Jason Cregier: Tom McNamara is the current and 41st Mayor of the city of Rockford, for a few more days at least, and joins us today.
Mayor McNamara, thank you for being with us.
Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara: Jason, I’m thrilled to be with you.
Let’s start with your new position and your current position. You won your third term as Mayor of Rockford last year with 78% of the vote. That term was set to expire in 2029. What gave you the push to leave? Why did you take your new role as Chief Executive Officer of the Illinois Municipal League?
First and foremost, it was a really difficult decision. Being Mayor of Rockford, I think is the best job in the city of Rockford.
When you look at the Illinois Municipal League, which represents 1294 municipalities across the state. It gives me an opportunity to broaden the service that I have, to dive further into the passions that I have; which is local government.
If you look at what, in my opinion, is taking place for local government right now – we’re really under attack. The federal government is pushing down what I believe are national responsibilities on cities and states, or if it’s a state taking away funding and putting on more unfunded mandates.
I really feel fortunate there is an opening with the Illinois Municipal League so that I can continue to serve the residents of Rockford, but also the residents of the state and all the mayors across the state of Illinois.
Hopefully I can help to bring back more money on less unfunded mandates.
In the past you had worked with Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker in order to get things done in Rockford. How do you see your role within the Illinois Municipal League changing your working relationship with the governor? Will it change?
I have immense respect for the governor, and he has done incredible things for the city of Rockford. He also knows about when I have been upset about different decisions that he has made. We have a friendship and we are cordial, but we will need to have frank discussions, especially over local government funding.
When you look at municipalities, a vast majority of their funding is now going to pension obligations. I think the governor and I will have an opportunity for open and honest dialogue and hopefully continue to work together to move our state forward.
Janessa Neal has been sworn in as interim Mayor of Rockford, what was your time like working with her in city government?
Janessa is a fantastic person with a great work ethic, and she is a really good listener. She is honest and upfront and will tell you what she thinks whether you like it or not but will be respectful in doing so. She respects the professional staff that we have built at the city of Rockford, and I think she will do a fine job.
Why did you not offer a personal endorsement for your successor as Mayor of Rockford?
As CEO of the Illinois Municipal League all the mayors of Illinois will be my boss. I am not going to get into the business of endorsing someone who may, or may not, be my boss. I do not think that would be a smart professional move.
O.K.
We do not have candidates running and I do not think anyone has turned in their packet to run. It is way too early on that too.
True, but in the world of politics it is not uncommon for someone to make an endorsement ahead of the whole “horse race.”
For me though you must be on the ballot before you start endorsing.
What are some of the accomplishments you are proud of during your time as Mayor of Rockford?
I have been really fortunate to be part of a team at the city of Rockford that I think has accomplished a great deal.
Number one, when I took office in 2017, we were told by municipal finance experts that we would run out of money by 2021.
Since then, we have passed nine balanced budgets and decreased our property tax levy.
Number two, every door I knock on people mention to me poor roads, high crime and low educational attainment.
We have cut violent crime in half, passed four of the largest capitol improvement plans in Rockfords history and investing in all quadrants of the city, especially areas that have felt forgotten, such as Auburn St. and Eleventh St.
We are one of just six communities in the state of Illinois [where someone] that calls Rockford home, that attends Rockford Public Schools, they now receive four years of free tuition to Rockford University or Northern Illinois University.
What are some things you think you left on the table? What do you think you could have done more with?
There are a million of those, this broadcast won’t be long enough to discuss that. I’m trying not to think in that manner because every day I make mistakes.
Anyone who is honest with folks will tell you that when you are tasked with 100 decisions a day, you are going to make a lot of mistakes.
I have been proud of learning from mistakes, and we have made changes throughout our path to get to where we need to be.
Things come up that you do not expect. When I first announced I was running for mayor in 2016, domestic violence was not part of my platform. Focusing on childhood trauma was not part of my platform either. But as the data and residences experiences came to me, we made it a priority. We created the only family peace center in the state of Illinois for all survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
Let’s take a trip back in time, probably a time many of us would rather forget. You mentioned dealing with things you do not expect, what was it like governing during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic?
Unlike anything many folks could imagine. It has been a long time, Jason; I am getting a little PTSD just thinking about it.
Maybe a handful of weeks before it broke big, we started hearing about a handful of cases.
As time inched closer we started hearing about more cases of Covid in the U.S., and that it was spreading.
We leaned in pretty early on and made sure we provided support to our residents and healthcare professionals. We started working groups to impact every sector of business.
We were guided by what health experts told us. You can make a million decisions as an armchair quarterback, but I think we made the best decisions we could with the information that was available.
With your new role with the Illinois Municipal League, do you plan to stay in Rockford?
My kids go to Rockford Public Schools. I will be spending a lot of time in Springfield with that being the IML’s home base. I have a townhome there now and I am eager to get to work with the amazing staff of the IML and the 177 legislators and the governor's team. We will be all over the state for sure.
Well, there you have it. That is Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara, at least for the next couple of days, and future CEO of the Illinois Municipal League. Mayor McNamara, thanks for joining us.
Thank you, Jason.
