PHOTO BY STEVE HINRICHS
Through the Springfield Aldermanic Black Caucus, alderpersons Roy Williams Jr. of Ward 3 (left), Lakeisha Purchase of Ward 5 and Shawn Gregory of Ward 2 say they plan to be bold and innovative in pushing for city policies and actions that increase stability and prosperity in the city’s impoverished neighborhoods and reduce economic disparities between Black and white residents.
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NOTHING NEW
How many variations of this article is Illinois Times going to write (“City’s Black Caucus addresses disparities,” July 10)? It starts with broad pronouncements that everyone knows and has heard a million times (the east side is neglected), vague accusations of indifference toward other city officials and then uninspired and ineffective policy ideas from Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory and Ward 3 Ald. Roy Williams. More TIF money? Making the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance, which is basically just a tourism board, create a “working council” to increase minority representation on its board and then creating a tourism initiative tied to historic sites.
Is that really the solution? That’s the bold execution the north and east side needs? Throwing money at business grants has not worked up until now and only stands to benefit people who are already economically secure – lest we forget the widespread mismanagement and corruption of how the cannabis grants were handled.
I’ll just wait for the next article that paints Gregory and Ward 5 Ald. Lakeisha Purchase as some kind of visionary leaders while having absolutely no new policy ideas. At least it fills space for IT during slow news cycles.
Mary Harris
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
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DON’T BLAME GOVERNMENT
Stability, or lack thereof, starts and ends based on the behavior of the people who live in the neighborhood. If people accept bad behavior, you get what you accept. Being a good neighbor is not hard. It’s not the government’s responsibility.
Michael William
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
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IDENTITY POLITICS DON’T HELP
Identity politics produce more of the same, which is jobs and people moving out of state. Stable neighborhoods need economic opportunity. As jobs and opportunities decline, neighborhoods become more unstable. Illinois’ taxes, corruption and regulation have driven away jobs and people for years and the city’s Black Caucus supported it every step of the way.
The fastest-growing area in the U.S. is north Dallas. It has tons of economic opportunities, no income taxes and jobs everywhere. It’s a Dallas joke to ask people who move here if they are from Illinois, California or New York, because those states continue to lose population while Texas continues to grow.
Adam Carlile
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
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EPA IS IMPORTANT
In an especially shortsighted and destructive move, the Trump administration has announced it will eliminate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development, including its network of laboratories. Some of the best scientists in the world work at EPA labs protecting public health and making our air, land and water cleaner.
The research they perform is responsive to the most critical environmental issues facing Americans. They pursue innovative and pragmatic solutions to keep us safe. For example, at a Homeland Security research facility, scientists have figured out how to use Roomba vacuums and store-bought dehumidifiers to decontaminate buildings infected with anthrax. The lab in Duluth uses an autonomous underwater glider to map the Great Lakes. And in North Carolina, robots rapidly test thousands of chemicals for toxicity.
It’s easy to forget how much better our environment is compared to a few decades ago, when illegal dumping was rampant, smog blanketed cities and rivers routinely caught fire. But there is still plenty of work to do.
For instance, EPA scientists have been researching the scourge of “forever chemicals” known as PFAS. These carcinogens are found in thousands of products and they are showing up regularly in our food and water. There is much we still do not know, including all the products they are in, how to clean them up and all the health impacts they cause. Until now, America relied on EPA’s world-class scientists to help answer these questions, but now there will be no one filling that critical role.
Paul Winters
Monticello