Academic Senate discusses faculty hiring policy changes PAGE 3A
THE DAILY ILLINI
TUESDAY May 5, 2015
5he independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
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Vol. 144 Issue 118
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Don Gerard’s time as Champaign mayor 2011 April: Don Gerard wins mayoral election against three-term incumbent Jerry Schweighart August: Named one of five Musicians with Political Cred from MTV
THE END
2012 February: Issued emergency orders restricting the distribution of alcohol on “Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day” 2013
FOUR YEARS LATER: THE END OF A TERM PORTRAIT BY BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINI
Former mayor’s term allows him to see the community in new light BY FRANCES WELCH STAFF WRITER
Don Gerard said his final goodbyes to the community before his office pictures were packed away and his suit jackets were hung up in his office on the last Thursday of his term. His day started like any other. He finished his shift as facilities manager at the University, a job that he held before his term as mayor. He walked through the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in jeans and a suit
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May: Worked to get the Mahomet Aquifer designated as a Sole Source Aquifer by the EPA October: Joined mayors from Illinois, including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, to urge the Illinois congressional delegations to vote for immigration reform November: Wins “Best Personality” from Buzz magazine December: Early signatory of the Mayors for the Freedom to Marry petition
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0RUH LQVLGH Appreciation for “cool mayor” Gerard and welcome to newly elected Feinen 3DJH $
jacket, ordering his lunch while still wearing his yellow frame, blue lens sunglasses. He was stopped every few minutes by random passersby. “You all right?” said Mike Ross, director of Krannert Center. “I’m fantastic!” Gerard said, a genuinely optimistic response that was felt no matter who he was talking to. That afternoon, as he sat down to enjoy his sandwich at Intermezzo Cafe, Gerard reflected on his term as mayor, a four-year span that allowed him to gain a different perspective on the community, for better or for worse. “The first time I did a ride along as mayor with the police, I told the officer, ‘This isn’t my first time in a police car, but it’s my first time I’ve been in the front seat,’” he said. “You make mistakes, but you can be anything.”
After four years in office, Don Gerard lost his bid for reelection to Deb Feinen on April 7. Before his mayoral term, Gerard was a self proclaimed “punk rocker,” reinventing a new, political side that he never thought existed. “There’s still a chance to make a difference if you have a passion,” he said. “If you work hard, you can be somebody or make a difference, and that’s what I wanted to do. I’m here trying to make a difference in your life. I could just be cutting ribbons for the Chamber of Commerce, but that’s not the point.” Gerard expressed that over his term, he
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2015
March: Approves grant to curb underage drinking March-April: Presents the key to the city to Vice President Joe Biden, Ronald E. Meyer and comedic writer David Sedaris May: Term ends
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SEE GERARD | 3A
SOURCES: MTV, THE DAILY ILLINI, THE CITY OF CHAMPAIGN’S WEBSITE, BUZZ MAGAZINE, FREEDOM TO MARRY ORGANIZATION, DON GERARD’S WEBSITE
Champaign organizations seek to aid panhandlers Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three-part series on panhandling within Campustown. BY ANDREW NOWAK STAFF WRITER
Tony Comtois is fi ne with being a “24/7” employee because he helps provide people with something he was once given: second chance. In his hometown of Rantoul, Comtois was working at a Conair Corporation factory and living in an apartment with no utilities. He was focused more on drugs and drinking than he was on working and paying rent. After failing a drug test, Comtois lost his job and his apartment. In July 2006, he moved to Champaign after burning all of his bridges back home; he began living at the TIMES Center, a homeless shelter for men transitioning between residences. He was 40 and spent the next 22 months in the shelter. Now, he is a mentor for C-U at Home, a recovering alcoholic and an apartment renter in Urbana. He con-
ducts street outreach for C-U at Home, which consists of driving through the Champaign area in his truck and checking in on the homeless population. He also works at the Phoenix Daytime Drop-In Center, a part of C-U at Home. Comtois said he truly loves his job — he visits the homeless and other shelters while on vacation. When he went to Southern California last year for his father’s funeral, he drove down to Skid Row to see shelters. “I just can’t imagine how they deal with it down there. There’s just people for blocks, living on the sidewalks, and you look at some of them, and there’s like nobody home,” he said. Comtois said C-U at Home’s approach to aiding the homeless changed over time. At fi rst, the organization housed the homeless in houses they owned. However, the system wasn’t working and after reading “Toxic Charity” by Robert Lupton, the staff of C-U at Home decided to switch gears. “Toxic Charity” details how mod-
ern charities can negatively affect the people they originally set out to help and describes how to structure a charitable organization that serves people correctly and creates lasting benefits. Now the organization focuses on offering services to people and fi nding ways to get them motivated to change their own lives. “If you want to turn your life around, what are you gonna to do?” Comtois said. “What’s your part in it gonna be? More a handup than a hand-out type of concept.” The Urbana-Champaign Continuum of Care put together a 10-year plan in order to end chronic homelessness in Champaign County by 2014 . Champaign City Council Member Karen Foster said she doesn’t think the homeless and panhandlers necessarily have an effect on the city or those who visit. She said she doesn’t see as many panhandlers in downtown Champaign as she used to. Foster attributes this to Restoration Urban Min-
istries, the Phoenix Daytime Drop-In Center and other organizations who deal with Champaign’s homeless. She said the Champaign City Council hasn’t done anything in the past few years to work on the homeless population. Comtois said most shelters have different rules that a lot of panhandlers don’t want to follow, such as no drinking or using drugs, not frequently moving in or out of the shelter and having no history of violence. According to the Community Elements website, the TIMES Center offers many community services and can house 70 men. Robert Swinford, director of the Salvation Army’s Stepping Stone shelter, said the shelter has three programs for homeless men. There are three emergency beds, which people can stay in up to three days. There are 45 beds for the Stepping Stone program, in which people can stay up to a year and four transitional beds, in which people can
SEE PANHANDLER | 3A
FARAZ MIRZA THE DAILY ILLINI
Top: Volunteer Andrea Britton and Donald Todd sit at the Phoenix Daytime Drop-In Center on Wednesday. Bottom: Korey Johnson stops to tell his story on Green Street on Thursday.
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