7th Ward alderman Democratic primary: Holtschlag aims for sixth term while Hills says he’ll bring ‘passion’ to City Hall

QUINCY — An advocate for safe and livable housing hopes to unseat a long-serving politician, facing opposition for the first time, in the Democratic primary for 7th Ward alderman and earn a seat on the Quincy City Council.

The primary election is set for Feb. 25. With no Republicans filing to run in the 7th Ward, the Feb. 25 winner will run unopposed in the April 1 general election.

Holtschlag was appointed to the 7^th Ward position in June 2006 as a replacement for Ken Sparrow, then ran unopposed in 2007 and earned the right to fulfill the remainder of Sparrow’s term. He ran unopposed in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2021. 

The Candidates

Brennan Hills
Age: 22
Occupation: Server/barista/bartender, depending on if I am working at EFB, State Street Theater or The Yum Factory that day.
Political experience: Vice-chair of Adams County Democratic Central Committee for two years. Precinct committee member for nearly four years. Co-founded Q-RILE (Quincy for Registration, Inspection and Licensing Enactment) with Martha Walden and Catherine Frederick. The organization has placed a measure on the April 1 ballot to address the issue of unsafe housing. I’m also a part of the Safe and Livable Housing Committee and have served as a tenant advocate as well as a presenter at tenant workshops.
Education: Quincy High School graduate. Enrolled at John Wood Community College studying sociology.
Family: Mother-Misty Norris (Hills). Stepfather-Michael Norris. Oldest of five siblings. Full-time cat dad to Onion and Doja Cat.

Jack Holtschlag
Age: 59
Occupation: Self-employed
Political Experience: 7^th Ward alderman for 17 years
Education: 1983 graduate of Quincy High School
Family: Youngest of 16. Married to my wife, Lori, for 31 years. We have three sons who all work for the family business, two daughters-in-law and a 5-month-old granddaughter.

Why are you running for alderman? 

Hills: Because I genuinely believe that the passion I will bring to City Hall is missing among the council. If we expect to get the necessary changes we need from our representatives, our representatives have to be willing to propose bold and new ideas. Maintaining the status quo by re-electing the same City Council members, some of whom have been in office since before I started preschool, will not get us there. I am running because the problems I want to address are not new, but the solutions to the problems must be new. What we are doing right now is obviously not working to solve the housing crisis or to ensure residents feel heard by their representatives. I could no longer stand by and listen to another four years of rhetoric without attempting to change the narrative and propose solutions.

Holtschlag: I’ve been an alderman for one reason only; to advance and improve the 7^th Ward as much as we can. Born and raised in this ward and choosing to live in this ward for 35 years, the 7^th Ward has been my home for most of my life. Advancing our city is our main goal. However, not letting the 7^th Ward get left behind is mine. It includes critical city assets that need a strong voice to amplify their needs and services. I have been that strong voice for our downtown, our library, our riverfront and our constituent needs. I have continued to advance our rental rehab program and fought for our share of dollars in city-wide infrastructure projects. I want to continue this pledge and drive to make sure the 7^th Ward is ready for the next generation. 

If the city received a $5 million grant to be used any way it wanted, what would you like to see it spent on? 

Holtschlag: The simple answer to this question is infrastructure, which is a great need of our city. Unfortunately, a $5 million grant would not touch the needs of the city infrastructure. As a member of the Central Service Committee, I have seen the number of employees dwindle throughout the years for budgetary reasons. They are short-staffed and unable to tackle the basic needs of the city in a timely manner. This could be accomplished with 10 additional employees. I would like to see Central Services fully staffed.

Hills: This is an obviously hypothetical question. Therefore, my answer is hypothetical as well. That being said, I would like to start addressing the issues facing our water systems with a large portion of this money. We are coming up on a state deadline to get rid of all lead pipes, and it would certainly help to have extra funds to replace those pipes. Larger than the concern about a deadline, though, are the health impacts that exist as a result of water flowing through lead pipes and how this impacts people in Quincy matters to me greatly. With any remaining funds, I’d like to see a city program to offer limited-time tax abatements for some of the vacant lots in Quincy. I’d like to see the city offer two, five, or even 10-year discounts on property taxes for property owners who replace a vacant lot with new affordable livable units. This is an incentive that could offer new housing to the community while the added inventory of housing would potentially lead to lower prices for other rentals.

Would you alter the city’s current method to fix, repair and pay for roads throughout the city? 

Hills: Not necessarily, but I think increasing the number of residents in Quincy, and therefore the tax base, is crucial to allocating more funds to the roads. I also think asking the public for their thoughts on options for where they want to see their dollars spent is a logical step as we formulate a plan for mass repairs. The council historically has not heard the public. That must change. The council belongs to its constituents and not the other way around. We also need to keep the public informed about street conditions, publishing more information publicly rather than keeping much of the information in city council members’ weekly reports. This is often the most commonly reported issue to city officials and those running for office, but it’s frankly a slow and daunting task. It will take patience and money to improve the many roads that have been allowed to deteriorate. Ensuring we don’t ignore any part of the city and allocating all available funds fairly must be a part of any responsible plan.

