Mayor's Race: John Rednour
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA["I have given careful consideration to exactly what my platform would be for the upcoming election and to be quite honest I don't believe it would be any different than what I have tried to accomplish as mayor during my last 20-plus years at the helm of the city. Obviously current times dictate different priorities than in previous years but the overall goals remain the same. I believe the voice has spoken in the past and will continue to speak in the future. I believe the vision has already been in place for several years and all that needs done is to continue that vision. The concerns of the citizens about our local government are extremely similar to that of the United States government, job creation and retention, budget management and controlled spending, infrastructure improvements, and sustainability. I can explain some of what has been accomplished in each area and then I can explain some of what the current vision brings to the table for the future," he said.
"The demands of the public remain steady and consistent with the practices of most communities in Southern Illinois and in light of the current economic situation can only be described as: "Do more with less!". The City of Du Quoin mayor and council have tried to do just that and have been quite successful in accomplishing numerous tasks in several important areas."
JOBS/BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
"The City of Du Quoin continues to contribute and monitor the success of two businesses in the industrial park that employs approximately 75 people. We have partnered with each company through the extension of revolving funds to allow each company to move in a forward direction with job creation or job retention. I will continue to promote the industrial park site and seek out potential manufacturing or industrial type companies," he said.
"In 2010 the City co-partnered with Southern Illinois Coal Belt Champion Communities to provide stimulus funds at a low interest rate for use by local businesses. This partnership makes available nearly $2 million all of which enhance the possibility of job creation and/or retention. In the Du Quoin area alone there are 13 low interest loans in the amount of $812,500. Work continues in the establishment of new business as well as maintaining a high level of success with current businesses.
"I will continue to concentrate on small business development and employment through programs, resources, and available funds for reinvestment in our community. As well, I will concentrate on improving employment by bringing industry in to our community," he said.
BUDGET MANAGEMENT CONTROLLED SPENDING
"This area is and has been particularly difficult to contend with. Unpredictable costs associated with fuel, health insurance and pensions could create an unreliable budget. State and federal mandates have caused pension and health insurance requirements to become a bigger part of the budget. I have and will continue to work closely with the city's budget director to ensure the most accurate budget possible. The city's overall budget has grown substantially over the past 10 years climbing from $6.75 million to $10.97 million, a 62% increase. The council and department leaders have and will continue to do an excellent job of controlling spending. In recent years, the city has made great strides in reducing controllable costs such as workman's compensation insurance and energy supply charges.
"With increased public demands and during my most recent two terms as mayor, the city has met all financial obligations as well as improved the fleets of all departments. Since 2005 the city has acquired several key pieces of equipment such as a new fire truck, a new street sweeper, a new sewer-vac truck, and a new tractor. The police department fleet always remains one of the best in southern Illinois. The city has budgeted for the purchase of another new fire truck in 2012 to replace a 39 year old pumper still in use. Motor fuel tax revenues have taken a significant hit in the last year limiting our resurfacing program but we still manage to keep our roads in great shape. With the Poplar Street overpass and Richard Fronek Way both huge successes, city leaders are planning for the future with the addition of a two lane full size road from Grantway to Jackson Streets and doing it with limited available funds.
"Limited revenues, not necessarily revenue sources, along with state mandates associated with pension requirements have forced the city to reinstate some of the real estate taxes. However to date the city has still managed to abate a portion of the city's real estate taxes. Additionally, in an effort to lessen any increased tax burden due to the new high school facility the city opted to dedicate a half-cent sales tax for construction purposes. The overall contribution could reach anywhere between $3 million and $6 million. The savings in real estate taxes doesn't show up directly in city savings but does show up in a person's overall real estate tax bill. With that being said, I have made a huge commitment to keeping real estate taxes under control.
"Tamaroa expects to disconnect itself from the city's water supply and will receive its potable water directly from the Rend Lake Conservancy Water District sometime this summer. While their lost revenue somewhat hurts the city it most definitely DOES NOT cripple the City. We have reached out and improved the strength of the water and sewer department revenues by acquiring the Old Du Quoin water system. We have also extended our system to include the Kathleen Mine Road area, Wells Street, Quillman Road, Rod and Gun Club Road, etc. in an effort to improve the water distribution system and pick up additional customers. The addition of those customers and the Old Du Quoin system, in light of losing Tamaroa, will more than offset the loss of Tamaroa.
"Our Budget continues to be an excellent management tool and we draw on the expertise of our commissioners and department leaders to plan for the monetary demands of day to day operations and still yet look to the future for capital improvements to our infrastructure.
INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS
"There is so much to offer on this topic that it is difficult to pick a starting point. I will try and focus on the highlights. In 2002 the city identified the new waste water treatment plant as the primary target for improving the city's infrastructure. We successfully completed the new $6.5 million plant in March of 2007. Subsequently, the second most important item of concern was the city's infiltration problem. In 2006 we began a program to reduce the amount of infiltration in to the City wastewater system by "sleeving" our deteriorating sewers. We have since been successful in sleeving approximately 15 miles of our worst sewers at a cost of about $1.6 million. The last of the sewer rehabilitation project should be completed in the very near future by relining approximately 1.5 miles of sewer line.
