Bruce Walden served the people of Urbana for 28 years before being fired without explanation by Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing. Walden last served as Urbana’s top administrative officer. When you meet Bruce, it is hard to believe he worked anywhere that long.

This interview was conducted prior to Mr. Walden’s summary dismissal.

“I started as a summer intern, and just never seemed to leave,” Walden said jokingly. “I was always been involved in some part of the planning process for the city – I guess this current job I’m pretty much helping the city council plan everything.”

“I’ve seen a lot of changes in Urbana over the years,” he said. “One of the best ones is we are finally working closely with the University to hash out the constant loss of taxable real estate within our borders, which has forced a bigger and bigger burden on the remaining residents.”

“One of the biggest challenges has been changing the impression that Urbana city government is difficult to work with. Well, I think we’ve turned that corner, since we’re seeing close to $50 million in construction going on this past year, and it looks like that will continue this year.”

“The city has seen a constant erosion in its sales tax base as well, as shoppers have been going to Champaign for a lot of the basics. I think that will change shortly, too, as the Illinois 130 corridor develops around the new Wal-Mart.”

Asked about the problems facing the Philo Road corridor, he responded “We know there are serious challenges there, and quite a change in the local neighborhood. But with the addition of the new housing geared toward graduate students and new households, as well as for retirees, I think we’ll see that area bounce back too.”

A check of crime statistics for that portion of Urbana tells a disturbing tale, and are possibly linked to the loss of retail in the area. Crime has shot up in District 6 nearly 300% in the past 5 years. “We know that that is a challenge, but we think we’re making inroads,” Walden said.