State of the City preview

State of the City preview

3 months, 1 week ago by Jamie Busen, QuincyJournal and WTAD News

Mayor Spring to give annual address tomorrow; He touches on multiple topics, including re-election, in an extended interview

Quincy Mayor John Spring knows he has a lot of ground to cover during his State of the City address at the Friday noon meeting of the Quincy Exchange Club.

Last year was one of a few highs and a couple of setbacks, but Spring believes in progress and has a positive outlook toward the City's future.

From the weather to hydro to the economy, and everything else in between last year, Spring plans to touch upon it all during his annual address.

He shared his thoughts on what's in his message in an interview with the QuincyJournal/WTAD News Wednesday morning.

WEATHER

Quincy had two of its biggest weather events ever take place within six months of each other in 2011. Each instance basically paralyzed the City for days. February's snowstorm and June's windstorm are two things Spring plans on talking about early in his speech.

Spring said after the City attacked the blizzard, everyone was preparing for another spring of flooding. While we were fortunate to make it through another flood season with no major issues like in 2008, Quincy was hit at the end of June with tree-toppling winds.

"Most people spent that night in their basements with flashlights and radios," he said. "I was called out early ... our City looked like a war zone. It was devastating and sickening…all the destruction that occurred. It took awhile to get everyone's lives back to normal."

ECONOMY & BATTLE WITH THE STATE

In between the weather events, Spring said, we were still dealing with a stagnant economy.

"We were still trying to recover. We were working through our finances with the City where we wouldn't be in a position where we'd have to have furloughs or layoffs," he said.

Spring said there's one big reason for that: Being proactive. He said they realized several years ago when the economy really started to suffer that the City needed to get out in front of the issue. The early retirement program was created, a move aimed at saving more than $5 million during the first four years. They are on target to meet or exceed that goal, the Mayor said.

"We were way ahead and I credit a lot of people within the City for that. We needed to be in a position where we wouldn't be faced with situations that a lot of cities are still faced with. That's one of the things we still worked on throughout 2011," Spring said. "We strengthened the City's finances by doing that (the ERI). We also improved the management of cash flow by streamlining purchasing procedures. This all benefited the local taxpayers, and we still kept all of our core services working and working for the taxpayer."

Many mayors throughout Illinois continue to rally to try to convince the state "they've gotta start paying their bills, and they can't start taking shared revenue that is earned in our communities. Late payments in that shared revenue makes life miserable for all of us."

Spring said Illinois is currently about four months behind in paying income tax revenues.

"If we hadn't had a good plan to be proactive, we might be in a lot more difficult trouble than we are, but I think we've managed it quite well."

Other cities, such as Springfield and Peoria, are laying off employees. That's something Quincy has not had to do. The City has 317 employees - down from 348 a few years ago - without any layoffs, thanks to the ERI.

Spring, who sits as sergeant-at-arms for the Illinois Municipal League, said he's been working on legislation with others to allow electronic transfers of shared revenue funds. He and other members of the IML are hoping someone will sponsor the bill.

"We wouldn't have to wait for the checks to be mailed out, once the revenues are established, it could be moved over," Spring explained. He said now, the shared revenues are used by the state. "And of course when they use it, when are they going to get around to sending the shared revenue to these municipalities?"

Those dollars earned in the communities belong back in the cities, Spring said.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

One thing that lies ahead for 2012, Spring said, is to keep an eye on spending.

"We are going to live within our means and not impose additional taxes. I have a lowered tax rate and I think the Council will support that, prior to the final version prior to April," he said of the budget. "We will have a balanced, conservative budget."

Spring said he and the administration plans to monitor spending and make sure those budgets are followed.

"We'll look at the budget on a monthly basis, and maybe if the budget looks out of whack we will certainly try to correct that," he said. "We have to be prepared to project good, solid tax revenues."

A bigger challenge facing the entire country is the job market.

"We've worked with various local groups to make sure we have a good, solid work force here," he said. He added that the recent announcement of Knapheide Manufacturing hiring up to 100 new workers was "great news."

That's an indication, Spring said, that improvements are indeed being made locally. "That's what we need more of. I also realize that the underemployment number never really is addressed."

Those are people who lost head of household jobs but are now working for lower wages, possibly without benefits.

"We've got to work on everything we can so jobs can be created in this economy and certainly in this region," he said. "I can't produce jobs. In fact I've reduced our workforce. And sometimes you have to do that, but at the same time you have to be cognitive of new jobs."

He said the area has a lot of strong retail jobs, though only a handful of those are head of household ones.

"Again it is great to have people work and our retail industry is really strong here, our local tax income is up, and those are all pretty impressive numbers, but I realize what we've been dealing with. We need to work with the underemployed and the unemployed to get them jobs, to help build a better workforce and to train or retrain people for new opportunities in employment," Spring said.

He echoed Missouri Governor Jay Nixon's recent announcement of support for the Enbridge Pipeline. It would touch the northern part of Adams County - a welcome opportunity for those who work in construction, an industry that's suffered in recent years.

