One of the most gratifying aspects of running for Mayor of Champaign has been the wonderful people I have met and gotten reacquainted with along the way. We have so many talented people with so many good ideas. I’ve spent the last two years talking to hundreds of people and it was because of these conversations that I ultimately decided to run for Mayor. I hope to continue engaging people in our community for years to come.
I have summarized some of the best and most important ideas, particularly around creating a prosperous local economy that everyone can participate in here. These are the ideas and insights teased out of hundreds of conversations with people from all parts of our wonderful community. They are not “my” ideas, and by no means are these thoughts meant to be any more than a contribution to the conversation about who are we as a community trying to become. I look forward to the thoughts and insights of others as we build on this vision. We have a lot of resources and dedicated people that are working hard on many of these or related ideas already — that’s what makes this so hopeful. We are close, really close, to making this terrific community even better.
Strengthening our ties to the U of I and supporting their economic development initiatives
We as a community need to recognize that the U of I is the economic engine of this community with a system-wide budget of nearly $6 billion annually. We should strengthen our ties to the university and support their initiatives that would bolster our economic development. In particular, we should:
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Work with our legislators to protect as much of the state appropriation to the university as possible. Given the state’s fiscal situation, cuts to the U of I’s appropriation are inevitable, but the proposed 31% cut will significantly impair the University’s mission and negatively impact our community.
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Encourage growth of the research park by strategically supporting the University’s recruitment efforts of worldwide research and development partners
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Support the creation of the proposed medical college and the various research institutes, such as the Applied Research Institute, which turn research in to local jobs.
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Promote the growth of the three business sector hubs critical to Research Park job creation — bio-engineering, IT/big data and energy.
Continued development of downtown Champaign as the robust core of our community
A healthy number of bars and restaurants already exist in our downtown. Promoting a robust core depends upon diversifying and expanding the amount and type of amenities offered downtown. We should:
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Create a world class children’s innovation museum in downtown through a public-private partnership. Partners could include the city, the park district and the university along with the private sector. Private sector contributions and grants would be the cornerstone of the funding for the initial construction of the project. A Mayoral Committee would be formed to enlist support and insure follow-through.
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Expand affordable housing options to increase the downtown residential population. This will also support the existing retail and promote additional retail growth.
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Incentivize the expansion of artist studio and performance spaces in downtown.
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Increase downtown spending and foot traffic of U of I students by:
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Investing in the White Street/Logan Street corridor as a bike, pedestrian and bus thoroughfare to bring more student spending downtown.
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Prioritizing residential and retail development of midtown, blending downtown and campustown.
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Promote Educational Excellence in our schools
Our community will only be as strong as our local public education system. Our community must unite around a public school system that is a model of successful public engagement and collaboration with other governmental entities and community resources. We must:
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Promote employability of high school graduates through strong career and technical educational offerings, entrepreneurial programs, the Summer Youth Employment Program and similar initiatives.
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Continue to explore pedagogical and curriculum advances by leveraging stakeholder input and community resources.
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Invest in state of the art educational facilities that reflect our community’s values and commitment to our children’s education.
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Continue to promote the advancement of our kids to the best colleges and universities in the world through Advanced Placement courses and other college prep offerings.
Establish a Prosperity Commission to promote social justice and minority economic development
Our poverty and unemployment rates are higher than the state and national levels; and over 60% of local public school students would go hungry were it not for free or reduced lunch programs. Homicides over the last six months are the highest in 20 years. A disproportionate share of the poverty is born by the minority community — and with that poverty come hopelessness, despair and crime. In response, we should:
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Establish a Prosperity Commission that focuses on encouraging minority business start-ups. This commission would be modelled in part after the CCED (Community Collaboration for Economic Development) that has been successful in the past.
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Establish one or more TIF districts in areas of the community with the potential for minority business growth.
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Encourage continued public and private efforts to collaborate around issues of race, poverty and violence such as the Community Coalition and numerous church based initiatives.
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Support existing city and community initiatives that encourage minority business start-ups, employment and engagement. Successful examples would include Score, SBDC, Summer Youth Employment Program, EPIC and the Boys and Girls Club among others.
Become the most business friendly city in the state
Capitalize on our reputation for being a business friendly community. Businesses are the key to job growth and increased prosperity and yet the financial challenges of Illinois are creating headwinds at the state level. Our goal should be to become the most business friendly city in the state. To achieve this, we must:
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Place a renewed emphasis on listening to the needs of our business leaders. Create an open-door policy by the Mayor and a standing open agenda item at city council study sessions specifically for business sector input.
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Focus on growing the tax base, while working to keep tax rates constant or lower if possible.
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Engage our local businesses to establish metrics on business friendliness–then systematically track our progress in becoming even more business friendly.
Building on our region’s reputation as a micro-urban community
Strengthen ties with Urbana and Savoy as we enhance our region’s identity as a micro-urban hub.
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Promote livable neighborhoods with basic amenities within walking and biking distance.
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Encourage additional train service — including high speed rail — and increased plane embarkations.
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Adopt the “Your Welcome” regional identity initiative.
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Prioritize the development of walking and biking paths within Champaign and connecting to neighboring communities.
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Celebrate our cultural and racial diversity as the strength that it is through festivals and events.
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Promote ag-tourism by supporting the growth of urban agriculture and other sustainable agricultural practices. Create a mid-week farmers market in downtown Champaign.
Joe Petry is a Mayoral candidate for the City of Champaign in the upcoming election, and currently is the Champaign Park District Board President.