Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register
While the debate over now-scrapped plans to develop a comprehensive center for the homeless on the city’s near east side brought out significant divides in the broader Springfield community, a notable subplot has played out in city council chambers as the frustrations many aldermen have with Mayor Jim Langfelder have come out into the open.
Disgruntlement that had previously been simmering below the surface first came to a full boil after the council’s 8-2 vote on Sept. 17 approved a zoning change that should have paved the way for Helping Hands of Springfield to develop its Center for Health & Housing in a vacant building at 521 S. 11th St.
After hearing more than three hours of contentious debate in council chambers and after more than a week of nasty public discourse on the topic — including robocalls that conflated homeless people with sexual predators and an unsigned billboard telling Helping Hands “Shame on You!” popping up at the southwest corner of Cook and 11th streets — several aldermen criticized the mayor for a lack of leadership.
When the project fell apart a week later under pressure from opposing neighborhood groups, the threat of a lawsuit and with Memorial Health System pulling its support at the proposed site, words got even sharper.
Responding to some of the hits lobbed at him, Langfelder said last week he does not expect to make any dramatic adjustments. He has a longstanding policy of not lobbying aldermen, preferring to give them information that will allow them to make decisions.
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However, Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin defended Langfelder against the criticism lobbed by some of his colleagues, arguing that the mayor “had mission impossible” in trying to satisfy all the stakeholders in a complex situation.
On Tuesday, McMenamin said the mayor chose the right course of action by seeking to find another site for the homeless center given the threat of a lawsuit at the 11th Street site.
“I think the focus should be more on how the city council can work better with the mayor,” McMenamin said. “I think there’s some real sharpshooters on the city council that need to count to 10 before they fire.”
In any case, Langfelder and the aldermen all acknowledged that regardless of any issues they may have with one another, there is still a city to run and important issues to tackle, which includes homelessness with winter fast approaching.
“Moving forward, I certainly feel like the council works together very well. And that’s very heartening for me,” said Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley. “I can understand some of our community partners may be frustrated right now, but I hope that this doesn’t dissuade them because we still have a large issue in front of us, which is how we’re going to effectively address the issue of homelessness in our community.”
Despite some frustration, council members say they want to work with the mayor for the betterment of the city.
“The mayor has his position for almost another four years, so we have to work together,” Conley said. “There has to be an ability to find some common ground and some way of working with each other. And to be honest, that may mean that he needs to bend a little bit and reexamine his position of not talking to us.”
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 