Mayor’s Row……..by Ned Mitchell
Former Governor George Ryan was sentenced this week in federal court and as I write this column the weekend before it is published I have no idea what the sentence will be as I write. I do have a few thoughts on the subject though and since I am writing pre sentence I can be unbiased in my opinions for a change.
Just right off the bat I think George Ryan should get maximum time in the slammer. I am sure some of you agree and then we have those who still don’t think he is guilty of anything. First of all I am not a person who thinks everyone should be put in jail for being convicted of crimes against society. I’m actually much more lenient that you might think. When Martha Stewart was convicted of her crime involving insider trading I spoke up and said she should not go to jail. Martha did what a lot of other people did or would do. That does not excuse her conviction however and she was found guilty anyhow. I thought that putting Martha in the slammer would really not do anyone any good. My thinking was we should fine her about $25 million dollars and give her lots of community service hours where she could work in a library or some other public setting and teach people her considerable skills. We could have also sentenced her to contribute a percentage of her company’s take annually to charity. What Martha did was wrong, but nobody died as a result of it. In the end Martha also owned up to her mistake and apologized for her actions. But then the judge who sentenced Martha did not ring me up and ask for my advice. Too bad, we could have helped a lot of needy people in the future.
There are a couple of things that concern me about the Ryan case. First and foremost we must not forget that 6 children were killed in a crash that was the result of a truck driver buying a driver’s license who was not qualified to drive a truck. This fact was not allowed in the trial since the judge ruled that it might bias the jury against Ryan. So are we to forget those children? George Ryan did not kill those children and that is a fact. He was convicted in part for quashing the investigation into how this particular truck driver obtained a driver’s license. Instead of letting the inspector general do his job and get to the bottom of the scandal, Ryan ordered it to stop. So even though Ryan did not kill these children when attempts were made to find out why and how this truck driver got a license, he put a stop to it. He knew full well where the investigation would end up and who would be involved. It took the federal government about 8 years to nail Ryan’s hide to the wall. Ryan decided that his future in politics was more important than talking about corruption and putting a stop to it.
Secondly Ryan has not one time ever admitted he made mistakes or that he was sorry about what happened to those children. I just have to believe that Ryan is not that heartless of a guy. After all, he is a father and a grandfather so he has to have a heart. All during the trial the Ryan and Big Jim Thompson spin machine tried to manipulate the media and the jury about Ryan and the good side of him. They are still at it and just last week pushed a story about Ryan putting together a picture scrap book for his children. I’ll just bet it contains no mention or pictures of the six dead kids. The father of the dead children, Scott Willis asked to be allowed to speak at Ryan’s sentencing. Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer declined for her own reasons. Willis only asked that he be allowed to speak directly to the court and to Ryan and to confront him about his and his wife’s loss. He said he is in fear that Ryan will get by without acknowledging the tragic accident that claimed the life of his six children. That is a logical concern.
Ryan has not one time admitted doing anything wrong even though 12 people on a jury convicted him of all 18 counts of his indictment. Even though he has never acknowledged the death of six children and has never apologized to the surviving parent, he will still have his day in court. Unfortunately the lives are over for these children. Yes, money was taken, lavish lifestyles were paid for by campaign donor cash, lies were told, but I can live with that and if that alone is considered then I say fine the day lights out of Ryan and sentence him to a lot of community service. The fact is though six children are dead, not at Ryan’s hands, but at the hands of his cronies who collected cash for him. His guilt comes into play when he quashed an investigation to protect himself and for that he needs to be hammered. It is not going to bring back the children who died but it will remind everyone else that when innocent people are killed there is a high price to pay. Ryan knew all of this for years and is still denying guilt and he needs to be punished severely for his actions. I hope Judge Pallmeyer has no sympathy for him.
Green Party candidates have been notified by the State Board of Elections that come Election Day their candidate’s names will be on the official ballot. Governor candidate Rich Whitney promises to make an interesting race this fall and I urge everyone to stay tuned and keep an open mind. Whitney even proclaimed last week that he has never hugged a tree in his life. At least he has a sense of humor it appears. He’ll need one because if it looks as if he is taking votes away from either of the other two candidates look out for a media buy to discredit his candidacy.
I’ve known Whitney for quite some time and in talking to a friend last week recalled his involvement in a rather famous Illinois case. Whitney is an attorney and he represented Dawn Roberts back in 2000 when she was charged with aggravated battery.
Several of us had been invited to a dinner with Governor George Ryan at the Window’s restaurant one evening. I remember that pretty well as the steak was free but that one person at the table could not get their steak cooked to their satisfaction. I remember thinking, hey, its free, so just shut up and eat it. After they sent it back two or three times finely it was prepared to their liking and we continued on with our meal.
Ryan had to appear in Carbondale at a town meeting and after dining with us he got on board his helicopter and flew to Carbondale. Some of the rest of us drove down and got there in time to sit in on the town meeting. Not too long after I got there Ryan recognized a young man with a question. The only problem was it was a young woman with short hair seeking to be recognized. Welcome to Carbondale Governor! Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a young woman wearing a back pack approaching the stage. Both of Ryan’s body guards were facing him. She slipped right past them, pulled a chocolate cream pie from the back pack and smeared it in Ryan’s face. I laughed for weeks! I’m still laughing about it. Here was this innocent looking college student who managed to slip by security, pull out a pie, and cream the Governor. What a waste of a chocolate pie! Anyhow Green Party candidate for Governor Rich Whitney defended the young woman and she entered a guilty plea to misdemeanor battery, was given probation, some community service and ordered to write Ryan a letter of apology. Nobody was killed, but she admitted her guilt and apologized. Some things about my life in politics I will never forget and this was one of those Kodak moments with memories for a lifetime!
Shirley Zumberac is home from the hospital after having surgery and we extend our best wishes to Shirley. She will need our best wishes as Tick is taking care of her and I’m not real sure about how good of a cook he is!
Condolences to the family of Mary Ellen Clark who passed away last week. Mary Ellen was a regular of the coffee shop, served as an election judge, was a wife, mother and grandmother. She was always pretty quiet but never had a bad word to say about anyone. We’ll miss her on Main Street at the Opera House.
If you need us give us a call at 625-5322 or 625-3611.
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