Aldermania

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Three candidates are running for one seat, making the contest visible and competitive. The candidates are Michael Higgins, 63, owner and chef at Maldaner’s Restaurant; Joe McMenamin, 58, an attorney and former candidate for the 19th congressional district; and John Laurenzana III, 30, director of marketing and public relations at Capitol Care Center and endorsed by the Sangamon County Republican Party.

All three candidates agree that Springfield has a need for infrastructure repair, but differ on how to fund short-term solutions for potentially long-term problems. Higgins has been owner of Maldaner’s Restaurant, 222 South Sixth St., since 1995, but moved to Springfield from outside San Francisco, Calif., in 1982. He says he has been accused of not having enough time to be on the city council as a business owner. Higgins feels that he has demonstrated through his involvement with MacArthur Boulevard Business Association steering committee and youth mentoring that he can take time away from his business to serve on the city council.

He wants to push for sidewalks along Old Jacksonville Road, maintain Chatham Road and South Grand Avenue, implement recycling and garbage consolidation and revitalize MacArthur Boulevard.

“MacArthur Boulevard used to be one of the grand boulevards,” he says. “It used to be the only boulevard like that in Springfield and people want to bring it back.”

Higgins favors a dining tax if the money is spent on worthy projects that can get a good return, like infrastructure. Although he has looked at the city budget, he has not seen the final version.

McMenamin, a self-described “fiscal watchdog,” is a tax attorney soon to be retired from the Illinois National Guard after 30 years of service. He plans to open a constituent office on MacArthur Boulevard with weekend and evening hours.

Higgins and McMenamin focus heavily on infrastructure and city beautification, while Laurenzana’s focus is on redevelopment and incentives to draw businesses to Springfield. Laurenzana is a former Marine with 10 years of marketing and consulting experience but is a newcomer to political campaigns.

The budget is equally critical for the candidates. Higgins says that he has looked at the budget and will not “raid” infrastructure funds if elected to the city council. He would like to turn the vacant Kmart building on Wabash Avenue into a retail open-space and residential small business center and landscape deteriorating parking lots to draw residents from all over Springfield.

McMenamin has seen the city’s budget and wants to boost revenue streams by increasing fees on vacant commercial buildings and property like the Westwood Plaza on Wabash Avenue.

“Unless we take the initiative and put pressure on the property owner, it’s likely to get worse,” he says.

He and volunteers painted over graffiti on the backside of the vacant Kmart building last winter, and he wants to implement a low-cost, high-impact plan to beautify crumbling parking lots with landscaping.

Of the three, Laurenzana is the only lifetime resident of Springfield. He says he has looked at the budget and wants to cut wasteful spending through proper business manage ment rather than by raising taxes.

He agrees with Higgins and McMenamin that infrastructure is one of the biggest issues for Ward 7, but he opposes both the dining tax and an increase in parking fines.

“I was shocked I was the only candidate to speak out against the dining tax,” he says. “People want someone in there who’s a fiscal watchdog. I’ve pledged to be a fiscal watchdog and attack wasteful spending when we see it.”

– Holly Dillemuth

Ward 8: Write-in challenges Theilen After walking the neighborhoods of Ward 8, Ald. Kris Theilen says he needs new shoes, and that he lost 15 pounds after campaigning door-to-door in the last month. Theilen is the only candidate running for Ward 8 whose name will appear on the ballot. His opponent, Tim Stout, is running as a write-in.

Stout says that he has also walked neighborhoods in Ward 8, where he says constituents have told him they haven’t seen his opponent in the neighborhood in the past four years. Theilen says that he tries to follow up calls from residents within 24 hours but has two young children at home, and a full-time job.

Both offer solutions to a ward with heavy infrastructure problems. A variety of older and newer homes dot the streets within the ward, which encompasses areas between East Monroe Street and part of Illinois Street, as well as abandoned properties along South English Street.

Theilen, 37, is a systems analyst and database manager for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Stout, 53, is a retired lineman with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Stout said he was a member of a political action committee that made contributions to Sen. Larry Bomke, a Springfield Republican, and Congressman John Shimkus of the 19th District. He is endorsed by AFSCME, Carpenter’s Local 16, and IBEW Local 51.