Honeymoon over: Time to begin charting a new course...
By Mike Kroll
On January
2, 2007 Dane Bragg became Galesburg's newest city manager amidst a budget
crisis and (soon thereafter) an election cycle that saw three of four incumbent
city aldermen replaced by the voters. Even before he and his wife had time to
unpack Bragg was forced to deal with the budget mess created by his predecessor
and a city council that was inclined to Ògo with the flowÓ until citizens began
objecting loudly.
ÒMy new job
here didn't start exactly as I expected or hoped,Ó observed Bragg. ÒBut I
wasn't completely blindsided either and the city council was eager to work with
me to correct the situation.Ó
The
Galesburg area economy had been struggling for some time and former city manager
Gary Goddard had been avoiding hard budget issues by simply underfunding
pensions, deferring maintenance and reinvestment in infrastructure and taking
advantage of the city council's naivete'. Bragg won over many in town by his
straightforward, no-nonsense recognition of the problems and bold suggestions
that Goddard's practices cease immediately but a city council very reluctant to
raise taxes made this approach difficult.
Fortunately
for Bragg the city had substantial reserves of cash that could be tapped and
the city council was more amenable about raising fees than taxes. Bragg
essentially rejiggered Goddard's budget and delicately convinced what became a
new city council in May to readdress city priorities. Bragg made the best of
his honeymoon but spent most of it correcting the mistakes of his predecessor
rather than beginning the process of establishing his own mark on Galesburg.
As the
summer of 2007 arrived Bragg and the city council began dealing with problems
in the water division with particular attention to an aging and deteriorating
infrastructure. Coupled with a rate structure that never adequately accounted
for necessary system maintenance much less future capital improvements and was
exceedingly generous to the largest water users the city staff had to devise a
way to begin addressing the issue before we experienced a catastrophic failure.
Bragg convinced the city council to begin moving on an issue that had simmered
too long and sold them on both selling bonds to fund necessary improvements and
accelerating the process of adjusting water rates to meet the system's
financial needs.
ÒWe had to
recognize the critical nature of addressing water system problems and begin
prioritizing the steps necessary to correct them. Clearly it made sense to work
from Oquawka toward Galesburg. The deterioration of the pipeline was in large
part due to over chlorination at Oquawka and our filtration system in Galesburg
needed to be replaced,Ó explained Bragg. Building a new treatment plant at
Oquawka was an obvious first step as it would help eliminate further
deterioration of the pipeline by reducing the concentration of chlorine in the
water sent to Galesburg. The next step will be to address paralleling the most
damaged area of pipeline with new pipeline thereby permitting repair of the
damaged old pipeline. This is part of a longterm process of paralleling the
entire pipeline and creating redundancy in the system's most critical link.
Another
long simmering local issue that was inherited by Bragg was that of neighborhood
revitalization. Neighborhood groups had been complaining to the city for years
about abandoned properties allowed to decay, absentee landlords who rented
deteriorating homes to irresponsible tenants who merely hastened the
deterioration process and even own-occupied properties that had become blights
on their neighborhood. Some city council members, led by Alderman Wayne Allen,
had pushed for more and higher fines and penalties and greater effort devoted
to demolition of the worst properties. The city had stepped up the inspections
effort and both the number and cost of demolitions rose. In an interview last
year Bragg lamented on what he saw as an over reliance on punitive actions in
this area. He wondered what kinds of incentives the city might be able to offer
that would lead to fewer such problems. A reasonable response but Allen and
this city council apparently prefers the stick to the carrot. In any event the
problems and associated costs continue.
During
formation of the 2008 city budget Bragg had his first opportunity to assert his
vision for Galesburg but instead he attempted to induce the city council into
formulating their own goals and objectives and initiatives for 2008. Not
surprisingly the city council failed miserably to provide direction at special
work sessions held for this purpose forcing Bragg and his staff to drag
aldermen through the goal setting process. Council members universally
applauded Bragg for his openness and candor throughout the painful process as
they ended up ranking repair of the water system as top priority closely
followed by improving parks and recreation programs and facilities.
Bragg and
mayor Gary Smith made it clear during these discussions that whatever
initiatives the city council were to choose for 2008 and beyond they must also
designate a funding source so as to avoid repeating the budget disaster of
2007. For the water system this was relatively straightforward but to merge
parks and recreation into a new stand alone department with the necessary funding
to permit the required capital improvements was going to require some kind of
new revenues. Here is were fear of taxation reared its head but ultimately the
city council was nearly unanimous in supporting an expanded telecommunications
tax as a funding source. It wasn't until the eleventh hour that Allen led a
successful effort to scuttle the tax increase following limited constituent
complaints.
