UPDATE: City hires Debbi Embry as its new grant facilitator

UPDATE: Embry's salary will be $58,000 plus standard city benefits. Her salary will be significantly less than the $90,000 originally talked about in the budget for the position.

ORIGINAL POST: The city hired Debbi Embry, former executive director of the Racine YWCA, as its new grant facilitator.

Embry will start in her job , a new position with the city, on June 9. She was one of 43 applicants for the new position, and selected after preliminary interviews with seven candidates and a second round of interviews with three candidates.

“She had a presence about her, spoke with confidence, knowledge base about grants that was impressive,” said City Administrator Ben Hughes, who will supervise Embry as an employee of the mayor’s office.

A key part of Embry’s job will be to work with the city’s 13 departments to secure grants from state, federal and private nonprofit funding sources, Hughes said.

While city department heads have done a good job at securing state and federal dollars, they haven’t done a good job at work with private foundations like the Joyce Foundation or the Ford Foundation, Hughes said.

“The basic reason is our department heads just don’t have the time to do that,” Hughes said about pursuing private grants. “There’s not enough hours in the day.”

In addition to writing grants, Embry also will be responsible for following up with existing grants to make sure the money is being spent effectively, and that proper paperwork is filed for multi-year grants.

Embry will be expected to generate enough revenue to cover her $90,000 salary and benefits, plus additional money to run city government, Hughes said.

Examples of areas where new grant money may be available include infant mortality programs, park maintenance and the city’s efforts to clean up the Root River and its public beaches.

Embry was removed as head of the YWCA on Dec. 5 as part of sweeping changes to the organization, including the sale of its building on College Avenue.

Embry is the daughter of legendary NBA star Wayne Embry of the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks.

Billboard opponents win four battles!

There'll be no billboards by Horlick Dam.

Back in October, there was a contentious Planning Commission Meeting, over the application by Adams Outdoor Advertising to erect a number of new and improved (bigger and electronic) billboards around town. Our story, with a link to a map showing all the locations, is HERE.

Adams wanted to "improve" four existing billboards (i.e., make them bigger) and erect six new billboards ... some of them double-sided and electronic.

Dozens opposed the plan at the hearing, and the Planning Commission deferred action. Well, now at least a partial victory for the protesters.

According to Brian F. O'Connell, director of city development, "Adams has withdrawn its request for new billboards at three locations. As a result, the locations are no longer before the City Plan Commission."

The three locations that will NOT be getting billboards are: 3026 Mt. Pleasant St.; 3640 Northwestern Avenue (adjacent to the Root River); and 1623 DeKoven Avenue (at Memorial Drive). Adams had proposed putting two billboards at 3640 Northwestern Ave., an electronic one 14' by 48' and the other 12' by 25', on either side of the Root River near Horlick Dam.

UPDATE: As for the other billboard locations in Adams' original application, those projects come up for Planning Commission action today (Wednesday, Feb. 27) at 4:15 p.m.

City budget: Back where we started; 4 positions restored

After four hours of deliberation last night, the Racine City Council, acting as a committee of the whole, approved amendments to the 2008 operating budget that will increase spending by $723,341. That pretty much restores all the funds cut when it appeared that tardy legislative shenanigans in Madison had capped the city's spending at a level lower than planned.

The budget that goes before the council tonight for approval will carry a total tax levey of $42,816,942, just $7,500 below the state-mandated limit.

The tax rate will be $10.76.

The budget restores four positions that had tentatively been cut: one police officer, two firefighters and a community center director.

Amendments to the capital improvement budget and five-year plan reduced 2008 borrowing by $240,000, to $7,660,000, almost exactly what Mayor Gary Becker originally submitted.

UPDATE, 11/20: The budget was approved Tuesday night, 10 - 4. Voting in favor: Anderson, Kaplan, Maack, Weidner, Shakoor II, Friedel, Helding, Wisneski,
Spangenberg and Hart. Voting against: Coe, DeHahn, Karas and Mozol.

Just what we need, more billboards!

Everybody who likes billboards, raise your hands... Now those who oppose them...

OK, all of you on both sides of this fence better show up at the Racine Plan Commission meeting this afternoon (5 p.m., City Hall, Room 205) to make your feelings known.

Adams Outdoor Advertising is proposing to erect new and/or improved billboards at the following locations:

Improved: 1101 Washington Avenue; 1301 West Sixth Street; 2200 Douglas Avenue; 2218 Douglas Avenue. (Note: "Improved" is a synonym for "bigger" in billboard-land.)

New: 1601 Twenty-First Street (2100 Block of S. Memorial Drive); 1623 De Koven Avenue; 1673-75 State Street; 1728 North Memorial Drive; 3026 Mt. Pleasant Street; 3640 Northwestern Avenue.

Most of these are standard 12' by 25' billboards, replacing existing smaller signs. The one at 2218 Douglas, however, would be much larger, 14' by 48', and the ones proposed for 1673-75 State Street and 3026 Mt. Pleasant are double-sided and electronic.

(Just helping relieve the boredom of driving, by providing you something to read...)

For maps showing the specific locations, go HERE.

UPDATE: Dozens say "no." Plan commission defers action. (Thanks, "FYI!")

UPDATE: Who isn't paying their Festival Park bills?

UPDATE: We heard back from Jim Walczak, who tells us all of the past-due bills are paid. He wasn't sure why there was such a large outstanding balance, but thought some of the bills could have gotten out late.

Walczak also said a number of interesting things about Festival Park and Memorial Hall, which we'll write about over the weekend.

ORIGINAL POST:

Someone isn't paying their bills. But who?

At the Sept. 26 Civic Centre Commission meeting, Executive Director Jim Walczak said three "major festivals" owed $90,613.88 for renting out the Civic Centre this year. I'm waiting to hear back from the Civic Centre on which festivals owe money.

One group that definitely owes the Civic Centre money are the organizers of the Free Style Fighting competition at Memorial Hall. Walczak told the commission he filed a petition with the small claims court against the fighting competition for an outstanding balance that's more than a year old. A court hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 11 on the matter.

On a positive note, attendance was up 4,000 people at Civic Centre events this year compared to last, and that attendance through August was already higher than all of 2006.