KICKOFF SPEECH TEXT

Thank you, Bill. You are a man of great integrity and wisdom and a great help to this Campaign. I am proud to have you with me tonight as my Campaign Chairman.

Thank you also to my campaign committee and the many volunteers that have been with us and the many new supporters here with us for the first time tonight.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my family, my mother and father, Joe and Josephine, my sister, Eileen, my brother, Bill, and their wonderful families, and my girlfriend Stacy. Those closest to me have sacrificed a lot in order to make this evening and this campaign possible.

Four years ago I stood before many of you who are here today and together we began a great journey. We set the agenda in the last campaign, and OUR ideas drove that campaign. We surpassed expectations. And while we should be proud that our ideas came to be adopted by many, that is not enough.

If the last campaign was about WHAT this community should set as goals, this campaign is about HOW to actually achieve them. We now know that it is not enough to talk about the vision: we all want good jobs, schools, neighborhoods, and transportation. . . we must also have the motivation, the trust, the plan, and the courage to achieve those goals.

We deserve more than talk; we must expect more than talk. We need action.

That is why it is my honor to declare: I am a candidate for the Mayor of the City of Rockford.

The decision to run again was not an easy one. Having done it before, we know what is in store. All of us who are here today have made the commitment of time, energy, and financial support to win this race. We have set aside certain personal goals and dreams, because we have a larger community purpose. The people of Rockford know that our campaign is not just about winning an election. Our campaign is about focused and deliberate leadership.

Through the hard work of our volunteers, we will not only set the agenda; we will win this race; and that will give us the opportunity to act, to forge solutions, and to solve this city's problems.

Four years from now we will be measured not by our talk but by our accomplishments.

We will set the bar high; we will identify our goals, and we will build a trusting team that will achieve results!

I have spent the last three and a half years wanting to believe that the campaign rhetoric would really happen. We all hoped that the current administration would not squander its opportunity. After speaking with many fellow citizens, one thing is clear, we have been disappointed.

We know the situation all too well: we are at the top of the pack in all the wrong categories: crime rate, drop out rate, and jobless rate. We have taken the worst of an economic decline that has cost thousands of manufacturing jobs. Our housing stock was recently identified as stagnant or declining in roughly three quarters of our City. And our older commercial districts are struggling to hang on. When the City suffers in this way, we will continue to be ripe for crime, we will be unattractive to residents, we will lose jobs, and our tax base will suffer.

And to be sure, these problems have not all arisen overnight. But the question today is not so much whose fault is it for the predicament we are in, the question today is what have we been doing about it? Is there a clear direction and a clear course of action that the Current City Administration has to solve these problems? Unfortunately not. My friends, that must change. It's time for advocacy. It's time for action.

It's time for leadership. We need new leadership and we need it now.

I never feel sorry for Rockford, Illinois. We have too many resources and too many great people here for us to feel sorry for ourselves. We have too much going for us to simply complain.

I have had the opportunity to serve on many great community organizations over the years. I have also gotten to know many of the great people working for this City. We are all proud of the efforts of our City Police Department, Fire Department, Public Works, and Administrative Employees. We all want to help.

This City does not lack talent. What it lacks is leadership and effective decision-making.

Plain and simply, this City has studied, consulted, and task forced itself to death! We are the epitome of "paralysis by analysis." And I think some of those studies are drummed up to give a false sense of accomplishment: like we are actually doing something when we are not.

We have to STOP taking trips to other cities to see how they are doing things right and START taking action in our City to get things done!

And we must open the doors, and open the process of City government, to build trust, empower our people, and together form our plans of action. When the Administrations tries to stop people from talking at a City Council meeting, and when we don't allow our people to provide real input into our plans, we destroy the very trust that would enable us to achieve our goals.

The current administration has also sat idle on so many critical issues; and when we do, our competitors pass us by. Whether we are talking about a baseball team or a manufacturing plant, this is tragic for the entire area. Rockford is the hub of this entire area; and if Rockford fails, the regional wheel which turns upon the Rockford hub will also fail.

Uncertainty and disorganization are a failure of leadership. Without clear purpose, potential investors not only forgo Rockford, but existing stakeholders look elsewhere.

