Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register
After a lengthy and spirited discussion and some soul-bearing by its sponsor, the Springfield City Council passed on a 6-4 vote a landmark maternity/paternity/adoption leave ordinance for city employees Tuesday.
It gives all employees, union and non-union, four weeks paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child.
Meanwhile, an ordinance authorizing the execution of a development agreement between the city and Legacy Park Sports, LLC for a sports complex site behind Scheels off MacArthur Boulevard near Interstate 72 was pulled from debate by Ward 6 Ald. Kristin DiCenso.
With the developer’s agreement not finished, DiCenso requested a special city council meeting, which will now be held March 30.
Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley, who proposed the maternity/paternity ordinance, said the leave time was “a benefit to the citizens of Springfield” and city employees should not have to choose between taking sick time and having time to spend with their family.
Before the vote, Conley told a personal story of how years back she was faced with a major surgery as a single mother with three children. Conley said she didn’t have enough sick time accrued, so she got time forwarded to her by the state of Illinois.
Paid leave, Conley said, was a way for the city to let employees know “we value them and we want them to be their best at work and we want them to have a life at home. Everyone deserves that.”
Ward 1 Ald. Chuck Redpath contended that the ordinance “was not right for the city of Springfield” and that the unions representing city workers should be at the bargaining table with the city over the issue.
Conley countered that the leave was not a union issue, but “an employment issue and it’s a matter that should be applied to all of our employees.”
Newly-seated Ward 3 Ald. Roy Williams Jr. said he was “shocked” that the city didn’t have some form of parental leave in place already.
Like Redpath, McMenamin encouraged Mayor Jim Langfelder to veto the ordinance. McMenamin said he would have liked to have seen the ordinance brought back to the committee of the whole in hopes of hashing out a compromise.
Redpath, McMenamin, Hanauer and Ward 4 Ald. John Fulgenzi voted against the ordinance.
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Under an already approved an amendment to the city budget, $300,000 was set aside to pay for overtime and other costs incurred for proposed maternity and paternity leave for city employees.
The council unanimously passed an ordinance setting parameters on how half of the 3% of a cannabis excise tax dedicated to the east side would be spent.
Springfield imposed the additional excise tax on sales effective July 1.
The ordinance specified that $350,000 annually would be allocated for new and rehabilitated businesses with at least 51% minority ownership while $100,000 annually would be allocated for rehabilitation of owner-occupied homes.
The other half of the excise tax goes toward police and fire pensions.
An ordinance authorizing the renewal of a cable television franchise agreement with Comcast of Illinois/Indiana/Ohio, LLC, was tabled. A representative from Comcast is scheduled to be at the next city council meeting to answer questions.
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 