TRANSPORTATION

Highways, Cape Air and Amtrak will all have places in the State of the City Address. Cape Air was a big story of 2011, and continues to be so for this year with the upcoming opening of the maintenance hub and the recent opening of a downtown ticket office.

"We've got a great regional carrier, and I still want to work on getting us back to Chicago," Spring said. "That's one of my goals."

POSTAL SERVICE

Keeping Quincy's postal distribution center open is vital. While Spring knows it isn't up to him, he can still fight for it. In November, he joined a long list of others who spoke before officials from the postal service at a public forum.

"It's an issue a lot of communities are faced with. I'm concerned about our sorting center," Spring said. "Getting a stay, if you will, until May was very good news for us and it's allowing Congress and the Senate to review this ... I just think they are shifting their cost and they aren't saving anything by doing this ... The post office has served this country for more than 200 years and I can't imagine they are going to wipe out this product in a fashion that is literally going to decimate these communities."

Spring said he knows it's an uphill battle, but he'll do what he can, including a possible trip to Washington D.C. to testify.

HYDRO

It's not everyone's favorite topic, but it will still be included in the Mayor's address.

Last year around this time, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected Quincy's attempt to build a hydropower project at Lock and Dam 21. Last year ended up being the year of hydro - or, lack thereof.

"For the most part, people are probably tired of listening to this, but the bottom line is we were trying to do something good ... to bring a renewable energy source," Spring said. "I'm extremely disappointed our plans for 21 were extinguished by FERC. It is a difficult federal agency."

Spring said he was pleased with Senator Mark Kirk's comments - which he did not solicit - last month at a meeting at the Quincy Chamber of Commerce. Kirk laid the blame for the failure to get a license squarely on the federal government, citing outdated regulations of FERC.

"He said the community shouldn't be upset with its leaders, it should be upset with FERC ... they are supposed to be promoting this wonderful opportunity and they not only shunned it away, they've given the permit to a company that has 42 permits and only has one operational," Spring said. "It's a sad state."

The City does still hold the permits for Lock and Dams 24 and 25. Those are set to expire at the end of April. Spring said they are still trying to work with Coastal Hydropower on a partnership - but the City would spend no more money.

"We don't have any money in the game. They know that, they are aware that under the present circumstances we'll do our best to help," he said. "Maybe FERC will allow Coastal to move forward with developing plans for 24 and 25. At the end of the day, it would still help this region with a renewable energy source ... it would not harm the environment in any way. I hope that would happen, without us putting any more dollars toward it. I hope someday FERC will realize their job is to assist this country in renewable resources to reduce our dependency on foreign products."

MOVING FORWARD

Spring knows it means spending money - about $3,000 a year, the administration estimates - but he said it's time to light Bayview Bridge.

"I've got federal dollars," he said, saying he wasn't sure about the initial start-up cost. "We do have to have a local match."

It's an idea that's been delayed a few years, and Spring said he was glad that happened because newer, less expensive technology is now around.

"It's one of our most distinguishable things about Quincy, I think it would be beautiful and a tribute to make Quincy what it is. A tribute to all the floods we've fought. I just think it's such a recognizable landmark and we should take pride in lighting it up," he said.

They'd have the ability to change out colors - for example, lighting up the bridge pink to promote Breast Cancer Awareness month. It could glow red, white and blue for the Fourth of July. Blue and gold or blue and white could be seen when the local high schools head to a state championship.

"I hope the Council will realize it's a great time to do this. I can only imagine how beautiful the bridge would be, and I look forward to the challenge to get this approved," Spring said.

Spring was impressed with the new smart phone app the Historic Quincy Business District recently launched, and has thought about one for the City of Quincy. An app that among other things would allow citizens to register a complaint - a malfunctioned stoplight, an illegal dumping, a troublesome pothole - with the push of a button.

"It would get us that immediately. Part of it is trying to take the old system away. We have an antiquated way of doing things, and we need to get our City council and our administration into the 21st century. This is one step that I think could be a good thing." he said.

Spring also said talks with the fiber networks company i3 have resumed.

Last summer, the company said it pulled out of a planned fibercity project in Quincy because the Council "made the project commercially unviable by imposing a number of charges and constraints ... which meant the project no longer made sense for commercial investors." The hope was that citizens could have access to high speed Internet via fiber optics through the sewer system.

"We've gotten some answers to some things we were concerned about," Spring said. "We have got a chance now. I feel good. There are a few other partners at the table and I think if we can get an opportunity to bring fiber to the home, that's a big plus for the community."

THE BIG QUESTION

The question posed: Are you running for another term?

"There's too much time. I'm really into the last quarter of my second term, and I've plenty of time to reach a decision," Spring said. "I don't think we've done too badly. Look at what we've gone through just the last two years. We're holding a budget together in a bad economy time. It takes leadership to do that. And that's an indication that Quincy is still moving in the right direction. I'd love to see us continue to make great strides, to be a progressive community that can bring in more residents and attract jobs."

Spring won't touch upon the re-election during his address. He said in closing, he'll say he's going to continue to look ahead to continue to try to make sure Quincy is a safe, supportive and culturally rich community.

"We need to have more pride," he said. "More pride in our schools, in our workforce, in everything…in order to make it better for all of us here."