My philosophy is straightforward. Cities are marketplaces. They are places where individuals seek to live, work, and play. In a competitive and free market where people can live or locate their business where they want, Rockford must compete and be attractive. We must invest in our infrastructure and our people so that they can be free, powerful, and independent players building their homes and their jobs right here.

The path is very clear: we will set out an investment plan so that all of Rockford can flourish; and we will provide benchmarks to measure our progress every step of the way.

To those who say it cannot be done, I say look around. There is not a more appropriate place to kick off my candidacy than here, at the Greater Rockford Airport, a place which truly exemplifies leadership, by not only developing a plan but also implementing it.

Many of us have long been advocates of this economic engine. Yet for how many years did we hear that passenger service just couldn't happen in Rockford? That it wasn't feasible? That it would cost too much? That people wouldn't use it?

But, with the leadership of Bob O'Brien, his entire team, and the support of the airport commission, he has undeniably proved the naysayers wrong. I support Bob and his efforts at the airport. Rockford needs more visionaries like Bob O'Brien; not afraid, excited to try. Willing to "throw the ball down field".

We must build from the bottom up and improve on the basics. To replace the thousands of high-paying jobs we have lost with quality new jobs, we must invest in a comprehensive transportation system, safe and vibrant neighborhoods, and a thriving educational system. And we must provide these resources at a great value!

When we have these strong fundamentals, we will get our share of wins, we will get more jobs and we will get more people choosing the City of Rockford as a place to call home. If we fail to do so, the jobs and growth will continue to pass us by.

I am proud to have been a founding member of the Greater Rockford Transportation Coalition. The GRTC has played a positive role in supporting the efforts of our airport as well as bringing attention to the need for passenger rail and comprehensive transportation solutions.

We must invest in a passenger rail strategy that does not wait 15 or 20 years for Metra to come to us and a plan that fails to connect our airport.

The Mayor of Rockford must provide the leadership that will pull together regional, state, and national agencies and elected officials behind the Rockford agenda.

Just as the airport is an engine for development, so too are Rockford's neighborhoods. Stability in a neighborhood increases value and quality of life. Diversity in a neighborhood brings a richness that attracts investment. Our neighborhoods are critical to the overall economic success of Rockford. In fact they must be an asset for the entire region.

Our neighborhoods and commercial districts must be well planned, connected, clean, safe, and beautiful. This means that we must have changes in land use, zoning, and road building that match these goals.

We must also invest in public-private fiber-optic partnerships to bring Internet and telecommunications infrastructure to the small entrepreneurs throughout our community and not just large institutions.

And we must also address issues of crime, public housing, race relations and public transportation, that impact neighborhood development. Too often, we have ignored problems affecting public housing or race relations as though they don't exist. One way to assure that a problem will continue is to ignore it. This we must not do.

Our minority communities (and older ethnic neighborhoods) have a great heritage and great richness to share; but these communities have not been fully appreciated. We have not (properly invested in our people and the places where they live).

When we alienate and segregate members of our community, not only do we build resentment and distrust, but also we hurt ourselves by failing to cultivate the richness of our neighborhoods and our people. The net effect has been decay, with an unfair impact on our minority communities, and a declining tax base in the older parts of Rockford.

My friends, we must have a plan, for both Older and Newer parts of Rockford.

I view downtown as one neighborhood, one marketplace, to be approached like other marketplaces in the City. The same issues that plague older retail areas along North Main and South Main, West State Street or 11th Street, or even North Town and Colonial Village. . . those same issues face a marketplace like our Downtown.

But the good news is that there are smart investment strategies to revitalize these older markets. In Downtown, for example, we can build a lifestyle destination, and not just a government and entertainment forum. We can create an economic engine through housing and tourism along our riverfront like so many other cities have across this Country; but we must start with basic infrastructure improvements that this Administration has ignored.

Unfortunately, the current administrations belated "Task Force Report" on Downtown is actually a damning critique for the way the current administration has lead. Not only does it come out 3.5 years after taking office, it lacks a realistic financial plan. It is an extremely expensive initiative that simply would not attract substantial private investment. It is akin to a 70's style, urban renewal model typified by demolition and destruction in order to make the West Side Downtown "safe" for the occasional visitor.

