Public-Private Partnerships Focus of MPC March 23 Roundtable
From the proposed lease of the Illinois tollway, Illinois
lottery, and Midway airport, to proposals to use Public-Private Partnerships to
build new highways and bridges, the region has moved far beyond the
groundbreaking lease of the Chicago Skyway. An expert panel of prominent public
and private sector leaders will discuss the different approaches to
Public-Private Partnerships tomorrow, Friday, March 23
,
at a Metropolitan Planning Council roundtable. The panel will feature:
- Commissioner Nuria Fernandez, Chicago Dept. of
Aviation
- John Filan, Chief Operating Officer, Office of the
Governor, State of Illinois
- Dana Levinson, Chief Financial Officer, City of
Chicago
- Timothy Martin, Senior Vice President, CTE AECOM
- Thomas Morsch, Senior Vice President, Marsh, Inc., and chair, MPC
Transportation Committee (moderator)
The roundtable is at capacity and closed to paid registrants, but
media may attend
free of charge. The roundtable will take place Friday, March 23,
from noon to 1:30 p.m., at Baird
& Warner, Inc., 120
S. LaSalle
St.,
20th
floor,
Chicago.
Contact Kit Hodge, associate, at 312.863.6044 or khodge@metroplanning.org.
Three Bills to Improve Regional Development Advance in Springfield
Three state bills that will improve a facet of regional planning
have passed out of committee, clearing a major legislative hurdle. The bills,
all supported by the Metropolitan Planning Council,
are:
LEED-Neighborhood Development
(LEED-ND) Green Neighborhood Award
LEED-ND Green
Neighborhood Award will spur the development of sustainably designed,
energy-efficient neighborhoods in Illinois by rewarding projects that fulfill
LEED-ND standards of the U.S. Green Building Council, Congress for the New
Urbanism, and Natural Resources Defense Council. This legislation, a policy
priority for the Campaign for Sensible Growth, would provide qualifying
developers a state grant of up to 1.5 percent of the total project development
costs through the Ill. Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
Illinois Capital Investment
Accountability Act
The Illinois Capital Investment Accountability
Act would institute Illinois’ first transparent, accountable, criteria-driven
process for selecting capital projects. Such a system would measure all projects
against the same yardstick, putting all communities on a level playing field;
help Illinois compete better for federal dollars; and ensure taxpayer dollars
have the greatest impact.
Good Housing Good Schools
Good Housing Good Schools advances the state’s interest in
supporting municipalities and other stakeholders preserving and expanding
affordable and workforce housing. The legislation will create a school-funding
bonus of $1,120 for each two-bedroom unit, and $560 for each additional bedroom
in eligible new or renovated multifamily housing developments.
Contact Peter Skosey, VP of external relations, at 312
.863.6004 or pskosey@metroplanning.org.
Meet the MPC Staff
MPC’s Robin Snyderman Opens Doors to
Affordable, Workforce Housing
Need insight into local,
regional, state or national affordable and workforce housing trends? Metropolitan
Planning Council Housing
Director
Robin
Snyderman, who has experience working on-the-ground and at the
policy level on a range of housing issues, should be your next phone
call.
A Chicago-area native, Snyderman
joined MPC as housing director in 1998. Under her leadership, MPC has increased
the number of informed stakeholders committed to successful public housing
reform and to a range of quality housing options near jobs and transit
throughout the region. In nine years, Snyderman has helped MPC’s Housing Program
launch several nationally recognized regional efforts: the Regional
Employer-Assisted Collaboration for Housing (REACH), which manages
employer-assisted housing in Illinois; a partnership with the Housing Task Force
of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus; and the Regional Housing Initiative, an
intergovernmental effort using Housing Choice Voucher as a supply-side strategy
to increase the availability of affordable housing in high job growth corridors.
In 2002, Snyderman staffed the Transition Team Housing Committee for
then-Governor-Elect Rod Blagojevich,
which led to the State's first ever housing policy
, and she currently serves on the
Executive Committee of the governor’s Housing Task Force.
Snyderman began her professional
career in housing in
San
Francisco
in 1989, initially as the tenant coordinator
and then property manager of the first supportive housing community developed by
the nonprofit Mission Housing Development Corporation (MHDC). After working with
the 84 formerly homeless tenants of that development to transform what was once
an unstable property into a thriving community, Robin moved to MHDC’s main
office and formed the corporation’s supportive housing
program,
developingtwo
other supportive housing communities, organizing a private sector SRO
stabilization effort, andhelping launch a HOPE VI effort in conjunction
with the local housing authority.
Snyderman lives with her
husband and six-year-old son
in
Evanston, where she
just
completed her tenure as
chair
of
the city’s Housing
Commission. She
is
also
a board member
of the Illinois Housing Council and Interfaith Council for the Homeless, a
trustee of the National Housing Conference, and a fellow of Leadership Greater
Chicago.
It’s Time to Shop: Workshops to Help Communities Attract, Retain Retail
It happens all the time: residents of a community want a
certain kind of a store – say, a high-end grocer – but local officials can't
seem to deliver. Perhaps they haven't dangled the right carrots, or maybe the
town simply does not meet the retailer's criteria for opening a new storefront.
The new Retail 1-2-3
workbook is designed to help municipalities identify what it takes to build
and maintain a thriving retail base, an increasingly important part of
a healthy local economy. Municipal officials, staff, and the public are invited to learn
how they can use the workbook to benefit their
communities at workshops
on
April
4 in Tinley Park,
April
9 in Waukegan, April
10
in Elmhurst, and April 17
in
Des
Plaines.
For complete details on the events, including how to
register, and to find our more about the Retail 1-2-3 workbook, visit
MPC’s
Newsroom
.