Public Hearings are Well Kept Secrets in Stephenson County.

 A recent article in the Village Voices predicted that difficult financial decisions were on the horizon for the Stephenson County Board.

Ironically, in the same Village Voices there was a large legal advertisement providing notice that a public hearing was to take place in regard to public subsidies being granted for "the development of a fueling station/convenience store, along Highway 20" near Lena, by increasing the size of the Northwest Illinois Enterprise Zone.   Enterprise zone status grants developers numerous tax breaks (incentives) for developments within the zone.  

Before the Enterprize Zone is expanded, the public, which has to make up for any tax dollars local units of government forego through tax incentives, deserves much more in the way of  authoritative answers.

By publishing this legal notice in Village Voices without any other formal notice to the members of the Stephenson County Board and the Freeport City Council, it appears as though the "Enterprise Zone Advisory Committee" wants this proposed project to remain very much in the dark.

First, why was this notice published in a newspaper that likely doesn't circulate 100 newspapers in the zip code where the public hearing was held?

Second, why didn't Andrea Schultz Winter, not inform the Stephenson Board of the public hearing when she appeared before the county board the night before said public hearing?  She specifically   talked about the project as if it was a done deal.  Ms. Schultz Winter told the county board, "you will see an agenda item on your agenda next month asking for approval from the county board for a boundary amendment to the Northwest Illinois Enterprise Zone to add two parcels into the enterprise zone to help facilitate some development outside of Lena."

My personal opinion is it's very disrespectful to the entire county board and their constituents for Ms. Shultz Winter to completely fail to inform the board, and the cameras, that there was going to be public hearing on the very topic within 14 hours of her presentation to the Stephenson County Board.

There are numerous public questions that need to be answered prior to any unit of local goverment granting approval to this proposed project.  Why does the developer need tax incentives in the first place when this project will surely be very profitable for investors without public subsidy.

Has there been any actual studies about what a new business would do to other, already established and non-subsidized local businesses?

Is there water and sewer on site?  Will there be a car wash or anything similar, resulting in gallons of untreated waste water flowing into the Pecatonica River watershed.

I'm sure there are other pertinent questions members of the Stephenson County Board or Freeport City Council would of had at this public hearing--had the Enterprise Zone Committee not done their best to make sure it remained an open secret within their ranks.

Not only did Ms. Shultz Winter present to the Stephenson County Board but also to the Freeport City Council Committee of the Whole on October 15, three days before the public hearing.  Again, she referred to the project which was subject to the already noticed public hearing, yet did not tell the Freeport City Council that there would be public hearing where they could show up and have their questions heard and made part of the public record.  This is what Ms. Shultz Winter told members of the council, "we continue to work on an enterprise zone boundary expansion for a future development that will happen outside of Lena, again the enterprise zone is an incentive zone that the partnership administers." 

Again, I believe this is terribly disrespectful to the citizens of northwest Illinois and their elected representatives.  Clearly the Northwest Illinois Enterprise went out of their way to keep the vast majority of people in the dark about an alleged public hearing in the very few days preceding said public hearing.  Clearly the committee is going through the legal motions while violating the spirit of Illinois' statutes that are meant to guarantee public participation in tax giveaways.

Sometime after the public hearing this past Friday the Northwest Illinois Enterprise Zone Committee must of met and requested the expansion of the enterprise zone to the Freeport City Council.  Later the same day the agenda was released for the coming Monday night city council meeting and it includes a first reading of Ordinance 2024-57, An Ordinance Amending the Boundaries of the Joint Northwest Illinois Certified Enterprise Zone.

That was sure quick...and obviously planned.

Why the official secrecy City Manager Rob Boyer and Stephenson County Board Chairman Scott Helms?  Clearly both of you also kept the public hearing a secret from your council and board respectively.  Why did you two men do this?

I want to know, Freeport City Council and Stephenson County Board, how you and the public can trust leaders that do their best to keep other duly elected representatives in the dark?  These two men are going to expect duly elected representatives to vote on tax incentives, costing the public they represent real dollars, while doing their best to obstruct the same elected representives' access to pertinent information regarding the proposal to be voted on.

That's all...for now.

As always, yours in honesty,

John Samuel Cook  2024  

Email tutty.baker@gmail. com

Does Freeport Need More "Recreational" Paths?

With zero notice to the Freeport City Council or the public at large, a plan for new "recreation path extensions" was presented to the Council at their last meeting at their  September 16 meeting.

How this actual plan originated is anyone's guess, it was first talked about by a handful of local officials two years ago but it never really saw the light of day publicly until last month.

This is the map that was presented to alderpersons by City Manager Rob Boyer.

The red lines indicate where the proposed new routes would be located.  As can be seen, they are concentrated exclusively on the far southwest and far west sides of Freeport.  

The problem with this map is just what manager Boyer wrote in his memo to the council, he referred to the item being financed specifically as "additional City recreation path extensions."

Residents of Freeport are in dire need of transportation enhancements that can be used to conduct commerce within our city.  Isn't it more important for economic development that we use limited public funding to aid in commerce over recreation? When was the last time anyone at city hall talked about constructing pedestrian tunnels or bridges so people could actually walk or bike to points of business without taking their lives' in their hands.  

If City Manager Rob Boyer wants to spend $3 million in Illinois Transportation Enhancement money along with a $1 million local match, the project needs to be more about transportion for commerce than recreation.  This project will do very little to provide an alternate way for students and faculty to access the Highland campus, too far from residential population centers; or to safely cross Stephenson Street or Park Avenue.  What entity will maintain and police the "recreation path?" 

Another important curiousity; when and where did the Freeport City Manager, the interim Executive Directore of the Park District and the President of Highland Community College meet to discuss this proposal?  Who instructed Fehr-Graham to draw the maps? The item was on the City Council agenda on September 16, (Resolution #2024-101), the Freeport Park District agenda on September 17, (Resolution #24-0917) and the Highland Community College agenda on September 24 as agenda item #X-D-2.

Why are three unelected local officials apparently drawing up Freeport transportion plans without any obvious input from the community at large?  To their credit and with much criticism, a few members of the Freeport City Council questioned the plan.  

A siden note,  this issue could be potentially problematic for the HCC Board of Trustees.  If the board is financing transportion enhancements in Freeport,  will the junior college kick a $100k per year into transportion projects within the other three counties that make up HCC's tax base?  Population wise, Freeport represents only about 25% of the college district.

In other municipalities transportion proposals are the result of figuring out what the public needs and wants through public meetings and bona fide studies.  Here in Freeport, three unelected officials appear to be deciding how transportion dollars should be spent, unfortunately for the public at large, other than a few Freeport City Council members, their boards appear to be in lockstep with this method of operation.

Why even elect boards and commissioners in Stephenson County when all decisions, especially those as important as transportion, are obviously decided by a few people in a back room and the majority of thier boards, elected for oversight, simply defer. 

Is this actually a service to the public?

More trasportation issues to come.

As always, yours in honesty,  John Samuel Cook, 2024