The mayor of Bloomington said he's pleased with the diversity of stakeholders represented in appointments made to the city's gun violence commission.
In a WGLT interview, Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe said he wants a lot of views represented on the new 'Special Commission For Safe Communities.' Various community groups are included, ranging from the YWCA to churches, and Illinois State University expertise, said the mayor.
“For example, Liz German with the YWCA, based on her experience. She has some experience dealing with families that have been impacted by gun violence. Kathy Lust is one who was a school psychologist with District 87. I believe she's retired now. She has seen some of that within the school district. That was one of the areas of collaboration. Jay Shannon has some experience with Project Oz and restorative practices. Rev. Timothy Harris at Mount Pisgah comes at it from a religious perspective and is experienced on the west side and with his constituents there,” said Mwilambwe.
Over the next two years the commission will look at the reasons for gun violence in the city and how to help the community become safer.
"If they come to the realization that gun violence might just be a symptom but there's a little bit more to it, it's more on the mental health side or maybe socioeconomics, then they can make some recommendations in that direction," said Mwilambwe.
Mwilambwe said he expects a status report in a year and recommendations after the initial two-year period. The gun violence commission was the brainchild of city council member Mollie Ward.
There are still two vacancies on the panel. And since gun violence is not unique to Bloomington, Mwilambwe said that could include representation from the Town of Normal.
"We've reached out before, but it just did not gain enough traction at the time. We'll continue to do that," said Mwilambwe.
Mayor Chris Koos of Normal said he has reached out about the issue to Ward. Mwilambwe said he was unaware of that and will touch base with Koos.
Licenses and codes
Rules for video gambling licenses in Bloomington are about to change. The council will vote on revisions in late November.
"We're trying to align some of those fees and some of the application and transfer fees for licenses to provide more consistency," said Mwilambwe.
It's part of a general review and update of city licensing and permits. Bloomington is reducing the kinds of licenses from about 50 to about 30. Mwilambwe said some are clearly obsolete.
"We had things like dancing permits. These are things that harken back to the '60s or maybe '50s that we really don't use that much anymore," said Mwilambwe.
The council already has signed off on liquor code revisions. Among other changes, Mwilambwe said the daily fine for a business the city has ordered closed for safety reasons rose from $100 to $1,000 to make it more meaningful.
Golf carts
At the last city council meeting, there was push back on a proposal to replace golf carts at the three city-owned courses. Some felt the city should go with lithium-ion rechargeable vehicles instead of gasoline-powered carts. The Town of Normal has done so for its municipal course at Ironwood.
“The difference is we do have a lot more customers. One of the arguments the staff was making with electric golf carts is that, at best, the batteries have a five-year span, versus 10 years for gas-powered ones. The other thing is taking them out to recharge the batteries can disrupt some of the operations because there are a lot of customers who are waiting,” said Mwilambwe. “So, if you want to be able to address that you might end up having to buy even more. The cost is something that had to be considered. And as you buy more, there is also a question of whether that is really environmentally conscious.”
He said supply chain issues also play a role.
“This is the second time this went out for bid and the staff said that the cost went up by $6,000 between the two bids,” said Mwilambwe, adding had the city been prepared to make the purchase five years from now, they might have come to a different decision.
Streetscape plan
The city recently held a public input session to gather ideas and themes for its streetscape master plan. The mayor said he’s pleased to see the excitement about the effort.
“There were about 200 people who came through to see it. And there's been quite a bit of traffic on the website. We're keeping track of that information."
He acknowledged that, as with any other quality-of-life endeavor, there are critics who don’t see the need to spend tens of millions of dollars on an area of the city they do not personally use. Others argue the city should fix streets first and then worry about downtown.
“The broader downtown area has the highest concentration of properties. We do have some properties that are under performing in those areas. if we improve that area, we are going to improve property assessments, and therefore more revenue to the city to be able to service those areas we already serve,” said Mwilambwe.
He said a robust downtown also affects the rest of the city’s environment and quality in a non-economic sense.
“I'm a strong believer in people coming together and people having an opportunity to interact with one another. That's what makes us a stronger community. If you have a vibrant downtown with lots of opportunities for people, those are things that really strengthen the community,” said Mwilambwe.
He also said the city has in recent years significantly boosted resources it puts into streets, roads, and sewers and is doing a lot of things at the same time.
