TheNeighbor

March, 2013

The 3rd Wards voice of

choice.

Volume 1, Issue 1

Rental; vacant properties may face new regulations from the city for Freeport

Its not uncommon to find rental spections of all rental units and preing or demolition of abandoned properproperty in the 3rd Ward that isnt up to scribe enforcement action for nonties. par with the city of Freeports building compliant rental property owners. But local landlords and realand safety laws. Years of nonLocal landlords and realtors have tors may have a fight on their hands this regulation of the Freeport landlord inalready begun to mount their campaign time. Two 3rd Ward neighborhood dustry, which allows rental properties to against any new regulations by calling groups, CAPS and Neighbors United go uninspected by the citys Building and lobbying city aldermen. The two (NU), are joining forces to lobby hard Department, has taken a toll on many industry groups have been successful for the new landlord regulations. Along 3rd Ward neighborhoods. with 3rd Ward Alderman Ronnie Deteriorating rental property Bush, the two groups have made and absentee landlords have the passage of the ordinance a pricontributed to the devaluing ority. of property values in the 3rd In response to increased deWard, and many would armands for rental property to be gue, has contributed to an regulated by the city, the Freeport increase in crime in the area. City Council created a rental propThe current condition of erty committee at their February rental properties, particularly 19th city council meeting. in the 3rd Ward, has many in It is being suggested that the the area concerned, frustratcommittee be made up of city ed, and angry. staff, aldermen, realtors, landlords, But the days of nonsocial service organizations, conregulation of the rental proptractors, and tenants. erty business in Freeport Neighbors United believes may be coming to an end. Vacant properties, like this one on E. Iroquois St., that to win passage of a landlord At a February 11th Freeport may come under new city guidelines should the city registration law the people of the City Council Committee of council pass a new vacant property ordinances. 3rd Ward and from all parts of the the Whole meeting, 6th Ward community that are negatively impacted Alderman Scott Helms stated that it was over the past 15 years in stopping any by deteriorating rental property must time for Freeport to regulate an industry ordinance that would make them commake their voices heard. that has been producing too many unply with the citys building and fire The groups are encouraging everysafe rental units for too long. Many city safety codes. Most recently, they sucone who values stable and safe aldermen expressed interest in Freeport cessfully blocked a vacant property oradopting a landlord registration ordidinance that would expedite the repairContinued on page 2 nance that would require Freeport landlords to obtain a license to operate rental property within the city limits. The Freeport City Council is curMarch 4 Freeport City Council Meeting @ City Hall @ 6p rently gathering and reviewing landlord March 6 Neighbors United Bi-Monthly Meeting @ FACC @ 5p licensing ordinance from other Illinois March 11 Freeport Committee of the Whole@ City Hall @ 6p communities in preparation of drafting March 18 Freeport City Council Meeting @ City Hall @ 6p their own. Some of these ordinances March 20 Neighbors United Bi-Monthly Meeting @ FACC @ 5p require the city to perform annual in-

Whats Happening

Playground could become reality in near future

It may not be opened before sumIn May of this past year over 400 petition drive that was hosted at a mer comes around again, but the 3rd signatures from local residents were Neighbors United Rock Da Block Ward neighborhoods west of the Pegathered during a neighborhood park block party event at the Freeport Area catonica River may be a bit Church Cooperative. Park orcloser to getting its own ganizers are now identifying playground and zero-depth neighbors interested in taking water park. Neighbors their request to the Freeport Park United has begun the proDistrict in January. cess of petitioning the FreeAccording to the US Census port Park District to approve Bureau, this particular area has the two projects in 2013 and one of the highest concentrations neighbors have started to of children under the age of 18 in get themselves organized the city of Freeport. Over 40% around the effort. of all of the children living in the The neighborhood lost 3rd Ward live in neighborhoods its only open playground in that immediately surround the 1994 when the King ComKing Community Center. munity Center was built on If you are interested in jointhe old Henney Park site. ing the movement to develop a The closed-in playground playground and zero-depth water Children in Philadelphia, PA play at a zero-depth now only serves children water park. Freeport neighbors are currently organizpark in the 3rd Ward, please conwho attend Amity Day Care ing to develop a similar park in the 3rd Ward. tact Jackie Whitworth at Neighand Head Start. bors United at 815.233.0435 or by email at jackiefacc@aeroinc.net.

