Bernard Schoenburg
The State Journal-Register
Joe Davis, the Springfield City Council coordinator who has worked with aldermen since the position was established in 1993, said Monday he plans to retire as of Jan. 26. Davis told The State Journal-Register that he recently notified members of the council of his intentions, and did so early because he wants to give them adequate time to find a replacement.
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Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin said Davis has been a “solid” coordinator. “He sets out to serve all 10 aldermen and be ready to coordinate with all the city departments on behalf of the aldermen and has performed his job in a steady and reliable manner and will be hard to replace,” McMenamin said. “It’s a very necessary and important position.”
He said Davis’ office fields “countless phone calls and emails” for aldermen, in addition to distributing mail and weekly packets of information and helping with preparation of ordinances.
McMenamin said the question for the council is if it should replace Davis before or after the new council to be elected April 7 takes office. “I think after is better — but only if Joe Davis would agree to hold on for an additional five months,” McMenamin said, even if part time or on contract to help train his successor.
Davis, a Springfield native who graduated from Griffin High School and what is now the University of Illinois Springfield, worked under Democrat Alan Dixon in the secretary of state’s office and later campaigned for and worked in the office of Democratic state Treasurer Jim Donnewald. He worked directing a traffic safety program under Todd Renfrow, who served a term as elected public works director after the city went to an aldermanic form of government in 1987.
The federal consent decree that formed the new government included a phase-out of the elected public works position with the 1991 election, and after incumbent Ossie Langfelder won a second term over challenger Renfrow that year, Langfelder dismissed Davis. Davis did some work on contract for Illinois Senate Democrats, and began as the first council coordinator — hired by the aldermen — in the summer of 1993.
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Davis said he plans to “take a little time and relax and see if something comes up” after he leaves the city workforce. He said he already does some volunteer groundskeeping work at Brookhills Golf Course, where he knows the owner. He does think his job is worthwhile, and helps aldermen with what can be an overwhelming number of calls and other contacts. “We do an awful lot of constituent work,” Davis said.
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 