Repeatedly mentioning his role as a Springfield school board member, Steve Makoski lobbied City Council on behalf of two projects, including one next to Sunshine Elementary School.
That project, a drive-through coffee shop at the corner of Sunshine Street and Jefferson Avenue, was proposed by the developer Royce Reding.
Reding, former campaign chair for U.S. Rep. Billy Long, is a founding member of Truth In Politics, an outside spending group that ran TV ads attacking a school board incumbent and supporting Makoski and Kelly Byrne in the weeks prior to the April election.
Makoski and Reding talked about the project Sept. 15 on the Elijah Haahr Show, which Makoski was guest hosting on KWTO. Reding was his guest for the first hour.
Reding said he was surprised when questions about traffic and safety were raised about the project. He noted other locations of 7 Brew Coffee, which average 50 employees each, have been successful.
“I thought this was a slam dunk. Everybody was on board. City staff came out and said ‘Hey, we love the idea, we’re going to support it,'” Reding recalled. “We go to Planning & Zoning and all the sudden, the questions start coming.”
On the show, Makoski said he took an interest in the project.
“Somebody brought it up to my attention that they’re thinking about having a local business on the other side of the street of one of our elementary schools,” Makoski said. “And that definitely does get my attention because being on the Board of Education, I want to make sure that what is happening around our school system and how it might affect our kids and…the transportation system as well.”
He added: “I actually took some time myself and invested a little bit of research to determine what the impact would be to the school.”
Makoski told Reding that he was not initially aware of who was behind the rezoning request.
Reding thanked Makoski for his support of the project. “If I remember right, you wrote a letter that was quite well worded, by the way, and thank you for that.”
Following the show, the News-Leader requested a copy of Makoski’s letter to the city. From his personal email, he sent it separately to each councilmember.
The letter was sent the morning of July 25. In it, Makoski wrote he’d be available for further discussion at that evening’s meeting, when a vote on the project was scheduled.
That evening, after months of debate, city council voted down the 7 Brew Coffee proposal. Asked about the outcome, Makoski told the News-Leader, it was “a lost opportunity.”
In the letter to the city, Makoski sought to calm traffic and safety concerns about the project.
He noted upgrades to the Sunshine campus, as part of the 2019 bond issue, improved the flow of pedestrian, car and bus traffic on the property.
“As I understand, this renovation project considered volume of traffic to include the potential of increased traffic due to future development of adjacent properties,” Makoski wrote. “Further, the transit pattern route for busing and motor vehicles picking up and dropping off students at Sunshine Elementary has proven to be very safe.”
Makoski also mentioned Sunshine was a “barrier street,” meaning students who live south of that street are eligible to ride the bus because the street is deemed too busy to cross on foot.
He wrote: “This design of traffic patterns and routes were created to eliminate pedestrian traffic in which we’ve had great success!”
Both Reding and Makoski noted a business generates more tax revenue than a vacant lot. Makoski said by supporting the project, he was looking out for the district. “The benefit comes back to the schools,” he said.
“I encourage you to vote in favor of rezoning the subject property to the south of Sunshine Street,” Makoski wrote. “As a BOE member and businessman, our city should be promoting businesses willing to provide jobs, creating revenue, and opening opportunity for citizens at large to gain access to alternative retail and dining outlets.”
Makoski said he concluded traffic and safety questions raised about the project “were not a relevant concern” after “meeting” with district officials and those involved in the “rebuilding and remodeling” of Sunshine.
He specifically cited conversations with John Mulford, deputy superintendent of operations, and Travis Shaw, executive director of operations.
The News-Leader asked the district if it, or the board, was asked to take a position on the project given its proximity to the elementary school.
Stephen Hall, chief communications officer for the district, responded: “Neither the Board of Education at-large nor SPS administration was asked to engage on this project, nor was any correspondence provided by the board or the district regarding this matter.”
It is highly unusual for an individual board member, citing his or her role on the board, to independently weigh in on a proposed project that close to a school.
“I was not aware of the (July 25) correspondence until we were asked about it this week,” said school board president Denise Fredrick.
In nearly 12 years on the board, Fredrick said she has not written a letter of support for a proposed project involving the city and is not aware of any from others during that time.
She said such letters are not a violation of board policy but are a “departure from board protocol.”
Asked if he ran the idea of publicly supporting a project near a school by the district or board, Makoski said no. But, he said he may in the future.
“I didn’t go to the board to ask if we should weigh in,” he said.
Behind closed doors, Springfield school board rejected two book ban attempts in 2021
He told the News-Leader he became aware of the project by watching City Council meetings and decided to “chime in myself.”
Makoski said no one asked him to write the letter and it was the first time he’d publicly weighed in on a project. “I took it upon myself because I have a vested interest in the community.”
Asked if Reding’s involvement in the project was a factor in that decision, Makoski said: “They weren’t connected in my mind.”
He added: “It just so happened that it was Royce and his venture.”
Makoski added that he isn’t sure Truth In Politics, the 501(c)(4) that Reding is part of, ultimately helped his bid for a seat on the board.
The nonprofit group, which does not have to disclose its donors, spent $30,000 on a TV ad that attacked incumbent Charles Taylor, who lost, and supported Makoski and Byrne, who were elected.
“I don’t even know if he helped me or not. I have no idea,” Makoski said. “He could have tanked my campaign.”
Makoski said as a board member, he must keep tabs on what is happening in the city and county, especially if there is an impact on the district.
“I can’t just be a board member in the sense that I’m just going to the meetings and engaging with board members and voting yes or no,” he told the News-Leader. “I have to engage with the community.”
He said too many people sit on the sidelines and do not work to improve where they live. “I just take my job a little more seriously than maybe others do.”
In the letter, Makoski also supported a proposal for the city to contribute $750,000 toward an airframe and powerplant facility that Ozarks Technical Community College plans to construct.
“I actually recommended that they double their (financial) commitment,” he said to the News-Leader.
Makoski spent more than 20 years in the U.S. Navy and believes the facility will help high school graduates access the skills training needed for good-paying careers.
“As a member of our BOE, this is important to me in support of our local graduates,” he wrote. “As a businessman, I view this as a facility having great potential for needed revenue streams, job growth, and major airlines in search for potential mid-western markets to use Springfield as alternative to existing airframe/powerplant entities.”
Claudette Riley is the education reporter for the News-Leader. Email news tips to criley@news-leader.com.
