Collaboration needed

Illinois Times published an article April 2 entitled “A collaborative effort for downtown,” referring to the push to create a new taxing body to expand the BOS Center and construct a new hotel.  I only wish a “collaborative effort” was indeed the case. 

While I am not an elected official, I am a longtime advocate of revitalizing the inner core of our city, and I pay pretty close attention to policy and political actions affecting this priority. I served on the Mid-Illinois Medical District board and currently serve on the city’s Economic and Community Development Commission. I spoke forcefully about controlling sprawl, developing a plan for downtown and promoting the medical district as an economic engine for the city when I ran for mayor in 2011. 

Expanding the BOS Center has long been a priority of Sangamon County leadership, as Sangamon County Board chair Andy Van Meter affirmed in the article. I and others have been aware of this priority for years. However, creating a new five-person taxing body with only one representative from the city of Springfield, building a hotel with taxpayer dollars and completely sidelining the Springfield City Council and the two council members who represent the proposed new district is gross overreach at best. 

Related

A collaborative effort for downtown

City, county and state officials push legislation to help expand BOS Center, construct new hotel

I doubt most people and businesses are opposed to the expansion of the BOS Center. I support it, too. But the BOS Center is already governed by its own taxing body, so I’m unclear why creating another taxing body for our residents is necessary – despite the oft-repeated, nauseating argument by county leadership that it won’t raise taxes for local people.  Let’s be real – these are all taxpayer dollars, regardless of the direct source. 

And using taxpayer dollars to build a hotel? I know it’s been done in other cities, but I’d like to know a bit more about how that would work and who would operate it. And if new, unmet demand exists after expansion, why wouldn’t the private sector step in? Also, let’s not lose sight of the fact that a towering, vacant and decaying hotel sits right across the street and another one across from that with a sordid history of abusing taxpayer loans. 

We have 10 alderpeople in the city of Springfield who we elect to represent us and protect the city – not the county. This proposal, however, seems designed to completely usurp the authority and influence of city of Springfield elected officials as a whole and, in particular, of the council members who represent the area this new taxing body will cover: Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory and Ward 5 Ald. Lakeisha Purchase. Gregory and Ward 3 Ald. Roy Williams have publicly expressed opposition to parts of this proposal. 

At this point, the proposal is far from “collaborative,” as the title of IT’s article states. But it still can be. Let’s slow this down and include our city representatives in meaningful ways so we can work together to revitalize downtown – a goal I believe we all share.   

Sheila Stocks-Smith serves on the city of Springfield’s Economic and Community Development Commission and is a longtime community activist. 

This article appears in April 16-22, 2026.