Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Ald. Roy Williams (pictured) wants to be clear.

“If the county wants to run a hotel, fine,” Williams said Tuesday. “Where my problem comes in is how this is being done,” as laid out in a bill sponsored by State Sen. Doris Turner (D-Springfield), Williams said her response was, “‘Well, the authority is just a developer.’ Well, we don’t give developers all this power!”

Joining Williams on the Yes side were Alds. Shawn Gregory, Larry Rockford, Lakeisha Purchase, and Jennifer Notariano. Ald. Jeff Cox was absent, and Mayor Misty Buscher joined the other four aldermen in voting No.

The next morning, Ald. Erin Conley, who voted No on the resolution, told the WTAX Morning Newswatch, “I understand aldermen wanting to have engagement and be involved in projects that are happening in their wards. I think there may just be some kind of miscommunication, maybe a little misunderstanding, about what this act does. People keep talking about how the legislation creates a new authority with municipal powers. It doesn’t. What the act would do is create a body that is able to enter into grants and agreements and take out loans and own property. It can sue and be sued. But the act very specifically states that if this district is established within a municipal authority, all of the city’s ordinances and regulations still apply. The legislation does not establish a new taxing authority. They do not have the power to levy new taxes.

“We’re not ceding our authority.”

Conley said the idea is to connect the new hotel to the new transportation hub being built nearby.