Juggbutt's

10/10/2026

Better Parks Begin With a Community That Cares

What could Alton's parks become if we made the most of what we have?

Imagine well-maintained parks, development and improvements that reflect what families want, and park programming that brings people together. We have opportunities to make these places better, but turning possibilities into progress takes planning, clear priorities, and a willingness to listen.

Transparency matters because people deserve to know how public money is spent. Accountability matters because plans should lead to results. Public input matters because the people who use our parks have ideas worth hearing.

These aren't just principles. They're practical tools for getting better results with the resources we have.

On Monday, I'll be back before the Board of Aldermen asking questions about our dedicated parks and storm-water tax, how those funds are being used, and how we can establish a clearer foundation for managing our parks.

I'm not asking these questions because I believe Alton can't do any better. I'm asking because I believe we can.

Our parks belong to this community. Their future should be shaped by responsible decisions, thoughtful planning, and a genuine opportunity for the public to participate.

We have people who care, ideas worth hearing, and opportunities worth pursuing. Let's put them to work and build parks our whole community can be proud of.

10/06/2026

I believe Alton can do more. A lot more.

We have beautiful country around us. We have a historic downtown and a courthouse square. We have local businesses, hardworking people, young people with ideas, people who want to come home, and people who want to see their hometown succeed.

There are opportunities here that we haven't even begun to explore.

We can find better ways to support small businesses. We can make downtown a place people want to visit and spend time. We can work on housing, infrastructure, public safety, recreation, tourism, arts and culture. We can find ways to attract investment without losing what makes Alton, Alton.

None of this is going to happen because we sit around waiting for somebody else to figure it out.

It will happen when people decide that they can make a difference.

That means speaking up when you have an idea. Showing up when something matters. Voting in local elections. Encouraging your neighbors to get involved. And, for some people, maybe deciding that instead of asking someone else to lead, you are willing to step up, run for office and lead.

You don't have to be a politician. You don't have to have all the answers. You just have to care about this community enough to believe that its future is worth working for.

Alton doesn't need to settle for simply getting by. We can build something better. And the people who help build it could be any of us.

10/02/2026

How much longer can Alton afford to stay the same?

You don't have to look far to see the effects of years of decline. Deteriorating properties, empty buildings, fewer businesses and declining school enrollment tell a story we can't afford to ignore.

Our city often tells us how tight the budget is and what it can't afford. But what are we doing to create new opportunities, attract investment and grow our local economy?

When business owners struggle to get support, when public input is discouraged and when those in authority resist accountability, we have to ask whether the city's leaders are making it easier or harder for Alton to move forward.

A community cannot grow when its people feel their ideas don't matter and their efforts aren't welcome. We need leadership that encourages initiative, welcomes constructive criticism and plans for the future—not simply manages the decline.

Alton has potential, but potential alone won't save us.

How much longer can we afford to miss opportunities and leave the future of our community to chance?

09/28/2026

There's something I've noticed here in Alton..

People have opinions.

They'll tell you what they think when they're standing in the grocery store. They'll tell you what they think when you walk in the gas station. They'll tell you what they think when they know they're talking to somebody they trust.

But put the same question in front of the people who actually make the decisions, and suddenly a lot of those voices disappear.

Why?

Sometimes people just don't want to make waves.

Sometimes they don't want to be the one who gets labeled as difficult.

Sometimes they figure nothing will change anyway.

Sometimes, people aren't sure they're allowed to speak up.

And, sometimes people are simply afraid it will effect their livelihood.

That's one reason I've become so interested in public parks and the First Amendment.

A public park isn't just a place to put a playground or throw a ball. It's one of the places in our community where people are supposed to be able to come together, speak their minds, exchange ideas and be heard.

That's what makes a public place truly public.

And it matters here in Alton.

We've got a city-owned property in the middle of town that was purchased specifically to become a public gathering place. The city purchased the property to bulid a pavilion where people could come together.

I think we ought to ask ourselves what that really means.

A public gathering place should be a place where the public can gather.

Not just when everybody agrees.

Not just when nobody complains.

Not just when the people in charge like what is being said.

ALL OF US.

That's what I'm trying to understand when I talk about public forums and the First Amendment.

I'm not trying to turn Alton into a constitutional law classroom.

I'm trying to understand how we make sure people in Alton feel free to speak up about their own community.

Because a community where everybody is afraid to speak isn't really a free community.

And I think we can do better than that.

09/26/2026

Here's something I didn't understand until I started looking into these park issues: not every piece of government property is a public forum.

That actually makes sense. City Hall, water department facilities, maintenance buildings and storage areas all serve different purposes. They're not places intended for public discussion and assembly.

But parks are different.

The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized streets, sidewalks and parks as "Traditional Public Forums" because they've long been places where people gather, communicate and discuss public questions.

That doesn't mean anything goes in a park. Reasonable rules are necessary so one person's use doesn't interfere with everyone else's.

But there's an important difference between regulating how a public place is used and deciding who can use it, what they can say, or whether they can gather there at all.

That's why the word “public” in public forum matters.

A park isn't a public forum simply because the city owns it. Its character as a public forum comes from what the place is for and, how the public has traditionally used it.

