Archive for February, 2009
February 28th, 2009
I said I’d post more suggestions about what to do with some the 6 percent bed tax collected on people who stay in Rockford hotels. Currently it all goes to the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. I think a substantial portion needs to be put to building up tourist atractions and making the city more presentable to people who come here.
So, here are some of those suggestions from readers:
“In response to your Feb.24, 2009 article regarding the use of the tourism tax, let me offer my perspective on tourism. My family and I moved to Rockford from Phoenix in January of 2008. Prior to moving, my family I commuted to Rockford from Phoenix for nearly a year. I have lived all across this country and have learned that to draw the interests of visitors, any area needs to have something(s) special or unique “hooks” which it can celebrate.
“One of Rockford’s hooks already exists. The Rock River Region celebrates some of the greatest geographical formations in the state. As the only county in Illinois with four rivers, along with the deepest gorge in the state and numerous beautiful parks and wetlands, Winnebago County and Rockford can promote this natural beauty of the area.
”Perhaps the best use of a tourism tax is combination of yours and Mr. Puri’s comments: the selling of a bond to fund “bricks and mortar” projects, including projects that promote our natural resources. These projects might include expanding the activities on the Rock River (restaurants, boat fuel, river kayaking, etc.), expansion and sharing of seasonal activities (winter skiing, snow boarding and snow shoeing on city golf courses and at city parks), organizing regional or national outdoor games and providing other services that support outdoor enthusiasts.
”Believe it or not, there are over 10 million people within 90 miles of Rockford. Only a few places in the country have this many people so close. I have driven at least 90 miles for many different outdoor activities: water and snow skiing, hiking, mountain biking, canoeing and kayaking, to name a just a few. The Rockford area has the natural resources to offer all of these activities to our residents and many of these 10 million people that do not have these options nearby. Each visitor would pay fees for activities and buy meals (and maybe lodging) during their stay. This would increase the tax base for the city and fees to the different park systems. In turn, this will support additional improvements and construction. These visitors would ultimately finance future improvements.
”Since moving to Rockford, I have visited with many civically engaged residents either as a result of their careers or their volunteerism. This is one of the distinguishing characteristics of Rockford. Our citizen’s collective generosity and care for our community runs deep. However, we cannot move forward in silos. We must work and thread together the various initiatives or “hooks” to make Rockford great again. I believe that becoming a regional adventure tourism destination is one of those “hooks” that we must maximize.
Mike Paul (Mr. Paul is a candidate for Rockford Park Board)
Here’s another one:
Mr Sweeny:
My wife tells me you’re looking for ideas for Tourist Attractions for Rockford. Actually, I read your column, too, and was heartened at your mention of a Whitewater Rapids Kayak Course.
Madison, WI has a world-class retail store called Rutabaga which featuries a comprehensive line of canoes and kayaks. However, Madison has no whitewater. The NW surburbs of Chicago has an even more well-known world-class store called The Chicagoland Canoe Base. You don’t even need to guess about its inventory. But thery have no whitewater neither.
If only Rockford had some whitewater, we’d be situated right smack between two of the Midwest’s best sources of equipment! People from both of those regions would flock to Rockford to use our whitewater.
Not only that, but as soon as local folks discovered how much fun the visitors from Madison and Chicago were having in our whitewater, they rush over to either Madison or Chicago to buy themselves some kayaks, too. It don’t take no genius to suspect that we might eventually have a world-class retail outfit of our own selling kayaks and canoes like there was no tomorrow.
Naysayers need only read accounts written by sages such as yourself telling about the success of the whitewater course built in the city of South Bend, Indiana some twenty-five years ago.
Let me give you and the rest of Rockford an inside tip, they don’t import kayaks and canoes from China, nor any other third-world manufacturing wunderkind. Kayaks and canoes are manufactured right here in the good’ol USA. Talk about a “Stimulus Package”, Rockford could become a key element in a SURGE of kayak and canoe buying by water-crazed consumers.
And those who cannot afford to buy a ready-made kayacjk or canoe can maybe build one from a kit. The acquisition of boatbuilding skills might even give Rock Valley College and idea to list Kayak Building in their curriculum.
Stuff like this snowballs, ya’know. I myself would love to develop a cottage industry devoted to the making and selling of custom kayak and canoe paddles.
Hey, all we have to do to get this snowball rolling is to dig a damm ditch and put some big rocks in it! How hard is that?
Nick Scheuer
And another:
I agree with your suggestion that tax dollars need to be spent on attractions. I think allocating even a third on marketing is too much. Of course, the marketing segment wish to retain their jobs, but who doesn’t? If you build it, they will come….not, if you just “talk” about non-destinations.
The improvement to the infrastructure, an “East Bank Rockford”, and a whitewater rapids course all sound great. Even though our climate differs from the San Antonio River Walk, there are attraction adjustments that can make our river walk a destination. Think of ideas for the Four Seasons.
