JANESVILLE — Childcare, food deserts and lack of affordable housing should not be lumped into a single “southside” issue, Mat Gonzalez, a resident of Janesville’s southside, told city officials Wednesday night.
“It makes us feel like we’re inherently polarized,” Gonzalez said at a community forum tied to the city of Janesville’s development of a new strategic plan.
“An unfortunate part of that, is that it’s historical. The money has gone elsewhere repeatedly and reliably,” said Cathy Erdman, an organizer of SNOW, a community organization of concerned citizens, and a southside resident.
City officials say the new strategic plan will help guide its operations over the next five years.
The first phase, project initiation and management, was in April. The current phase, stakeholder engagement, started in May and is expected to continue until August. The final phase, the plan development, is expected to start in August and wrap up in November.
More forums thursday
Wednesday’s community forum was one of three this week. The second is on Thursday from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Hedberg Public Library’s Program Room, 316 Main St. The third will be in the Council Chambers at Janesville City Hall, 18 N. Jackson St. at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Nearly 20 participants attended the forum at Daniel Hale Williams Resource Center, 1717 Center Ave., including Forward Janesville President and CEO Shar Hermanson, state Assembly District 44 candidate Cathy Myers and YWCA Rock County Executive Director Heidi Deininger.
Janesville City Manager Kevin Lahner welcomed the guests and introduced Charline Kirongozi and Jen Ferguson from BerryDunn, an accounting and consulting firm the city has hired to help with the strategic plan.
Kirongozi said a strategic plan is a road map for what the City of Janesville will prioritize and focus on, a living document that guides decision making and a tool for government transparency and accountability. BerryDunn will collaborate with Janesville City Council to develop a mission statement, a vision statement of values and develop priorities to support the mission and vision.
“We need to start looking at different ways of doing things. We start looking at more strategic ways to provide services for residents. So that’s why we’re here, is to help the city expand on its previous strategic planning efforts to really make sure that this is still relevant today,” Kirongozi said.
In a collaborative exercise Wednesday night, guests were given the prompt: which words best describe the city? Friendly, evolving, revitalization, comfortable, inequity, polarized and disparate opportunities, were said by guests.
“There are deficits in terms of shopping areas in the south side and lack of affordable housing for the working class. We really need that, and we need the city and the people to start encouraging that,” a participant said.
Demographic information
Demographic information was shared as part of the program.
“I’m curious to hear from you in terms of what you’re seeing from these numbers. Is this accurate to what you’re seeing?” Kirongozi asked.
Deininger suggested that the actual poverty rate is likely higher than the 9.9% reported in 2020. The presentation showed an increase in diversity and a decrease in children and younger adults.
She also shared the City of Janesville Capital Improvement Plan 2024 before diving into community input from stakeholder interviews and social pinpoint media engagement, a website for residents to express their concerns. It is still available at https://berrydunn.mysocialpinpoint.com/city-of-janesville/ideas#/.
Five years from now, survey respondents have said they want more affordable and attainable housing, better workforce and job creation with diverse industries, thoughtful development and transit, building trust with the community, maintain fiscal responsibility, more recreational opportunities, youth engagement and more family activities, a focus on the southside and a continue to increase downtown vibrancy.
Quality of life and what the city is doing right and ways that it could improve were also topics.
When asked for reactions towards the data, Deininger was surprised to not see childcare as a challenge. Rock County Board District 19 Supervisor, Lori Pennycook said she was surprised to not see mental health or drug addiction on the list of challenges.
In an effort to gather ideas, attendees broke into small groups for 20 minutes. Each of the four groups brainstormed solutions, writing their ideas on large sticky notes that were then presented and read aloud to the entire forum. Kirongozi moved the notes with participant effort to cluster similar ideas together.
One group with Surya Ramachandra, a Mercyhealth administrative resident, Margaret Delanie, a west side resident and Pennycook discussed the history of Janesville and what they thought the city should look like in five years.
Pennycook acknowledged the significant issues of drugs and human trafficking but expressed relief that the improved jail will focus on mental health and rehabilitation.
The group decided that prioritizing mental health, such as behavioral health and substance abuse, is essential. Along with focusing on alleviating the southside food dessert.
A resident pointed out that focusing solely on the southside as the only food desert overlooks other areas in Janesville, including the west side, that face the same issue.
An overall consensus was that one of Janesville’s biggest challenges over the next five years, would be the high cost of living and housing affordability.
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