Mayor calls for expanding Rockford Promise scholarship program in State of the City address
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Mayor Tom McNamara said Monday night that he wants to expand the Rockford Promise program that provides full tuition scholarships to qualified Rockford Public School graduates.
McNamara didn’t provide details about how it would expand, but he said that a proposal would be brought to City Council members in the coming weeks.
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That announcement was part of the mayor’s State of the City address, an annual look back at the past year and look forward to initiatives in the year ahead.
The program provides free tuition to Northern Illinois University to any Rockford Public Schools graduates who earn a 3.0 grade-point average. The city helps fund the program by committing $1.5 million annually from its tax on Hard Rock Casino gambling toward Rockford Promise, but last year the tax generated about $2.8 million in revenue for the city. That revenue is expected to continue to grow. The city estimates it will receive about $8.9 million annually in total revenue from gambling and other sources such as food and beverage sales taxes by the fifth year of the casino.
McNamara said there are 266 students at NIU benefiting from the program and 152 new students signed on for the upcoming school year. That’s a 31% increase from the previous year.
“This program is having its intended impact. It’s working, but it isn’t enough,” he said. “I’ll be bringing a proposal before this council in the coming weeks to expand this program, and I hope this council will support our students and our future for every single one of our residents.”
NIU’s Rockford Promise participants have seen their grades trend upward from a 3.04 GPA in fall 2022 to 3.26 GPA in fall 2023. The 85% retention rate is significantly higher than the average for all freshmen, according to state Senate testimony from NIU President Lisa Freeman.
An optimistic look
The call to expand Rockford Promise was part of an optimistic look at the city McNamara gave Monday night during his seventh State of the City Address. He pointed to reductions in violent crime, increases in construction and multiple new developments on the horizon as evidence his administration’s initiatives are putting Rockford on a good path for the future.
“Rockford stands at the precipice of a new era, poised to continue our climb in 2024 and beyond,” he said. “Let us seize that moment, embrace our potential and work tirelessly to realize our collective vision for a brighter, more prosperous future.”
The mayor, delivering his 30-minute speech from the Council Chambers at City Hall, highlighted progress on economic development, housing and public safety initiatives over the past year.
“I won’t tell you that everything is perfect, as we certainly face significant challenges. We are under the crunch of state and federal guidelines. We have more unfunded mandates than I can count,” he said. “However, I can tell you that your local government is stepping up to do everything it can to make our residents and our community successful.”
Here’s a breakdown of the mayor’s address:
Neighborhoods and housing
McNamara said work to revitalize the city’s neighborhoods were key in Rockford’s turnaround from the underwater mortgage capital of the world 10 years ago to being recognized recently as the country’s top real estate market.
Last year the city poured about $1 million into fixing homes through its Homeowner Rehabilitation Program. The program allowed 17 residents to get up to $60,000 in repairs that addressed health and safety issues.
It also partnered with Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity for a Critical Home Repair Program, which provided repairs to 24 homes.
The city also assisted with weatherization and energy assistance improvements at nearly 13,000 homes in the past year, the mayor said. Its partnership with Rockford Local Development Corporation has spurred the renovation of 150 homes in the past two years.
“We’re stabilizing our current housing stock before these houses deteriorate beyond repair so that their only option is demolition,” McNamara said. “These types of programs are incredibly popular, and we will continue working to secure funds to make even more home rehab projects possible.”
McNamara also stressed the need to build homes in Rockford, something that has been largely stagnant since the onset of the Great Recession in December 2007.
The city and Rockford Public Schools started a three-year property tax rebate program late last year for those who build homes here. McNamara said there are three new developments so far with more expected soon.
McNamara also noted the new Water Power Lofts, 700 S. Main St., coming this summer, loft development at the historic Watch Factory and former Trekk building by Oliver Emerson Development, the approval of a 116-unit affordable housing development at South Avon and Cedar streets and the reconstruction of the former Lafayette Hotel, 411 Mulberry St., into 54 affordable residential units.
Public safety
McNamara said that the first thing on his mind when discussing public safety this year is the killing of five people in two separate stabbings just days apart in March.
“It’s something that is going to have a long-term, long-lasting impact on those directly and most impacted families but also on our entire community,” he said. “Let’s not let Jason, Ramona, Jacob, Jay and young Jenna die in vain. Let’s remember them, let’s honor them and let’s make sure that we together make Rockford a better and safer place for all Rockfordians .”
The mayor said improving public safety is a two-fold path.
“We absolutely must increase our investment into our police department but we also simultaneously must invest in prevention/intervention efforts,” McNamara said. “We know that we must stop not only the current violent crime that’s taking place in our streets today, but also have to stop the cycle of violence that has plagued our community for decades.”
McNamara said the city has increased its number of officers, purchased more than 150 stationary and mobile automated license-plate readers and quadrupled the number of cameras in high-traffic and high-crime areas since he took office. The city also recently purchased speed radar detection equipment for all marked police vehicles.
The city has also launched a Community Healing Center, which is designed to prevent future crime by helping kids heal from trauma, at the Boys & Girls Club – Stenstrom Unit. It also started a Violence Prevention Response Team intended to prevent retaliatory shootings and initiated its Barbershop Project to tap people with real-world experience that can help others overcome trauma.
Those are among a bevy of programs, including workforce development initiatives and responses to domestic violence, that are designed to support youth and survivors of crime in order to stop the cycle of violence, McNamara said.
The city is also partnering with Goodwill Industries to bring an Excel Center, a tuition-free adult high school, to the former Gustafson’s Furniture space in North Towne Mall.
“From new crime prevention initiatives to new opportunities for our youth, I’m proud of the variety and innovation of the programs we have developed to improve public safety and create opportunities in our community,” McNamara said.
He said last year’s 20% reduction in violent crime was proof the initiatives are starting to work. He said since taking office, violent crime is down 34% and property crime is down 29%.
Economic development
The past year brought significant economic development initiatives including the return of passenger rail service to Rockford in late 2027 and the planned $5 billion investment in neighboring Belvidere by Stellantis, which employed many Rockford residents before its shutdown a year ago.
Milwaukee-based J. Jeffers & Co. has also broken ground on its redevelopment of the former Barber-Colman campus in south Rockford and PCI Pharma Services is making progress on its new $150 million facility off Linden Road, McNamara noted.
Work is also underway at the former Coca-Cola bottling plant on Madison Street for a $5 million redevelopment into a family-friendly activity space, McNamara said. AAR Corp. is also using $2.6 million in state funding to expand its workforce development programs and build a pipeline of future aviation mechanics for its jet-repair hub at the Chicago Rockford International Airport.
The city also approved its largest ever capital improvement plan, which includes the reconstruction of Whitman Street and the Alpine Dam, along with nearly 200 neighborhood roads. That’s coupled with the largest water infrastructure program in city history at $160 million.
McNamara also spotlighted the renovations coming to Davis Park, reconstruction of Auburn Street, a $200 million privately funded project to bring fiberoptic infrastructure to every household and business in the city, the future Think Big business incubator on North Main Street and the late summer opening of Hard Rock Casino Rockford.
In the past year, Rockford has seen $377 million in construction projects. That’s up from $165 million in 2022, McNamara said.
“Our crime is going down, our residents’ income is going up and there is new businesses and developments are all around us,” McNamara said concluding his address. “Together, with unwavering belief in ourselves, our people and our city, there is no limit to what we can achieve.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