Play time

Bush; Neighbors United successfully lobby council for better street lights

Rental property
Continued from page 1 neighborhoods to voice their support for new landlord regulations at Freeport City Council meetings in March.
The Freeport City Council will meet on Monday, March 4th at 6 p.m. at the new Freeport City Hall building at 524 W. Stephenson St. Those wishing to speak on the issue should be there at 5:30 p.m. for sign-up.

Some 3rd and 5th Ward neighborhoods could get a little brighter at night this summer. At last weeks Freeport City Council meeting, the council dropped Mayor George Gaulrapps request for a new sidewalk program and opted to invest additional money in the upgrading of the citys antiquated street lighting system. Partnering with 3rd Ward Alderman Ronnie Bush, Neighbors United pushed for a change in how the city would spend its $142,000 Electric Aggregate Program fund. The 3rd Ward neighborhood group proposed that the money would be better spent toward crime prevention through improved street lighting. Neighbors United argued that, next to adding additional police officers on patrol, improving street lighting in high crime areas is the next best thing a community can do to prevent crime. In presenting their case, Neighbors United provided the council an analysis of street lighting in three 3 rd Ward neighbor-

hoods and one 5th Ward neighborhood. The analysis showed that over half of the street lights in these areas were older street lights that need to be replaced by new lights that give off better street lights. Neighbors United also requested that the citys Forestry Department trim back large city trees that block what little street light there is. The council voted to earmark the new money for improved street lighting and additional housing demolitions. Alderman Bush will be working with the citys Public Works Department and CommonWealth Edison to devise a city-wide street light replacement program. Both Alderman Bush and Neighbors United will push to ensure that the replacement program begins in the 3rd Ward. Along with improved street lighting, the city council supported a measure to increase the amount of money being spent on housing demolitions.

Neighbors United
Next Meeting: Wed., March 6 5p@FACC

Whos to blame for all of our problems? We are.

By Dean Wright Lets face it, admitting fault is one of the toughest things to do. No one likes to admit when they are wrong or that they have failed. We all like to be right, all the time. But admitting ones mistakes is the first step in moving forward. Learning from our errors is how we protect ourselves from making them again. Things have gotten rough in Freeport over the past few years. According to the Illinois Department of Security, joblessness and unemployment have almost doubled in our area since 2008. Our area has lost almost 14% of its manufacturing jobs and 16% of its construction jobs from 2008 to 2009 alone Family income has also fallen by 4.5% since 2005. The lack of jobs and economic growth is evident throughout the community. Vacant buildings and run down properties seem more prevalent in Freeport than they once used to be. Empty storefronts and closed businesses seem to be the trend. Some residents have begun to question the safety of their own neighborhoods. But I would argue that while jobs, incomes, and the quality of life in Freeport have declined over the past few years, the level of the communitys apathy has risen. Whether it be through frustration, depression, fear, or just plain laziness the people have stopped participating in making their Freeport a better place to live. Case in point: In 2003 I was elected as Freeports first Alderman-At-Large, a position now held by Alderman Andrew Crutchfield. That year over 4,489 Freeport citizens voted in the April municipal election. Two years later over 6,000 people voted in the mayoral race between Pat Leitzen-Fye and George Gaulrapp. But since then, voter participation in city elections has taken a turn for the worse. In April of 2007 just 3,138 voters went to the polls. In 2009 Mayor Gaulrapp ran unopposed for his second -term election. Just 899 people voted that year. Two years later in 2011, with the entire city council up for election, a paltry 2,078 voters votedless than half the number who participated eight years earlier. Lets just admit here Freeport that we fallen down on the job. But now its time to get up. In the last month a few folks from the east end of Freeport have begun to step forward to improve their neighborhoods. Neighbors have come together and have successfully lobbied for funding for improved street lights in the 3rd Ward. They have also ignited a discussion with the city council about rental properties, safe housing, and vacant buildings. These citizens are committed to bringing about change in their communities. But theres a lot to do and just a dozen or so people cant do everything. Others need to step up as well. If thats you, then you need to get a hold of us so we can get you involved in whats going on. Feel free to call me or Jackie Whitworth at FACC at 815.233.0435. Dean Wright is the executive director of the Freeport Area Church Cooperative and a member of Neighbors United.

