SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (NEXSTAR) — The relationship between Springfield and a coalition consisting of business, education, and medical leaders was scrutinized during the city council meeting on Tuesday night.
Since 2019, Springfield has annually allocated $250,000 to the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance, an organization dedicated to attracting new businesses and enhancing economic growth in the city. The county matches this contribution with an additional $250,000.
This year, some city council members proposed adding specific conditions to the funding. A subcommittee agreed to the standard $250,000 contribution but stipulated that over 20% of this money should focus on stimulating economic development in designated areas, including Springfield’s east side, which has endured a long history of underinvestment.
In a letter to the city council, which was read by Alderman Ralph Hanauer, the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance said they did not get proper notification about the stipulations.
“SGA cannot accept unilateral contract amendments presented in this manner,” Hanauer read from the letter, which was not given to aldermen prior to the meeting. “We intend to work with the city on an agreement that is mutually beneficial to both organizations and benefits the people of Springfield in a productive and efficient way.”
Hanauer brought an amendment that would effectively get rid of the requirements for the money, drawing criticism from other aldermen.
“It just seems so underhanded to me,” Ward 3 Alderman Roy Williams said.
The amendment was ultimately tabled, but it inspired a spirited discussion at the city council meeting about how the alliance conducts business, and the oversight that the city has over it.
Several aldermen acknowledged the importance of the commission, but called for more transparency on exactly how these dollars are spent.
The Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance website has archived documents that feature highlights from the past five years, and they typically give an annual report to the city council, but Alderman Shawn Gregory, who represents much of the city’s east side felt that wasn’t good enough.
In response to Hanauer’s attempted amendment, Gregory looked to put even more stipulations in place on the board. he wanted to make all funding given to the Alliance by the city contingent on 25 percent of the leadership positions within the group going to racial or ethnic minorities that live in the poorest areas of the city.
“The truth of the matter is that there’s somebody somewhere that just does not want to work with the people on the east side,” Gregory said.
The additional stipulations drew a lot of support from members of public in the crowd. Many showed up after Alderman Gregory called for public support for the plan on social media leading up to the meeting.
In the letter read by Hanauer, the board for the Sangamon County Growth Alliance indicated that this would be discussed at their next board meeting. From there, more conversations could come in front of the city council. Hanauer warned that he was worried that the Alliance could ultimately end it’s partnership with the city.
“My concern is that the Growth Alliance walks away from the city of Springfield,” Hanauer said. “Then we have nobody. We do not have that extra expertise to help market the city of Springfield.”
