Joe McMenamin for Ward 7Retired 12 year alderman on Springfield City Council 2011-2023
Jason Nevel
The State Journal-Register
Aug 24, 2013
Springfield Mayor Mike Houston says the city will submit results of a recent study on gravel pits in the Sangamon River Valley to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers for review.
Meanwhile, the conclusion reached in the study that the gravel pits near Riverton are not a viable option as a secondary water source is facing scrutiny.
Jason Nevel
The State Journal-Register
Sep 02, 2013
Often overlooked for the past decade, the condition of alleyways in Springfield is getting closer scrutiny. In the past year, Springfield Public Works Director Mark Mahoney said the city has implemented a two-pronged approach to restoring alleyway order in Springfield.
Jason Nevel, The State Journal-Register, Aug 14, 2013
Another nomination by Mayor Mike Houston to a city commission raised eyebrows from aldermen Tuesday night. Council members held an ordinance in committee to approve the appointment of Michael Geiger, a former Springfield deputy police chief, to the Police Community Review Commission.
Jason Nevel
The State Journal-Register
Aug 01, 2013
A memorandum of understanding that changed the Springfield police union’s contract to allow for the premature destruction of internal affairs files should not have affected Deputy Chief Cliff Buscher’s records, a deposition revealed.
When Mark Cullen abruptly resigned as the city of Springfield’s top lawyer July 19, the city lost someone who had a hand in nearly every important decision made in local government, aldermen say.
With Cullen out of the picture — in the wake of a file-shredding scandal that also prompted the retirement of Police Chief Robert Williams — some aldermen say they are worried about how it will affect government operations.
Mayor Mike Houston accepted Cullen’s resignation, effective at the end of August, but said he told Cullen he no longer wanted him handling city affairs. So that stack of papers left sitting on his desk will have to be divvied up among the six assistant counsels on the city payroll.
As the top lawyer in the corporation counsel’s office, Cullen was the one who would meet daily with the mayor, he was the point man for aldermen who had any legal questions, he was familiar with all the lawsuits the city is involved in, and he provided another layer of review before any ordinance or contract came before the city council.
“The city attorney position is the most important operational position in all of city government, other than the mayor’s office,” said Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin, an attorney himself. “The city attorney is involved in every department, every important decision, every important contract and important ordinance. “It’s a major setback for city operations.”
Picking replacement
On Thursday, the mayor named an interim replacement for Cullen.
But instead of looking within the ranks — as Houston did when he promoted Cmdr. Kenny Winslow to be interim police chief — he tapped a retired judge, Springfield native John Mehlick, who is scheduled to take the position Aug. 15 and will be paid at the same $110,753-a-year rate as Cullen, who was appointed by Houston and had been in the job since July 2011.
Houston said Friday the reason he chose to bring someone in from the outside was to maintain the same level of staffing and get a fresh perspective about ways to improve operations.
***
Cullen’s successor
Houston has not laid out a timetable publicly for naming Cullen’s permanent replacement, saying only that it will “take some time.” He acknowledged last week that not having a corporation counsel adversely affects city government, but added that the office would continue to function.
Before Cullen’s appointment, Houston’s first choice for corporation counsel, Tom Kelty, withdrew his name from consideration after being questioned about his background, which included more than two decades of financial difficulty and professional turmoil.
Making the choice himself is the same process Houston’s used before, but McMenamin wishes the mayor would take a different approach. McMenamin suggested an informal committee of legal advisers review candidates and then make a recommendation to aldermen. That approach has worked in other communities, he said.
“It’s going to be hard to find the right person to fill the position because it’s a very demanding job that requires a broad spectrum of skills,” McMenamin said. “It requires sound and mature legal and political judgment.”
***In the interest of space, this story has been edited from the original.Read the full article at sj-r.com…
Dan Petrella
The State Journal-Register
Jul 19, 2013
A week of relative silence from Springfield city hall amid a widening controversy over the destruction of police internal-affairs records ended late Friday afternoon with Mayor Mike Houston’s announcement that the city’s top cop is retiring and its top attorney will resign.
Police Chief Robert Williams, a 26-year veteran of the department, called Houston on Friday to announce his plan to retire, effective Oct. 22, the mayor said. Corporation Counsel Mark Cullen also called the mayor Friday to make known his intention to resign upon his return from a trip out of the country.
“We will work out a mutually agreeable timetable that will allow for an orderly transition,” Houston said.
The mayor said he plans to name an acting chief in the near future and take applications from people interested in becoming the permanent replacement.
Deputy Chief Cliff Buscher, whose internal-affairs file is at the center of the controversy, is not interested in becoming acting or permanent police chief, Houston said. Buscher will remain in his current role.
The controversy began when it came to light that Williams, without the approval of the mayor or city council, had signed an agreement with the president of the police union April 25 allowing internal-affairs records to be destroyed after four years instead of five.
That same day, the department shredded records that included documents related to Buscher’s 2008 arrest for firing his service weapon while drunk on a fishing trip in Missouri. Calvin Christian III two weeks earlier had requested those records under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
Documents leaked to television station WICS Channel 20 and posted on its website this week show that Lt. Christopher Mueller, head of police internal affairs, voiced objections to assistant corporation counsel Geannette Wittendorf and Williams and requested a direct order from the chief before proceeding with the shredding.
One email shows Cullen giving the final legal OK. However, several aldermen said Cullen told them during a closed-door meeting that he hadn’t seen the agreement until after the documents were destroyed. Wittendorf, who had only been the police department’s legal adviser for about two weeks at the time, initialed the memorandum of understanding that Williams and union president Don Edwards signed.
***
‘Necessary steps’
Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin called the announcements “difficult but necessary steps.”
