We get a look a the state of the city of Moline, as the mayor charts the year ahead in The Cities.

[lively music] [music ends] The mayor of Moline is looking back but also looking forward.

Sangeetha Rayapati just delivered her State of the City, which helped underline the accomplishments she says Moline has seen over the past 12 months, but also forecast what she expects in the months ahead.

We talked with her just before she gave her address on Monday at the Moline Club.

Mayor, thank you for joining us.

Happy to be here.

Your theme, for your, State of the City was, from generations, for generations.

What did you mean by that?

Well, you know, I was sitting in church, actually, and there's a line in our liturgy that's from generation to generation.

And it got me thinking about all the things we had done during the year 2025 that were celebrating our past but also looking to the future.

And so that just made me think about, you know, how much we have grown from what our ancestors, those that started this place, put into place.

And, and I thought tha that would also be a great way to be able to talk about transformational change and where we're headed.

Well, and at this point in time, transformational is exactly Moline, especially when you think of the opportunities of the I-74 bridge reconfiguration in downtown... Uh huh.

...and all the other things that are going on throughout the city.

It is a chance for growth.

Yes, absolutely.

I mean, we've known that since we took office in 2021.

Trying to put everything in place so that transformational growth isn't just a buzz word, but people can actually see it and feel it.

You know, they I know they feel it in the roadways that we've invested in all these years, because something's always closed.

But then it reopens in a new configuration, with updated standards for urban transportation.

And I think... And roundabouts.

...yeah, that's what I mean.

Ha, ha.

That's what I'm implying.

[laughter] I think it's really important that people understand that Moline is not trying to be something it's not.

We are embracing who we've been and who we are now and then, also working to be everything that we can be, so to speak.

Right?

We have a vision for the future instead of just what do we need to do this week, next week?

And, you know, in taking one week at a time.

Well, that's one of the things because you're calling for a strong, sustainable future.

Uh huh.

I was intereste by this term sustainable future.

Right.

Because besides budgeting responsible budgeting what do you think sustainable future means?

Oh well I mean the the core of it is sustainable budgeting, but that is based on how your economy is doing.

And I I was able to grab my, my data on our economic growth right, for the last four years.

And we've been in that five to 5 to 7 range for the last four years, a percentage of of economic growth.

And that's really, really healthy.

And that's where we want to be.

And if we can be there, regardless of what's happenin in the national economic scene.

Right?

Because we know that the Quad Cities kind of rides out some of the housing market things and some of the employment, stats we see, if we can maintain that 5 to 7% growth, then we're really becoming much more sustainable in terms of the health of our local economy.

When you say 5 to 7% of economic growth.

I mean, what's nice about Moline, is it has a mix of industry, commercial, retail.

Is that what you're talking about is the whole Service.

Yeah it's the whole it's the whole.

So I mean, we each year we're exceeding, you know, the permitting evaluations, and what have you, for new construction or redevelopment, those kinds of things.

That's wonderful.

But we also want some of these new companies to come or to grow out of, out of, Moline in the Quad Cities.

And so we just continue to work on all of that.

And I'm really thankfu that we've rebuilt the community and economic developmen department over all these years.

And one of the areas is Hyperlift.

Yep.

Ha, ha.

The smile on your face.

You've got a at least a five year lease right now.

With Hyperlift, a kind of a high tech startup entrepreneurial company that wants the Kone, if you don't mind me calling it the Kone Tower, still.

Yeah, no.

That's fine.

Or Montgomery Tower, maybe for people are really associated with it.

How is it possible that you can actually find a company that needs a huge elevator shaft to test equipment then here?

Well, see, that's where this this forethought about how you're, in a sense, marketin your community to the outside.

Paying attention to what your messaging is and what information is availabl becomes really helpful because, they were looking for places and they came across our riverfront and center plan.

Right?

And they saw that there was an elevator tower.

And so then, you know, one thing leads to another.

And so if we didn't have good marketing out ther about where we're headed, right, what the plans are then, then a company can't envision what they could be t or how they could be a part of an area that's growing.

And I wonder, how does that work into the plan?

Because that area of the riverfront is going to be very much a public gathering space.

Park space.

I think there's plans for hotel Theres development in that area How does this fit into that?

Well, the nice thing is we we took our time doing the research and making sure our buildings were sustainable, right?

