in the last statewide election).

Looking at the four that ran, though both Riley and Bradshaw have been involved in Carbondale as buisnesspeople, neither has a track record of civic activity that I can find.  Grant worked for the city as building and services neighborhood services manager for 15 years and would bring a wealth of experience in those areas to the council while Fronabarger has served on a number of city committees including the aquatic center and planning commission.  Betwix the two of them, I would have picked Grant because of the experience with city operations he brought to the table, plus his razor thin finish behind Lance Jack in the election.  However, he has not been particularity active in city affairs since his termination in 2009, while Fronabarger has, which may have caused the council to choose him, that and the diverse views he can bring to city government a a result of his service upon various committees..