Sangamon Sun

Sangamon County Board met October 10.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

The Sangamon County Board met in Reconvened Adjourned September Session on October 10, 2017 in the County Board Chambers. Chairman Van Meter called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Mr. Hall gave the Invocation and Mr. Smith led the County Board in the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Bunch asked for a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims in Las Vegas and for their families.

Roll Call:

Chairman Van Meter asked County Clerk Gray to call the roll. There were 25 Present – 4 Absent. Mr. O’Neill, Ms. Sheehan, Mr. Snell, and Mr. Sullivan were excused.

Proclamation:

Mr. Mendenhall presented a Proclamation to 911 Emergency Dispatcher Ashley Martin for leading a citizen of Sangamon County to successfully perform a life-saving act and further inspiring the caller to organize others to be trained in CPR. Mr. Mendenhall stated, after 35 years that he spent in emergency services, this is quite an honor to be able to present this Proclamation tonight.

Mrs. Martin stated she is honored to be here, and it is a good feeling to be recognized for just doing her job. She is very fortunate to have her babies here with her, and she knows the caller and her husband have three young children about the same age, and she is very happy everything worked out for them and that she was able to provide the help to make sure he gets to stay with his babies. Sarah and John Kerley were also present. Mrs. Kerley, the caller, addressed the County Board. She hopes no one is in the spot that she was. From the moment that John’s heart stopped they were showered with blessings upon blessings. The first of those, though she didn’t quite know it at the time, was having Ashley on the other end of the phone.

When you live through something like this your girlfriends say “I told my husband he would just be dead because I couldn’t do it”. But, they can do it. She tries to tell people they can do it. They need to follow the instructions and do the things you tell your kids to do. Ashley gave the easiest instructions and continued to tell her exactly what she needed to do. When she got tired, Ashley told her when they were two minutes away. They are very glad Memorial actually has someone that gets people in contact with personnel. It is not every day you get to look at the person who literally gave you your family back. She prays for Ashley every day and will until she can’t anymore. She is really appreciative of this body for recognizing Ashley for her hard work.

Presentation By The Development Consortium:

Chairman Van Meter explained the next matter of business this evening is the culmination of a project that began almost a year ago. A project that was instigated by this Board recognizing some significant and alarming changes in the demographics and the economics of this community that were initially reflected to them and reported by the Finance Committee, as reflected in their property tax collections. As you will recall, at that time as a board, they determined to expend some public funds to ask for a thorough and clear-eye economic development assessment of their community and for advice as to what they can do to advance the economic development of their community. Tonight, after 140 interviews with people from a broad cross-section of the community, they have the results of that report. Those of you who have read it can attest to the comments they heard today for the first time saying it is eye-opening and very impressive. He introduced COO Craig Coil and CEO Janet Mathis of the Development Consortium for a slideshow presentation.

Mr. Coil and Mrs. Mathis addressed the County Board. It was about a year ago they went down this road. They can tell you it was not without some degree of trepidation. They thought they knew what to expect to some degree, and as the project went on, it became clear they were not even close to understanding all the things going on in this community, or perhaps what is not going on in this community. Mr. Coil told them a little bit about their company. Janet Mathis is technically the CEO of the Development Consortium. They are an Illinois S Corporation headquartered in Petersburg and Geneseo, Illinois. They do site selection, incentive negotiations, and are actively involved in Illinois enterprise zones and related economic development consulting to corporations, governmental bodies, not-for-profit entities, and regional and statewide organizations. Mrs. Mathis added they have both been Chairmen of the Board of Directors for the Economic Development Organization of Professionals across the state at one point in time.

Mr. Coil stated they were hired to look at the past practices of economic development, take a look at what is going on currently, and look a little bit into the future. They were asked to look at best practices that might be migrated to Sangamon County. A comment has been made about what is different about this study. Nearly 130 people were interviewed from over 95 unique entities. The interviewees represented the following: business, labor, local & state government, education, non- profits, utility & transportation partners, local economic development entities, and national/ international site selectors. Some of the questions asked were: What are the positives & negatives of doing business in Sangamon County? Would you encourage business in your line of work to locate here? Who advocates for/leads economic development here?

