Sworn in May 3, 2027
10 commitments in 90 days. A public report on Day 91.
Don't take Bob's word for it. Check the report on Day 91.
This is a special election: the mayor sworn in on May 3, 2027 serves until May 7, 2029. Don't judge Bob by what he promises before Election Day. Judge him by this list after he takes office.
Ten commitments below, each with a number, a date and a one-line promise you can read in thirty seconds. On Day 91 that same list is published again, marked done, late or dropped.
Most of it uses existing staff, existing data or already-planned funding, and much of it is a decision to publish something the city already knows. Where a commitment needs money, the plan page behind it says where the money comes from.
Month one
Monthly financial reporting is restored.
I will publish the city's finances every month, in a fixed format.
Revenue against budget, expenditure against budget, fund balances. Published every month, in a fixed format. It needs no new program and the data already exists — and a city that reports monthly cannot be surprised in November by something that started in March.
Department heads meet the permit clock.
I will measure and publish how long every permit type actually takes.
Current turnaround times for every permit type, measured and published, with a target date for the guarantee. You cannot promise a refund on a deadline you have not measured.
Ward capital numbers published for the first time.
I will publish what every one of the fourteen wards got, and what it is scheduled to get.
What was spent in each of the fourteen wards over the last five years, and what's programmed for the next five. A downloadable table anyone can add up.
Month two
The lead service line financing plan goes to the council in draft.
I will put the lead-line financing plan in front of the council six months early.
The plan is due to the EPA in November 2027. A draft in front of the council by day 45 leaves six months to argue about it in public instead of six weeks.
Retention visits begin with the twenty largest employers.
I will visit the twenty largest employers in Rockford and ask what would make them grow here.
One question, asked in person: what would make you expand here instead of somewhere else. Answers reported to the council quarterly, without the names attached.
The budget reflects the scale of Rockford's domestic-violence problem.
I will fund the domestic-violence response against the share of the workload it actually is.
Domestic violence accounts for the largest single share of Rockford's violent-crime workload — 52.1% of violent incidents, on the city's own figures. The first budget proposal reflects that, and the follow-up unit's caseload and outcomes get reported publicly.
Station area planning for the train is under way.
I will settle the zoning, parking and walking routes around the station before the first train.
Service is expected in late 2027. Zoning, parking, and walking routes get settled before the first train arrives.
Month three
A Household Cost Statement is scheduled and specified.
I will publish, in one document, everything a Rockford household pays the city.
One annual document showing what a Rockford household pays the city across everything — the city's share of the tax bill, water, sewer, refuse, permits, fees — and how each piece changed. Affordability is the whole bill, and nobody currently publishes the whole bill.
Water and street work are sequenced on one calendar.
I will stop the city digging the same street twice.
No street gets resurfaced in a year when its service lines are scheduled to come out. Published as a joint schedule, so residents can see it coming.
Senior services named in the first budget proposal.
I will name older Rockford residents in the first budget, on both sides of the city.
The city's commitment to the Living Well Center honored. Senior programming funded at the Booker Washington Center on the west side. One published figure for what Rockford spends on older residents across every department.
More than a decade has passed without a senior center. The least the next budget can do is say what the city is spending. The full argument.
Day 91 — the morning after the first 90 days
The Day 91 Report
I will publish this page again, marked done, late or dropped — and say why.
The report isn't an eleventh thing to do. It's the receipt for the ten, and it's the reason the other ten are worth writing down.
Don't take Bob's word for it. Check the report on Day 91.