Elgin hopefuls differ on downtown, developer incentives

Downtown Elgin has come a long way since the mid-1990s when the casino came to town and revitalization began.

This spring, the city will start the fourth year of a downtown street improvement plan that will wrap up in 2011.

But there still is a ways to go to make it a destination for Elginites and people from surrounding towns.

This task will fall in part to the Elgin City Council, and there will be at least one new face on the council this year.

The six hopefuls for the vacant 2-year council seat that will square off in the Feb. 24 primary differ on how incentives should be offered to spur downtown redevelopment or if the city needs a new performing arts center.

The city owns, operates and subsidizes the Hemmens Cultural Center, and officials say the theater's 1,200-seat capacity makes it more difficult to turn a profit - or at least break even - with first-rate acts compared to other facilities with 2,000 seats or more.

The city has hired a firm to study whether to erect a new facility, renovate the existing one or let simply let the Hemmens serve out its life span.

Candidates Al Fernandez, Emi Morales, Mike Robins, Brenda Rodgers and Mike Warren believe this is not the time to begin building a larger facility, in the midst of a recession.

Candidate Charlene Sligting says no final decision should be made until after the report is returned, which is expected this spring.

"Until we get the study back to see if we need a new performance hall, we really can't address that issue," she said.

As far as downtown redevelopment, they all support the use of Tax Increment Financing Districts, special taxing areas that use taxes on incremental growth in property values to pay for public improvements.

Fernandez said the city needs to be cautious when doling out incentives to developers. "Let's see what they have to offer if a project doesn't work out," he said. "We have to make sure they have something to lose."

Robins said the downtown needs more restaurants and entertainment options to truly become a destination but the city should stop offering incentives for residential units because those have not sold well.

Morales said the city should hold more town hall meetings to find out what people want. "I believe it has a lot of potential. I think it needs to be done smartly, though," she said.

Rodgers said she believes a downtown should be the heart of a community and would support incentives if they resulted in new jobs.

Sligting said injecting more money through incentives is part of the solution. The city also needs to hit a critical mass of people living downtown, too, she said.

Warren supports developer incentives as long as that doesn't hurt core city services like police and fire protection. He also believes that "we need to invest in all of our neighborhoods, not just downtown."

Tuesday's primary will narrow the field from six to four people and the winner will be chosen April 7. Also decided on that day will be three, 4-year council terms. Ten people are running for those seats.