Are these economic development efforts successful? In the last 45 years, why has Sangamon County/Springfield not developed into an economically diverse and vibrant region like other Midwestern state capitals? The responses to those questions were direct. Some of the positive responses of being here were: it’s close to Chicago, St. Louis, and Indianapolis; it’s a good place to raise a family; it’s safe; it’s a close-knit community; good quality of life; and it’s a small-big town. Some of the negative responses of being here were: it’s not a stimulating community, and there is no venue for acceptance of new ideas; our kids don’t come back here; air travel is challenging; there is no plan; people are negative; no one is bringing it all together, entities are operating in silos; Springfield is a segregated community; there are perceived barriers to access, and there is a feeling you must be politically connected to get anything done.

Another question asked was if businesses should come here. Responses were: don’t come here, and there’s not enough business for everyone now; make sure to connect with the right political people; don’t depend on this area to make you; network; and have your development pre- approved before you decide to come here or you will be delayed.

Responses for who advocates for economic development in this community were: no one (Was more than 55% of the responses); the City and aldermen; County Board and Chairman Van Meter; the Chamber (I guess); Q5 is not worth the investment; not one common voice (City, DSI, Chamber CVB, PCCC); business leaders like Corky Joyner and John Fulgenzi; volunteer leaders of economic development entities; my accountant.

Responses when asked if economic development efforts are successful were: certain initiatives have potential to be successful but we don’t have a track record of sticking with anything, especially if it’s hard; no, things here are about confrontation and not collaboration; transformational action is needed or this town will not compete in the future for people and jobs; we’re stuck in the past; and I don’t know. I mean, who’s in charge? That’s a stupid question. Look around. What other capital city do you know that has this much vacant space?

The responses to the 45-year question were: we’re not welcoming, we’re close minded, and we’re not business friendly; there’s a complete lack of a community vision, but even if we had one, who could lead it? No offense, but we’ve had lots of studies and plans, but no action; nobody needed a plan, we had the state; we didn’t have a strong downtown-based university; there’s been a long- term brain drain. The unspoken message for our kids is that you have to go away to be successful. And when they leave, they don’t want to come back.

In conclusion, their study shows there is a lack of unified community vision; a lack of authority by a singular entity focused on economic development to coordinate all related activities in the region; and there is a lack of leadership that is truly pushing for economic development to be focused and collaborative with a regional initiative.

Sangamon County has a lot of entities operating in silos today. There are some positive efforts occurring, but no holistic coordination of process. Instead of having a silo that just works on workforce issues, they need to see how that impacts what they are doing for research, communications, marketing, public policy, infrastructure, access to capital, and outreach to the community and to the broader states and the nation. How those things work together are all part of a holistic economic development ecosystem where all entities and programs are integrated and coordinated.

Economic Development is the only thing that is impacted by every single thing that happens in your community. The County is really at a crossroads. They can do the same old stuff, or they can change. Sangamon County needs to know what it is, what it wants to be, and embrace vision; to quit performing below capacity; stop living in the past; bridge the silos; engage all parts of county in economic development strategy; recognize that economic diversity is integral to economic health; embrace business retention efforts and know their problems and needs; and foster entrepreneurial atmosphere. They also need to understand and work to address employers’ workforce needs; create and implement a robust regional marketing strategy; plan for a support place-making and quality of life improvements; be inclusive of diverse thoughts and backgrounds in developing the regional vision and in carrying out its implementation; and transition into a Global Innovation Economy. Place- making means creating the place where people want to live, work, play and be educated. It’s creating more spaces where more people are actually living and is more vibrant, such as downtown. You are investing in the future of your children and grandchildren. You want to make it a place where everybody wants to be.

