City voters will head to the polls Tuesday to pick mayor, alderpersons, city treasurer
Misty Buscher said the reason she got into the Springfield mayor's race last summer was because she didn't like what she saw at City Hall the last eight years.
The two-term city treasurer is sounding the same note as voters head to the polls on Tuesday.
"The only way I can move the needle, as I told people, is I want to be the change I see in my community," Buscher told The State Journal-Register. "I'm not doing this for a legacy, for a family name. I'm not doing this for a giant political career."
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Incumbent Mayor Jim Langfelder, seeking a third term, has heard that talk before.
"As mayor, what you have to do is look at the totality of everything," Langfelder said recently. "As a challenger, it's how are you going to make it better? Unfortunately, they turn it into tearing down Springfield. It reaches a new level because if you ask the plurality of the people, do you like the direction we're going, I think the answer is yes.
"Are there issues we have to resolve? No doubt about it."
Voters will pick new alderpersons in Springfield wards 4, 6 and 7 while wards 3 and 5 are also contested.
The city will have a new treasurer with Buscher vacating her seat. Voters will have three candidates to choose from.
Voters also will pick candidates for the District 186 school board, the Springfield Metropolitan Exposition and Auditorium Authority (SMEAA) board, the Springfield Park District board and the Lincoln Land Community College board.
Early voting began Feb. 23. Polls will be open in Sangamon County from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Vote-by-mail ballots can be returned by U.S. Postal Service, by using one of the secure ballot drop boxes on the south end of the County Building at Ninth and Monroe streets or at the Sangamon County Juvenile Detention Center at 2201 S. Dirksen Parkway (by 7 p.m. on Election Day), or by hand delivery to the clerk's office.
Mailed ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday.
A number of area villages also have contested races. In Chatham, voters will weigh two advisory referendum questions pertaining to the sale and production of adult-use cannabis.
Springfield Mayor
As of Tuesday, Buscher is enjoying a near two-to-one contribution advantage over Langfelder per quarterly campaign finance data. The quarter ended on Friday, where expenditures will be reported in the upcoming quarterly reports sent to the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Buscher's $58,395 in contributions come primarily from the $25,000 contributed by the Realtor Political Action Committee and also $15,000 from IAFF Local Union 37.
More: Langfelder, Buscher make their cases in wide-ranging mayor's forum
The mayor's contributions just surpassed $30,000 with his largest sums coming from self-donations. Last quarter, Langfelder received more than $49,000 in contributions.
It's actually a familiar position for Langfelder, who was behind the eight ball financially in previous campaigns in 2015 against Paul Palazzolo after a primary and in 2019 against the late Frank Edwards.
A recent poll of 510 registered voters done by Cor Strategies put Buscher up 39% to 37%. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.33%.
One campaign issue ironically that will be taken up at the city council meeting the day after the election an $18.75 million incentive package to redevelop the downtown Wyndham City Centre.
The $18.75 million in incentives would come partly from a targeted, sole project tax-increment financing district, or TIF, with a full 23-year life. The city will have the flexibility to blend in sharing the hotel/motel tax and sales tax both generated at the property to help complete the incentive requirement.
Under the proposal, Tower Capital Group, the San Antonio, Texas, owners of the property, would operate 250 hotel rooms as a Delta by Marriott along with 200 apartments.
A major sticking point for some has been the forgiveness of a $243,000 charge on a 2021 City Water, Light & Power bill.
"I'm extremely cautious about the new Wyndham project because that owner still owes us money and now they're asking for our aldermen to commit to giving them almost $20 million," Buscher said. "That's a big ask when you haven't made the city whole."
While he has contended that he has nothing to do with debt relief and waiving debt, Langfelder said an exception was rebating and helping out individuals and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic to the tune of just over $1 million.
The $243,000 was due to meter and demand charges and the hotel paid the rest of the $1.5 million bill in full, Langfelder pointed out.
"Would I make the same decision? Yes, because it kept the hotel operating (during the pandemic)," he said.
Buscher and Langfelder said they would make strong pushes over the weekend by knocking on doors.
More: What candidates for Springfield city treasurer say about investing, pensions, services
City treasurer
With Buscher deciding to run for mayor, a three-person race has emerged between deputy treasurer Colleen Redpath Feger, director of the city's Office of Budget and Management Bill McCarty and Springfield Park District trustee Lisa Badger.
McCarty worked for Mayor J. Michael Houston, a Republican, before staying on under Langfelder, who being endorsed by the Sangamon County Democrats.
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Feger has distanced herself from the field in terms of campaign finance this quarter, racking up more than $84,000. McCarty and Badger have combined for under $25,000 over the course of the January-March period.
Aldermanic races
Three alderpersons are bowing out this election cycle: Ward 4 Ald. John Fulgenzi, Ward 6 Ald. Kristin DiCenso and Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin.
Two other alderpersons seeking reelection have challengers in their races.
In Ward 4, retired City of Springfield worker Larry Rockford, former Sangamon County Board member and LPN Jason Ratts and financial advisor David Yankee are vying for the seat.
The open seat in Ward 6 is being contested by State of Illinois worker Jennifer Notariano and attorney Alyssa Haaker.
State worker and 2019 candidate Brad Carlson faces off against state worker John Houlihan, making his first run, in Ward 7.
Incumbent Roy Williams Jr. faced off with business owner Bill Eddington in Ward 3.
It is a three-person race in Ward 5 with state worker Lakeisha Purchase, an incumbent, and attorney and current Sangamon County Board member Sam Cahnman. Business owner Calvin Pitts is a write-in candidate.
Running unopposed are Ward 1 Ald. Chuck Redpath; Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory; Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley; Ward 9 Ald. Jim Donelan and Ward 10 Ald. Ralph Hanauer.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: The consolidated election in Sangamon County is Tuesday