Hip Hop; spoken word workshop to be offered at FACC

Local hip hop and spoken word artists will soon have a new outlet and venue to perfect their art form. The Freeport Area Church Cooperative, in collaboration with Neighbors United, has developed Hip Hop Studio University (H2U)an eight-week program for youth that will focus on spoken word poetry and hip hop writing, performing, and recording. Designed to help young artists develop and improve their skills as writers, performers, sound engineers, and producers, H2U is open to artists ages 14 through 18 years old. Participants will learn how to record and use high quality recording equipment, and will have the opportunity to connect with other artists and music professionals from the Freeport and Rockford areas. Some of the topics that will be presented at the H2U will be The History of Hip Hop Studio Recording, Making Beats, and Using Samples

Take the Mic: Performing Your Work Who Wanna Battle? Verbal War in Forms H2U will be led by spoken word poet Christopher Sims; hip hop instructor and DJ Jes Weber; hip hop and recording artist Steven Moseley; and poet and entrepreneur Jazzmine Keyes. The eight-week workshop will be held each week on Thursdays from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at FACC at 514 S. Chicago Ave. in Freeport. H2U will begin on Thursday, March 7th and will end Thursday, May 9th. The H2U program is limited to just 15 students. Application to the program must be completed and submitted to FACC by February 28. This project is funded partially by the Illinois Arts Council and the Freeport Arts Museum. Additional information and applications can be obtained from Jackie Whitworth at FACC at 815.233.0435 or by email at jackiefacc@aeroinc.net

Freeport Area Church Cooperative 514 S. Chicago Ave. Freeport, IL

815.233.0435 p 815.232.7260 f jackiefacc@aeroinc.net

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Freeport, IL Permit No. 46

Indian Heights property owners form association to improve neighborhood

Inspired to support property owners and initiate beautification projects within the Indian Heights Neighborhood, a new homeowners association is being created in the 3rd Ward. The Indian Heights Neighborhood Homeowners Association (IHNHA) will focus on the needs of property owners who live in the Indian Heights neighborhood. The Indian Heights neighborhood lies within the borders of Adams, Pleasant, Winneshiek, Wright, Liberty and Kenwood Streets. According to Joyce Boggess, a long-time Indian Heights neighbor, the new group will work closely with city of Freeport officials and other community organizations to ensure that all residential, commercial, and recreational developments meet the neighborhood needs and are compatible with the community. IHNHA hopes to significantly impact the growth of the neighborhood and turn it into a family-friendly place to live and work. The group further hopes to enhance the health, beauty, and diversity of the Indian Heights neighborhood by organizing activities that will help neighbors communicate and interact better. The IHNHA meet quarterly at the Boys & Girls Club of Freeport and Stephenson County at 511 S. Liberty Ave. The next meeting will be held on March 28 at 7 p.m.

MAYOR GEORGE GAULRAPP 815.235.8200

1st WARD ALDERMAN TOM KLEMM 815.233-1245 2nd WARD ALDERMAN SHAWN BOLDT 815.297.9115 3rd WARD ALDERMAN RONNIE BUSH 815.238.8530 4th WARD ALDERMAN JENNIE DEVINE 815.235.2381 5th WARD ALDERMAN DENNIS ENDRESS 815.238.6875 6th WARD ALDERMAN SCOTT HELMS 815.232.2776 7th WARD ALDERMAN MIKE KOESTER 815.238.4958 ALDERMAN AT LARGE ANDREW CRUTCHFIELD 815.231.6861