The region has been studied to death, so it’s time for action! The ways to move forward are: to create a new public-private partnership focused exclusively on job creation and retention, investment and wealth creation; appropriately fund this new entity, realizing this is a long term substantial financial commitment and that results will not happen overnight. They should hire first rate economic development professionals, especially in the CEO/President position, and adequately staff the entity. They should also develop a regional vision and give the new public-private partnership authority to implement it by creating a collaborative regional ecosystem. That board needs to provide leadership to drive catalytic change.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. People have asked them why they would need another private-public partnership if they already have one. Why not restructure? The region has essentially been handling economic development within the same structure for 40 plus years. The results are stellar. They have not had an entity solely focused on jobs, investment, growth, vision and authority. Until you do, things probably won’t change. It has to be a priority. Wages have been stagnating, the county is an out-migrator, and property values are not increasing. A new public-private partnership will allow past encumbrances to be shed, and can be solely focused on factors involved in job creation and retention and investment and wealth creation.

The working title they are using moving forward will be Sangamon Success 2030. It will be a private non-for-profit economic development corporation entity. For Sangamon County to be successful they propose a private sector led Board of Directors that have significant capital into the project. The board should include: community business leaders, the Chairman of the Sangamon County Board, and the Mayor of Springfield. As ex-officio members they would have: the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce and the Springfield Black Chamber of Commerce. They need to get everyone focused on this one initiative that is broad and wide-reaching and ranging. This organization will need to be adequately funded and staffed. The projected budget should be around $1.5 to $2 million. It will be a major push to try and get funding for this. You will have the Board of Directors that drives the division. The chief executive officer runs the organization. You will have the employer attraction staff, data/research staff, marketing/social media/communications staff, and an administrative coordinator to keep everybody in line and run the office. They will need to create and implement a collaborative ecosystem engaging entities involved in all aspects of economic development.

The board structure is limited but should engage all aspects of the community because everyone is involved in economic development. They have proposed having working councils focused on specific areas. They include: a job creation/retention, a workforce development council, a place- making council, a cultural diversity council, an entrepreneurship council, and a rural/suburban development council. They would all report to a growth development board. This is a working framework and will ultimately be what works best here. This is all about the community vision. Whatever your community envisions itself to be, these entities or pieces they are seeing from their interviews are what the different focuses need to be to help create that vision moving forward.

Mr. Coil and Mrs. Mathis encouraged them to read the report at their leisure and to call or email them with any questions, comments, or concerns. They thanked them for the opportunity to do this. This is their home too, in many ways, despite the fact they work across the country. What comes out of this is as important to them as it is to the County and to the leadership of the County.

Mr. DelGiorno asked how they would propose getting a buy in from other local governments, especially the City of Springfield. Mr. Coil stated it would just be like anything else, just lay out the facts and communicate the message. Everybody needs to be on the same page communicating that message. The City has seen this report, so you can see how they react to it. They have to step up at some point and be a leader in this process as well, otherwise they will have the same responses to these questions in a few years that you are having right now. They know there are politics involved in this, but as consultants they do not care about that. They encourage you to talk to your Aldermen and city officials and to say “Look we’ve got to get behind a single effort, we’ve got to get this county turned around.” You may think everything is fine, but here are your indicators, and we are not heading in the right direction. We need to work together on a common plan and strategy.” It is a sales job.

Chairman Van Meter offered two pieces of the puzzle. One, they have already had a significant buy-in into this program from the business leaders in the community that were identified in the study. Two, they have a window of opportunity at the County and at the City since their economic development director, her assistant, and other staff have left and their positions have not been filled. They could re-direct resources that have not been expended.

