Author: joeward7

Sheila Stocks-Smith
The Illinois Times

This upcoming Nov. 6 election is important because voters will help decide who gets the nation’s top job while they pick winners for congressional and state legislative seats, some local offices and ballot initiatives. And, while Springfield voters get their chance to shape the national, state and local political landscape, a local advisory referendum on residency requirements will also allow Springfield voters to have impact on an issue close to home.

This time, though, Springfield voters must pay close attention to the issue of residency requirements because the advisory question embodies more than just dictating where city employees live. It articulates whether we want to preserve Springfield’s identity as a city or adopt a regional vision for our area.

Bruce Rushton

Illinois Times

Sep 13, 2012

Debate over short-term loan businesses on MacArthur Boulevard has erupted anew three years after the Springfield City Council restricted the proliferation of businesses that profit from making installment loans.

At issue is what constitutes a business subject to the city’s ban on loan establishments locating within 1,500 feet of like businesses on a decaying section of MacArthur Boulevard. The city hopes to rejuvenate the commercial strip with the help of a new tax-increment financing district formed to aid development of a proposed Hy-Vee supermarket at the site of a long-closed K-Mart.

But the Springfield building and zoning department initially rejected a TitleMax application for a building permit to allow a move to the nearby Town and Country shopping center, also on MacArthur Boulevard.

But Mayor Mike Houston points out that the city ordinance applies to payday loan operations as defined by the state. It turns out that loans involving collateral such as vehicle titles are different than loans made in exchange for a check post-dated to the date a borrower gets a paycheck, at least so far as the state is concerned.

“At the time that the ordinance was passed there was no consideration given to businesses that accept collateral,” Houston wrote in an email response to questions. “Therefore, there would be no provisions that would prevent TitleMax from moving across the street (Outer Park Drive) from its present location.”

“I consider TitleMax to be just like another loan-store operation that was intended to be addressed under this ordinance,” Jobe said. “I think we should enforce the law as it was intended to be enforced. … In the spirit of the ordinance, we never dreamed of TitleMax being out of it.”

In a recent email to city zoning officials, however, James Zerkle, an attorney who is one of the owners of Town and Country, wrote that TitleMax has a lease with the shopping center and the city could be on the hook for economic losses if a building permit is improperly denied.

 
Like Jobe, Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin said that the distinction between payday loan operations and title-loan businesses came as a surprise. “It’s kind of a new question,” McMenamin said.

McMenamin, who is a lawyer, said that it is likely too late for the city to stop TitleMax from moving. He said title-loan businesses provide a service in that borrowers rejected by conventional banks can get lower interest rates than offered by payday loan stores. But he didn’t reject revisiting the ordinance.

“I’m really open-minded on the issue,” McMenamin said.

Read the full article at illinoistimes.com…

DEANA STROISCH (deana.stroisch@sj-r.com)

About $2 million from the downtown TIF district was approved a year and a half ago for work on the Motor Inn, along with seven other commercial properties from 308 to 322 E. Monroe St.

Developer Bob Barker recently told The State Journal-Register that a cost analysis showed that the best use of the buildings would be retail space. The city’s deal with Barker includes $210,000 for property acquisition and $650,000 for environmental cleanup and rehabilitation.

All of the properties are vacant.

Ward 8 Ald. Kris Theilen said the Motor Inn project exposed a loophole in the TIF approval process. He said aldermen should ask that any major changes in a project’s scope come back to the city council for approval.

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Read the full article at sj-r.com…

DEANA STROISCH (deana.stroisch@sj-r.com)

A team of inspectors and city officials descended on the apartment complex with a search warrant a year ago and found about 200 violations. Inspectors have

DEANA STROISCH
The State Journal-Register

Bruce Rushton

Illinois Times

August 23rd, 2012

A little more than a year after the start of a housing inspection blitz, nearly all of the MacArthur Park apartment complex in Springfield has been inspected. City officials acknowledge some progress at the 188-unit complex near Jerome known for blight and crime. But they’re not satisfied after inspecting 38 four-plexes since Aug. 5 of last year, with 10 buildings left to go.

The city has been conducting inspections in waves of five or six buildings every six weeks or so, and Sadowski said the city has been

DEANA STROISCH
The State Journal-Register

Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin, who sponsored the ordinance, said

DEANA STROISCH
The State Journal-Register

Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin, who pushed for the ballot measure, isn’t celebrating yet. “Until the mayor signs the resolution, it’s not over yet,” he said. “I hope the mayor will say: ‘Let the voters speak.”

Deana Stroisch
The State Journal-Register