THE PEOPLE HAVE THEIR SAY: City Council Members Take Questions from Springfield Residents at Town Hall Meeting

Affordable housing tops the concerns of the Springfield residents attending the Zone 4 town hall meeting. Photo by Karl Reinkemeyer.

City Council members Bruce Adib-Yazdi and Heather Hardinger faced questions regarding Springfield’s housing among other inquiries as the city’s Zone 4 residents met in the gymnasium of Cowden Elementary School on February 24th for a town hall meeting. For two hours the Council members traded off presenting the council’s ongoing plans and answering questions from their assembled constituents. The meeting follows similar Town Hall meetings held by other Council members throughout January and February.

The main focus of the presentation was a proposed hotel tax increase to fund a convention center in downtown Springfield, which will be put to voters on this April’s municipal ballot after a similar proposal was voted down last year. A whole section of the evening was set aside just for the two Council members to make their case for the convention center. However the presentation also touched on a number of other policy priorities and planned projects, such as renovating the area around the Springfield Art Museum, expanding bicycle infrastructure, and cracking down on reckless drivers. They even briefly touted the West Central rental inspection pilot program which is scheduled to begin in March.

The tone was largely respectful, but the audience asked sharp questions of the Council members once the floor was opened up, on a range of topics including sanitation, public safety, bus routes, and of course housing. When the assembly was asked what they wanted to see improved in Springfield, affordable housing was the top response, followed by public transportation and government transparency. Several people in the audience questioned why these were not City Council’s primary concerns. The Council members did not seem to have a strong answer prepared for that question, more than once falling back on a narrative that these issues are outside of their control.

We at STUN do not accept that answer! We hold an immovable conviction that the purpose of a government is to ensure and safeguard the human rights of all its citizens, and that includes the right to have a safe and stable home! City leaders have a duty to use every bit of power and leverage they have to take care of the city, and we have a duty to hold them to it. Keep following STUN to stay ready for more opportunities to raise your voice with us!