Mayor’s Row…….by Ned Mitchell
For two weeks in a row now I’ve been in a glad-handing, slapping on the back mode. Last week the Rend Lake Conservancy District board members were praised for finally getting around to opening up an industrial park. This week we owe the Franklin county Board members a tip of the hat for passing legislation to revamp the Board of Revue and to bill township government for work not being done in assessing real estate. I think the political heat finally caught up with this board but with elections looming on the horizon for six of the board members, they really had no choice to do what, in my opinion, was a no-brainer and the absolute right thing to do. We’ll now have to wait and see what the re-vamping of the Board of Review consists of.
Now, just so you folks won’t think I’ve lost my ability to ask the hard questions about government lets carry these things a bit farther. I am still waiting on the Rend Lake Conservancy District board, either past or present member or members to explain the $250,000.00 settlement made to former CEO Kevin Davis. I am still waiting on someone from out there to explain all the alleged misappropriation of funds. I mean Glenn Poshard told us at a city council meeting there was as much as 10 million dollars at Rend Lake that could not be accounted for. Mind you he did not say it was missing, it just could not be found.
In order for the Franklin County Board to clear the air I am still waiting on a list of tax payers who have escaped paying taxes for the past decade. It is hard for me to understand how someone could build a house or a business and the tax man not find them for 10 years but we are told that happened in this county. There are a lot of people, including yours truly who wonder exactly how this happened. And there are those among us who think that once the list of property owners is made public, some questions as to why this happened will be answered. Just so the Rend Lake Conservancy Board and the Franklin County Board know, there are hundreds of taxpayers in Franklin County who are patiently waiting for answers to these questions. So don’t drag out the broom just yet, I know you have hold of the corner of the rug, but before we start sweeping lets get this information on the table and be up front with those who are footing the bill. If you are a board member the politically correct thing to do is quit worrying about the past and to focus on the future. I happen to think folks in this area are bright enough to do both and I for one am not going to be satisfied until all the questions have been answered by the Rend Lake Conservancy District and Franklin County Board. They owe it to us!
Back on track now, the reformer/unreformer governor was in Southern Illinois again last week with his huge tax payer funded check book doling out money like a “drunk sailor” as he would put it. This time it was the fledging coal industry that was the benefactor. First of all the reformer/unreformer was a usual three hours late for the press conference. One thing about it, he is consistently late. He was three hours late to a funeral in Carlinville last year too, so he does treat everyone alike in this respect. Anyhow, as I read through the press nonsense I kept looking for Franklin County. Much to my dismay another 15 million dollars was handed out and Franklin County got zilch, notta, nothing. In my grumbling at the check out counter of the local convenience store reading the article while paying for the paper a fellow customer pointed out that why should Franklin County get anything? After all, the reformer/unreformer governor knows that we will just jump in and carry this county for him in a big way like we did last time. My friend continued to point out that a few good jobs have been handed out in Franklin County and those recipients were charged with lining the rest of us up at election time and he went on to say “the democrats in Franklin County have already been bought and paid for.” He might as well have rolled up the paper and whacked me over the head. So, just for the record, this is one democrat in Franklin County that is not bought and paid for by this administration. Thus far it has been a joke and a costly one for local government, but there will be another day.
Another huge waste of money by the reformer/unreformer now is being told in the Springfield and Chicago news media. Our locals tend to ignore stories like this. I have mentioned it before but it needs to be told again now that new facts have surfaced. It seems the reformer/unreformer and his people decided they needed to put a heated drive way in for the governor’s mansion in Springfield so tourists walking up the drive would not have to walk on snow or ice. I’ve got my doubts about a guy who in all the financial hard times this state is in would make this a priority in the first place. I would think a heated drive ought to be way down on the list of things to do. Anyhow, it is being done at a cost of $720,000.00 but since the state is broke, they are borrowing the money to do the work, meaning it will cost well over one million dollars by the time the interest is paid back. If the roof is leaking, I understand we have to fix that, but a heated driveway? The story gets better though. The actual heating system is costing over $500,000.00 with $220,000.00 being spent for asphalt and labor. The odd thing is both leading Chicago newspapers found contractors in Chicago that do the same work right down to the same brand name that charge $30,000.00 for the heating system. So we have a $470,000.00 difference in heating systems between Springfield and Chicago. I can see the opposition television commercials already being made on this one.
By the time this column gets published we should be within a day or two of completing our street program for this year. We have excavated two blocks on South Walnut and three blocks of East Matthew. We really appreciate neighbors and members of Sesser’s First United Methodist Church for their patience. This is a time consuming and difficult task yet it must be done to continue with our permanent street paving program. These streets that are bordered with curb and gutter have no base to them at all so before we could ever apply asphalt the street has to be dug out and refilled with various sizes of rock. The end result will be worth it for years to come I promise. We are building streets that will last for generations to come and will be a cost savings to the future taxpayers. The only thing we should have done is put a heat system in front of my house, that way tourists would not have to drive in ice and snow!
We still need personal hygiene items to be brought to city hall for shipment to our soldiers on the battlefield. The blue barrel at the water department is not quite half full and we need to have it filled by mid October. This is our opportunity to do something beneficial for fighting men and women. They need personal care items like toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant, shampoo, magazines, paper back books, cross word puzzle books, shaving cream, beef jerky treats and anything non perishable. If you can’t afford to purchase any items, write note and put it in an envelope, we’ll see to it that it gets delivered this fall. It’s the least we can do for those who are protecting our freedom!
We’re always willing to listen to your thoughts and ideas about making Sesser a better place to live work and play. You can come by city hall and visit in person, call 625-3611, 625-5322, or 625-5788 or email nedmitchell@verizon.net or www.sesser.org we’ll be glad to hear from you. We won’t always agree, but your comments are welcome!
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