Annette Fulgenzi asked what portion of the funds would be coming from the private sector versus the public. Mr. Coil explained the reality of it is the public sector would probably have to carry a little more weight. Eventually they hope that would transition over. That does usually happen. You always have skeptics, but as success starts to happen and progress starts to be made, then people want to be a part of it. Mrs. Mathis stated you ultimately want to have at least 50% of the private sector. It does get there, but it does take some time to get the buy in.

Mr. Stumpf stated he really appreciates when they said the State of Illinois will get better. There has been so much negativity. That should entice many of the silos to get together because everyone wants to see this state get turned around and to see change.

Linda Fulgenzi stated this is a 69 page report and she has gotten to page 47, so she hasn’t gotten to what they are saying the County should do. She asked if they have a solution so they can have the people in each of these silos give up some of their power for the common good. She asked if that would be a problem for them. Mrs. Mathis explained that is why they need to have a strong board in leadership positions to be able to help that get forwarded along. That really is one of the major roles for the Board of Directors for an organization that is an economic development corporation. They should realize when there are roadblocks along the way and be a voice from the outside to say “We need to figure this out and get this worked out, and we all agree we are going towards this vision, so we need to play well together.” Mr. Coil stated he has seen in other communities where they always just have that one group that is not doing it.

Mr. Hall expressed his appreciation for coming here to tell them some of this bad news. Often times they have people that kind of make things seem nice. He has struggled with the Chamber for years, and he used to be a member. It’s not that he doesn’t support growth, but he’s had the opportunity to have businesses that looked at his area of Sangamon County. He is kind of old school and believes in bringing meat to the cave. The things he hears the most when he talks to businesses are about roads, streets, utilities, plumbing, water, and sewer. They are an agricultural county and he thinks sometimes that is their only economic engine. They may do this, but you want a lot of money in order for this to happen. How many years, months, or decades until they can see where their money was spent and this was not a bad investment, or when do they say when to pull the plug? Mr. Coil stated that is a good question. One way to look at it is they have waited 45 years to pull the plug on what has been going on now. Mr. Coil stated they don’t want any of your money. It is up to the community and this organization to decide about the money issue and not them. The reality of it is if you are doing this right, it will take some time. You should start seeing some positive movement in about two to three years in terms of creating the vision and message for the community in who you want to be. You may not see actual tangible regular positive results for 5, 7, or 10 years. This is where the other factors come into this. You hope the State gets their act together so businesses not only want to locate in Springfield and Sangamon County but also in the State of Illinois. You are at a time in history where you can position this community to be ready for the turnaround. If you miss this opportunity and the State gets better, which it will, and you are not ready, then you will be left in the dust. So you have to decide whether it’s important to you or not.

Mr. Preckwinkle asked what kind of leadership this new board will acquire because they have been trying to do this for quite a while. What will make this leadership different and have a positive effect instead of a stagnant effect? Mrs. Mathis explained that comes back to them.

A year ago they heard “we’ve been studied to death, but nothing has happened”. They were brutally honest and laid it all out in this report. They brought back what they heard from all segments of this county and others too. They reached out to people who did site selection for businesses and they didn’t know anything other than Springfield is the state capitol and Abraham Lincoln has something to do with the area. When it comes to rubber hitting the road that is where you all are given the moral authority to say this is important to you. This doesn’t mean just you all in the room. You need to carry the message out there to say you need to do this or we will stop growing. Mr. Preckwinkle clarified he was referring to the leadership that would be hired. Mrs. Mathis explained they at least need a professional at the head who has done economic development, understands it, and knows how to reach out to businesses to build collaborative relationships, not just locally, but regionally, nationally, and statewide. It’s a different business, so you need someone that understands that business. You need someone with experience in it, and you can’t just groom someone to do it right away. Mr. Coil stated you need to have people who do this on a regular basis and have been successful at it. People who can have an impact and aren’t bound by local politics. He knows it’s easier said than done, but it is what you need to have. When the board says you have the authority to do that, and the board includes local government and everybody else, it will happen. When people start backing off and questioning things then that is when it will start falling apart. You need to be 100% totally committed to this.

