City Council committee supports All People Are Welcome sign at Rockford’s eastern gateway

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A City Council committee has affirmed its support of a welcoming sign at Rockford’s eastern gateway after a more than 40-minute discussion that largely centered on the sign’s perceived message to immigrants.

Residents filled the City Council chambers Monday night for the vote, with so many in attendance it required overflow seating in front of television monitors on City Hall’s ground floor.

The Planning and Development Committee ultimately voted 4-0 Monday to affirm its support of a sign that reads “All People Are Welcome” at the East State Street and Interstate 90 entrance to the city. The issue will head to the full City Council next week.

The vote was a rare example of a hot-button national political issue demanding the attention of local aldermen, even as some City Council members lamented the sign was being dragged into national discourse about immigration.

“It’s unfortunate that we now live in times where ‘all are welcome’ can’t just be taken at face value,” said Alderman Mark Bonne, a Democrat who brought the resolution forward for the City Council to affirm its support of the sign.

Previous coverage: Is Rockford’s welcome sign unwelcome? City Council members are set to debate

Bonne called for the vote in response to comments made by Alderman Chad Tuneberg two weeks ago. Tuneberg, reiterating a stance against the sign he had made in January 2024, had previously said it was coded language for Rockford being a sanctuary city for immigrants coming here illegally. He also said it sends the message that the city is welcoming to criminals.

“I don’t care if someone is from out of this community, out of this country or has resided in this community for 50 years, grew up in this community,” the 3rd Ward Republican said Monday. “My constituents No. 1 issue bar none is crime.”

Not a sanctuary city

Tuneberg said he had calls from constituents who called the sign a signal that Rockford is a sanctuary city.

“To those individuals who believe that sign means that we are a sanctuary city, it does not,” Tuneberg said. “For individuals who like the sign, it’s going to stay.”

There is no official federal definition of what constitutes a sanctuary city. City Administrator Todd Cagnoni said the city considers itself a welcoming community but not a sanctuary city.

“There’s a distinction between a sanctuary city and welcoming community. Generally a sanctuary city limits cooperation with immigration authorities and that’s not the practice, policy or adoption of our City Council,” Cagnoni said. “A welcoming community focuses on creating a supportive environment for immigrants, and we certainly do that as a community now. There’s a number of programs from YMCA, YWCA, Catholic Charities, RVC, school district 205 — speaking 70 languages in school district 205 — so that is a robust part of our overall community.”

Alderman Bill Rose said federal immigration laws have often been coopted to criminalize immigrants, from French, Irish and Chinese immigrants in the past to Latino immigrants today.

“There is no federal definition of sanctuary cities. It’s a made-up narrative,” Rose said. “It’s used politically to attack immigrants and we need to stand up to it because our neighbors are our neighbors.”

Alderwoman Gabrielle Torina read a quote intended to illustrate why immigration and crime should not be conflated.

“Crime is about behavior not identity. Criminal activity is not tied to any race, nationality or immigration status. Studies show immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born citizens,” she read. “Conflating the two spreads harmful disinformation and distracts from real solutions for public safety.”

How the sign was made

The sign was created in 2018 in partnership with GoRockford and Forest City Beautiful and completed in 2019.

The creation of the sign started because the Illinois Tollway, which owns the land, underwent a construction project to build a new maintenance facility. The tollway and city have had an intergovernmental agreement over signage since 1991. That was updated in 2018 because of the construction.

The Illinois Tollway handled the majority of landscaping improvements at a cost of $185,000. The city spent about $30,000 on sign updates.

Chicago artist Justus Roe created the colorful mural on the sign while the language was chosen by Jay Graham of Rockford-based marketing agency GrahamSpencer, Cagnoni said.

“It was tied to a larger business attraction strategy that had taken place,” Cagnoni said. “He identified this language through a series of studies that suggested and aligned the business attraction to fill high-skilled jobs within the community.”

The language was presented to Mayor Tom McNamara and his administration, which gave the OK for it to go forward.

Alderwoman Gina Meeks, a Democrat, and Alderman Tim Durkee, a Republican, both lamented that the topic had dominated so much conversation in the City Council chambers when there other pressing work to be done.

“I just can’t believe that we’re having this conversation in the way that we are,” Meeks said. “I don’t believe anybody wants to see the sign go anywhere. I think they love it just the way that it is.”

Committee members who voted for the unanimous approval were Durkee, Meeks, Rose and Janessa Wilkins, who chairs the committee.

Durkee noted that even if the committee voted down the resolution, it would not mean the sign is removed.

“If we voted no what happens to the sign? Nothing. We don’t even really own the sign,” Durkee said. “We heard all kinds of history that has nothing to do with the issue on the floor. We’re running down rabbit trails. The sign’s going nowhere. It’s got a pretty good message. I just don’t get it. If we vote no, nothing happens. I agree with Alderman Meeks, it’s a total waste of time.”

The next meeting of the City Council is Monday, when aldermen are expected to vote on the resolution.

Bonne indicated that a tweak to the resolution could be made at that time to ensure that City Council members can vote to approve a message on future signage if it could be construed as an official city position.

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