FIRST TERM ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Infrastructure

1. Coordinated the Citizens for Rebuilding Rockford and worked with them to pass a 1% sales tax referendum that funds infrastructure in the City of Rockford – roads, bridges, flood and storm water systems. It is the first 5-year Capital Improvement Program in the City’s history that is not funded by property taxes.

2. In that process, eliminated the Vehicle Sticker for our residents.

3. Spearheaded a $75 million water infrastructure improvement to improve water quality and system reliability.

4. Hired a new Public Works Director who has made vast improvements in all areas.

5. River Walk Grants Approved by State of Illinois (currently in design/engineering)

Education

1. Hired a Director of Education and Lifelong Learning.

2. Started the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council which created the nFactor, a groundbreaking youth movement in the City of Rockford.

3. Spearheaded the nCenter, a community center where youth can go in the summer and after school to participate in various positive educational and recreational activities, along with the help of many community organizations, unions and companies

4. Established a daytime curfew.

5. Passed a truancy ordinance in cooperation with the School District, United Way, and Winnebago County.

6. Continues to be a leader on the education front, challenging our community with ideas like charter schools, and a city university, which would coordinate the educational opportunities in our area and make it easier for our residents to obtain a college education.

Public Safety

1. Hired a new Police Chief.

2. Promoted the “broken windows” philosophy and community policing.

3. New efforts in “Weed and Seed” areas.

4. Aggressively reduced drug houses in our neighborhoods and introduced a nationally recognized Alternative Drug Enforcement Strategy in target areas.

5. Strict enforcement of property standards through additional code enforcement staffing, enhanced equipment and technology, and tougher ordinance regulations.

6. Strictly enforced liquor laws, shutting down several establishments that violated their licenses.

7. Passed and enforced tougher quality of life ordinances related to panhandling, littering, refuse, daytime curfew, truancy, loud stereos, and parking in yards.

8. Worked diligently with the RHA to get the Jane Addams housing project town down.

9. Implemented Geographic Policing model that could help reduce the crime rate in Rockford.

10. Total sworn officer staffing levels at highest level in City History, increasing total sworn officer strength from 298 in 2005 to 316 with support for additional 10 officers secured through Federal "COPS" Grant.

Changes within City Hall

1. Health Insurance overhaul for City Employees.

2. RockStat – a process of measuring and providing customer service and culture of accountability and improved customer service within City government. RockStat measures the successes but also highlights the failures, providing opportunities for improvement and success.

3. Coordinated the feasibility study of a 311 call center that would handle all the information calls within the City of Rockford.

4. New Zoning Ordinance passed supporting enhanced community design and more flexible infill development.

5. Consolidated the Building and Community Developments to improve customer service and accountability by improving the development and permitting process.

6. Established a new Information Technology Department to increase technology applications throughout all City Departments to improve productivity, accountability, and customer service.

7. Hired a Director of Tourism, Culture, and Special Events to better coordinate and promote our community assets and increase our international connections to spur future growth and opportunity through programs like Sister Cities.

Economic Development

1. Lowe’s – landed one of the largest industrial projects in the Midwest in 2005 by securing Lowe's 1.4 million square-foot distribution center through a creative incentive package. The facility employs approximately 1000 people.

2. Facilitated two major expansions of Anderson Packaging which increased their campus and increased hundreds of quality jobs to the local economy.

3. Worked a creative financial package to maintain hundreds of industrial jobs at MNP off of Samuelson Road.

4. Facilitated a major retooling and expansion to UPS, relocating their heavy freight facility to Rockford, Illinois through creative financial incentives.

5. Expanded infrastructure within the Rockford Global Trade Park to spur economic development and job creation.

6. MetroCentre/Ice Hogs – $23 Million Deal: saw that the UHL hockey league was collapsing, and put together a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks, the Metro Authority, and the County to bring in a minor league hockey franchise and modernize an aging facility.

7. Signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement with Wanxiang, the 2nd largest privately-held company in China, to invest and create jobs in the areas of renewable energy, manufacturing, and air cargo in Rockford Global Trade Park and at Chicago-Rockford International Airport.

8. Advocating the removal of the downtown mall to spur a resurgence in our downtown.

9. Support for several new downtown retail and residential developments.

10. Successful Springfield advocacy for inclusion in River Edge Redevelopment Program: providing incentives and grants to clean up our riverfront in downtown Rockford.

11. Annexation of approximately 1,000 acres for new industrial job growth that will become Global Trade Park II, just south of Chicago-Rockford International Airport.

12. TIF Agreement with Tandem Development supporting new cargo/industrial jobs at Airport.

13. Property Tax Rebate Program for home owners in residential TIF Districts

14. Created new TIF Districts to spur redevelopment and new investment in older areas of the community.

Regional Planning/Partnerships

1. New vision, mission, and structure for Metropolitan Planning Organization (RATS becoming RMAP)

2. Enhanced community partnerships (Truancy Intervention Program, Community Collaboration Inc., Community Education Partnership)

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LEADERSHIP
Larry Morrissey's leadership style is dramatically different from the current administration. Larry is decisive, direct, and aggressive. He will employ his knowledge of community development and his advocacy skills to fight for Rockford at the local, state and national level. "The only way for Rockford to achieve true greatness is to forge bold plans and to get them completed." A Morrissey administration will unite Rockford's people to take control of our destiny. (To read the entire position paper please click here)

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SCHOOLS
The mayor's office must be actively involved in directing Rockford's approach to life-long learning. The leadership of Rockford's educational institutions must be challenged to achieve more. Larry will meet with the School Superintendent regularly and, where possible, develop agreements that enable the city to support the schools and provide a learning environment that will enable children to thrive.

The Mayor’s Office must play a critical role in coordinating and improving this community’s educational resources and approach to life-long learning. The residential and business marketplace needs to know that this City has taken responsibility and action for improving education in our community. As we improve our schools, we will see increased demand for living and working in Rockford. We must acknowledge as a community that, ‘as go our schools, so goes the City of Rockford.' (To read the entire position paper please click here)

Education & Life-Long Learning Priorities
When elected Larry will establish a position of "Director of Education and Life-Long Learning" who will be responsible for working every day to coordinate Rockford’s education assets in the public and private sector and communicate City policy on issues like truancy, vocational training, and job training.

• Truancy Crisis Solutions
  Currently, Rockford has a truancy rate of four times the State average and due to that, District 205 loses out in more than $6.5 Million in annual State aid. Rockford cannot afford to lose those funds and those children cannot afford to miss those classes. The Director of Education & Life-Long Learning will make the truancy issue a priority. We will focus on working and coordinating with community resources to reduce the truancy rate in the community.



• Provide Accountability, Consistency, and Action



• Address Environmental Conditions at School



• Address Environmental Conditions at Home



• Address Self-Image of Students and the Community



• Seek Creative Enforcement Options



• Coordinate Support Services to Help Families

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NEIGHBORHOODS
Larry will focus on developing Rockford's neighborhoods into livable, attractive communities. His approach to revitalizing neighborhoods involves critical public infrastructure investments and development of public-private partnerships supporting residential, retail, and entertainment development. A successful, attractive community requires action on a citywide plan that makes all of our neighborhoods safe, beautiful, livable and connected. Read Larry's River District speech.

Changes in zoning and planning:

Appropriate, focused and comprehensive planning on zoning uses will increase core development and decrease urban sprawl that is currently negatively impacting our community.

Changes will include the adoption of new landscaping and beautification standards for public roads and right-of-ways.