As a Rockford native, I remember the fun winter sports…sledding, ice skating outside on Sinnissippi lagoon, etc. We have an indoor ice skating rink, but it’d be great to have a “free” outdoor rink as well, for the ambience of the river walk. If we have some “free” activities, people will come and still spend money on their day(s) here, in other venues. We could build some gentle hills for family sledding, have hot chocolate “warming houses”, etc. I am sure there are many ideas to appeal to a variety of interest groups. In my experiences as a tourist in other locations, I like a variety of activities. I may not choose to do all, but I have that option. Even within this economy, shopping continues to be a major activity. With the YMCA, bike path, library, museums, and art showcase all downtown, we already have a base of attractions to the Rockford native. Invite tourists to join the Rockford experience.
Our city receives much criticism, but having lived elsewhere, I can appreciate Rockford, which has strong roots to support many new dreams.
Carol Markley
February 25th, 2009
The stimulus bill may be bringing up to $2 billion in high speed rail funding to Chicago, it says here:
Chicago is the nation’s rail hub, and there’s been a plan in place for a decade or more to make the Windy City the center of a high speed rail network with destinations to Milwaukee, Madison, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Detroit, Cincinnati and Cleveland. When I say high speed rail, I don’t expect anything out of Chicago to be true, a Euro-style train that goes 200 mph. We’ll be lucky if it makes 109 mph., the top speed of the old Gulf, Mobile & Ohio’s “Abraham Lincoln” and “Midnight Special” trains from Chicago to St. Louis in the 1950s and 1960s.
Of course, ROCKFORD is NOT included in this high speed rail network, something that Mayor Larry Morrissey used to rail against a long, long time ago.
Meanwhile, Republicans like Louisiana Gov.Bobby Jindal continue to LIE about the high speed rail funding, saying it is for an $8 billion mag-lev train from Disneyland to ‘Vegas to benefit Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. WRONG. There’s nothing specific in the stimulus plan designating Vegas and Anaheim.
Indeed, with Obama, chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel from Chicago and Transport Secretary Ray LaHood from Peoria, this could be a the time for rail revival in the Midwest. Rockford had better get moving on this one, or we’ll lose out, the way we usually do.
California is also expected to benefit from the stimulus plan, but not the Vegas route. California voters in November passed a $9 billion tax for a Euro-style 200 mph. rail network linking San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose, LA and San Diego, Bakersfield, Fresno, and other cities. To see more, click this:
February 25th, 2009
The Rock Valley College Board defeated a proposed tuition increase Tuesday night on a 4-3 vote.
The proposal would have increased tuition $5 per credit hour. Currently it’s $66 per credit hour, with a $5 per hour student fee,or $71 per hour. For a full load, or 30 hours, that’s $2,280. Altogether, the college would have gotten $800,000 if the increase had been approved.
Board President Ted Biondo said the college has a $2 million surplus and this is no time to raise tuition on cash-strapped students, many of whom are working two jobs and don’t qualify for low income Pell grants.
“Community colleges are supposed to be accessible and affordable,” Biondo said.
February 25th, 2009
Update on last post:
Rich Carter of Congressman Don Manzullo’s office tells me that RFD will get $300,000 for its aerospace education building (see previous post) from the appropriations bill currently in Congress.
February 25th, 2009
Just checked in with Bob O’Brien, executive director of Chicago Rockford International Airport. Bob is upbeat about the airport’s chances of getting substantial money from President Obama’s stimulus bill.
“I’m led to believe we’ll do well,” he said, indicating that the airport might receive from $5 million to $10 million for a variety of projects: Rebuilding the deteriorated Falcon Road on the east side of the airport; rebuilding a taxiway and constructing an “aerospace and alternative energy education research and development building,” which is a mouthful. Call it ERD for short.
O’Brien says the airport has now had 10,000 entries to its contest to guess the new destinations of a new passenger carrier that is coming soon to the airport. Winners get some free tickets either to the new destinations or to Cancun.
Despite the economic slump, there is good news for airlines, both passenger and freight: “Jet A” airplane fuel is reasonably priced again.
“Jet A is about $2.50 a gallon right now,” O’Brien said. Last year, when the airport launched Southern Skyways service to Denver, fuel was going for $3.50, but it quickly spiked to $5. That was too high to make money, the service quickly had to be scuttled.
The stars may be aligned for Rockford’s airport. President Obama is intimately familiar with the airport’s needs, as are RFD’s chief political cloutmeisters, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-IL, the majority whip, and U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Egan.
When he was a senator, Obama met with O’Brien and airport board Chairman Mike Dunn at Cliffbreakers. Also, former congressman Ray LaHood of Peoria is the secretary of transportation. He knows O’Brien from the days Bob managed the Springfield airport, which was partially in LaHood’s district. And RFD has developed an excellent reputation with the FAA leadership.
