Waukegan Talk

Another interesting article about the goals our new mayor has for our city.

Mayor lightens city hand on lakefront businesses
He also expects improved performance by Genesee Theatre
Comments

May 25, 2009
By DAN MORAN <!-- e --><a href="mailtoMORAN@SCN1.COM">DMORAN@SCN1.COM</a><!-- e -->

WAUKEGAN -- It was clear from the outset of the first full City Council meeting under the gavel of Mayor Robert Sabonjian last week that the policy landscape is changing.

Where meetings under former mayor Richard Hyde began with an invocation by the Rev. Joseph Coburn, pastor of All Nations Church, Sabonjian called for a 30-second moment of silence.

Coburn performed invocations not only during Hyde's administration, but also for Dan Drew's. Prior to that, William Durkin opened meetings in the 1990s with invocations from a roster of religious leaders that included Coburn, Rabbi William Fertig of Congregation Am Echod and the Rev. Glen Stewart of the Agape Fellowship Church.

A second change on the council's agenda came when Sabonjian announced that comments from the audience would be fielded prior to the council conducting business. During the Hyde years, a series of measures to control audience participation included moving the comment period to after all agenda items had been acted upon.

Sabonjian told the council gathering that the three-minute time limit enacted under Hyde would remain in place for audience comments, and he added that "we request that you please speak respectfully" and refrain from personal attacks or politics.

The two agenda alterations were accompanied by two larger approaches signaled by Sabonjian during his first weeks on the job -- one with an eye on lakefront issues, and one concerning the future direction of the Genesee Theatre.

Regarding the lakefront, Sabonjian confirmed Thursday that he and state Rep. Eddie Washington, D-Waukegan, met last week with shoreline industries about supporting their continued operations.

"My intent is to allow those businesses to remain there," said Sabonjian. "Our goal is to work with the EPA and get (the harbor) cleaned up."

Under Hyde, the city turned down harbor cleanup funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2007, and pursued a civil suit against Seahorse Drive industries that has been working its way through the courts into this year.

According to a statement issued by Washington, he and Sabonjian met with representatives from National Gypsum, LaFarge North America Inc. and St. Mary's Concrete. Washington said the meeting "highlighted the importance of the harbor's development for the city's future."

Washington added that the companies were also told that "they will be expected to actively participate in the development of the harbor, and will be responsible for continuing to beautify their locations."

The future of the Genesee appeared on the radar at last week's annual Mayor's Lunch, where Sabonjian complained that the theater "is dormant 80 percent of the time, leading to financial losses and instability among our downtown businesses."

"The (council's) Genesee Theater Committee will oversee a new philosophy relative to running this important investment," Sabonjian told the lunch crowd. "We will move to implement the original business plan first put forth by Ray Shepardson that will see vastly increased use of the theater, more community access and more traffic into our downtown."

Sabonjian said Friday that he plans to meet with the Genesee's current management team as soon as this week to discuss future plans.

Both he and the theater's executive director, Gary Zabinski, declined to comment further on the matter until talks could be held.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1590221,5_1_WA25_WAUKEGAN_S1.article">http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... S1.article</a><!-- m -->

The city will launch a new marketing campaign, "The New Urban Adventure," in an effort to attract young professionals who are being priced out of other communities, Sabonjian said. He is pushing a fast-track development process, plans to expand Fountain Square -- "Route 43 is a potential golden pathway for affluent communities," Sabonjian said -- a new business model for downtown, and dredging the harbor to make it navigable by more commercial vessels, perhaps even a ferry between Waukegan and major ports.

"Waukegan is very well positioned between Chicago and Milwaukee," Sabonjian said. "It's a symbiotic relationship, and we have to play on that."

This statement comes to mind as well after reading the above article. It is in the 'Economic strong cards' article.

We've talked about this before. There have been some articles about young 'urban pioneers' moving into Waukegan. But they did mention the need for more services; place to get a coffee downtown, pizza, places to hang out after work, etc...

And then there's the schools. I've heard of people who really like some of our homes/the low prices/lake side town/ etc... BUT will not move here because of the state of the schools. How involved can/should a city government get involved with asking for 'more' from it's schools. Our school board has a new president -will be make new movements/new personnel like Mayor Sabonjian?


<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.wps60.org/wpsd60/reportcards.php">http://www.wps60.org/wpsd60/reportcards.php</a><!-- m -->

Here's a link to the district and school report cards.