1.0The Sourcehttps://the-source.netrich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="sFKiGNYqw7"><a href="https://the-source.net/race-for-ward-5-alderman/">Race for Ward 5 Alderman</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://the-source.net/race-for-ward-5-alderman/embed/#?secret=sFKiGNYqw7" width="600" height="338" title="“Race for Ward 5 Alderman” — The Source" data-secret="sFKiGNYqw7" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(c,l){"use strict";var e=!1,o=!1;if(l.querySelector)if(c.addEventListener)e=!0;if(c.wp=c.wp||{},c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage);else if(c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if(!t);else if(!(t.secret||t.message||t.value));else if(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret));else{for(var r,s,a,i=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),n=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=0;o<n.length;o++)n[o].style.display="none";for(o=0;o<i.length;o++)if(r=i[o],e.source!==r.contentWindow);else{if(r.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message){if(1e3<(s=parseInt(t.value,10)))s=1e3;else if(~~s<200)s=200;r.height=s}if("link"===t.message)if(s=l.createElement("a"),a=l.createElement("a"),s.href=r.getAttribute("src"),a.href=t.value,a.host===s.host)if(l.activeElement===r)c.top.location.href=t.value}}},e)c.addEventListener("message",c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",t,!1),c.addEventListener("load",t,!1);function t(){if(o);else{o=!0;for(var e,t,r,s=-1!==navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE 10"),a=!!navigator.userAgent.match(/Trident.*rv:11\./),i=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),n=0;n<i.length;n++){if(!(r=(t=i[n]).getAttribute("data-secret")))r=Math.random().toString(36).substr(2,10),t.src+="#?secret="+r,t.setAttribute("data-secret",r);if(s||a)(e=t.cloneNode(!0)).removeAttribute("security"),t.parentNode.replaceChild(e,t);t.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:r},"*")}}}}(window,document); </script> Steve Warmowski Background Information: After getting a degree in journalism from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, I had a 20-year career as a newspaper photographer and photo editor. I interned in Saginaw and Muskegon, Michigan, and worked in La Salle-Peru, Freeport and Decatur before coming to the Jacksonville Journal-Courier in 1997. My wife Tiffany and I left the paper in 2008 to start our own wedding photography business. What event/initiative regarding the City of Jacksonville are you most proud to be involved in? Helping to bring i3 Broadband to the city to offer competition for internet service. I worked with Mayor Andy Ezard and the city’s economic development partners to secure the council vote to invest in the project. More importantly, I’m proud to have pushed to change the contract to include all of the city in the project. When first presented to the city council by the JREDC (Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation), the plan was to just have i3 build in select parts of the city, and hope for a future grant to include the north and east sides of town. Now the city can tout the fact that 100 percent of the households and business will have access to a 10 gigabit enabled fiber network – one of the first five communities nationwide with this infrastructure. This is a real economic development success, and has the potential to attract new businesses and residents to town. I ask everyone to invite all their family and friends to move to Jacksonville to take advantage of this infrastructure. Do you think our Main Street/downtown is healthy and successful? If not, what would you do to change that? Downtown Jacksonville has a lot going for it. It’s a perfect place for small business – and my wife Tiffany and I have our photo studio downtown. However, I think the City of Jacksonville needs to also invest funds and energy in the rest of town. Downtown has Jacksonville Main Street and other business groups pushing for grants and development. The TIF district has money to leverage federally-funded Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grants, which only require a 20% local match, to upgrade the streets and infrastructure. We all need to work harder to improve parks, streets and other infrastructure in areas of the city outside of downtown. If you could change one thing in our zoning code, what would it be and why? Encourage in-fill development. In some cases when a house is torn down, a new house can’t be built because the lot doesn’t meet modern set-back requirements. The best that can happen in that case is neighbors can buy the lot to add to their properties. Otherwise the lot just sits empty, having to be maintained by government workers. Other communities have allowed a new house to be built on the footprint of the previous one. I have brought this up at city council, so hopefully we can localize this idea that has worked in other communities. I’ve also heard from the public about the need to enforce rules on derelict properties. The council has already passed the zoning rules and funded the enforcement department, and the passage of Home Rule allowed the creation of a municipal court to handle these cases. The administrative process exists, it just needs to work better — especially for rental properties. The public has to keep in mind the city mostly reacts to complaints, so if you see something call the city inspections department and say something to start the process. If you received a $1 million grant to use for the city any way you wanted, what would you do with it and why? First thanks for the million dollars! I look forward to working with other community members to leverage matching grants and more private donations to improve the quality of life in the City of Jacksonville. If you haven’t checked out the recreational trail at Lake Jacksonville, be sure to get out there this spring! The city has a great recreational spot at the lake. But if you’re not a camper, boater or fisher – there hasn’t been much reason to drive out to the lake. The first two miles of this paved path have been completed, and has already attracted new people to the lake. The final third of the planned trail is by far the prettiest section. See for yourself! Head out to the dam, walk around the gate to go down the old West Lake Road, and you’ll be transformed as you walk through a cathedral of old-growth trees. Putting in a new bridge here will allow people to walk, run and ride around the lake, as well as make more city-owned shoreline accessible for fishers. The bridge would also allow guests at private campgrounds on the south side of the lake access to the concession building and bath house at the boat launch area. The next thing I’d do is put in a splash pad at Minnie Barr Park. If you’ve visited Southwind Park in Springfield, you’ve seen these play areas with jets of water for kids. Water consumption would be lower than the water park at South Jacksonville’s Godfrey Park. And it would be more convenient for families in the area than traveling to the Village or to the city pool at Nichols Park just to splash around. I have about half my grant money left, so let’s at least start on the next project. Jacksonville is fortunate to have a lake IN TOWN. We need to build trails, or widen shoulders, so people can walk, run or ride around the Mauvaisterre Lake. Add a trail and bridge over the Mauvaisterre Dam to connect to Superior Avenue. The city is already working on an in-lake dam, which will include a causeway allowing people to go from Country Club Road to the Pony Colt/Jacksonville PetSafe Dog Park area, and from there to Nichols Park. From this point there’s a couple options to build a recreational trail all...http://the-source.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/201128nicholas068-2.jpg