“We are very blessed to have Illinois-friendly leaders in Washington,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien also said he is hopeful the new airline will announce its destinations in the next couple of weeks.
February 25th, 2009
Tom Strickland, who upset Linda Vaughn for Machesney Park president (It’s also kosher to use “mayor,”) says he wants to move the MP primary election to November.
Uh, Tom, no can do. The state of Illinois determines when elections are held. Nice try, though.
February 24th, 2009
Here’s Congressman Don Manzullo’s take on Obama’s speech.
“Following weeks of unprecedented spending, it was good to hear President Obama talk tonight about the need for fiscal responsibility as we move our country forward. As our nation recovers, we must quickly end this government spending spree that is heaping massive amounts of debt on our future generations. Unfortunately, Congress plans to pay off our bills by increasing taxes on Americans instead of cutting wasteful spending. These tax hikes – which include the return of the job-killing death tax – will especially hurt our small business owners, who create 70 percent of all new jobs each year. Why in these dire economic times would we intentionally hurt the segment of our economy that has the best chance to put people back to work?
“Instead, the government should tighten its purse strings and cut spending as all Americans are doing in these difficult times. The people I represent are worried and hurting, and I appreciate President Obama’s urgency in trying to return us to prosperity. I will continue to reach out to the President and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do what we can to improve the lives of all Americans.”
(END
February 24th, 2009
As I expected, police union representative Doug Block won Rockford’s Democratic mayoral primary, with 48 percent of the vote. Coming in second with 22 percent was Democratic state central committeeman John Nelson, a perennial Democratic candidate who ran because he and other Democrats don’t think Block is really one of them.
Independent Mayor Larry Morrissey will now face Block and Republican John Harmon in the April 7 election. There’s a Green candidate, too, Jesus Correa VII.
You’d think Morrissey would have the advantage because he has a tested organization and he has fund raising ability. However, the news hasn’t been good in recent months for Morrissey. The hole in Rockford’s budget keeps growing. First it was $7 million. Then $7.5 million. Then $8 million. Now it’s $8.6 million. The lousy economy means people aren’t spending, and that means they’re not paying sales taxes. Housing values are declining, and that affects property tax revenues.
He’s going to have to make extremely unpopular budget cuts. Mayors and governors all over America are having to do the same thing. But that doesn’t make it any easier.
Morrissey’s first term has been fraught with conflict as he sought to change the judicial system, the school system, the police department and public works. He did succeed with public works, but there’s still an uneasy relatioship between rank and file cops and the Morrissey-backed chief, Chet Epperson. Monday’s report on crime in the Forest City didn’t’ help matters: Crime is up, crime is down, the chief reported. It all depends on whose reporting method you use. That’s not what residents want to hear. They want to know if the city is getting safer, or not.
The city should stick to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting method, same as just about every other police department in the USA. It’s the only way to compare how we’re doing with other cities.
Harmon, a veteran in local politics who lost his bid in 2008 to be re-elected to the Winnebago County Board (he got beat in the GOP primary) is at minor leaguer who will not be a serious factor in this race, although he could be a spoiler if there’s a close race between Block and Morrissey.
Block will have to convince voters why they should put the police union in charge of City Hall. That will be a tough sell. And he’ll have to tell us how he will cut nearly $9 million out of the budget without touching the police or fire departments.
Voters should demand minute details, not foamy language about cutting a couple of people out of the mayor’s office.Huge cuts will be needed to balance the budget.
Luckily for Block, the heavy lifting will be done by Morrissey and the current City Council. The budget must be passed by the end of March; the election is April 7.
And then, I’m sure Block will go out and roundly criticize it.
February 24th, 2009
The Democratic Party rules Rockford’s 5th ward, meaning that Venita Hervey, veteran school activist, will be the alderman replacing Vic Bell, who’s been alderman since 1971!
Vic backed Venita,and I have no doubt she’ll be a vigorous champion of southwest Rockford. She beat Evelyn Barmore, 73 percent to 23 percent.
Hervey helped attorney Bob Howard of Evanston represent People Who Care during that epic school deseg/discrimination lawsuit.
February 24th, 2009
Wow. We thought it was going to be a non-event, this election. But not in Machesney Park.Voters have thrown out incumbent President Linda Vaughn in the Democratic primary and replaced her with Tom Strickland, a persistent critic. Under Vaughn MP made tremendous progress, developing a steady source of sales tax on the Illinois 173 corridor. Her defeat puts community development chief Karen Lemmons, the brains of the MP outfit, on shaky ground.
Lest Strickland gloat too much, he won with very few votes, 821 to 731, a 90 vote margin.
Hardly anybody voted.Vaughn should have done some more campaigning.
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