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PUBLIC SAFETY
Larry's knowledge of public safety issues has been learned through working in the trenches on the Winnebago County Public Safety Commission. Larry supports innovative and state of the art approaches to these issues and emphasis on community policing models made famous by Rudolph Giuliani. He is a student of the "Broken Windows" approach that ties infrastructure and maintenance issues to the task of eliminating the environment that causes crime. (To read the entire position paper please click here)

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TRANSPORTATION
Larry was a founding member of the Greater Rockford Transportation Coalition where he continues his march for an integrated transportation system involving roadways, air travel, and train service. 'We face an enormous challenge in aiding airport expansion and establishing passenger rail service. These elements will enable us to compete worldwide." Rockford must invest in a transportation system that allows all parts of the community to flourish. (To read the entire position paper please click here)

Reasonable investments in core infrastructure:

The essential three R’s of Rockford’s infrastructure: Roads, Rail and River.

"Internally, through great planning and great community building, Rockford’s roads and pathways and our public transportation need to connect us internally and externally"

Morrissey’s plans include:

• Make existing roadways more attractive and more bicycle and pedestrian friendly;



• Bring passenger rail service to Rockford with a realistic goal of having that in placewithin five years and demand that any rail connection to our area include, at aminimum, a direct stop at the Rockford airport.



• Design and build a connected Rock River Riverwalk that will connect existing assets along our river and provide opportunities for new private development along our river.



• Require that Rockford’s proposed capital expenditures be reviewed against our adopted plans (and not made in isolation).

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JOBS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Achieving basic city services is not enough. Rockford's people deserve more. Rockford needs to be an attractive marketplace to retain current jobs and attract new jobs. Rockford must aggressively market its talented work force and invest in its people and infrastructure to compete. (To read the entire position paper please click here)

Morrissey’s strategy for creating jobs builds upon Rockford’s local strengths. "We will focus first on tackling the local issues because that is where most of the money is spent," Morrissey said. "Most of the dollars brought into local communities come from local property taxes and sales taxes. While funds from the state and federal government are important, and we must go after them, they are often times inconsistent and sporadic especially right now when the state’s finances are in big trouble. Unfortunately, the current administration’s hypnotic focus on Springfield and Washington has left it inattentive on the most pressing local leadership issues."

Morrissey plans to focus on meeting the needs of the local existing businesses by supporting and investing in the many local capitalists and small businesses that are currently in Rockford. Some of the key areas in which we can provide that promotion and support include:

• Establish clear responsibilities and accountabilities for job creation. Currently there is mass confusion in the Rockford marketplace as to the responsibilities and relationship between Rockford Area Economic Development Council and the City of Rockford. Rockford must have a "job czar" for its overall job creation efforts at City Hall like Bob O’Brien has been at the airport;



• Education/workforce development;



• Tax incentives for existing businesses;



• Local investment networks such as the now-forming Stateline Angels;



• Local research activities such as the EIGERlab;



• Infrastructure improvements (e.g. roads, rail, passenger rail service to our airport, fiber optic network development);



• Creating and promoting development opportunities with incentives for small, locally owned businesses, including minority- and women-owned businesses, in targeted development areas such as the Barber-Colman center; and, Developing local minority certification process to help our local minority companies be competitive bidding on contracts requiring such certification.

"We must engage the tough issues, unlike the current administration which has dodged controversial opportunities. Whether dealing with a baseball team or a manufacturing plant, the Mayor’s office must lead this community through difficult decisions."

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Tourism
Tourism is an important business and it must be expanded in intelligent ways to create assets and enjoyment that enhance the quality of life for Rockford residents as well as people from out of town. (To read the entire position paper please click here)

Key components of Morrissey’s tourism strategy include:

• Hiring a Director of Tourism, Culture, and Special Events to provide direction, planning and accountability for our tourism economic development efforts. This person will work with the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, which previously has not had any tourism professional at City Hall directing their efforts;



• Discontinuing discussions about a $100 million convention center; and,



• Constructing a connected riverfront pathway that will connect assets on both sides of the river including Burpee, Discovery Center Children’s Museum, the Rockford Art Museum, Downtown including the Coronado, MetroCenter, and Library, Tinker Swiss Cottage, Marinelli Stadium, and Klehm Arboretum. The path would also promote the development of undeveloped properties that the City now owns including the old Ingersoll property and the old Barber-Colman property.