That the Kone Tower could stand and that we could keep it.

And we, so we've planne for growth around it in a sense.

Right?

So there's nothing needs to change in the adopted plan that we have.

It's just a matter of the timing of all of the infrastructure that has to go in and all of the, new building that will happen.

The other major thing for Moline, I know you're looking t the past as well as the future.

You can't not talk about passenger rail and the $1.5 billion state transit, budget that is now funding the possibility of passenger rail coming to the quad Cities and Moline in particular.

Uh huh.

I think you had guarded optimism years ago.

Uh huh.

If Gardner was even, you know, if you even had the optimism.

Yeah.

I mean is it a game changer.

It's absolutely a game changer.

I said at the beginning of the year at the Quad City Mayors Breakfast that the chamber hosts, I said, no isolation, no stagnation.

That is the key to the Quad Cities growth.

I hear tha from business leaders as well.

They think that the train is the single most transformative thin we can do for the Quad Cities.

And if you travel around like I get to do in professional development as a mayor, and you go to other cities and you see how infrastructure like that transportation infrastructure really makes a difference from for all kinds of things.

And so I do think that I'm more positive than ever.

You can't, you can have a plan, but you can't execute it if you don't have the money.

And now the money will be there.

And it' a matter of executing the plan.

Because I'm sure you heard criticism about, oh my gosh, why would you buy the Kone Tower building?

Oh my gosh.

Why are you developing this Sears building?

This is on a wish that development will occur.

No, it's more than a wish.

I mean, we do things in a very strategic manner in Moline, right?

We analyze all of the variables that are at play.

When you have that large of an area and you need to control how it's going to evolve, you buy the lan even if it has a building on it.

Right?

And now look, we are able to transform it, parts of it into a, temporary winter shelter.

Perfect timing with with what we have going on.

Plan for that building in the future?

It's supposed to come down.

Right?

So.

So the fact that this is temporary, even as we work regionally for for permanent shelter ideas or options, it just it worked out so well in so many ways.

And I wanted to ask you about homelessness, and that is a perfect segue, is that it is temporary.

Yes.

But you do want to find some kind of a permanent solution to homelessness.

Yes.

You know, that Rock Island had had the issue as far as its social services ordinance.

It really brought it to the forefront right now.

What do you hope to see?

And I know that, as you mentioned, you want to coordinate with the other cities in the Quad Cities.

How do you see that moving forward?

Yeah, I mean, as I said in the press conference, we we've been talking about housing solutions, in in depth since 2023.

It's part of a new strategic plan in that year.

We, we ha to gather a lot of information.

Staff had to get updated.

You know, we don't have one person in charge of homelessness or shelter, right?

But but it's a real team effort.

And between the council and and staff sharing information and organizing those conversations.

We're much farther ahead than potentially some of our other communities nearby because because we analyzed before we executed.

Right?

In terms of what our solutions are.

So now we're prepared and conversation have already begun in terms of what is a regional solution on the Illinois side of the river, right.

That I have told people.

I have a hyper local focus about it, because we just tend to be the most nimble that way and able to respond to the needs and the gaps and all that.

So we're in the process of organizing more of those conversations, but folks are already, chipping in for to help to help the situation.

Let's talk about, commercial and retail.

You got to be happy to see the old Hy-Vee being turned into, a Burlington, I want to say Burlington Coat Factory, but a Burlington store, as well as a Five Below store.

So you're seeing some of those empty storefronts that are being filled, but also the challenge of South Park Mall continues.

Yes.

And and I it was interesting because Kohan, who's the owner of South Park Mall, has been referred to as the last owner of a a last the last owner a mall sees.

In other words, they're heavily criticized for letting them just dwindle to nothing.

Which of course hurts the tax base.

And it creates blight.

What's the latest on South Park Mall as far as any redevelopment or anything that the city can do?

Yeah.

Well, you know, it's interesting, as I said, we're very strategic and we use a lot of data to make decisions.

And I know my city administrator just reminded us that South Park, even as, as it is right now, does contribute quite a bit more than you expect to it to our tax base.

Yes.

So to have it completely gone would be terrible.

We keep tabs on what Kohan is doing.

We plan for what we might be able to do in the future.

It's just a very intricate dance while you're building up the riverfront, which is going to have a major impact.

And you know that you have the this other project.

