City manager to host listening session on convention and events center

David Cameron: Feedback from all sides is important.

Springfield City Manager David Cameron plans to field questions at a public listening session about a proposed convention and events center 5:30-7 p.m. on Jan. 6 at the Greene County Archives and Elections Center, 1125 N. Boonville Ave.

Along with other members of staff, Cameron will present results from an online survey conducted Dec. 4-19 and from other listening sessions while gathering additional feedback, according to a news release from the city. City officials said this morning that survey results will be made available to the public Jan. 5.

In an interview Dec. 23, Cameron said he wants to hear all opinions, whether members of the public voted for or against a 3% lodging tax that would have funded the proposed center in the Nov. 4 election. The measure failed, with 52% opposed, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

Cameron added that the information received in the survey  is both helpful and telling.

He said one unexpected objection to the tax that came through during listening sessions was that the dollars would be leveraged to pay debt service for the convention center if the funding it generates falls short.

“It has been very, very informative,” he said.

He also said some concerns have been raised about the allocation of the first year’s half-cent Spring Forward SGF tax, $30 million, as a one-to-one match for possible state funding for the center.

Cameron said while some people were eager to see the tax money used on initiatives like park and neighborhood projects, the Spring Forward SGF funds are also intended to go toward transformational projects in the city.

“That’s the hardest part to explain,” he said, though he said a lot more explaining needs to be done. He added that neighborhood and park projects are in the works, with a $1 million investment from the tax in the creation of neighborhood plans and park master plans.

Cameron said the lodging tax proposal was challenging, developed just as he was onboarding into his new position and with the added pressure of a June 2026 deadline to expend $30 million in state funding, currently on hold pending release by Gov. Mike Kehoe, as well as a one-to-one match from the city.

“There was a lot to rush to meet that deadline,” he said of the tax. “That’s not the way you would normally run a ballot measure.”

Cameron said as he has listened to feedback on the tax failure, he is learning about much more than the tax or the convention center, but about what the city’s residents want from their government.

“I think it’s going to be very important to get out in the community and listen more,” he said. “What do citizens want? That’s going to be a paramount piece in what I do in the city of Springfield.”