Elgin City Council Gives Downtown Neighborhood Association An Extension For City-owned Space On S. Grove Avenue

The Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin (DNA) won’t be evicted during the holidays after its lease with the city of Elgin was extended 60 days to give the nonprofit time to move into a new location.

Elgin decided not to renew DNA’s lease and gave the organization notice on Oct. 30 to leave the city-owned property at 31 S. Grove Avenue by the end of December.

“I recognize it’s a very difficult time to transition while DNA is continuing to add value to our city,” said City Councilman Corey Dixon at Wednesday’s council meeting. “I hate that we are here. I don’t think we should be here. But we are where we are for a number of reasons.”

The focus, however, is “to give DNA the space to vacate the property in a way that’s not disruptive to their business,” Dixon said.

“Certainly (we) don’t want to be the Grinch at Christmastime,” Mayor Dave Kaptain said. “I fully understand this is a busy time for them, and it’s not practical for them to move at this time.”

DNA and the city had a Purchase of Service Agreement (PSA) for years. This year, PSA negotiations became contentious, with the city adding requirements to what had been a standard agreement.

Elgin officials wanted DNA to hire a consultant by the end of the year to explore the possibility of creating a Special Service Area (SSA) to fund the organization. An SSA is a tax imposed on a certain area, usually for infrastructure improvements or economic development. The city also wanted DNA to do an audit and offered a two-year contract instead of the typical three-year one.

DNA agreed to the terms but disagreed with another stipulation that it change the composition of its board of directors by adding two seats to be filled by representatives from the Elgin Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce.

Both sides ended up ironing out a three-year PSA with the city’s situations included, except for the two additional board members.

However, Councilman Steve Thoren later backtracked on his support for that contract, stating he was confused about the terms.

The contract was changed during a live city council meeting, where DNA wasn’t given an opportunity to respond. What the council ended up passing, by a vote of 5-3 with one abstention, wasn’t what DNA agreed to in the first place.

When it came time for DNA to sign the revised PSA last month, DNA’s board felt the organization could not sign the new contract.

Elgin abruptly told DNA that its lease was ending and the organization needed to get out of its office space.

City Attorney Christopher Beck said DNA’s initial one-year lease was from January 1 to December 1, 2020.  The lease automatically renewed unless the city or DNA provided 60 days’ notice of intent not to continue, he said.

Since DNA didn’t agree with the city’s terms in the PSA, the city wouldn’t be renewing the lease, Beck said.

“There was no guarantee of successive terms,” Beck said. “It’s been called an eviction or termination. It’s not. It’s not renewing the lease for another year.”

Kaptain said previously that nonprofits without a PSA can’t get free space. Beck didn’t indicate it was a condition in the lease.

“We are forcing them out of a space. I think it is for petty reasons that have nothing to do with their performance,” said Councilman John Steffen. He co-founded DNA.

Steffen said the Elgin Symphony Orchestra (ESO) gets rent-free space in a city-owned building but doesn’t have a PSA agreement.

Kaptain said the ESO rents the Hemmens Cultural Center for concerts. The city couldn’t provide the ESO box office space, so it offered free space in a downtown building.

The other organizations getting free space are the Elgin Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce. Both have a PSA, Kaptain said.

During public comment, 16-year resident John LaFleur said he feels like collateral damage as a result of the city’s decision to evict DNA. He organizes a Krampus-themed event for adults that’s being held the weekend of Dec. 5 and 6 downtown. It was recently expanded to a two-day event, he said.

He was going to turn over planning the Krampusnacht Celebration to DNA this year.

“Come to find out they are evicted from their space,” LaFleur said. The city’s action is very illogical at this time of year. This just comes at a really inconsiderate and thoughtless time in my opinion.”

DNA shouldn’t have signed off on the agreement, “you backed them into,” said LaFleur, who works with a global philanthropic advisory firm.

While the agreement provided $180,000 to DNA, the city’s requirements to hire a consultant to explore the idea of an SSA, do an audit, and have staff work on those projects basically “clawed back $90,000 of that (funding),” he said.

“It was never discussed publicly,” LaFleur said. “I’m here to discuss this publicly so the public understands what you are forcing them to do.”

He said he’s heard the situation surrounding DNA’s agreement was personal and political. “I think it’s shameful,” LaFleur said.

“I do believe the Downtown Neighborhood Association provides a value not only to our downtown but to our community,” Councilwoman Tish Powell said.

The city must discuss how the work DNA is doing will get done in the future, Powell said. But “I’m more concerned with an orderly transition out of the space. While I don’t agree with evicting them out of the space, this is where we are now,” she said.

Powell made the motion to extend the lease by 60 days. The council voted 7-1, with Councilwoman Rose Martinez voting no.

Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for the Elgin Courier-News.