"Third on the "needs list" is the rehabilitation of our failing water distribution lines. We have identified Washington Street from MotoMart to Marshall Browning Hospital as one of the more critical water lines. We have also identified Main Street from Hickory to Line Street as critical. Previous engineering estimates on the replacement of both of these lines are in the neighborhood of $3 million. While we understand the importance of these particular water lines, $3 million is not an easily obtainable amount of money. We have been trying to earmark funds for capital improvement projects such as these two water lines.
Commissioner Duncan and myself have made a strong commitment to concentrate on the replacement of water distribution lines upon completion of the sewer rehab project. The city is also planning for a 500,000 gallon water storage unit in the very near future.
"As you can see, water and sewer are extremely important infrastructure concerns. But the needs don't just stop there. Many more items have been looked at. Two years ago, with record amounts of rainfall in Du Quoin, we made the decision to clean main arterial ditches. To date we have cleaned and improved two miles of those ditches. We continue to clean ditches in town to improve drainage. We have made improvements to Keyes Park with the addition of the Skate Park. We replaced and improved the play area with $60,000 and two sets of new playground equipment. We have renovated and resurfaced the tennis courts. We have created the West Park Complex. We have made significant improvements to the municipal swimming pool. We have removed unsafe trees at Keyes Park. We are constructing a new band stand in Keyes Park. The Park Board has done a wonderful job in coordinating all of the activities and improvements. My many thanks to them. The sidewalk replacement program has been a huge success as we have replaced thousands of feet of bad areas. And we continue to plan for future replacements. We continue to improve our local roads and alleys by maintaining our oil and chipping program and resurfacing program. We continue to replace hundreds of traffic control and street signs as mandated by the state government. We continue to improve our efforts in the areas of public health and safety and property maintenance and look for ways to amend, modify, or improve our ordinances to accommodate a variety of situations we encounter in these areas. We continue to improve and look for ways to improve our overall public safety and ways to decrease illegal drug activity with the combined efforts of the Drug Task Force and our local Police. We continue to improve our Emergency Services and Disaster capabilities by accessing over $2 million in grant funding. We continue to improve our efforts with Tourism. We have seen our relationship grow with the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds."
SUSTAINABILITY-BEING "GREEN"
This particular subject is a "HOT" topic right now. The thing is Du Quoin has been at least a step ahead of everyone else and well ahead of the rest of the pack.
Country-wide efforts are now being made to reduce energy and material consumption, and emissions. We have had recycling in the City for at least four years. The recycling program has expanded twice since its inception. The successful recycling effort has since carried over to the County level and thusly thousands of tons of materials have been recycled.
In 2005 we replaced all of our traffic signal lights with LED lights and these lights not only reduced the cost of energy usage by 200% but they also decreased the maintenance by increasing the life of the bulb. We did the change out with the help of an Illinois Clean Energy Foundation Grant. The City also changed out all of the lighting units and bulbs in the Municipal building to high efficiency bulbs to help reduce energy consumption and costs. This was also done with the help of a grant.
In 2007 we introduced the City of Du Quoin to the Brownfields Grant Program which eventually led to the clean up of an area that is now the O'Reilly's Auto Parts Store on Washington Street. Additionally as a result of the Brownfields Program the Turco Building has been assessed, cleaned up and is now occupied by a successful business. Hopefully in the very near future Du Quoin will again be successful in acquiring free assistance from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to identify and evaluate another 3 sites for possible clean up and eventual development.
As recently as 2008 we introduced and approved the use of Neighborhood Electric Vehicles within City limits, due in large part to Commissioner Duncan and his foresight. We have replaced the City Hall old style windows with a much more energy efficient and friendly glass. We have adjusted some of our heating and air passages to put less run time on our HVAC systems. We are currently looking at new energy efficient replacement systems and other means by which to reduce consumption and usage within the City. Probably the most notable future plan which should come to life in the very near future is the grant/city funded solar field at the Industrial Park. This $540,000 project could be designed, installed and operational by early spring. Not only is this project a prime example of sustainability but it is going to help reduce energy costs for our Industrial tenants thereby creating or retaining jobs through cost efficiency. This would be quite the accomplishment for the City and would put Du Quoin as the "Green" Leader in Southern Illinois.
In closing, I hope I have given the public some insight as to what has been accomplished over the past several years. I hope that I have given you some insight as to the needs of the future and the path to be taken by my leadership. The City of Du Quoin, under its current leadership, has been extremely successful in its mission to improve our community. The vision is already there. When you go to the polls make sure you cast the vote that will send the City in the right direction.