Brady Johnson: Thank you for speaking with WVIK News today. Rock Island Community Development Director, Miles Brainard. The Rock Island City Council passed the social service ordinance by a vote of 6 to 1 on Monday, October 13. The ordinance sets up a regulatory framework for social services in the city. Could you summarize the license application process, for example, if a new social service organization reached out to the city today?
Community Development Director Miles Brainard: Sure thing. If there was a new organization interested in getting a license, it's a pretty straightforward application process. First they fill out an application form available from the city manager's office, basically explaining who they are, what kind of services they're looking to provide and where they're going to be located, as well as some information about how their organization is structured. The location they choose is important. There are some location requirements in the ordinance saying where in the city they can be relative to other facilities in the community, as well as parks, schools, and some similar uses that one might find around. Once that application is processed, and their location is one that will work with the ordinance, a notice goes out to adjacent property owners around the proposed location. There's a 30 day public comment period where the city manager's office can take comments from those adjacent property owners who may express concerns or support for that facility going in. That comment period ends and the city manager then uses a cumulative evaluation of different factors to determine whether or not a license should be issued. So no one thing will determine whether it's issued. So, for example, maybe a lot of comments come in that are not very jazzed about that application. That alone would not make a determination is instead the balance of those factors. If the city manager issues the license, all is well, they pay an application fee, move forward with that, and they have a license for a year. If the application is denied for some reason, the applicant has an opportunity to appeal that to the city manager. If the city manager denies their application again, they can ultimately appeal it to the city council. City council then can make a decision about whether or not to grant that appeal. The licensing process is repeated every year. So you know, it's an annual license and they just go through it again. And that is how it works.
Johnson: Thank you so much, Miles. And my next question is current operations are grandfathered in from some of the regulations. Can you summarize what exemptions are currently offered to places like Christian Care and The Third Place, QC?
Director Brainard: The ordinance was set up in a way so that all of our existing social service providers who would be required to get licensed could continue to operate as they have. So none of their existing operations are impacted by this ordinance. The distance requirements, separation requirements, those are all grandfathering them in. So they're exempt from having to come into compliance with those so long as they're basically maintaining their same footprint and scale of operations going forward. So they still need to get a license. They're even exempted from the application fee so they can keep on trucking just as they have been.
Johnson: And as you mentioned, maintaining their current operations in the case that they were expanding. Or what types of changes would warrant a review of the exemptions for these social service organizations?
Director Brainard: Certainly a change of location. So if they wanted to move to an entirely new facility within the community, that would obviously kind of change what was going on with their operations and require some additional review. Any substantial expansion of a facility, say a new addition onto the property, that would also do it. The addition of some additional new division of service would be something else. Again, there's always some leeway there. The ordinance provides, I think, very reasonable flexibility for those organizations to dialogue with the city manager's office, should they be considering that and find the best path forward under those circumstances.
Johnson: And with that, Miles, is there anything I may not have asked you about the application process or anything that you think I need clarification on?
Director Brainard: The city is aware that any sort of ordinance that touches on a sensitive subject is going to bring up a lot of different opinions, a lot of different feelings in the community. The goal of this ordinance, like so many others that we try to craft, is to balance different concerns and objectives. So we know that it doesn't maybe sit as well with some. Others might think it doesn't go far enough and is restrictive enough. But what staff have tried to do is find a healthy midway point, which we hope everyone can ultimately live with.
Johnson: Thank you so much for speaking with WVIK News today, Miles.
Director Brainard: My pleasure.
Johnson: Since speaking with Community Development Director Miles Brainard on Tuesday October 21st, the council agenda for Monday’s meeting has been released showing Mayor Ashley Harris intending to use his veto power to overrule the council, specifically removing the city manager’s authority for license approval. The mayor is moving to handle that authority. Two-thirds of the council, five out of seven, need to vote against the veto for it to fail. The meeting starts at 5:45 p.m.
This story was produced by WVIK, Quad Cities NPR. We rely on financial support from our listeners and readers to provide coverage of the issues that matter to the Quad Cities region and beyond. As someone who values the content created by WVIK's news department, please consider making a financial contribution to support our work.
