The Carbondale Gazette

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Downtown

Following up on Monday's post, most of the empty storefronts in downtown are located at the south end of Illinois Avenue. The strip of stores with China Wok, Harbaugh's and Kampus Kuts sits half empty, as does the strip behind Traxx and the strip anchored by The Game Table. Now that I think about it. most of the freestanding buildings in downtown have occupants in them. The only freestanding buildings I can think of that are unoccupied are the old Reema's building and the doctor's office at the corner of college and Illinois. Not sure if that means anything except it may be easier to upgrade a single building rather than an entire strip of them.

Monday, March 11, 2019

Empty Storefronts

Ran into a reader of the blog yesterday who had spent a couple of hours traipsing up Illinois and the downtown side streets. They said they had counted 18 empty storefronts in the downtown area. I can think of 4 between Walnut and Oak, not counting the offices of Marsha Ryan. Now that she has retired, her office building is up for sale.

Saturday, March 9, 2019

Tree Sale

Tree sale coming up at the Town Square Pavilion on the 23rd

We all need trees: they filter the water and clean the air; they lower cooling costs and mitigate flooding; they add beauty and value to a property; and they provide habitat and food for fauna. Start thinking about adding trees and shrubs to your landscape. Keep Carbondale Beautiful will be selling native trees and shrubs at the Carbondale Town Square Pavilion (northeast corner of Main and Illinois) on Saturday, March 23, from 9 am to 2 pm.

Although KCB will special order other plants, they specialize in those native to the area, which means they are better suited to the local environment, thus more likely to thrive, and provide essential habitat for native birds and butterflies. Two nurseries supply plants: Forrest Keeling in Missouri has a wide variety of plants. Tabor Nursery is closer and, for this sale, promises “some really nice black gum, bald cypress, water tupelo, bur oak, cherry bark oak, and water hickory.”

The Keep Carbondale Beautiful website <keepcb.org/tree-sale> lists all the trees that will be for sale, plus suggestions of other natives that are hard to find and can be ordered. The trees (5-6’ tall) sell for $30 and shrubs for $20 each (all in 3-gallon containers). Pre-ordered trees get a discount. March 17th is the deadline for all special and pre-orders, which can include non-natives. Contact KCB at 618-525-5525 or keepcb1326@gmail.com.

Friday, March 8, 2019

T. J. 's Fine Jewelry

After having a "Going Out of Business Sale" that lasted for about 2 months, including a signboard counting down the days to closure, T. J. 's Fine Jewelry has apparently reversed course as the store remains open. It would appear that a going out of business sale generated enough business for the store to remain open, at least for the foreseeable future.

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Tom Grant

I reached out to current city council member and candidate for re-election Tom Grant with some questions about his candidacy. Below are his unedited responses:

Why did you decide to run for another term?

I feel I can still contribute to the community and remain as a voice of reason on the Council.

What do you hope to accomplish/see accomplished if you are elected to a second term?

I hope to see the Founders Park development plan completed and implementation started.

I hope to bring renewable energy solar panels through the middle of town along the railroad tracks. This will help free our dependence on fossil fuels and free up money in the budget for other community improvements.

I hope to assist the formation of private/public partnerships to create new jobs within the community (ie: innovation lab and maker space).

I will work to "right size" our police force and reduce the pension burden to a sustainable level.

I hope to continue the sustainability plan started by the sustainability commission and see it published and implemented.

I hope to assist the City and Park District in finding an equitable solution to the funding of city parks as they are vital to the health and well being of our community.

What else, if anything, would you like voters to know?

I love our community.

We have the best of everything and are truly blessed to live in this time and place.

Together, with our hard work, a positive attitude and being helpful to all, we will make Carbondale its best yet!

We have many energetic young people seeking a place to fit in and make a living.

We need to coddle new ideas and embrace new technologies that create jobs and are good for the planet and our citizens.

Thomas Grant

Council Member and Candidate for Re-election.

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

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.

Monday, March 4, 2019

Candidate Forums

The Arbor District sent out this handy list of upcoming candidate forums as well as candidates:

March 7, Thursday. 6:00 p.m. Civic Center. Mayoral Candidates Forum. Sponsored by Women for Change, Shawnee Group of the Sierra Club, Green Party, Carbondale Community Solar Working Group, Carbondale NAACP

March 19, Tuesday. 7:00 p.m. Civic Center. Carbondale Park District Board of Commissioners Candidates forum. Sponsored by League of Women Voters of Jackson County

March 21, Thursday, 7:00 p.m. Civic Center. City Council and Mayor candidates forum. Sponsored by League of Women Voters of Jackson County

March 25, Monday, 6:00 p.m. New Zion Baptist Church. School Board Forum. Sponsored by the Carbondale NAACP

There may also be a forum for John A Logan College board members. If so, we'll send the date, time, and location.

Early voting has begun!

Jackson County Clerk's office, Court House, 8:00-4:00 p.m.

February 21 - April 1, (Same day registration permitted with proper identification)
Saturday, March 30, 8:00-12:00 noon, Jackson County Clerk's office.

Carbondale Civic Center 9:00 a.m to 3:00 p.m.