Bragg
undoubtedly learned a valuable lesson after this experience but he is too
politically astute to publicly say what that lesson was. Nevertheless he is
approaching yet another budget process and the Galesburg economy remains in the
crapper as the city faces most of the same problems they faced a year ago. Even
the apparent unanimity of direction on the water system improvements was
questioned by some city council members when they were asked to approve
construction of the new $17.5 million treatment plant in Oquawka.
Fifteen
months into his new Galesburg job and I asked Bragg where he finds himself.
ÒI have a
very different feeling than I had one year ago. I feel much more comfortable in
general but more realistic in my expectations as well. After more than a year
of addressing problems thrust upon me I am looking forward to the opportunity
to begin some of my own initiatives.Ó
What does
Bragg see as his opportunity to help direct Galesburg's future?
ÒNo
question, there are a lot of competing issues facing the city right now,Ó
answered Bragg. ÒMany of the challenges we began addressing last year will
continue to be a city focus for years to come such as the water system. It will
be my job to continue to see these important projects through but they are
agendas I have inherited. We are also in a position of limited available
resources to devote to new projects or initiatives so we must be very
selective. I believe we will be spending a lot of time on issues of downtown
and the Main Street corridor.Ó
The city
hired consultants to help develop a plan for downtown revitalization and it is
still early in this process. As part of this project the city has begun the
process of expanding or adding additional Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Zone
coverage over the present downtown area and beyond.
Bragg
explained, ÒWe need to develop a realistic vision for what downtown Galesburg
can become and, just as importantly, what it will not become. Downtown is
unlikely to ever return as the retail center of the city but retail will
continue to be part of the downtown mix. A reinvigorated downtown Galesburg
will represent a mix of specialty retail, office, entertainment and culture--
potentially with a little more residential use thrown in as well. We will need
to make some hard decisions but to a very large extent exactly how downtown
develops is really up to the businesses and individuals who own the downtown
properties. As a city we can help coordinate, plan and encourage but private
investment will be critical to the success of downtown. Right now the low
income generated by downtown properties doesn't support or encourage much additional
investment and the age of many downtown buildings make them exceedingly
expensive to renovate to modern standards. This will be a major challenge.Ó
Many in
Galesburg are placing a great deal of faith in the potential of the National
Railroad Hall of Fame eventually being constructed downtown and attracting
sizable numbers of visitors. The anticipated 160,000 annual visitors to this
attraction would be a major boost to downtown if it ever materializes. For its
part organizers of the Hall of Fame are counting upon substantial amounts of
funding from the soon to be established TIF district to help them reach their
revised $30 million fund raising goal. But if millions of TIF dollars go to the
Hall of Fame how much would be left to fund maintenance and infrastructure
needs of the greater downtown? Just one example is the sorry state of the
present public parking lots in downtown.
ÒThere is
no question that the present downtown parking lots are anything but inviting to
use,Ó admitted Bragg. ÒWe encountered a similar situation in Decatur and found
that by spending comparatively modest amounts to redo some downtown parking
lots made a difference in public use of the downtown area. Another discussion
we must have as a community is a realistic evaluation of the difference between
a building that is simply old and an old building worth investment to preserve
and bring up to modern code. It is also important that we realize that regular
replacement of building stock is a sign of economic vitality.Ó
Bragg went
on to say that what we do not want is to see old buildings fall into disuse and
deteriorate or merely be removed and not replaced. Just as too many demolitions
in residential neighborhoods is itself a form of blight so too in distressed
downtowns. ÒWe certainly don't need any more parking lots fronting Main
Street,Ó commented Bragg. ÒWe really need to focus on filling in the gaps with
new buildings that are designed to fit the context of an urban downtown. And we
need to attract new tenants to the downtown area that are willing to pay
somewhat higher rents in properly designed or remodeled downtown spaces.Ó
When
questioned about what he expects from consultant Massie Massie & Associates
Bragg is very optimistic. :I have worked closely with Massie before and always
felt that they delivered great value compared to many consultants. They will be
sensitive to our needs as well as resources and realistic in what they propose.
It remains very early in the process but I have high hopes that they will help
us make the necessary changes in the downtown area.Ó
While there
is no question that Galesburg's downtown is in need of revitalization this is
no small endeavor and frankly a surprisingly risky one for Bragg to claim as
his own. But Bragg is youthful and ambitious and his background is in economic
development. Another question is if the downtown project is eventually a
success will this occur while Bragg is still in town to see it?
04/03/08