Worried 'the other shoe would drop,' Misty Buscher now steadies her course

Just hours after her historic win as mayor of Springfield and a victory celebration with friends and supporters, a nearly sleepless Misty Buscher found herself in a familiar position.

Working.

Even as she plowed through Google Docs, going through things she would like to see as mayor, something was gnawing at her: the unsureness of it all.

More: Misty Buscher is Springfield's next mayor

That prompted an early morning text to and a subsequent phone conversation with Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray that gave her peace of mind about the April 4 results.

"I was questioning the vote totals, the existing mail-in ballots out there," Buscher recalled, in a wide-ranging interview in the city treasurer's office the day after the election. "I was just worried the other shoe would drop and this would be taken away from me, I guess."

In unseating two-term incumbent Mayor Jim Langfelder by a little less than three percentage points, Buscher, a two-term City Treasurer, becomes the city's second female mayor.

Buscher and the city's alderpersons will be sworn into office at the Bank of Springfield Center on May 5, along with Buscher's successor as treasurer, the current deputy treasurer Colleen Redpath Feger, and Clerk Frank Lesko. Redpath Feger staved off two opponents in Tuesday's election, while Lesko ran unopposed.

Buscher promised to hit the ground running, although she was still putting together a transition team late last week. She had Langfelder's word that he would have a sit-down meeting with her, and his election night concession speech pledged a smooth transition.

There are shorter term ideas Buscher would like to address, like the beautification of the city, and meatier issues, like attracting jobs to the city.

Some larger city projects, including the Scheels Sports Complex and Wyndham City Centre, are already at her doorstep.

Developers of the sports complex will seek an amended and restated agreement with the city Tuesday.

More: Incentive package for Wyndham City Centre will go to new city council, developer frustrated

Council members signed off on the project nearly two years ago as a way of bringing sports tourism to the city, but ground on the now-$67 million effort hasn't been broken yet, causing some consternation. Now development assistance from the city, mainly through the hotel-motel tax incentive but also through sales and property tax rebates, will go up on several fronts.

Buscher said she has talked to developer Steve Luker, who told her he would keep the lines of communication open.

"Commercial lending rates go up faster (than regular lending rates) and the cost of building materials has gone up, too, so he's concerned that the project may not be exactly what he proposed with the same costs," Buscher said. "I think he has a burning desire to get it done.

"I would like to see it done because I keep saying we need to bring more visitors and conventions to Springfield so that would definitely be a part of that. I believe that is a good economic engine that we are a little bit missing the boat on."

Local tourism officials have said the complex, which would host weekend tournaments for traveling teams from around the country, would generate some 250,000 new visitors along with about $30 million in new spending annually.

A vote on an $18.75 million incentive package from the city for the Wyndham, the beleaguered downtown hotel, was scheduled for the day after the election, but it was scrapped, leaving the hotel's owner, Al Rajabi frustrated, though he said he was willing to meet with Buscher.

Under the most current plan, the Wyndham would operate as a Delta by Marriott with 250 hotel rooms and 200 apartments. The breakdown of those rooms has been a point of contention on past votes by the council, with Buscher favoring keeping hotel rooms to attract conventions and shows.

The forgiveness of part of a utility bill to the tune of $243,000 still rankles Buscher, who contended the city needs to be made whole if the person's asking the city for $20 million.

"It's not the electric fund, but it's still the same person (who) received debt forgiveness and then wants additional funding from the city," Buscher maintained. "Ultimately, it's all of the taxpayers' money.

"The reason (for the forgiveness) confuses me. The reason supposedly was because he was in financial duress. If he was in financial duress, then why is this project going forward?"

Buscher said she has already made contacts with owners of tech businesses to see if Springfield might be a good fit. Tech jobs don't always require a college degree and they typically pay better, she said, along with jobs in the medical sector.

An Amazon warehouse "clearly would be great here," along with light industrial companies, Buscher added.

"I just believe we need to go sell our city," she said. "Sitting in city hall and waiting for those businesses to come to us is never going to work because every other city is knocking on the door saying, 'Why aren't you here?'

More: Election 2023 by the numbers: What was turnout, who supported who

"I constantly said during the campaign that Springfield has an 18% poverty level (actually 18.5%). The state average is 12%. The national average is 11%. The only way to get out of that poverty level is the jobs and bringing the better-paying jobs here."

In dealing with council members, Buscher said she wanted to make sure she was communicating with them "every single week." At a mayor's forum earlier this year, Buscher said she wanted them "empowered to do their jobs," but instead, they seemed engaged on "a fact-finding mission" during most city council meetings.

Buscher wants to put an attorney from corporation counsel's office into the office of council coordinator Tim Griffin. That way, council members have more ready access to those services, she said.

"That's a common complaint," Buscher added. "(Ward 5) Ald. (Lakeisha) Purchase complained (recently) that she had an ordinance she had been asking to be drafted for quite some time and it had never been drafted, but there were other ordinances that aldermen who maybe side with (Langfelder) more often got their ordinances drafted and she felt that wasn't fair and she expressed her opinion about that. That won't happen (under me)."

Being referred to as the city's "second female mayor," Buscher admitted "makes my heart beat faster."

Buscher had the endorsement of the city's first female mayor, Karen Hasara, who served from 1995 to 2003. Buscher spent some time with her during the campaign and planned to reconnect with Hasara soon.

"One of the things she told me to do is to stay true to myself," Buscher recalled. "She said, 'Just keep your values and beliefs whole. Follow what you want to do. Don't let people misdirect you.'

"If you think about it, she ran (as mayor) 28 years ago. The things that were said about me as a female on social media and the mailers and the flyers, it was ugly. If you think about what I endured now, think about what Mayor Hasara endured 28 years ago.

"I thanked her for breaking that glass ceiling and paving the way for a lot of women, not just me. That's a big deal to me that she did that and I really, really respect her for that."

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

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Misty Buscher will be inaugurated as mayor of Springfield IL next month