Ward 9 candidates not strangers to city government
The two candidates for alderman in Ward 9 aren’t starting from scratch when it comes to experience in municipal government.
Jim Donelan, who is associate director of the Township Officials of Illinois Risk Management Association, worked as executive assistant to former Mayor Tim Davlin for five years. As the mayor’s top aide, Donelan was intimately familiar with such issues as rail consolidation and city finances.
“I think it’s a good fit,” Donelan said. “I know how city hall operates, or is supposed to operate.”
Anthony Smarjesse also has experience in city government, having served as the Ward 9 alderman for three months in 2011, after Davlin committed suicide and the incumbent, Steve Dove, briefly went to work in the mayor’s office.
“I’m the only candidate with legislative side experience,” says Smarjesse, who works as an information systems analyst with the Illinois Department of Central Management Services and also sits on the board of Prairie Capital Convention Center. “I’m the fiscal conservative in the race. … In the five years that he (Donelan) was at city hall, that was basically a record of deficits and tax hikes and utility rate hikes.”
By contrast, Smarjesse says, Prairie Capital Convention Center is operating in the black.
Donelan blames an economy that tanked for fiscal woes during his tenure at city hall. He makes no apologies for employee head count that increased during the Davlin years. And he said he helped put the city on the right fiscal course after Davlin’s death by helping fill a $10 million hole in the budget.
“When economic times were better, we had more people out on the streets doing more things,” Donelan said. “When economic conditions worsened, there were less people working at city hall. We did layoffs. … We all know that we had a worldwide economic recession. I’m very proud of what we accomplished.”
On the issues, Smarjesse sees a residency requirement for city employees as the biggest difference between himself and his opponent.
“I’m in favor of it, not because I am, but because my constituents are,” says Smarjesse, who notes that residents of Ward 9 voted in favor of a residency requirement in a 2012 advisory referendum.
Donelan says that requiring municipal employees to live in the city isn’t a simple matter of signing something into law. It would require negotiating with unions, he said.
“I’m not a proponent of residency for existing employees,” said Donelan, whose neighborhood was annexed into the city after Davlin hired him in 2005. “It would require collective bargaining.”
Donelan said that he’s open to the idea of establishing a permanent inspector general, which could cost more than $200,000 on an annual basis, according to some estimates. He said he hasn’t decided just how such an office should be set up.
“Employees need to be comfortable in that they have an outlet to make a complaint or turn something in,” Donelan said.
Neither candidate has taken a hard-andfast position on Hunter Lake. Smarjesse says the city needs a second water source, but the council needs more information to settle on the most cost-effective solution. Similarly, Donelan said the council needs more information before deciding what the city should do.
“You can’t make a decision like that unless you have an updated number,” Donelan said. “The council needs to take a look at water demands in five, 10 and 15 years. Chatham is no longer a customer. We have water efficiencies that have taken place. Those things all play a factor in what the council should do.”
Donelan has been endorsed by Inner City Older Neighborhoods, the International Association of Firefighters Local 37, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 and the Springfield and Central Illinois Trades and Labor Council. He has raised $17,897 as of March 30, with his largest contribution coming from the International Association of Firefighters Local 37, which has given $2,500.
Smarjesse has been endorsed by former state Sen. Larry Bomke, state Sen. Sam McCann, R-Carlinville, former Springfield Mayor Karen Hasara, Sangamon County board member Andy Goleman, Carter Hendren, who ran campaigns for former Gov. Jim Edgar, and Kevin Kennedy, who ran against him for the Prairie Capital Convention Center board in 2005. Smarjesse had raised $17,400 as of March 30, with the biggest chunks coming from unions, including the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 965 PAC Fund, the Southern Central Illinois Laborers’ Political League and Laborer’s Local 477, each of which contributed $2,500.
Contact Bruce Rushton at [email protected].