And we had some things, you know, in the hoppe that were just about ready to, to, to come out, before th mall was sold to another owner.

So, I think we have some really brilliant minds on economic development at the table and they're keeping an eye on it and, preparing.

Truly a choice piece of property, obviously.

Absolutely.

The other choice piece of property that the city's always been trying to work on is the area south of the airport.

And a study years ago was looking at more, housing in that area and creating, kind of a housing area for what's called the Airport South District.

If I can call it that, but the council has just approved, three parcels of land that's going to be become a solar farm.

Uh huh.

How does that fit i with the plan for the district to become more of a residential area or how do you want to see that developed now?

I think that, the answer and many aging communities of age.

Right?

Is not always to grow outward, but to grow upward.

That in increasing density and smart ways.

You know, we have three development deals for for downtown housing right now.

We have other spaces that can have housing and multiple housing types.

That's really important and much more efficient because you already have the infrastructure set up.

You already have police and fire set up for those areas.

It will be an expensive endeavor to actually, build out the housing plans that that were there from years ago.

Because we're talking about schools, we're talking... Yes, schools, sewer, water, electrical, everything.

And then the manpower, or human power to, have police and fire cover those areas.

So it's a really efficient and effective, project to have solar down there, because that will help balance some costs for the city and or residents.

And it's and it's putting the land to good use.

And it's not just plopping panels down.

We have a plan for the agravoltaic or, working with pollinators underneath so that we're, you know, we'r getting a lot out of that space, even if it's not housing at the moment.

The city administrator says that we can expect and I use this term as a, quote, “significant construction” in 2026.

Uh huh.

Is that what you're seeing i that, we're going to see, like, like you were saying, transformative construction in the coming year.

Yeah, that's the expectation.

Everybody knows that, the riverfront has to start seeing some ground move or some movement.

I mean, you've already seen some buildup of where we put sludge t to build things up a little bit.

So that's underway.

We have, like I said, those three, housing developments.

Excuse me, they are mult multifamily unit, developments downtown.

Is one of them the old JC Penney's building?

That one, that project is on pause.

There's another project down there.

It's the Moline Dispatch and the Modern Two.

That's right.

Yes.

Yes.

And one other.

So we should be seeing bulldozers this year.

Yeah.

It's, I talked to you about this before is that you just can't stress how big of a deal the I-74 bridge movement was for changing the face of Moline.

And, and the fact that, you know, you had, the Vibrant Center, you had The Mark the Quad Cities, you had the John Deere Pavilion there.

Uh huh.

And now you'r able to mix everything together and really make it a huge destination.

Are you going to really because there have been plans, we've seen drawings.

We know there's no zip line coming.

Yeah, ha, ha.

But I mean, are we really close to following that plan.

I mean, is that what's going to work?

Yeah, that's my simple answer is we're we're following the plan.

We don't deviate.

I mean, we don't spend all kinds of money to have a plan and then veer away from it.

It would have to be specific variables that that make something, a plan have to change.

And we haven't seen those yet.

So really, it always starts with infrastructure.

You can't you can't build on top.

And people sort of sometimes expect that you can just plop a building on a empty space of property, but it's what's underneath that has to be prepared very well and very thoughtfully to to handle what's coming.

And so that's that's been where we've been at.

I know that you, you know, as mayo and I know city council members, they want to be as transparent as possible, and they want to be able to meet people.

And you have your good gatherings, that are held on the third Sunday each month.

And I want to promote that a bit.

What have you gotten from those?

You know, the that's part of an effort to increase our, our capacity or, excuse me, the quality of our social infrastructure, the connections we have with one another.

And, in troubling times those connections really matter.

So that smaller communities aren't fracturing because they're turning away from each other, but rather toward their neighbors and friends.

And so, that's been on a little bit of a pause recently.

I had run it mysel for quite some time, and we had really great conversations, from mental health to, to, foster care.

We invite folks i to talk about different things.

We'd have it in different locations across the city, and it was that potluck style and nobody ever had to feel like they didn't bring enough food to share.

Right?

Because there was always enough somehow.

And, I'm looking to a couple, nonprofits to potentiall take that over in their spaces, because we don't want to give up on it, but we transformed it into, sharing, a viewin of the documentary Join or Die, about the work of Robert Putnam, who's a social scientist, political scientis that that really studied, like, what does it take for us to have healthy communities?

