I know it’s been a while since I posted on City University but trust me…I prefer to comment about City University and talking about what’s happening there! I’m more than happy to share what’s happening there and my thoughts on things presented to us.
I’ll give some thoughts on each of the three sessions…
Class 3…Public Safety and Information
The class started with a tour of the Southside Fire Station from Assistant Chief David Hall. This is a top notch guy and someone that when the Chief hangs it up would be a good person to consider for taking the Chief’s slot. He was very forthcoming about everything in the fire department and answered every question we threw at him. (He was a little diplomatic on the pension issue but that’s to be expected.) The firefighters we met seemed almost like a family and really were connected with each other and it was very uplifting to see.
He shared about the city being an ISO-2 city and how that lowers our insurance rates and the lengths the department goes to maintain that rating. There’s only 25 ISO-1 rated cities in the United States so the fact Springfield is an ISO-2 is really good and says a lot about our firefighters.
He shared with us a new federal law that firefighters can’t go into a structure unless they have an equal amount of people outside to come in and rescue the people inside. “Two in, two out.” He said it’s frustrating for firefighters to arrive on site and have to wait until backup arrives before going in to fight the blaze. I can certainly see that.
Leading causes of deaths in fires? 1. Careless smoking 2. Combustible objects too close to space heaters 3. Kids playing with lighters.
Amazingly, there has never been a firefighter death in the line of duty in Springfield’s history…they formed in 1897!
One thing he shared was that “no one pulls to the right anymore” when an emergency vehicle approaches them. People just stay on the road or slow down as the fire apparatus goes around them. (You know, if it’s not a state law to pull out of the way and stop when an emergency vehicle has its lights on perhaps we should make one.)
There was WAY too much information from Assistant Chief Hall to post it all here. So far, that’s been the meatiest segment of all the classes.
And a reminder…the Fire Department not only gives away free smoke detectors if your home doesn’t have them but they will come out and install them as well. There’s no excuse not to have smoke detectors in your home.
Sgt. Mike Lucas of the Springfield PD started things off with a really cool video they use for recruitment. It was kind of like “COPS…in Springfield!” He answered a lot of questions and shared some really sobering statistics like the fact we have less officers today on the force than we had in 1996. There’s no doubt of the growth of Springfield in the last 11+ years.
He said the gang problems in Springfield are lessened by the “small town nature” of Springfield. It’s not easy for a “gang” to come in and establish a base without the police finding out about it and crushing it before it can really gain roots.
Average span of service for an officer? Three to five years. He said on average they lose 2.5 people each month.
No officers have died in the line of duty since the 1930s.
Louise Whall, the city’s Public Information Officer, did a fine presentation on her department and the things that they do. Since I work with her all the time to get information for the blog, there wasn’t anything I really didn’t know and as a result didn’t take many notes. 
We then had a presentation on the Citizen’s Service Request system as part of the Department of Public Information. This is where they handle complaints from citizens about things like trash, wild animals, cars parked in front yards, dangerous buildings, etc. Most of the reports they receive are anonymous. They showed us something called “the Neighborhood Toolbox” that has handy information about your neighborhood, who at the city to contact should you need to report a violation or get information on things like building permits.
You can file service requests online or call their office at 864-1011.
Class 4: Neighborhoods
I’ll be honest…I wasn’t really looking forward to this class because I didn’t think it would be that interesting. We had a tour of the Creamery Arts Center which is a nice addition to the city and will be an asset for years to come. When they really get rolling with their film editing studio it will provide a great opportunity for local filmmakers to edit with top notch equipment.
Brendan Griesemer of the Neighborhood Conservation Office made his presentation on what they do and the way they help neighborhoods revitalize old and blighted buildings (among other things.) He talked about the Neighborhood Assessment Program and the ways the city has responded to the requests of various neighborhoods to help slow traffic or provide crosswalks near parks and schools. It wasn’t as boring as I feared it was going to be and I found some of the details on how they use psychological tactics to slow drivers enlightening.
