Jennifer Notariano makes bid for open Springfield City Council seat in Ward 6

Jennifer Notariano, who made her first bid for public office four years ago for city treasurer, is running for Ward 6 alderwoman in the April 4 consolidated election.

Kristin DiCenso, who has served in that seat since 2017, announced in August that she wouldn't be seeking reelection.

"I thought the ward should definitely keep a strong, progressive female voice (on) city council," Notariano told The State Journal-Register recently. "There's truly not enough female voices in city government right now."

Notariano, 39, moved to Springfield in 2016. She is a contract specialist with the Illinois Capital Development Board.

Also in the Ward 6 race are Alyssa Haaker, a former Sangamon County assistant state's attorney who is now in private practice, and Daniel Pittman, an Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services public service administrator, who lost the county treasurer's race to Joe Aiello on Nov. 8.

Notariano said she did reach out to DiCenso to talk about a variety of topics.

One thing very much on Notariano's mind, and on the minds of some Ward 6 constituents, is the proposed expansion of MacArthur Boulevard.

Local elections:Springfield Ward 6 Ald. Kristin DiCenso will not run for reelection in 2023

That was the topic of an Illinois Department of Transportation public meeting Thursday at Franklin Middle School, 1200 Outer Park Drive.

The meeting addressed the Phase 1 preliminary engineering and environmental study to improve MacArthur from Wabash/Stanford Avenue to South Grand Avenue.

Notariano said she lives a block off MacArthur and moved to her place because the area was walkable and bikeable and generally "pedestrian-friendly."

"I want to make sure it stays that way," Notariano said. "The residents around here are in agreement mostly. You gravitate to a neighborhood like this because you want to get outside or be able to walk to the park or walk to get a shaved ice or an ice cream or something like that without risking life or limb."

Notariano said she is excited about another Ward 6 project, the proposed Scheels Sports Complex, but she wants to make sure the whole city benefits from increased traffic.

Scott Dahl, director of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the sports complex had the potential of bringing in 250,000 new visitors along with about $30 million in new spending each year to the city.

"I think we have to make sure that whatever goes in over there, there's some continuity, that we don't have people just get off (Interstate 72) and then go back home, to make sure it's a boon for the entire city," she said.

Notariano lost to incumbent Misty Buscher in 2019. Buscher is running against two-term Mayor Jim Langfelder in April.

DiCenso said in August the demands of her job as chief of staff for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and a discussion with her son, a high school freshman, were key parts of her decision to forego running.

DiCenso won a special election in 2017 to complete the term of Cory Jobe, who resigned to move to Chicago. DiCenso won reelection in 2019.

Notariano said in her background in academia, there are two kinds of professors: "the sage on the stage" and "the guide on the side."

"I'm definitely 'the guide on the side,'" Notariano said. "I want to engage people. I want to hear their input. I'm just one person. What are they thinking? This is what this is all about.

"This is truly customer service, only it's not customers, it's constituents. I fully understand and embrace that. It's honestly going to be the rewarding thing about it, to really dig in there and get to know what's going on in the different neighborhoods and what people really need to make their quality of life ever better than it is now."

Notariano has a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of New Orleans and a master’s in political science from Southeastern Louisiana University. She worked on her doctorate at UNO.

Notariano said most recently she helped with campaigns for Rep.-elect Nikki Budzinski in the Illinois 13th District, Doris Turner in the Illinois 48th Senate District, Dan Pittman for Sangamon County treasurer and Marc Ayers for Sangamon County board.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Jennifer Notariano is running for Springfield City Council in Ward 6