City of Champaign Candidates on Desegregating CU

This question was created by journalists and community members during the Democracy in CU: Let’s talk solutions to community violence event on March 14th.

What will you do to promote social cohesion among different neighborhoods and communities? How will you work to actively desegregate CU?

Deborah Feinen:

Support the Community Coalition. Support efforts with Unit 4. Promote and work for many different types of housing options across neighborhoods. Request information from the community and talk with folks about what strategies may be important to achieve these goals.

CITY COUNCIL

Tom Bruno:

Every neighborhood deserves walkable retail spaces and affordable housing.
 
Andrew James Christensen:

The American President has taken extraordinary measures to sow division in communities more than any leader in recent memory. Socioeconomic and racial segregation leads to community violence, homelessness, health problems, and a depressed economy, and the solution to it is not going to be handed down to us from the top. We need to find solutions in local government.
 
While the City of Champaign has many great diversity and inclusion initiatives, it needs to strive for perfection. This means building inclusion into all aspects of hiring, of contract-negotiation, of appointments, and in citizen outreach. The city needs to support black-owned businesses and enable black entrepreneurs. It needs to require mixed-income housing. And it needs to maintain extremely high standards for ethical equal policing, and increase transparency with the public on police procedures and concerns.
 
The Neighborhood Services department is a hugely valuable tool the city has to build community, and it should see growth in its neighborhood association coordination. Some existing neighborhood associations are already great microcosms of well-organized diversity, and the city can help spread their examples.
 
Desegregation is not something that happens quickly, and no citizens want to be displaced from their homes or jobs in favor of abstract progress. But by building up the parts of the city that have been underserved for decades, we can break down the barriers among us.

Matthew Gladney:

You will always find me at community events in all parts of the community, whether it be in southwest, central, or north Champaign, I believe in continuing our partnerships with the local schools and park district in order to promote education, employment and events that can promote those who are most disadvantaged, as that will ultimately be the rising tide that will allow for better opportunity for jobs, housing and integration. One example of a positive thing I notice: Every summer, I am heartened when I attend C-U Days at Douglass Park, because I see such a diversity of people there, interacting with one another and enjoy each others' company. I would like to see more of that in Champaign.

William Kyles:

I would like to continue to support places like the Champaign Public Library.  People from all over our city support our library, not only as a place to read books, but for as a place for fellowship.

We have neighborhood meetings throughout the year and I would encourage neighborhood groups to occasionally meet in other parts of the city outside of their neighborhood. When neighbors from different areas have an opportunity  to meet, then this further encourages the type of social cohesion that breaks down barriers and areas of discomfort. 

Pattsi Petrie:

I have actively worked for an economically integrated community for years, as explained in question # 

Clark Park is a terrific planning case study, in that too many variables are happening at the same time—proposed amendment to the zoning ordinance for SF1, 50-60 feet frontage; a Conservation District, which appears as a segment of the Historic Preservation ordinance; and a Planned Unit Development (PUD). First, the zoning amendment ought to follow procedure of hearings held by the Planning Commission and then voted up or down by the city council. This will provide an approved foundation for neighborhoods to figure out best practice to retain individual neighborhood character. 

This can be accomplished by an overlay zone. A Conservation District is an overlay zone. This may or may not be the best practice across all neighborhoods. An alternative approach is a different overlay zone, specifically written for each neighborhood. Fortunately, there are many interesting and distinctive neighborhoods in Champaign. One size of zoning or an overlay zone 
 
Jon Paul Youakim:

I think that in order to promote social cohesion among neighborhoods we need to ensure new developments have mixed income housing construction included within them and include affordable housing for lower income families. It makes it less likely that wealthier community members can just ignore middle class, working class and poorer community members’ needs and struggles. It also allows for neighborhoods to become more integrated over time. For all neighborhoods and communities in Champaign I believe the city can play a role to ensure future integration by utilizing the Office of Equity, Community and Human Rights to enforce the Human Rights Ordinance to end any discrimination in housing. One step is to make community members aware that they can file complaints to the office to investigate the allegations of discrimination and take actions to resolve the situation. I think having neighborhood committees that meet with each other regularly may help coordinate efforts in the community to engage with each other and foster a closer bond between different neighborhoods that tie us all together.
 
NOTE: We reached out to Azark Cobbs, Kenton Elmore and Michael LaDue and received no or incomplete responses.