Ward 3: Workhorse candidates in a working man’s ward 
Ward 3 covers much of Springfield’s far east and is mostly residential. Once home to many coal miners and factory workers, the ward has largely retained its blue-collar makeup, but is also quite diverse, including newer, mostly white neighborhoods in the north and south, as well as older, majority black areas in the center.
Unlike many of the other alderman races, there are no write-in candidates here, no young faces out to make names for themselves and no negativity between candidates. Each candidate has some measure of experience in politics, public service or both, all have lived in the ward most or all of their lives, and they all know the issues facing Ward 3. What separates these candidates is their experience and what they say will be their focus if elected.
William “Billy” Earl, 48, works for the Illinois Department of Central Management Services and has served on the Sangamon County board for 10 years, the Prairie Capital Convention Center board for eight years and Springfield Mass Transit board for eight years. He currently serves as second vice-chairman of the Sangamon County Democratic Party. His first priority if elected would be addressing the city’s financial situation.
“We can stand at everybody’s doorstep and promise them we’re going to do this and that, but until we get a handle on the budget and economic issues of the city, that’s the number one issue,” Earl says.
He says he would push for economic growth as a solution to the city’s budget shortfall and is not currently in favor of increasing taxes or fines. Earl says he would also like to see the city do a better job of recruiting minorities for employment, possibly through a partnership with local high schools to teach trade skills along with fire and police preparatory classes.
Doris Turner, 57, has been a county board member since 2000 and is currently serving as first vice-chairman of the Sangamon County Democratic Party. She works as head of the Center for Minority Health Services at the Illinois Department of Public Health and is the only woman and the only African American candidate for alderman running in a contested ward. Ward 2 Ald. Gail Simpson, the only other woman and only other African American in the election, is running for a second term uncontested.
Turner says she would like to implement a four-pronged plan to revitalize Ward 3 if elected. She wants to push the city toward a more efficient budget process, which she says would begin much earlier in the year, while also continuing the city’s cooperation with the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce Q5 initiative to attract new businesses to the east side.
Turner calls for addressing abandoned structures through better code enforcement and stronger anti-blight ordinances, while ensuring Ward 3 receives “prompt and efficient” services.
continued on page 14