And it is that group orientation to really being involved with one another.

And so then we had an involvement fair, or a joining fair.

It was in August and at the BPAC at the high school.

Right.

And, it was really great to see parts of the community come out and learn more about what's available to be a part of.

So I hope we can replicate more of that.

Because the key is to make sure that every neighborhood is heard from?

Yeah, and that every person feels connected to their community.

So the last question i what is the state of the city?

It's wonderful.

Ha, ha, ha.

It's really good.

I mean, things are stable.

Things are thoughtful.

Things are improving.

And I think that there's always something to work on.

There are always needs that need to be met.

But we just keep doing the work, and as I say, we have to walk the talk, you know?

So that's part of our decision making.

And so far, it's working.

Our thanks to Moline Mayor Sangeetha Rayapati.

Whether you're in Molin or any of the cities, February doesn't mean you need to shelter in place.

There's a lot of fun activities to keep you warm, and here's a few of them.

Thanks to Visit Quad Cities.

Check out the things t do this week in the Quad Cities.

Gain national insight, strengthen partnerships and explore how sports tourism can propel the QC.

Next, learn about cocktail and techniques while sharpening your skills as a home bartender during this cocktail class.

Then celebrate Valentine's Da at The Voy 61 Drive in Theater.

Enjoy popcorn, drinks, candy, and a great movie.

Next make your own Valentine's cards.

This is a perfect chance to unplug, spend tim with friends, and get creative.

Finally, grab your lawn chair and get ready to enjoy a free concert at the Rust Belt.

For more events like these, check out our events calendar at VisitQuadCities.com Jenny Lynn Stacy says she provides an eclectic and comforting array of melodies strung together with love.

Well, here's some of that love.

Right now.

It's Jenny Lynn Stacy with “Nothing to Lose”.

[mellow guitar strumming] Where are you going?

Where have you been?

Will the powers that be have a hold over me?

And I'm living here in sin.

Yes.

I'm living here in sin.

And our lives have drifted.

And we were falling apart.

Will the sky shine on me?

And your skin sets me free.

Well, I don't know where to start.

No, I don't know where I'm gonna start.

Linda, cries so hard.

Just so I can drown my sorrows in bitter pursuit.

In this world is setting me on fire.

Now I know I've got nothing to lose.

Well God damn I've got nothing to lose.

And each day's getting longer.

And full of such bravery.

Well, of course I can't eat And right now I don't sleep.

Well I guess I'll just let things be.

Close my eyes and just let them be.

Linda cries so hard.

Just so I can drown my sorrows in bitter pursuit.

And this world is setting me on fire.

Now I know I've got nothing to lose.

Well God damn, I've got nothing to lose.

[music ends] Jenny Lynn Stacy with Nothing t Lose performed at the Black Box Theater in downtown Moline.

Were continuing to celebrate the 250th birthday of the Declaration of Independence by celebrating the Civic Spark in many of us that showcases the reaso our work makes a difference in the community.

We asked and Eduardo Perez the director of Western Illinois University's Bilingual Early Learning Lab, what is his Civic Spark?

I chose education, but early childhood education chose me.

I was, married, and I already had two children, when I was finishing my bachelors and I was in a very vulnerable position that we had to seek, public aid because we didn't have enough for food and enough for for my family.

And as I was sitting at that, office, seeking for assistance, which we were denied after that, but I noticed that around me there were about 5 or 6 mothers with young children, all ages from babies all the wa to five, six, seven years old.

And as I am with them in this office, feeling that, you know, I need extra help, I need the extra push.

I need this extra support for my family.

But I know that, at least in my case, because I was there, you know finishing my bachelor's degree, I know I'm going to thing are going to be different soon.

But then at that moment, that's when it hit me.

Someone has to tell this generation that this is not the only way of life, that they have opportunities that because of where you start, it doesn't mean that you have to stay like that for many years after that.

And I wanted to be that agent of change, to tell them with my story.

As a kindergarten teacher, now, as a director of the bilingual Early, Early Learning and Family Center, that things can be different and we can do that together as a community and through education.

And this is the reason why I do what I do.

Our thanks to Eduardo Perez the director of Western Illinois University's Bilingual Early Learning Lab.

On the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile devic and streaming on your computer.

Thanks for taking some time to join us.

As we talk about the issues on The Cities [lively music] [music ends]