“I think we really need a marathon session with our mayor behind closed doors,” McMenamin said. “We’ve had a lot to digest, and we need to talk about, analyze it. And hopefully the mayor will be receptive to what the council members have to say.”
Edwards said he thinks that discussion should take place in public. McMenamin said he’d be open to a public discussion as well.
Some still have questions about Buscher remaining in his role as the department’s main spokesman and public face. For his part, Houston said it will be important to let an independent investigation of the events surrounding the destruction of the police documents play out.
***
Jason Nevel
The State Journal-Register
Jul 08, 2013
Springfield Park District officials balked at the notion Monday that they have committed to accepting donated land for a new park at Veterans Parkway and Jefferson Street.
Developers for Jefferson Crossing, a proposed $24 million commercial development on the site of the former Jefferson Mall, plan to dig up thousands of cubic yards of dirt, leaving a giant hole that could be converted into a fishing pond and donated to the park district. Developers say they need to raise the land 14 feet to bring it out of a 100-year floodplain. About 18 acres of the 44-acre site could be donated.
Park board president Leslie Sgro said Monday the board signed a letter of intent last September stating it would be interested in acquiring the property. However, the letter was not a guarantee, she noted.
The issue was raised at last week’s Springfield City Council meeting by Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin.
At the meeting, aldermen signed off on a plan to reimburse the developer $9.2 million from the Jefferson Crossing tax increment financing district that was created in 2007. Since there’s been no development at the site, the TIF fund has little money in it but is expected to generate millions once the commercial project is completed.
Asked by McMenamin last week about the park district accepting the donated land, Mayor Mike Houston said, “As far as we know, the park district will take the property.”
But that’s not necessarily the case, park officials say. Sgro said the board is in a much different financial position than it was last year, and adding another park would come at a cost for the already-cash-strapped park district.
In other parks with ponds, interim executive director Derek Harms said the park district has to spend money to curb algae growth. There are too many questions at this point,” Harms said. “We need to weigh all the pros and cons and get a better idea of what the land will look like before we make any decisions.”
Jason Nevel
Developers of 44 acres at Veterans Parkway and Jefferson Street pledged Tuesday to hire local contractors for infrastructure work when the project breaks ground, possibly as soon as Aug. 1.
The $24 million commercial development, which includes $9.2 million in tax increment financing reimbursement, got the formal green light from the Springfield City Council.
Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin — who has questioned the size of the TIF allocation, the largest the city has ever granted — was the lone “no” vote.
Pat Ryan, a manager of the Jefferson Crossing LLC, told aldermen he expects 35 to 40 construction jobs will be generated.
The developer will secure financing from a bank to fund the project, which could cost up to $24 million, and will then be reimbursed $9.2 million of that cost via the Jefferson Crossing TIF that was created in 2007. A number of significant changes, including raising the site 14 feet to bring it out of the 100-year floodplain, will have to occur to develop the area, according to Ryan.
***
Springfield sewer rates will rise by 5 percent effective Monday, the first of 10 annual increases that will help pay for improvements to the city’s sanitary and combined sewers. The city estimates the average customer will pay about an extra 50 cents a month for each annual increase, or a total of $5.92 per month at the end of 10 years. The last Springfield sewer rate hike was in 1996.
Aldermen in April approved the sewer rate hikes, in addition to increasing the sales tax from 8 percent to 8.5 percent, to fix Springfield’s worst streets, sidewalks and sewers. The sales tax hike takes effect Jan. 1.
The ordinance, sponsored by Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin and Ward 9 Ald. Steven Dove, calls for the city to use the additional sewer revenue to repay low-interest loans available through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The city plans to borrow $60 million over 10 years to finance $55 million in sewer improvements.
The rate hikes will allow the city to implement a 30-year, $100 million improvement initiative.
A “facilities plan” that will detail the city’s proposed sewer work for the next five years will be submitted to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency this month. The city could then be eligible for the low-interest loans next summer, Mahoney said.
The Springfield Metro Sanitary District increased its sewer fees by another 6 percent in May, the sixth in a series of nine annual rate hikes to pay for a $120 million expansion of the district’s sewage treatment facilities.
CWLP collects the fees on behalf of the sanitary district.
Deana Stroisch
A Springfield alderman is questioning a proposed agreement that gives developers of 17 acres at Jefferson Street and Veterans Parkway $9.2 million in tax increment financing. “I’ve never seen one like this before — this generous to the developer,” said Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin.
Under the proposed redevelopment agreement, which aldermen are scheduled to vote on Tuesday, the developer will be reimbursed for 100 percent of qualifying expenses from TIF funds. Typically, only a portion of expenses are reimbursed.
McMenamin also pointed out that the agreement doesn’t require the developers to spend the $24 million they estimate the total project to cost.
City officials defend the agreement, saying it’s the only way the site, which includes the former Jefferson Mall, will be developed.
To develop the area into a retail and commercial center, the site will have to be raised 14 feet to bring it out of the 100-year floodplain. The developer plans to dig up thousands of cubic yards of dirt from one part of the site, which will create a giant hole that will be turned into a fishing lake and donated to the Springfield Park District.
** See the layout for the development (pdf) **
Other infrastructure improvements will include relocating overhead power lines and underground sanitary sewer lines, along with adding turn lanes, traffic signals and sidewalks to Winch Road and Jefferson Street. The request for $9.2 million, if approved, would be the largest single TIF award Springfield has ever granted.
Mayor Mike Houston has encouraged aldermen to approve the agreement, noting that the developer must pay the expenses up front and will only be reimbursed from tax increment that is generated from the development itself.
Farmer noted that the Park South redevelopment received reimbursement for all of its infrastructure-related expenses when that TIF district was established more than 23 years ago. In that case, he said, bonds were sold to supply money up front and the bond debt service was retired over time via TIF reimbursement.
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 