Mayoral candidates differ on handling crime, economic development, CWLP

March 10-- Mar. 10--Springfield's two mayoral candidates -- city natives who each have a long tenure of public service -- don't just disagree on what solutions the city should pursue. They also differ on what are the city's most significant problems.

Challenger Frank Edwards, 68, whose slogan is "Save Our Springfield," owns Springfield Auto Body and Towing, just outside of town. He served as mayor in the months following Mayor Tim Davlin's death in 2010. He was a Springfield firefighter for more than 20 years, was appointed fire chief under Mayor Karen Hasara and then went on to be a three-term alderman representing Ward 1. In 2009, he briefly flirted with the idea of running for governor but dropped out of the race before the Republican primary.

Edwards says the city "is dying." He has decried recent city tax increases and city spending, though he has said he would not reverse the tax increases if elected, nor has he offered what he would cut out of the current city's budget.

Citing online reports that analyze crime statistics, he calls Springfield the fifth-worst city in Illinois on crime and says "there's no development happening in Springfield." As for City Water, Light and Power, he says commercial electricity rates are too high and there is no future in building a second lake.

Mayor Jim Langfelder, 59, contests those characterizations. Before becoming mayor four years ago, Langfelder was the city treasurer for 12 years, a Democratic Sangamon County Board member for four years and had a career in banking.

After proclaiming last year as "the year of optimism," Langfelder said his and the city council's actions enabled Springfield and CWLP to navigate two years without a state budget, which left resident state workers with uncertainty and at one point left the utility with $12 million in unpaid state bills.

If re-elected, Langfelder says his next term would be about building on "successes" of his first term and working to promote the city.

Public safety

One of the major themes of Edwards' campaign is changing the Springfield Police Department to emphasize placing officers in areas based on crime data. A lieutenant and officers would be assigned to the most crime-ridden neighborhoods, instead of the city's current structure of having one neighborhood police officer assigned to a geographical zone.

"When you do that, the onset of that is true community policing, because that team is going to be on the pavement, walking, knocking, telling them why they are there, gaining trust and trying to work through the problems so these people don't feel like they are alone," Edwards said.

Edwards pointed to various reports -- a real-estate analysis website Neighborhood Scout, Alarms.org, a statistic he calculated of the number of people shot at -- as to why he believes Springfield is dangerous. It also hinders the city's ability to market itself to employers, he said.

"As a manufacturing company, would you want to subject your employees to that environment?" Edwards said.

Edwards said he has a plan to tackle crime that was laid out by law enforcement officials. However, when The State Journal-Register asked for the document, he declined to release it.

Langfelder attributed the city's rankings on the websites listed by Edwards as the work of diligent crime statistic reporting by the Springfield Police Department. The most serious crimes, known as "table one index crimes," have decreased by 42 percent from 1995 to 2018, according to Police Chief Kenny Winslow.

Langfelder said he would continue the police's emphasis on community policing, which is seen through outreach efforts and the neighborhood police unit.

The police, in partnership with the state's attorney's office, are testing a method called "focused deterrence," in which repeat offenders are given the option and resources to change their ways or be prosecuted to the fullest. After a spate of shootings, the city extended its anti-violence youth initiatives by funding mentoring and activities for the last two summers.

Both Edwards and Langfelder said they would continue the homeless outreach team, which assigns one police officer to be a liaison between the homeless community and local agencies that serve the homeless.

The city has struggled with homelessness for years, and during the state budget impasse, several social service agencies cut back services. In the last year, their plight was highlighted when more homeless people began sleeping outside of the public library during the summer.

Langfelder set aside $250,000 in federal community development block grant funds to open a permanent low-barrier shelter, and has pledged to continue to do so for the next four years. In the last year, the city's temporary shelter, the Winter Warming Center, has expanded its offerings to have more case management, mental health and housing services.

Edwards said making housing more affordable, while increasing incomes, is the best way to help the homeless.

"I'm not sure the city needs to get that involved," Edwards said of a permanent low-barrier shelter. "We have so many agencies we can bring to bear to help."

