Sister Cities or Safe Streets?
FREEPORT, IL – November 12, 2025
Why Freeport’s Priorities Matter More Than Its Postcards
While Freeport’s City Council prepares to debate and vote on becoming a “sister city” with Lititz, Pennsylvania, many residents are left wondering: what about Freeport’s own people?
Homelessness is rising. Gunfire has become routine background noise. Fentanyl and human trafficking continue unchecked. And property crimes—especially thefts and burglaries—are expected to spike to record-breaking levels as we enter the holiday season.
Yet, under Mayor Jodi Miller, the agenda keeps prioritizing ceremony over crisis. City Hall’s energy is going into ribbon-cuttings, plaques, and symbolic gestures—while our community keeps paying the price for neglect.
And yes, Lititz really is being courted. In Lititz Borough’s own minutes this fall, their mayor reported that Freeport, Illinois had reached out about establishing a sister-city partnership and received permission to explore it.
Lititz vs. Freeport: The Facts, Not the Photo-Ops
Population & Trajectory
Lititz, PA: About 9,800 residents, stable or slightly growing.
Freeport, IL: Around 23,000 residents, steadily declining for years.
Household Income & Poverty
Lititz: Median income around $82,800, per-capita about $43,000.
Freeport: Median income just $48,000, with 18% of residents living in poverty—nearly double Illinois’ state average.
Crime & Safety
Lititz: One of Pennsylvania’s safest towns (violent crime risk ~1 in 1,200).
Freeport: Violent-crime risk roughly 1 in 373, property-crime risk 1 in 79.
Heading into the holidays, local police anticipate a record-breaking surge in property crime, driven by burglaries, thefts, and catalytic converter incidents. With understaffed departments and an overworked force, prevention efforts lag far behind demand.
Homelessness & Shelter
Illinois is short more than 4,200 emergency beds statewide, and Freeport has few reliable options for those with nowhere to go when temperatures drop below freezing.
Trafficking & Sex-Offender Oversight
Freeport’s high concentration of registered sex offenders, coupled with inadequate monitoring and limited coordination with state task forces, leaves families vulnerable. Meanwhile, trafficking routes continue to exploit Freeport’s highways and abandoned properties—largely ignored by city leadership.
By Joshua T. Atkinson, Republican Candidate for State Senate, IL-45
A Culture of Corruption and Complacency
Freeport’s decline didn’t happen overnight. Over the past decade, it has become one of Illinois’ most corrupt small cities—a title earned through complacency, cover-ups, and cronyism.
Three terms of political patronage under an ice-cream-parlor-owner-turned-Mayor, State Senator Andrew Chesney, and his ally former State Senator Brian Stewart, have left a legacy of insider deals, misuse of taxpayer property, and a City Hall allergic to accountability.
It’s the same system that allows the Mayor’s own family to trespass and squat on taxpayer-owned property without consequence—while the city’s real issues go unsolved.
Freeport deserves better than press releases and protection rackets disguised as politics.
What a Serious Agenda Would Look Like — This Month
Emergency Winter Shelter Surge
Activate a coordinated cold-weather plan using churches, municipal buildings, and public facilities. Publish nightly bed availability and ensure transportation to warming centers.Gun-Violence & Drug-Trafficking Response
Reinstate targeted patrols, form regional partnerships, and release public data on shots-fired incidents. The people deserve to know where their city stands—and what’s being done about it.Sex-Offender & Trafficking Accountability
Conduct quarterly compliance checks and publish results. Create a permanent multi-agency task force with state and federal partners to address drug and human trafficking through Freeport and Stephenson County.Record-Breaking Property Crime Prevention
Deploy mobile patrols and neighborhood watch coordination before theft and burglary spikes during the holidays. Publicly release crime-prevention data and demand department-level accountability from City Hall, not after the season—but now.Basic Governance and Human Decency
Restore order and respect at City Council meetings. That means:A Mayor who listens and responds, not one who rolls her eyes when citizens speak.
A City Manager who looks residents in the eye, not at the floor.
Council members who debate and decide with courage, not silence.
The residents of Freeport deserve a government that governs—not one that performs.
Transparency First, Ceremonies Later
Publish complete budget records, contracts, and meeting minutes.
Audit all taxpayer-owned properties—including those being used by city-connected families—and return them to proper control.
Then, and only then, should City Council consider ceremonial resolutions or out-of-town partnerships.
The Bottom Line
Lititz is lovely. But Freeport doesn’t need a sister city—it needs a serious government.
We can’t ceremony our way out of corruption, crime, or community collapse.
We can’t fix safety with postcards or pride with press releases.
Until this administration faces its failures and fixes them, Freeport doesn’t need a sister city—it needs a soul check.
Do the work first. Celebrate later.