This is in sharp contrast to successful models being implemented around the Country: in places like San Antonio, TX or Naperville, IL.

"Retail" jobs are simply not part of this administration's plan for downtown; and I wonder based on what I've seen if they have any plan for our older retail areas: Northtown, Colonial Village, Main & Auburn, South Main, the list goes on and on. I don't see any unified plan for revitalizing retail in "Old Rockford".

And while the east side of Rockford is a thriving environment which proves the ability and opportunity for both residential and business growth, it is simply not smart to look to the East side to shoulder a disproportionate share of the tax base for the entire city.

As mayor, I would continue to support and enhance the East Side of the City; but our Public Works investments would be designed around a smart land use plan that achieves even better results,

Wouldn't it be nice, for instance, if all of our neighborhoods on the East Side included cross walks and sidewalks. Wouldn't it be nice if the tourists visiting our East Side Hotel District could actually walk across the street safely to get to one of our restaurants or shopping areas out there? Good planning means that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Right now, that is not the case.

Schools. There is nothing more vital to a neighborhood than a school and there is nothing more vital to Rockford than a thriving school system including great public schools as well as vocational, and college opportunities.

I have met with Dr. Dennis Thompson, School Superintendent. It is clear that we've gained a strong advocate and, more importantly, a person of action in Dr. Thompson. He is providing strong leadership which will benefit our children and our community.

I believe the Mayor's office must be actively involved in directing Rockford's approach to life-long learning. We must work with District 205 and other educational institutions to develop partnerships that will enable the City to provide life-long learning opportunities.

Dr. Thompson and I agree that the leadership of Rockford's educational institutions, as well as its citizens, must be challenged to achieve more.

Again, with good schools, good neighborhoods, good transportation, at a good value, we will get more jobs to our City.

And as we think about some of our new leaders in this community, it drives home a point. I don't know if Dr. Thompson at District 205 is a Republican or a Democrat. I don't know if Bob O'Brien is a Republican or Democrat. It seems to me that they belong to the action party.

And it is true that I have had members of both parties asking me to run under their respective flags. I was honored by these requests, and I was, quite honestly, attracted initially by the thought that maybe the race would be a bit easier if I were to affiliate with a party. The idea of having to get 50 signatures to get on the ballot instead of 2,000 is by itself enticing.

But Rockford has had a long history of independent and "3rd party" mayors. I was raised in a Democrat household; and I find today that many of my values are now considered conservative. I have voted for both Democrats and Republicans.

But the core beliefs that I shared four years ago are still the same. I believe that Rockford must be united and that we are too often divided by State and National political agendas that are simply not relevant to our local issues. That is why I am proud to announce that I am running as an Independent Candidate for the office of Mayor and not under the flag of either of the major parties.

I make this decision with great respect for both the Republican and Democratic parties. But I believe that Rockford would be better served by having non-partisan local elections like so many other Cities in Illinois.

While some have said that an Independent mayor might have a difficult time in Springfield, Chicago, or Washington lobbying for the City, I think the opposite is true. An independent mayor can unite all our people on our common issues and work with our entire legislative delegations to work for the City of Rockford. Whether it is Don Manzullo working to bring research funds for efforts like the EIGER lab, or Chuck Jefferson working to bring funds here for state road projects, the Mayor should unite this City and give direction and support to all of our representatives.

Now, it was said in a recent newspaper column that I am not a 'nice guy'. While my mother would disagree with that, I would agree that being Mayor is not about being the "nicest" guy. Whether talking about the governor of Illinois or the Mayor of Chicago, or the speaker of the house in Springfield, these folks do not need to be our best friends, but they need to respect us as voters, constituents. This they will do when they know we have a reasonable, independent agenda and when they know we are united in voice and vote to get our goals achieved.

My friends, the road ahead will be challenging, but also a great adventure. We must not be afraid. We must be bold. We must make a city where our children will want to be. Where they will return because they will have opportunity here. They will have dreams here.

This is our town. This is our time. This is our place. Let's win in April . . . For ourselves, for our children, and for our future. Thank you and goodnight!