Chairman Van Meter explained in the conversations they’ve had with these identified business leaders from the study, after they get past the long list of complaints and they begin to start saying what if, one of the rather consistent themes is these business leaders saying “What if we could get the number two guy in Rochester, Minnesota where the Mayo Clinic is located and it’s a center of medical excellence.” “Or what if we could get the number two guy in Indianapolis, Indiana where it’s a state capital that is really dynamic and growing?” “What if we could attract that sort of person from outside the community who knows how an economic development corporation is really supposed to function and can help us lead and change the culture in that direction?” Chairman Van Meter stated that kind of thinking is being stimulated by this study.

Chairman Van Meter stated they would not vote on this tonight. The next step would be to refer this to the Finance Committee to review the study and its recommendations for potential incorporation in the County’s budget. As the Finance Committee looks at this, they cannot look at this as just one year’s commitment. They have to look at it as finding a permanent place in the County’s budget for such a substantial commitment. That is really the work to be done over the next five or six weeks while putting the County’s budget together. In addition, the County Board will have to reach out to the community to discuss with them the findings of the study. This presentation will be available for them to use. Brian and Mary will keep two lists including a list of community groups they should be reaching out to and a list of County Board members who are ready, willing and able to go out and speak to these community groups. They started an informal list today and have already gotten some good suggestions that nobody thought of. He encouraged them to give suggestions to fill in both sides of that list. They need to know who to reach out to in the community and who on the County Board is willing to take this presentation and other materials out to make presentations to these groups.

Minutes:

A motion was made by Mr. Tjelmeland, seconded by Mr. Bunch, for approval of the Minutes of September 19, 2017. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motion Carried

Minutes Adopted

Correspondence:

A motion was made by Mr. Bunch, seconded by Mr. Hall, to place correspondence on file with the County Clerk. A voice vote was unanimous.

Resolution 1:

1. Resolution approving the purchase of a utility pick-up truck.

A motion was made by Mr. Fraase, seconded by Mr. Mendenhall, to place Resolution 1 on the floor. Chairman Van Meter asked County Clerk Gray to call the roll. Upon the roll call vote, there were 24 Yeas – 0 Nays.

Motion Carried

Resolution Adopted

Resolution 2:

2. 2017-041 – Jeff Lochbaum & Kyle Killebrew, 1154 N. Bradfordton Road, Springfield – Denying a Rezoning and granting a Use Variance and Variance. County Board Member – Tom Fraase, Jr., District #1.

A motion was made by Mr. Fraase, seconded by Mr. Ratts, to place Resolution 2 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Stumpf to waive the reading of the professional staff’s report. There were no objections. A voice vote was unanimous for the adoption of Resolution 2.

Motions Carried

Resolution Adopted

Resolution 3:

3. 2017-042 – Curran-Gardner Township PWD, 3382 & 3384 Hazlett Road, Springfield – Granting Variances. County Board Member – Tom Fraase, Jr., District #1.

A motion was made by Mr. Fraase, seconded by Mrs. Hills, to place Resolution 3 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Stumpf to waive the reading of the professional staff’s report.

There were no objections. A voice vote was unanimous for the adoption of Resolution 3.

Motions Carried

Resolution Adopted

Resolution 4:

4. 2017-043 – Dennis & Theresa Ryan, 4151 W. Jefferson, Springfield – Granting Variances. County Board Member – Tom Fraase, Jr., District #1.

A motion was made by Mr. Fraase, seconded by Mr. Hall, to place Resolution 4 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Stumpf to waive the reading of the professional staff’s report. There were no objections. A voice vote was unanimous for the adoption of Resolution 4.