That's also one reason I've asked the Alton Board of Aldermen to officially designate all three of our city park properties by ordinance, including their exact boundaries.

That designation wouldn't create First Amendment rights by itself. But it would make something important, clear: what properties the city has intentionally set aside as public parks and, what their public purpose is.

When we're talking about places where people traditionally gather and exercise their right to assemble, that clarity matters.

If we want to know where the public's rights are being protected, we ought to know exactly what property we're talking about.

09/22/2026

In 1939, a dispute over people meeting and speaking in the public parks and streets of Jersey City made its way to the United States Supreme Court. City officials had tried to restrict meetings and the distribution of literature in those public places, and the people challenging those restrictions argued that their First Amendment rights were being violated.

The case, "Hague v. CIO", became an important part of the history of what we now call the "public forum doctrine"—a First Amendment principle concerning places where people gather to speak, assemble and exchange ideas.

A quote from the case I've always loved: Justice Owen Roberts wrote, "Wherever the title of streets and parks may rest, they have immemorially been held in trust for the use of the public and, time out of mind, have been used for purposes of assembly, communicating thoughts between citizens, and discussing public issues. Such use of the streets and public places has, from ancient times, been a part of the privileges, immunities, rights and liberties of citizens."

I think that's worth thinking about.

A public park isn't simply another piece of city property. There's a reason we set parks aside for the public. They're places where people come together—not just to play and relax, but to participate in their community.

There are different kinds of public forums, and we'll get into that another time.

For now, I think it's enough to know what we're talking about when we use the term:

Public forum.

A place where people can exercise their First Amendment freedoms, and where those freedoms receive some of their strongest protection.

09/19/2026

Monday night, along with my three questions, I made one request of the Alton Board of Aldermen.

I asked the Board to immediately establish, by ordinance, the legal status and exact boundaries of all three of Alton's park properties.

That may sound like a lot of legal language, but I don't think the idea is complicated.

A city park isn't just another piece of property the city happens to own.

A park is public space set aside for the people. It's a place where people come to play, gather, speak, assemble, hold events, share ideas and simply spend time together.

And that matters because parks are among the places where our First Amendment rights are given their strongest protection.

So I think we ought to know exactly what property is a park, where its boundaries are, and what gives the public the right to use it.

Right now, we have some questions that need clear answers.

Tucker Creek Park has federally protected boundaries through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, but apparently no city ordinance clearly designating the property as a public park.

Piney Creek Park has a boundary dispute involving property that has been used as a children's playground for decades.

And the Court Square Pocket Park reportedly includes both city-owned and privately owned property, without a written agreement establishing the public's right to use the private portion.

Those aren't small details.

If we're going to call these places public parks, the public should be able to look at a public record and know exactly what that means.

I asked the Board to put these matters on the agenda, address them openly, and give the people of Alton a clear record of what property belongs to our parks.

Our parks belong to the public. The public should know where they are.

09/17/2026

Monday night, I spoke to the Alton Board of Aldermen. I told them I had three questions and one request.

I'll save the request for another post. For now, I want to talk about the three questions.

First, where did the money from the Storm Water Control and Local Parks Sales Tax go?

This was a voter-approved tax. The Board has promised to provide the records showing how that money has been used. I've asked for years. We're still waiting for them.

I don't think it's unreasonable for citizens to know where their tax dollars went.

Second, why were records responsive to my most recent Sunshine Law request withheld, and what is the statutory basis for withholding them?

Government has a responsibility to be transparent with the people it serves. When citizens make a lawful request for public records, they should receive the records they're entitled to receive—and if something is legally exempt, the public should be told why.

And third, who is responsible for making sure those records are provided when citizens properly request them?

The City Clerk and City Attorney may advise the Board, but they are NOT the elected officials.

The people elected the Board of Aldermen to make decisions and to be accountable for those decisions.

These aren't unreasonable questions. They're basic questions about public money, public records, and public accountability.

I believe the people of Alton deserve clear answers.

09/16/2026

The first time I formally requested "public records" showing how storm water/parks tax was being used was in 2022. It's not "impossible" to account for public spending appropriately. It's the law.

The Alton City Council met for its monthly meeting. The main topics discussed were the fall clean-up, park issues, and water issues.

09/09/2026

What happens to your rights when someone else controls public property?

Here's a question I've been thinking about.

Suppose the government owns a public park, but another organization is given control over it.

Who makes the rules?

Who decides what the public can do there?

And what happens when those rules affect someone's ability to speak, gather, demonstrate, distribute information or otherwise exercise their First Amendment rights?

This isn't just a theoretical question.

There's an ongoing federal court case involving Discovery Green, a public park in Houston that is operated by a private nonprofit organization. Two people were removed from the park while exercising their First Amendment rights, and the case raises questions about how constitutional rights apply when a public space is operated by a private organization.

I'm not going to pretend I can settle a question like that in a Facebook post.

But I think it's a question we should be asking here in Alton, too.

If the government owns the property, but someone else controls it, where do the public's rights fit into that arrangement?

And if the answer is that those rights change depending on who is running the park, we probably ought to understand exactly why.

That's the question I'm interested in.