Last week, the city of Carbondale announced that Police Chief Stan Reno would be dropping the interim tag from his city manager title and would assume the role full time.
On Tuesday, Jan. 28 the Carbondale City Council voted to approve the employment agreement between Reno and the city, making his full-time role official.
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Reno had been simultaneously holding the titles of police chief and city manager for the last nine months, and will continue doing so until the end of June, which is when it is expected that the city council will have found his replacement for the chief of police position.
Until then, Reno will continue holding both titles, however, the duties of police chief will be passed along to a deputy.
On Friday, Reno and the city council announced that Deputy Chief Anthony Williams had been appointed as the acting chief of police, alleviating some of the responsibility previously placed upon Reno.
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In his new role, Williams will assume increased day-to-day duties while the city conducts its nationwide search for Reno’s replacement.
“Deputy Chief Williams is an outstanding leader who has demonstrated a strong commitment to the Carbondale community throughout his career,” said Reno in a press release. “I have full confidence that he will continue to guide the department with integrity and professionalism as we work through the process of a transition in leadership.”
Now, as Reno turns his focus to the role of city manager, there are a plethora of projects on his plate.
The city manager role varies from market to market, but no matter where you are, the responsibilities placed upon those in the position are profound.
As Reno put it, the city manager is essentially “the CEO of the government entity,” and his experience in the interim role and his time as the city’s chief of police has helped him prepare for this position.
So, what exactly does this position entail when assumed in Carbondale?
According to Reno, quite a lot.
“The city manager makes sure that the daily operations of the city continue offering services to our community members and visitors of Carbondale,” Reno told the Daily Egyptian, while adding that it will also be his responsibility to ensure that the city has a proper budget in place to support those services, the proper staff in place to support those services and the will to carry out the goals and objectives of the elected officials – such as the city council and the mayor.
Despite the complexity of the position, and on top of his duties as police chief, Reno has had plenty of time to prepare.
Reno said that getting more involved with the different initiatives in Carbondale has helped him see a side of governing that he had not previously encountered as police chief.
“These last eight to nine months really gave me an opportunity to work closer with city staff in other areas of city governance outside of law enforcement – the space that I’ve spent 28 years of my career in,” said Reno.
“Learning more about our city staff and the work that they’re doing has really just prepared me to, you know, continue to move that work forward and provide them with the support and the resources they need to get that important work done,” he said.
Reno has long been aware of the work being done in and around the city, and has a very extensive history in enforcing the law in Carbondale.
He was born and raised in Carbondale and graduated from both Carbondale Community High School and Southern Illinois University, where he earned a degree in political science and the administration of justice.
Reno joined the Carbondale police force in 1997 and has since won awards for leading narcotics investigations, including two conspiracy cases that solved cold-case homicide investigations.
In similar fashion to his succession as city manager, Reno was named interim chief of police in 2020 and assumed the full-time role in 2021.
“Being the police chief in an interim status and then a permanent status for almost five years has really given me an opportunity to develop as a leader and to understand how to manage an organization and the staff within it to set goals and objectives,” Reno said.
When asked what aspects of law enforcement he will bring with him into his new role, Reno said his top priority is ensuring the safety of the Carbondale community – just as it has always been.
“As the police chief, I’m really focusing on the public safety and the safety of the community and just the best interests of the community. So, just carrying those same priorities and same type of focus over into a broader spectrum for all city services, city-wide,” said Reno.
As for his replacement in the chief of police position, the city of Carbondale has already begun working on the process of conducting their nationwide search.
“Yes, we’ve started the initial steps of the process of determining what that [the search] is going to look like,” said Reno.
So, what exactly is it that they will be searching for?
Again, according to Reno, safety is the focal point.
“I want somebody who is focused on the safety of the community and the success and future of Carbondale,” said Reno. “Someone making sure that we’re providing support resources to our law enforcement officers and civilian staff at the police department, so that we are providing the best services to the community,” he said, adding that the city would also be focusing on things like officer wellness and officer training.
In the meantime, the projects unfolding around Carbondale won’t be stopping – including those that seemingly have, like Hangar 9.
“So, with Hangar 9…it’s for sale, and we are, as a city, trying to assist in that sale,” Reno told the DE.
“We want to see the business continue. Hangar has been an important part of the Carbondale community for many years and it’s been an important part of the music scene for many years. So we really want to see a good operator come in and continue that success and provide that entertainment opportunity for the city,” said Reno.
“But specifically, the city’s not involved with the real estate sale or anything,” Reno said, “but we’re certainly assisting however we can to make sure that the right people know it’s for sale, and to help make sure that we can find a good buyer and operator for it.”
That being said, the status of Hangar 9 isn’t the only thing in limbo.
Downtown Carbondale, specifically the Strip, has been the focus of development plans on city officials’ desks for years. According to Reno, those plans are soon slated for an update.
“As far as downtown is concerned, that is going to continue to be a focus of ours,” said Reno.
“We’ve done a number of improvements over the last several years to the downtown and we’re not finished. We’re continuing that work and getting ready to develop a downtown master plan – an updated downtown master plan – that will give us some vision on branding and really just the aesthetics of downtown, to include things like way finding and working with the university on some things…you know, having a seamless transition between downtown and campus and recognizing that relationship between the city and the university,” said Reno.
A key part of those plans is, of course, the construction of the new Amtrak station on the east side of South Illinois Avenue, which is officially referred to as the Southern Illinois Multimodal Station – or SIMMS for short.
“Obviously, the multimodal center is a huge cornerstone project that’s been underway for quite some time now,” said Reno, adding that it’s getting closer to completion.
The SIMMS building is expected to include space for a café and market to support travelers, bike sharing for students, residents and tourists as well as office space for Amtrak, Greyhound, Jackson County Mass Transit, Rides Mass Transit, the SIU Welcome Center and more.
Once the SIMMS building is finished, Reno and city staff will begin getting the services up and running, which will include the flagship Amtrak operation and the addition of a co-working space that will include all of the other means of transportation, like the city buses.
Reno noted that, despite convolution concerning the disbursement of federal funding following the implementation of several executive orders from President Donald Trump, the city of Carbondale has been in contact with the federal government to ensure that the BUILD grant awarded to the city to fund the SIMMS building will not be interrupted.
Reno also noted that Man-Tra-Con, a federally funded workforce connection service in southern Illinois, is committed to having a space in the building to help people in the Carbondale community find jobs.
A project update posted on the city’s website earlier this month said that the interior and exterior of the SIMMS building are nearly complete and that concrete work and landscaping will continue as weather permits.
Reno added that the city is also working on the beginning steps of the stage for the Downtown Entertainment and Events Plaza that he says will “really enhance that entertainment opportunity on South Washington Street.”
Last week, Carbondale Mayor Carolin Harvey told the DE that she’s looking forward to working with Reno on completing current projects, like the SIMMS building and entertainment plaza, as well as bringing on new ones that will “help the city grow and thrive.”
Reno said that being honored with the responsibility of city manager means a lot to him and that he’s excited about the work ahead.
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