Newcomer Curry, incumbent Miller square off in Sangamon County District 13 race

Democrat Mikaelah Curry will take on Republican incumbent Brad Miller in the District 13 race for Sangamon County Board.

Miller was elected to the board in 2016 and won uncontested in the 2020 primary election. Miller has lived in Springfield for 59 years with one daughter. He is currently engaged.

Miller serves as vice chair of the building and grounds, election oversight, and the liquor, road and bridge committees. He is employed by Isringhausen Imports. Miller has been a member of the Woodside Township board since 2001 and a Republican precinct committeeperson for over 25 years.

More:Incumbent Small faces challenger Ramey in District 19 county board race

Curry graduated from Glenwood High School in 2017 and is a lifelong resident of Springfield. She is a recruiter for Medicare and annually volunteers in the Democratic Party of Illinois tent at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

Curry on the issues

Q: The new multi-modal transportation center and the upcoming remodeling of the county building are “generational-changing” projects in downtown Springfield. What is the county’s role in seeing that these facilities are best utilized and how might the county be good stewards of these projects?

Curry: Being good stewards of these projects (especially in relation to the multi-modal transportation center that will be going in on 10th street in Springfield) will largely be coming in the form of investing in the infrastructure in such a way that it directly benefits Sangamon County residents in as positive a way as possible. It looks like investing in SMTD, taxis, and intercity buses as much as possible. Currently, these public transportation options are limited, inconvenient, and costly for much if not all of the county making them virtually inaccessible for most of Sangamon County's 195,000 residents. While we likely will never be on the level of large metropolitan areas infrastructure-wise (for good reason, infrastructure in areas like ours functions differently than how it functions in large areas), we should strive to invest in our infrastructure to enough of a degree that it becomes just as accessible as, and a viable alternative to, car infrastructure as much as possible. Additionally, I think the county should be striving to invest in bike infrastructure by adding in bike lanes and trails to a larger degree (like we will be doing on the old 3rd street corridor in Springfield) to allow for bike riding to be a more viable mode of transport throughout the county and in Springfield as well.

Q: A draft of a report, "Heartland HOUSED: Springfield & Sangamon County's Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness," was recently released and was guided by a steering committee that included input from the Sangamon County government. It called for nearly a tripling of available housing for area homeless. Do you support the findings of the draft report or what other initiatives would you implement?

Curry: I am of the personal belief that combating the housing shortage with empathy and logic is most often beneficial to far more than just the unhoused people it is designed to assist. It costs the taxpayers, on average, $35,000 per year per unhoused person to have chronically unhoused people stay unhoused and on the streets. This comes in the form of funding to publicly funded crisis services including jails, hospitalizations, emergency departments, etc. However, when a municipality chooses to instead invest in infrastructure that mitigates the source of unhoused status in most people (mental health, drug addiction, lack of support for disabled persons, etc.) such as permanent supportive housing, it ends up costing taxpayers a modest $13,000 per person; a more than 200% decrease in taxpayer spending. It is my understanding that the steering committee responsible for the plan outlined in the Heartland Housed report is wanting to take Sangamon County's strategy for handling the housing crisis down the permanent supportive housing route which will allow for the chronically unhoused to eventually have access to the services and support they need to again become contributing members of our community. This is a great step in the right direction for our community. I look forward to seeing how this all comes together in the long run. What I would hope they would add on as additional initiatives as time went on is access to drug treatment centers as well as mental health centers to assist in solving the root of many unhoused individuals being unhoused in the first place. Additionally, we should work on strengthening our infrastructure to assist physically and mentally disabled people; as well as streamlining the process to make it easier for those that need these services to access them to prevent their disabilities from ending up unhoused in the first place.

Q: Sangamon County Animal Control has come under scrutiny recently leading to the dismissal of director Greg Largent. Some organizations have suggested removing Animal Control from under the leadership of Public Health. Would you support that initiative or what other improvements would you suggest for Animal Control?

Curry: Personally, I do not believe the issues lie with SCDPH or with Sangamon County Animal Control, but rather with the fact that while the system had been slowly improving and moving forward in its mission, the director, Greg Largent, was not. We have been seeing this more and more often in recent years I think; older professionals who have been in the same position for decades are having issues with changing with the times and instead try and prevent the agencies they are a part of from changing at all in order to keep them more comfortable and content. In my opinion, what needed to happen is exactly what happened, the ineffective director was dismissed and they are now looking to improve the system under new management. We need to wait and see what the new interim director, Jeanne Keenan does with SCDPH moving forward in the coming months and years before making any judgments as to how both SCDPH and Sangamon County Animal Control should be handled in the future.

Miller on the issues

Q: A draft of a report, "Heartland HOUSED: Springfield & Sangamon County's Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness," was recently released and was guided by a steering committee that included input from the Sangamon County government. It called for nearly a tripling of available housing for area homeless. Do you support the findings of the draft report or what other initiatives would you implement?

Miller: The proposal included in the report provides us with the best chance of successfully overcoming this challenge. What is being proposed has worked in other communities that are similar in population to our communities. There is a strong emphasis that to find a solution, the full community must come together and set forth a long-term commitment. In that commitment, the county is willing to provide $200K annually for needed staffing infrastructure and look annually to an emergency shelter fund that will be matched by contributions from the private and corporate sectors. This report is not calling for single-family houses to be constructed. However, it is calling for the development of some kind of situations where a homeless person can find a home. And as our performance improves, our community will again have access to millions of dollars of federal funding that we are losing out from as a result of low-grade performance.

Q: Sangamon County Animal Control has come under scrutiny recently leading to the dismissal of director Greg Largent. Some organizations have suggested removing Animal Control from under the leadership of Public Health. Would you support that initiative or what other improvements would you suggest for Animal Control?

Miller: Many in our community believe our Public Health Department stood the test as it was challenged during the COVID crisis and that the leadership is capable of overcoming animal control challenges. The department was focused on the human health of the community during the COVID crisis. The department has put policy in force to train volunteers, and some duty assignments have been changed. As a result of the leadership, adoptions are up. I believe we will continue to see a positive trend at animal control.

Q: The new multi-modal transportation center and the upcoming remodeling of the county building are “generational-changing” projects in downtown Springfield. What is the county’s role in seeing that these facilities are best utilized and how might the county be good stewards of these projects?

Miller: There have been over 100 citizens that have volunteered to be members of various committees as a result of county outreach. The center will provide local artistic exposure and promote local entrepreneurs. Lincoln’s law practice inside the courthouse will be represented. A historical record of the 1908 Race Riots will be on display. The center may also provide space to recognize our local school accomplishments. Along with myself, many of my county board colleague’s are serving on the citizens' committees. After construction is completed, the County will be responsible for maintaining the facility along with providing funds for additional programs.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to add the Q&A of incumbent Brad Miller, which was mistakenly omitted.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Newcomer Curry faces incumbent Miller in Sangamon County District 13