Joe McMenamin for Ward 7Retired 12 year alderman on Springfield City Council 2011-2023
By DEANA STROISCH (deana.stroisch@sj-r.com), THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER, Posted Aug 12, 2011
City inspectors last week found dozens of code violations inside vacant buildings at one of Springfield’s largest apartment complexes. The owner of MacArthur Park Apartments was sent 11 letters, totaling about 55 pages, that outlined electrical, mechanical, plumbing and housing violations found during the Aug. 5 inspection. The city has given the owner,
MacArthur Boulevard Business Association – Government Update August 11, 2011
Joe McMenamin, Alderman, Ward 7
After the City was denied access to inspect the apartment complex on July 18, the City obtained a search warrant, performed a coordinated inspection that found a host of violations, including serious health hazards, in uninhabited buildings of the complex. Those buildings were declared uninhabitable, and City of Springfield Corporation Council will provide notice of violation to the owners of the property. Read the August 5 SJ-R article… If the problems are not corrected, then daily fines will be levied. Photos of the property are below.
Supporters of a tax increment financing district on South MacArthur Boulevard plan to ask the city of Springfield for $15,000 toward the $49,000 cost of hiring a consultant and designing a plan for the district.
Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin told a meeting of the MacArthur Boulevard Business Association on Thursday that he expects the request to be introduced to the Springfield City Council next week.
“It would be enough to accomplish all of the start-up implementation and to have a TIF in being roughly 14 months from today,” said McMenamin.
By DEANA STROISCH (deana.stroisch@sj-r.com) THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER Posted Aug 07, 2011
Springfield’s three newest aldermen say they are optimistic this city council can put politics aside and tackle tough issues — from the budget to abandoned, boarded-up houses. But progress is taking longer than they expected. With their first 100 days in office behind them, Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner, Ward 6 Ald. Cory Jobe and Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin shared their take on city government, their accomplishments and the challenges ahead.
Joe McMenamin, Ward 7
McMenamin said that while he was prepared to devote a lot of time to his aldermanic job, it’s been much more than he imagined.
McMenamin, too, has been working on improving the city’s rules governing problem properties.
He said the city should regularly publish a list online of registered vacant, boarded-up buildings by ward. Doing so, he said, would make it easier to identify those that should be registered but aren’t.
He also has been working on setting up a tax increment finance district to encourage development and help revitalize MacArthur Boulevard. McMenamin said the ordinances are in draft form, and that the Greater Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, village of Leland Grove and others have agreed to help pay for consulting and implementation fees.
He said he also has been researching ways to eliminate the 5 percent pay “spike” that longtime employees in the police and fire department are eligible for during individual pay periods, around their work anniversaries and birthdays. When employees retire during a spike period, their pensions are based on the increased salary rather than their previous pay.
“I think there’s consensus that we will eliminate spiking for union and staff, but it’s a question of timing,” McMenamin said.
He also said the MacArthur Park apartment complex in his ward is in much worse condition than he thought. On Friday, city officials executed a search warrant to inspect vacant units.
McMenamin has been holding regular office hours from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Tuesday and from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturdays at South Side Christian Church, 2600 S. MacArthur Blvd. He said he averages meeting with about two constituents each Tuesday and Saturday.
McMenamin said the city’s biggest challenge ahead is payroll count and levels of pay.
He called the mayor’s move to put 2 percent of the city’s budget in reserve accounts as a “conservative, modest proposal that made sense.”
Overall, he said, this city council has the potential to be very effective.
“I think it’s still very early in this council’s life,” McMenamin said. “A lot that needs to be accomplished is months, and possibly years, away. I think the mayor is still assembling his team. Until that team is put together, there is a limit to what can be accomplished.”
Search warrant in hand, a team of city inspectors Friday morning descended on the MacArthur Park Apartments, one of Springfield’s largest and most troubled housing complexes. The team, which also included members of the police, fire and legal departments, spent 3 1/2 hours inspecting seven four-unit buildings that were mostly vacant. Within the first hour alone, inspectors placarded at least six units as “unsafe and dangerous.” The magnitude of the violations was
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Posted Jul 21, 2011 @ 12:06 AM
…we support an effort by Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin and Ward 6 Ald. Cory Jobe to study creation of a TIF district along MacArthur.
McMenamin, who led a cleanup effort of the Kmart building during his aldermanic campaign, believes a TIF study will cost $35,000 to $55,000 and will take 12 to 15 months to complete. He favors a mix of city and private funding for the study.
TIM LANDIS
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Two Springfield aldermen want to move quickly to create a tax increment financing district to improve blighted areas of MacArthur Boulevard. There still is the question of cost and winning city council approval, Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin and Ward 6 Ald. Cory Jobe told the Macarthur Boulevard Business Association on Thursday.
But they said developer interest in the boulevard has picked up — including an out-of-state developer who is interested in the former Kmart building — and TIF incentives could help that momentum continue.
“It’s very important that we move quickly with a TIF along MacArthur,” McMenamin said.
MacArthur Boulevard Business Association – Government Update June 23, 2011
By Carol Kneedler
Joe McMenamin, Alderman, Ward7
Joe met with Springfield Police and the Leasing Office Staff and Maintenance Office staff of the MacArthur Park Apartments recently. The 2-year picture is one of problems trending up, and some units are in bad shape. The owners will consider adding a clause to the lease to more easily evict problem tenants.
By JOHN REYNOLDS (john.reynolds@sj-r.com), THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Posted Jun 18, 2011
Getting rid of dilapidated signs is the aim of an ordinance being sought by Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin.
Currently, city code requires that a landowner remove advertising panels from a free-standing sign within 90 of the business’s closing. The frame that holds the panels can remain. “That leaves behind the skeletal frame and the pole the frame is on,” McMenamin said. “The frame is left up. What then happens is that years can pass. The frame is ugly, and it’s really an eyesore.”
Several options
McMenamin is looking at more than one option to solve the problem.
One proposal would require the framing be removed within three years of the business closing. The pole could remain. Another possibility would be to leave the panels on the frame, but cover the advertising within 90 days of the closing. That way, the skeletal framing would not be exposed.
‘Residue of past’
Removing old signs was one the issues that came up during McMenamin’s city council campaign this spring. One of the examples he noted was the sign at the old Kmart on MacArthur Boulevard. The skeleton of the frame stood in the parking lot for seven years after the store closed. He talked to the owners of the property, and with the help of the Ace Sign Co., the dilapidated framing was removed after the April election.
“A frame skeleton tends to look ugly. It has the appearance of neglect and decay. If neighborhoods have pride, they would rather have the frames come down. It’s like a residue of the past that is unpleasant to look at,” McMenamin said.
…
Maybe this summer
McMenamin said he is in the process of drafting the new ordinance. He is open to suggestions, which can be made by calling him at 787-2297.
If all goes as planned, the proposal could come before the city council for a first reading by the end of July, and a final vote could be taken in August.
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Posted Jun 17, 2011
Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin will be available to constituents every Tuesday night and Saturday morning at South Side Christian Church.
During his campaign, McMenamin promised to use his aldermanic salary, which is $15,000, to rent office space along MacArthur Boulevard and have office hours on weekends and one night a week.
He will be available to Ward 7 residents from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Tuesday and from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday. The meetings will be in the Resource Center room of the church, 2600 S. MacArthur Boulevard.
The meetings will be held there through August, when McMenamin said he and the church will evaluate the arrangement. No appointments are necessary.
“I’m honoring my pledge,” he said. “This is a really good arrangement for the summer.”
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 