Podcast: McNamara talks Rockford sign controversy and the City Council measures it overshadowed
By Steve Summers and Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our free e-newsletter
ROCKFORD — Mayor Tom McNamara joined Steve Summers as part of This Week in the Stateline to talk about the recent controversy around the city’s welcome sign and the other City Council actions that have been overshadowed by the sign debate.
McNamara was the one who approved the language for the sign in 2018 after it was pitched by local marketing agency GrahamSpencer, which was working with GoRockford on the sign.
“Every single community in the country has a sign that says welcome. The wording of them can all be different. None of them have limitations. None of those signs is it ever implied that some alderman would like you to think that we’e welcoming criminals or something else of that sort,” McNamara tells Summers in the podcast. “We are literally just welcoming anyone that would come into our community, like any other city.”
Related: Is Rockford’s welcome sign unwelcome? City Council members raise the debate
The sign has been in the spotlight after it was criticized by Ald. Chad Tuneberg as being welcoming to criminals and potentially serving as coded languages for Rockford being a sanctuary city. In response to those comments, Ald. Mark Bonne called for a vote for City Council to affirm its support of the sign. That vote is slated to happen tonight.
“I have not gotten any complaints about that sign in the last seven and a half years until maybe 60 days ago when an alderman brought it up,” McNamara said.
The mayor also discusses a property tax incentive program for homebuilding, the expansion of a workforce development program for young adults in need of mentorship and other recent city measures.
Listen to the full episode in the player at the top of the story or below:
Related: Is Rockford’s welcome sign unwelcome? City Council members raise the debate