I zoned out for a bit during the Planning and Zoning presentation because it seemed to get bogged down a little in the middle but the information was solid about the zoning process of the city. I don’t think I’ll be volunteering for the P&Z board any time soon, though…
Daniel Neal’s presentation on the Landmarks Board was interesting because I love old buildings and structures. He shared about the historic districts in town and the ways a citizen can get a building declared historic or how a group of citizens can have a historic district in the neighborhood.
He talked about the fine line between historical districts and private property rights. He said that many landowners don’t like being told they can’t do what they want to do with the property they just purchased (and I can completely understand that.) Still, a town’s history is important to it’s future and businesses that want to move to a town like to take into account how a city values it’s past accomplishments.
His presentation concluded with some slides of historic buildings in Springfield that may or may not still be around…it was very interesting.
Class 5 - Dollars and Sense Financing
Things started with a tour of Rutledge-Wilson Farm. This is going to be a huge asset to the city and place that all kinds of city families can take their children to learn about animals and farming. Agriculture is so important to our economy and our area. This park is somewhere I’ll be taking my kids and it will be exciting to see how it grows.
Now, I’d like to see them put some kind of parking in for the walking trail since they close their gates at 5pm. Most people work during the day, you know…
Mary Mannix-Decker did a great presentation on the finances of the city. One of my classmates at times kept asking questions of her that were rather technical in nature and it took some of the discussion into the “what the hey did they just say?” range but overall it was in language we could understand easily.
One of the major parts of her presentation was breaking down how the finances come into the city and why some funds (like the Park Board’s) can’t be used for other things (like the police/fire pension.) She shared that overall the city is up roughly .25% in sales tax revenue from last year but the projection was 3-4% so we are behind estimates. Statewide, Missouri is down 4.7% in sales tax revenue.
She said that if we did not have the pension situation there would be no budget crisis in Springfield. She said they’re trying to repair the budget issue without going to the citizens for a vote to cut benefits because they believe “promises made, promises kept.” She said there were two major contributing factors to the pension issue. The first is that the actuary was working with an 8.5% rate of return when the number really should have been 7.5% and the second is because the city made contributions below the actuary’s recommended totals for the last three years. (Averaging about $2.2 million each year.)
She said the thing people need to realize is that the one time $5 million contribution WON’T fix the plan. It’s about 50% funded now and the $5 million will make it about 58% funded.
Mary Ellison of the Health Department gave a spirited presentation on what they do and the ways that public health affects all of us. She shared how all laws on public health are fact based and not just the opinions of someone thrust upon the community just to make up a law. She said that they have to investigate every complaint called into the Health Department. It doesn’t matter if the person is a disgruntled former employee of a restaurant and admits it…they still have to go check it out.
She said that Springfield restaurants are subject to surprise inspections twice a year. The part that bothered me is that 24 hour restaurants aren’t subject to surprise inspections in the middle of the night. Knowing that, I wonder what some restaurants try to get away with during the middle of the night. I suggested they start doing some middle of the night inspections to keep restaurants on their toes…but I doubt we’ll see that any time soon!
An interesting fact: 95% of all health care dollars are spent on treating people, of which the most expense transpires near the end of one’s life.
An interesting quote: “Health care is vital to all of us some of the time, but public health is vital to all of us all of the time.” - C. Everett Koop
Olivia Hough gave a presentation on Springfield’s Brownfields program. Anita in the city clerk’s office now has a challenger for Fashion Model of City Hall.
A Brownfield is “real property, the expansion, redevelopment or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. In layman’s terms, it’s a property that could have some nasty crud under the surface from a business on the site or one that used to be there.
She shared the ways they do assessments to help potential buyers from hazardous clean up problems with new properties. She also shared how they worked in the development of the Jordan Valley park and how they won a Phoenix award in 2002 for reclaiming that Brownfield for the park. She said they’ve leveraged almost $180 million for Brownfields redevelopment in Springfield.
If you want to learn more about Brownfields you can visit their website.
Overall, I’ve been very happy with the class and I’ve learned a lot about the city, it’s history and how citizens can make an impact on the future of Springfield. Since this is my home, I hope that once the class is over I can find a way to give back to the town in a positive manner as other graduates of City University have done.
