Mayor’s Row………by Ned Mitchell
One of the really good things a writer of a newspaper column like this can do is to express an opinion about any subject that the publisher of this paper will allow. I am thankful for the opportunity to write this column on a weekly basis and while it is time consuming to do it is worth it to me. I have the chance to talk about any subject that comes to mind and you the reader have the option to read or put it in the bottom of the bird cage.
It is sort of funny though that when I pick on the reformer/unreformer governor I get a lot of feedback mostly I suspect from republicans. When I take a shot at President Bush or former Governor George Ryan I get a whole different group in agreement with my comments. Most of them I feel must be democrats. The whole idea here is not to really promote anything other than an opinion and to try and open up a dialog or cause readers to stop and think about what we as elected officials are doing not only to the present generation of taxpayers but also to the future generation. I have no agenda other than to create room for thought and discussion and to tell it like it is from my point of view. Some readers agree, some disagree but all should have no doubt in their mind about where I stand on any subject that is written about. If I make my points clear I have achieved my goal. If you agree or disagree and do something about it or do nothing about it is out of my control. I do appreciate all the personal comments, emails, and phone calls from all over the United States from readers and that makes the time to write and express my opinions worth it.
That being said lets pick on some republicans today! A few columns back I wrote about the democrat party eating their young. This observation was brought about by the fact that our fearless democratic state party chairman and Speaker of the House Mike Madigan decided that he would get involved with the State Treasurer’s primary election. Madigan backed Knox County State’s Attorney Paul Mangieri over Chicago banker Alexander Giannoulias. Of course Madigan should have the option to be for the candidate of his choice just like you or me. Where I fall out with Madigan is that he was spending Illinois Democratic Party money to work against a fellow democrat, Giannoulias. Senator Barack Obama publicly endorsed Giannoulias and so did I. I simply felt a banker would be better suited for Treasurer versus a State’s Attorney. On top of that it really ticked me off about Madigan spending other people’s money to work against another democrat. I had been there and had that happen to me so I had a score to settle on this one too. Not only did Madigan use our money as democrats to fund his guy’s campaign he absolutely was on a search and destroy mission. All sorts of dirty laundry suddenly starts getting leaked to the press concerning Giannoulias. Political garbage at best and gossip at worst and then the muckraking begins. Madigan and his boys were on a mission to use democrat party money to destroy Giannoulias. The only problem with this is that Giannoulias creamed the other guy and now Madigan as leader of the democratic party in Illinois has to try and spin that fiasco into a way to get the democrat elected this call. Not only that he took on Senator Obama and lost and that can’t be good down the road. It is not often that we get to see Madigan on the losing end of a race. Actually he also lost a House race in Springfield this time so it was a double whammy for the Speaker.
Oh, lets get back to bashing the republicans. I said all that about the democrats to make my point here on the republicans. In the Senate is Adeline Geo Karis, an elderly stateswoman for decades in Springfield. I had the pleasure of serving with Geo as she is affectionately called. She could easily pass for mine and your grandmother. She is kind, respectful of others, brilliant, a true public servant. The only problem with Geo was that she was a republican. And I mean she was republican to the core. It made no difference what legislation came up, good or bad, Geo was in line with the republicans and their way of thinking. That is the way it should be. After all she was elected as a republican from a republican district. She did it as well as anyone in Springfield.
Well, well, well, Geo is way up in years and some of the republican big wigs got to thinking she might be vulnerable this fall to a well financed young democrat opponent. Geo does not get around well at all, she is in a wheel chair much of the time and she just can’t get out like she used to. She is still brilliant though and very much a republican. So here come the republicans in the Senate and finance a younger candidate to take out the older Senator that has been so loyal to their cause for decades. After a bitter primary battle against a senior citizen incumbent Senator the republican party had their way and sent Geo home packing. A lot of thanks for years of dedication all in the name of trying to keep a Senate seat away from the democrats. The moral of this story is that if democrats eat their young republicans eat their senior citizens. These are two prime examples of what is wrong with Springfield and both political parties. I’ll be watching this fall but I would think the democrats have a better chance of winning this Senate seat now than republicans have What would be wrong with letting the voters decide the winner without party big wigs flaunting their cash to destroy another person’s political career? Nothing, my friend would be wrong with that!
A bee hive of activity is taking place at the historic Sesser Opera House and will culminate this week end with the Sesser-Valier Thespian’s performance of the musical “Oklahoma”. Director Bethany Sink has worked long hours with her students and this promises to be one of the best musicals ever performed by Sesser Valier students. The show will feature a live orchestra. In case you did not know this theater was built for such performances in 1914 as a means of entertaining town folks. It is great to see that our students are bringing this type of entertainment to us. Show time is 7:00 pm on Friday and Saturday and tickets are available at the door.
There is some good news in Sesser concerning the Little League baseball program. At this Thursday night’s meeting I will ask the Board of Alderman to approve the purchase of 19.4 acres on the east side of town from Zeigler Coal Company to create a new park for kids. This has been a concept and dream by parents of Little League players for years now and hopefully this will all come to pass. We have worked with the Little League VOLUNTEERS on this dream and now the time to take action is here. Purchasing the land is the first step and once that is done it will clear the way for development of the land into ball diamonds and other recreational opportunities in the future. First and foremost will be the ball diamonds. I believe we have about 270 youngsters from Sesser and Valier and surrounding area who participate in this great American tradition. We researched 4 possible locations and based our final decision on the city engineer’s opinion that the property proposed was the best suited location for the dollar. Some of us have almost given up on this idea a few times but we were able to encourage each other to the point that finally we are going to see something positive happen. Special thanks to all the VOLUNTEERS of the Little League who never gave up on a dream. Without their faith and hard work this would never have happened.
If you need us give us a call at 625-3611 or 625-5322. Write to us at P. O. Box 277, Sesser, Illinois. Pay us a personal visit anywhere you see us in Sesser or out and about in the county or email to nedmitchell@verizon.net or www.sesser.org. Your opinions are invited on any subject you deem necessary!
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