Holtschlag: We first need to continue the critical infrastructure spending to make our basic services — water, waste, police and fire — 100 percent operational and safe for citizens. As the city’s footprint grows, so does the infrastructure budget.  We need to focus on infilling our current residential neighborhoods to increase our property tax base to then increase our infrastructure spending. We need to work with GREDF to attract new business development so our sales tax base continues to grow. While roads, sidewalks, TIF and the food and beverage tax get many of the complaints, it’s the silent, often overlooked services (safe water, waste disposal, police and fire) that really are my priority. 

How would you, if elected, help fulfill the city’s obligation to ensure safe housing? 

Holtschlag: We need to hold landlords accountable for properties they lease. A few bad apples drown out many great landowners we have. However, the lack of housing is a community effort. As stated previously, encouraging the infilling of our current neighborhoods is a start. Using already funded programs to assist property owners for improvements is part of the solution. Encouraging and educating our citizens on available private, state, local and federal programsfor home ownership, home economics and multi-family ownership fundamentals. Finally, formulating an enforcement program that holds bad landlords accountable and possibly rewards the good ones needs to be adopted so everyone has a safe home. Safe housing is essential for our city. Our workforce, businesses and city depend on it.  

Hills: I appreciate how the question was framed. The city does have an obligation to ensure safe housing for its residents. The lack of safe and livable housing is a responsibility of our council members that they have repeatedly avoided. I’m not the only one who believes this issue is paramount, though. Studies from the United Way, GREDF and others have pointed to our lack of available housing units as a huge concern for years. We don’t have enough housing available, and far often, the housing that is available to rent is unsafe to live in. Many of us are fortunate enough to take our safe and livable houses for granted. For others, however, their daily lives include obstacles many never encounter — bare wiring exposed, a front door that doesn’t lock, roaches walking where the children are playing and mothers walking where a floor may collapse. 

Additionally, when we know Quincy doesn’t have enough available housing units, how does it make sense to allow the already too few rental units that are available to deteriorate to the point of not being livable? It doesn’t. That is why I have proposed the notion that Quincy initiate a regular inspection program of all rental units to ensure that property owners and tenants alike are complying with the existing basic city building code. We have to protect the available housing stock while working with developers and offering incentives to build new units and rehab older homes.

A program like this often takes a significant amount of time to be fleshed out and passed. In the meantime, steps can be taken to alleviate some of the concerns the housing crisis produces. For one, ensure all tenants have access to and knowledge of the minimum housing complaint forms and other legal protections. Keeping up with complaints filed in the ward and following up with the property owners and tenants involved in some capacity only makes sense. That also means that I would have conversations with officials in the inspection department, something I already engage in with the Safe and Livable Housing Committee. I would like to make sure all complaints are followed up on until the case is closed and a reinspection of the property has been completed. As it stands, the inspectors have accepted photos from landlords as “evidence” the case is closed and violations are fixed. To me, that is unacceptable. Reinspections of units seem necessary and just.

What do you believe should be the city’s plan to fix long-term budgetary issues? 

Hills: Often what I hear as the solutions to our budgeting issues are to bring in new residents to the city or to bring in many tourists to increase sales tax revenue. I agree with these solutions and think they only make logical sense. However, a missing component to this approach is ensuring we have housing stock available to increase our population and ensuring that our city doesn’t present crumbling infrastructure and homes to visitors when they do come. I’ve spoken with people who have recently moved to Quincy who told me about the multiple units they viewed that were in violation of city code. How do we propose to grow our population when there isn’t enough housing available, and some of the housing that is available turns off those seeking to move here? 

As we tout our historical homes and historical district infrastructure, we are actively watching other historical homes deteriorate to the point of needing to be flattened. Should we tell tourists to not believe their eyes when they mention the hundreds of properties in disrepair, or should we perhaps end the denialism and acknowledge this issue so that we may find a solution? We must increase our population to increase our tax base, but we have to take the necessary steps to make this happen. Quincy officials must stop denying there are problems at all or telling constituents there are no solutions. We must admit there are problems and acknowledge that solutions are available. We have to be motivated, energized and excited to make this city a more welcoming place for any and all who visit or intend to stay.

Holtschlag: We need to create efficiency in city government as well as raise our tax base.  My opinion is probably not a popular one. However, if we create a Quincy that involves and accepts everyone, our city can grow. Working with private investment to improve quality of life aspects of our city would attract new families to our employers. If our employers can get a viable, educated and refreshed workforce, their businesses can continue to grow. Attracting more tradesmen can expand and support vital businesses needed for our continued growth. Adding new families raises our tax base without raising taxes. A lot of our focus needs to be on this line of thinking.