Joe McMenamin for Ward 7Retired 12 year alderman on Springfield City Council 2011-2023
Jamie Munks
The State Journal-Register
After a lengthy discussion about its cable television franchise agreement with Comcast, the Springfield City Council on Tuesday approved extending the deal.
But aldermen also directed City Water, Light and Power staff to “pursue opportunities to increase competition in the cable television and broadband services in the Springfield area with interested third-party partners.” That amendment to the ordinance, which was unanimously approved
On behalf of neighbors who walk from the north, west and south to the new Hy-Vee Store on MacArthur Boulevard, we want to express our appreciation to Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin for lobbying on behalf of the neighborhood to extend the last stretch of sidewalk west on Cherry Road to Douglas Avenue.
With the instant loyalty that clearly is being shown to this remarkable new store, we have observed happy customers with their red Hy-Vee sacks walking, biking, pushing strollers, walkers and even in wheelchairs from opening day. This last piece of uneven ground had become about impassable for foot traffic following construction, with deep holes and such to the point that entry meant walking on the increasingly busy Cherry Road, dodging traffic.
In the name of safety, we not only applaud Ald. McMenamin’s efforts
Jamie Munks
The State Journal-Register
Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin plans Tuesday to propose three ordinances for city council consideration, including one that calls for allocating money to contract with an attorney to assist aldermen in drafting ordinances. McMenamin is also proposing that the city be required to bid out City Water, Light and Power property insurance at least every six years, and that the city allocate any over-budget tax revenue to its police and fire pension funds.
Delays in the corporation counsel’s response to requests for drafting ordinances is the main reason for McMenamin’s proposal
Jamie Munks
The State Journal-Register
A shrinking city workforce, languishing infrastructure and equipment replacements that have become increasingly limited — these are among any number of issues one could argue have been exacerbated by growing contributions to police and fire pension funds in Springfield. A decade ago, the city put just over 5 percent of its entire $85 million corporate fund
Tim Landis
The State Journal-Register
A little more than a year after the ownership of MacArthur Park Apartments in Springfield repaired hundreds of longstanding building-code violations, city officials say no significant violations remain and occupancy has rebounded. Fewer than 40 of 184 units have yet to be rented, according to city figures and apartment management.
Jamie Munks
The State Journal-Register
Springfield Mayor Mike Houston has received several thousand dollars in donations from representatives of R.W. Troxell and Co., the firm with which the city council voted 9-1 Tuesday to authorize a three-year contract. Al Klunick of R.W. Troxell, who represented the firm at Tuesday’s council meeting, has given $3,500 to “Houston for Mayor” since early 2011.
The city council on Tuesday approved a three-year contract with the Springfield-based brokerage firm to insure 40 City Water, Light and Power properties. The contract calls for the city to pay nearly $1.8 million the first year
For two years the Springfield city council worked hand in hand with Mayor Mike Houston and budget director William McCarty to consolidate four city maintenance garages – police, fire, public works and CWLP – into one.
But this cooperation started to break down on March 4, when the Houston administration filed a peculiar ordinance to give a lucrative no-bid exclusive $3.75 million contract to Genuine Auto Parts, a.k.a. “NAPA.” It included the following terms:
Most significantly, the administration claimed the NAPA contract was exempt from competitive bidding. Our city code requires competitive bidding for all purchases of goods and services above $25,000, unless an exception applies. For NAPA, the administration was claiming an exception based on a joint purchasing agreement with the State of Minnesota that aldermen had never seen before and, as it turned out, was unauthorized.
Council members immediately started asking questions, the media became curious and city automotive parts suppliers began appearing at city council to protest.
The NAPA ordinance and contract contained several legal flaws. Specifically, our city code does not authorize joint purchasing with the State of Minnesota, as this ordinance did. Second, McCarty was rewriting the terms of the Minnesota NAPA joint purchasing contract. This is impermissible. If you start modifying the joint pricing and terms, the contract departs from the earlier competitive bidding agreement, and so no longer qualifies for exception.
On April 8, after several weeks of debate, city attorney Todd Greenburg admitted at the committee of the whole meeting that he had never closely reviewed the ordinance. A week later, on April 15 at the full council meeting, Greenburg conceded that our city code did not authorize the NAPA contract. But Greenburg also said that the city council had the authority to ignore its own code and pass the ordinance anyway on the theory that later ordinances overrule earlier ordinances. Mayor Houston then hastily terminated debate that same night. Under pressure, the council passed the NAPA ordinance. I voted “present” because of all the issues, and aldermen Tim Griffin and Gail Simpson voted “no.”
The next day I requested clarification from Greenburg regarding his legal opinions. After receiving Greenburg’s answers two weeks later, Alderman Frank Edwards started raising hell because of what he and others by then viewed as misleading premises and explanations prior to the vote. Meanwhile, a FOIA answer confirmed that even the State of Illinois did not have a joint purchasing agreement with Minnesota for NAPA parts. That prompted Mayor Houston to ask the council to reaffirm the NAPA contract ordinance with a vote. He wrote on May 13 that he would rebid the automotive parts deal if reaffirmation failed.
But on June 5, having failed to get reaffirmation from the council, Houston broke his word and said he was going forward with the NAPA deal regardless of the council.
So what is the lesson? Competition for government contracts generally yields reduced costs for taxpayers and promotes fairness when everyone gets a chance for city business. Although the Houston administration had a chance to promote competition in government procurement, it instead went the other way.
Joe McMenamin, alderman for Ward 7, is a tax attorney with more than 35 years of public and private law practice. He also served 30 years with the Illinois Army National Guard, advising senior commanders in Illinois, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iceland and Italy.
Jamie Munks
The State Journal-Register
The Springfield City Council on Tuesday approved a nearly $1.8 million contract with a local brokerage firm for insuring city-owned utility properties, but one alderman objected to not first soliciting proposals from other firms. In a 9-1 vote, aldermen approved a three-year contract with broker R.W. Troxell and Co. to insure 40 City Water, Light and Power properties. The contract calls for the city to pay the firm $1,766,900
Jamie Munks
The State Journal-Register
If Springfield aldermen opt to implement an inspector general to investigate reported wrongdoing in city government, the city would apparently join a rather short list of public entities in the state with such a watchdog function. The Illinois chapter of the Association for Inspectors General lists a dozen public entities in the state that have an inspector general function, including state government, several state agencies, the city of Chicago, Cook County
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 