Motions Carried

Resolution Adopted

Resolution 5:

5. Resolution approving a contract with Tyler Technologies Inc. for the upgrade and conversion of the finance system.

A motion was made by Mr. Ratts, seconded by Mrs. Deppe, to place Resolution 5 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle that the roll call vote for Resolution 1 stands as the roll call vote for Resolution 5. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motions Carried

Resolution Adopted

Resolution 6:

6. Resolution approving a proposal for audit services from CliftonLarsonAllen.

A motion was made by Mrs. Fulgenzi, seconded by Mr. Bunch, to place Resolution 6 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle that the roll call vote for Resolution 1 stands as the roll call vote for Resolution 6. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motions Carried

Resolution Adopted

Waiver Of Ten-Day Filing Period:

A motion was made by Mrs. Scaife, seconded by Mr. DelGiorno, to waive the ten-day filing period. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motion Carried

Ten-Day Filing Period Waived

Resolution 7:

7. Resolution approving the renewal of an agreement with R.W. Troxell & Company for the administration of the County’s insurance programs for FY2018.

A motion was made by Mr. Krell, seconded by Mr. Thomas, to place Resolution 7 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle that the roll call vote for Resolution 1 stands as the roll call vote for Resolution 7. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motions Carried

Resolution Adopted

Resolution 8:

8. Resolution authorizing the execution of an Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement

between Sangamon County, the Circuit Clerk, and the municipality of Pleasant Plains for electronic citation services.

A motion was made by Mr. Hall, seconded by Mr. Miller, to place Resolution 8 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle that the roll call vote for Resolution 1 stands as the roll call vote for Resolution 8. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motions Carried

Resolution Adopted

Old Business:

There was no old business.

New Business:

A. Resolutions

There were no new resolutions.

B. Appointments

Appointment of Bryan Tippy to the Sangamon County Workforce Investment Board for a term expiring October, 2019.

Appointment of Chris Hembrough to the Sangamon County Workforce Investment Board for a term expiring October, 2020.

Appointment of Mark Sprehe to the Sangamon County Workforce Investment Board for a term expiring October, 2020.

Appointment of Gina Lathan to the Sangamon County Zoning Board of Appeals for a term expiring April, 2022.

Appointment of Dan Parrish to the Sangamon County Emergency Telephone System Board for a term expiring September, 2018.

A motion was made by Mr. Bunch, seconded by Mr. Fraase, for approval of the appointments. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motion Carried

Appointments Adopted

The nominations for November were also submitted.

C. Ratification of the F.O.P. Deputies Contract

Mr. Smith stated it is his pleasure to bring before the body tonight a contract with the Fraternal Order of Police, Deputies Division, for ratification. He thanked his committee that puts lot of hours in for meetings on these negotiations. The committee includes: Mr. Fraase, Mr. Madonia, and Mr. Bunch. He thanked the Sheriff and Chief Deputy for their leadership and good management of their department. He also thanked the Lead Council for their hard work. They have all worked hard for the taxpayers of Sangamon County, and he appreciates them all. He believes they have been able to obtain a fair contract with the deputies. It is fair to the deputies and to the County. They have negotiated a four-year contract with 2 1⁄4% increases in wages for the first two years and 2 1⁄2% increases for the third and fourth year. In addition, there are some operational issues that really are a benefit to both sides that will help streamline the operation of the office.

A motion was made by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Bunch, to ratify the F.O.P. Deputies Contract. Mr. Smith welcomed their support. A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle that the roll call vote for Resolution 1 stands as the roll call vote for the ratification of the Deputies Contract. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motion Carried

Contract Ratified

Reports Of County Officials, Reports Of Standing Committees, Reports Of Special Committees, Committee Report On Claims:

A motion was made by Mr. Bunch, seconded by Mrs. Deppe, to place the reports on file with the County Clerk. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motion Carried

Reports Filed

Recess:

A motion was made by Mr. Mendenhall, seconded by Mr. Madonia, to recess the meeting to November 14, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. A voice vote was unanimous.

Motion Carried

Meeting Recessed

https://www.sangamoncountyclerk.com/County-Board/documents/October102017_000.pdf