Mayor candidates talk quality of life issues at forum

Mar. 16—DANVILLE — Some audience members said they got what they wanted from Monday night's mayoral forum at Danville Area Community College's Bremer Conference Center.

It was standing room only for Monday night's forum where current Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. and Vermilion Housing Authority Executive Director Jackie Vinson, his opponent in the April 4 election, touched on a lot of topics affecting residents.

If elected, Vinson would be the city's first woman mayor.

The candidates had opening and closing statements and answered 19 questions from the media panelists, including some submitted ahead of time by voters.

The event was produced by Neuhoff Media, in cooperation with the Danville Commercial-News and supported by DACC.

Two of the audience members, Michael and Robin Twidwell, educators, said they know Williams and have seen what he's done the last four years. They wanted to learn more about Vinson and how she stands on issues.

After the forum, Robin said she had "a much better understanding," of both candidates. "And I appreciate that and that's what this is about."

The Twidwells said the forum made up their minds on how to vote, in hearing both candidates directly.

The audience was largely quiet, listening to the candidates for most of the forum. Clapping started by audience members when Williams and Vinson talked about their long-term visions for Danville and how they expect the city to look 10 years from now.

Williams said, "Ten years from now I expect that Danville will be a place in the Midwest, one of the premiere places, where people want to live, work, play and invest. That's going to happen in several ways. No. 1, continued strong economic stewardship. If we do not take care of the money that you give us, we cannot provide the services, we cannot provide the infrastructure, or anything else that you need as a community. So, No. 1 we're going to work to continue to be strong stewards of your money. I think a big thing that we've got to do is bring recycling back to our community."

Williams said the city has reached out to recycling entities about exploring a drop-off site or curbside recycling possibilities. Residents haven't been willing to pay for it in the past, but "I think it's something that we have to consider for the investment of our future," Williams said.

"Third, I think we're going to continue to have thriving arts in this community. The Fischer Theatre is amazing," Williams said, about one of the city's assets that hosts events for residents and visitors.

Wiliams added that if the city capitalizes on its partnership with the Vermilion County Trail Alliance on more trails for this area, connecting Kickapoo Rail Trail to the city's riverfront, and making the city as vibrant as possible, then people will want to stay and come here and choose Danville too.

Vinson said she hopes the city can create a vision for its future that includes all the voices within the community.

"I think that we all deserve to be heard, to be understood and to be represented; to be included even if we don't agree 100 percent on the same topics. I think that Danville's future is ripe with opportunity. I think we need to enhance our natural resources and our people as our greatest strengths. I think Danville as a community needs to invest in its neighborhoods. We need to invest in our infrastructure, and we need to provide opportunities to grow and expand upon industry that is currently here. I think Danville as a community needs to reinvest in the center core. The center core that is blighted with industry and neglected neighborhoods. We need to reinvest in the strength of ourselves and we need to come together as a community to develop that vision. Danville has great assets. The people primarily are the No. 1 asset," Vinson said.

"Danville's future is bright but it will take all of us coming together and being heard and trusting each other and working together towards a common goal to get that accomplished," Vinson continued.

Health/safety, other topics

Other question topics and answers included: jobs and economic development and the candidates discussing working with Vermilion Advantage and schools and training; reviewing traffic stop data and racial disparities; bringing hockey back to Danville with a request for proposal to have criteria in place to better select a team that will pay bills and keep employees safe with insurance, and mayor appointments to boards such as with the arena and airport to have board members represent the community's best interest; and Bresee Tower possibly coming down by summer and Vinson saying it's not the role of the mayor to overrule the historic preservation commission's request to seek proposals to see if any developer could save Bresee Tower.

The candidates also talked about decreased population and Danville Mass Transit adjusting bus routes due to less funding; improving transportation options; and how the mayor can communicate with residents through getting out and talking with people. There were questions about using casino money for youths in addition to pensions and removing the public safety pension fee for residents; supporting development at the Martin Luther King Jr. exit at Route 150 and I-74, if it can't be in Danville, Williams says, and Vinson saying what's good for Vermilion County is good for Danville and vice versa; and east side improvements with Vinson saying "we will never demolish our way out of blight. We've been chasing our tail for the last decade."

Responding to a question about the Village Mall, Vinson said the city failed to forecast societal changes impacting the mall, such as with the movie theater closing.

Williams said the city has continued to have meetings with the Tabani Group, owners of the mall. He's happy to report the former Carson's is being divided into three spaces, with one larger space with a letter of intent. The other two smaller spaces are in the works. More office space in the mall also could occur, such as for non-profits.

In response to a question about gun violence, Williams said as the city is adding more police officers, it will add a Vice Unit to address violent crime. "Over the last several years, we've asked you to 'See Something Say Something' and you have done that. Now we need a little help from the state's attorney," he said.

Vinson said she fully supports proactive policing. "No matter how many individual police officers you put on the street, you will never erase crime. Crime is a symptom of larger issues that are impacting our community. Crime is a symptom of poverty, of neglect, of lack of resources, of lack of opportunities, of lack of education. Our young people choose crime when they feel they have no other choice."

The city also needs to create and expand opportunities for the community's youth, to have afterschool activities and programming to give them options instead of getting involved in violent activity, Vinson said, adding that mentorship opportunities need to be supported and encouraged.

A question about ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds had Williams clarifying that the city hasn't spent ARPA funding on purchasing or demolishing housing along Fairchild Street for the proposed Garfield Park improvements. He also said no one was forced out of their homes.

Vinson believes the city's ARPA money should have been used to directly better residents' lives and businesses. She said if property owners are going to invest in their structures, the city should cost share and expand on that money. She said current city officials decided it was too administratively burdensome to do that. "So instead, whether we paid with COVID money or not, we took people out of their homes, we removed some of the nicest houses on Fairchild Street because they back up to Garfield Park and with the intent of putting in a now $14 million pool that can be used by a slim portion of our community for four months a year," Vinson said.

The candidates also talked about the lack of some medical services.

Vinson said as a mother, the lack of labor and delivery services in the community is unacceptable.

As a community wanting to recruit young families, they look at the education system, quality of housing and the city amenities.

"Having to drive 35 minutes to deliver your child safely is unacceptable. It's going to take one fatality on the side of I-74 before we as a community are crying out that this is a crisis," Vinson said. "We have one pediatrician in Danville. As mayor I would immediately request the ability for all three medical providers, and any medical provider providing obstetric services in Danville, to come together to create a plan of action that isn't solely our young mothers having to travel to Champaign to have this service."

Williams said there have been meetings about recruiting medical providers to this area and providing incentives such as housing incentives or tax breaks.

Vinson said citizens are hurting, neighborhoods are struggling and the city's image is suffering, but the future can be bright. Opportunities are plentiful.

"If we prioritize governmental investments towards the betterment of our people, if we decrease the cost for our families to live here and our businesses to operate here, if we revitalize the strained relations with our community partners, we can change the course of the city together," Vinson said.

She said the community needs help developing its vision for its future. The pulse of the community is not being met or understood currently, she said.

Williams too talked about his proven progress such as with the city's finances, economic expansion, improved infrastructure and building a thriving community.