Economic development

Both Edwards and Langfelder have said they would work toward spurring development within the city. Their approaches are different.

Edwards' vision for the kinds of jobs the city should look for? Everything.

"For me everything is on the table -- from innovation to manufacturing," Edwards said.

Edwards said he would push for the Land of Lincoln Economic Development Corporation to be the sole entity that markets the city. He would limit the city's Office of Planning and Development to have more community focus in writing grants for infrastructure needs.

"Have one place that (prospective businesses) can call, and say this is who is selling our city, so the answers are consistent and the sales pitch is the same," Edwards said.

A familiar refrain, often repeated by Edwards, is that it's hard to do business through the city.

Edwards said he would promote online permitting and a virtual one-stop shop, where builders could easily move through the city's process.

Langfelder said he would take a more targeted approach to enticing jobs to Springfield by going after industries that complement Springfield's existing ones. Having a "targeted industries" approach is one of the tenets in the city's contract with the EDC.

"A key component of our growth is to strengthen the companies we have here by partnering them up in conjunction with new entrepreneurs," Langfelder said.

Under his administration, Langfelder has pushed for the creation of tax-increment financing districts.

"We need to leverage our government dollars and have private sector investment in the east side of Springfield as much as possible, and for the next four years, that's going to be my concentration," Langfelder said.

As for tax incentives, Langfelder said the city has "dipped its toe" into providing sales tax rebates in the last year.

The city will allow for online permitting within the next year, and it will shoot for a 24- to 48-hour turnaround time for most permits, Langfelder said. The city budget allocated money to rearrange city hall so that more of the "customer"-facing departments will be located on the first floor. Also, the economic development office recently hired a business ombudsman who walks potential developers through the process.

Langfelder wasn't originally a backer of the Land of Lincoln Economic Development Corporation but has since reconsidered, after the board was diversified.

"It's the same look, and that was a real concern," Langfelder said. "... People don't want you to create another board to go through the motions."

Langfelder himself has been criticized for promoting a tourism board that didn't include enough diversity. Among 13 appointees, classified by tourism-related categories, only one was a person a color and none of the appointees lived on the east side of Springfield. After aldermen raised concerns, Langfelder added two appointments to the board.

Edwards has pledged his hires would reflect the diversity of the city. He said he would choose department directors within the city, while Langfelder said he would continue to conduct national searches when the position called for it.

"We have a lot of talented people in our community, a lot of educated people, and it would be easy to select people to help run our government," Edwards said.

With the mayor doubling as the liquor commissioner, the issue of 3 a.m. bars has fallen in Langfelder's lap during his tenure.

In the last year, Langfelder has said he would no longer award 3 a.m. liquor licenses to bars. Recently, he said he would carve out an exception for hotels.

Edwards said he would award more 3 a.m. liquor licenses to bars downtown. He added if there is an issue with a bar that can't be resolved, he'll rescind the license.

CWLP

After the "debacles" of a power-marketing scheme in the 1990s and recently completed 10-year wind contracts that cost ratepayers about $135 million, Langfelder said CWLP is "one misstep" away from disaster.

Langfelder said he is most proud of righting the utility's finances.

Last year, Langfelder pushed for an integrated resource plan that will analyze CWLP's 20-year energy future. A final draft, which will recommend when the city's coal-fired plants should retire and what resources CWLP should invest in, will be available in next month.

Both candidates said they would be open to renewable energy sources.

"We will be proactive in looking at our future energy needs and (developing them) responsibly with regards to the proper balance of sustainable, renewable energy and coal energy," Langfelder said.

Utility rates within the city of Springfield, especially commercial rates, are too high, Edwards said.

Edwards pointed to reports commissioned by the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce and the Sierra Club -- two entities he noted don't typically agree -- that both concluded that CWLP is operating uneconomically. Instead of buying power off the transmission grid at a lower price, the utility continued to generate energy from its coal-fired plants.

