DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Leaders told WAND News the future is bright for the city of Decatur.
On Friday, city council sat down for a meeting to discuss their strategic goals for 2022. It was a chance to look back at the work that’s been done over the last year and plan for the future.
Councilman David Horn said the city of Decatur has seven main goals put in place back in 2019. Those include neighborhood revitalization, work force training, creating destination points downtown, improving city technology, finding new revenue streams, increasing sustainability with Lake Decatur and improving equal access to resources for minority populations.
“There's just a lot of exciting things that are happening in Decatur. And one of the things that I'm most excited about is the quality of life that we have here. This is a great place to find a nice neighborhood and to settle down here. I think the residents really have a city that they can really be proud of,” Horn said.
Horn told WAND the city plans to hone in on one two specific areas next year: neighborhood revitalization and improving the local workforce. He believes improving job training, while also bringing good jobs to Decatur, will help grow the city.
"I think what you're going to see over the next two years is a real focus on creating synergies between getting people well-paying jobs, and revitalizing the neighborhoods in which they live,” Horn explained.
Below are more details on the seven strategic goal areas:
- NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION – We have made progress on many of the strategies associated with neighborhood revitalization. However, as mentioned above, many of the strategies used to achieve priority goals do not include metrics that allow an assessment of success. For example, even though "increase the rate of building demolition" has been achieved the past two years compared to several years past, the city is not keeping pace with the rate of blight making success of this strategy less obvious. The lack of a comprehensive neighborhood plan developed by community members is a substantial hinderance to the ultimate success of this goal, and one strategy that should be implemented soon is the creation of such a plan.
- GROW, ENHANCE AND BETTER PREPARE THE LOCAL WORKFORCE – The city of Decatur continues to experience a reduction in its labor force. The percentage reduction in the labor force is even greater than the city's population decline. As more people first decide where to live and then find a place to work, neighborhood revitalization takes on even greater urgency as a means of both enhancing quality of life and reversing population decline. Two additional strategies that can enhance our local workforce are expanded youth employment programs and reentry programs for those that have been formerly incarcerated.
- TAKE DOWNTOWN DECATUR TO THE NEXT LEVEL – This goal could be revised to foster growth of more of our destination areas within the city. City parks throughout our urban areas can become focal points for neighborhood events. Former retail centers are underutilized as they recover from the loss of a grocery store and other entities. There are opportunities to create distinctive destinations throughout the city.
- IMPLEMENT SELECTED NEW TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL IMPROVE MUNICIPAL SERVICE DELIVERY – There is a significant need to improve the city's website, social media platforms, and associated technology and apps for citizens to access information about the city. Whether it is finding city codes or learning about city initiatives such as COVID-19 funding relief for residents, the website and associated apps are of limited use. There is a need for significant improvement in this area with an emphasis on greater citizen engagement.
- IMPLEMENT NEW REVENUE INITIATIVES AND COST REDUCTION MEASURES – With the city's population declining and expenses increasing, the city must find additional sources of revenue in lieu of raising taxes. A cannabis dispensary and other cannabis-related business will increase revenue and jobs in the city of Decatur. The city also has an opportunity to move toward energy independence. We can reduce our carbon footprint by establishing solar energy generation at the Oakley Sediment Basin. Finally, as climate change continues, the city has an opportunity to secure additional and exclusive water sources that may attract new industries seeking water security.
- COLLABORATE WITH OTHER STAKEHOLDERS TO CREATE A COORDINATED PLAN FOR LAKE DECATUR MANAGEMENT – The city of Decatur needs to implement the recommendations of the watershed plan and to increase our water supply in the face of global warming. Citizens can play an important role and there is a need for more citizen committees including one focused on global climate change and its predicted impacts to our region and one focused on lake management.
- FOSTERING EQUITABLE RELATIONSHIPS - The city of Decatur is considered to have some of the largest racial disparities in the country. There are significant differences in median income, educational attainment, unemployment, and home ownership between black and white Americans in Decatur. There are also long-standing and shorter-term health disparities including differences in COVID-19 vaccination rates among races in our city. Of significant concern, much of the gun violence in Decatur is being committed by younger black males. Strategies for fostering equitable relationships could include joining the Decatur Public School board in declaring racism a public health crisis; ensuring city council policy and city codes are not reinforcing racial disparities (i.e., failure to enforce requirements for face coverings during the pandemic may disproportionately impact races with different vaccination rates); acknowledging and addressing any racial disparities in policing; and providing a safe neighborhood for all citizens of Decatur (i.e., community policing initiatives, more neighborhood cameras, and mental health crisis counselors and social workers to assist families in non-criminal matters).