"Our mayor said, 'I would take that with a grain of salt,'" Edwards said, referring to what Langfelder said about the reports. "I wouldn't take that with a grain of salt. ...I'd be embarrassed."

He proposed shutting down the city's two older coal-fired plants and buying more energy off the transmission grid as ways to cut costs.

"I think there are so many things we can do rather than just saying we got to shift the cost to (residents)," Edwards said, referring to raising residential rates.

As for those currently working at the plants, he would phase out their jobs through vacancies and attrition.

Shutting down the older coal-fired plants is an inevitability that CWLP is already planning for, Langfelder has said. This year, the utility has not budgeted significantly for repairs and upgrades for those plants. With $500 million in bonds to pay off, the newer coal plant most likely will continue to run, according to Langfelder.

Langfelder noted that under his administration, the utility renegotiated its contract and lowered coal prices with Arch Coal, which has been the city's coal provider for more than 30 years. The utility began the four-year process of phasing in a new rate structure at the beginning of 2016.

The candidates disagree on CWLP's water future.

Langfelder has pushed for a second lake to be built. In 2016, the utility submitted a permit application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seeking a $123 million, 11.5 billion-gallon lake. It could provide an additional 12 million gallons of water a day, the projected demand in 2065. The administration also signed an agreement with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which states DNR would run the lake and oversee any recreational activity.

"Electricity's not the future: it's water," Langfelder said during a mayoral forum. "Communities that have a safe and reliable source of water are going to be the ones that grow in the future."

Noting CWLP's recent decrease in of water sales, Edwards is staunchly opposed to a second lake, which he has said will increase residents' water bills and CWLP's debt load.

"It's time we close that fantasy down and move on," Edwards said during the same forum.

However, afterward, Edwards said he does think the city needs a secondary water source, just not as much as what studies have shown.

His preferred solution is to dredge Lake Springfield, similar to how the city of Decatur dredged its lake. When asked what cost would be too high, Edwards said the answer would depend on the amount dredged.

To increase Lake Decatur's capacity by 30 percent, Decatur spent $91 million.

A current estimate to dredge Lake Springfield to a similar level of what was dredged in the late 1980s is $23.6 million, while dredging the entire lake would cost about $300 million, according to a 2017 study.

Contact Crystal Thomas through the metro desk: 788-1401, [email protected].

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About the candidates

Jim Langfelder

Age: 59

Family: Wife, Billie, three children

Relevant experience: City treasurer (12 years), Sangamon County board (4 years), banker.

Frank Edwards

Age: 68

Family: Wife, Cinda, one child

Relevant experience: Interim mayor (4 months), Ward 1 alderman (12 years), Springfield fire chief and firefighter, owner of auto body shop.

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Mayoral debate on Monday

Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder and challenger Frank Edwards will debate at 6:30 p.m. Monday at The State Journal-Register building at Ninth Street and Capitol Avenue. The event is free and open to the public. The debate also will be livestreamed on www.sj-r.com and broadcast on News/Talk WMAY (94.7 FM and 970 AM).

The SJ-R also will host Springfield City Council candidate forums later this month at 6:30 p.m. each night. Here's the schedule:

--March 25: Wards 1 and 2.

--March 27: Wards 4, 5 and 6.

--March 28: Wards 7, 8 and 10.

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Previewing the April 2 election

Over the next two weeks, The State Journal-Register will publish stories previewing contested Springfield races in the April 2 election. Here's the schedule:

Sunday: Mayor

Monday: Ward 1

Tuesday: Ward 2

Wednesday: Ward 4

Thursday: Ward 5

Friday: Ward 6

Saturday: Ward 7

March 17: Ward 8

March 18: Ward 10

March 19: City clerk

March 20: City treasurer

March 21: Lincoln Land Community College Board districts 1 and 2

March 22: Springfield School Board Subdistrict 2

March 23: Springfield Park Board

To learn more about the candidates, including by watching video interviews and reading their answers to State Journal-Register questionnaires, visit http://bit.ly/springfieldelection2019.

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