Mayor’s Row……by Ned Mitchell
One thing about most all Mayors is that we notice what other communities are doing just in case we are missing something. I’ve been observing other communities for 30 years now and watching what they are doing just in case we might be missing something. Our towing ordinance, you know the one where if you get caught driving with no insurance we tow your car from the scene and you pay us $100 to get the vehicle back. This ordinance was brought on by the good folks in the judicial system in the local courthouse and their refusal to do their jobs. You see everyone must have at least liability insurance on any vehicle they drive in Illinois. If you get caught without insurance, the fine is supposed to be $500 dollars, unless you happen to live in Franklin County, the land of second, third, fourth, & fifth chances, and your ticket was dismissed if you brought in proof of insurance on your court date. No big deal if you did not have insurance when the ticket was written, as long as you bought insurance before going to court. We even had one violator tell us that she saved $4,800 in four years by not having insurance and took it a step farther by saying, all I have to do is buy insurance for 30 days and go to court and my ticket will be dismissed. I was talking to a police sergeant in a northern Illinois city and he was telling me about their towing ordinance. He sent me a copy of their ordinance and that is how we adopted ours. Our ordinance has been passed around to other cities in our area and has now been passed in several towns.
That brings be around to noticing good things happening in Benton, our county seat. What spurred my thoughts behind the lawn mower yesterday though was the recent news of the sale of the historic Wood Building on the Benton Public Square. I have been noticing a lot of activity on the square for a year or two now with the renovation of many of the buildings. Special events such as car shows offer casual entertainment. Concerts in the new Billy Grammar Park are taking hold. Antique stores that offer just about everything are open and appear to be doing well. Benton has a great new library in a modern building. The Benton Park District is one of the best in Southern Illinois and is constantly approving their facilities. Huge charitable donations by the Bauer family show that citizens are improving their own lot in life. Benton’s city government appears to be working well as far as I can tell.
Being a historical kind of guy I have long followed the workings of Benton resident Bob Rea and his group of people who are trying to preserve our history. They are to be admired for projects such as the car museum on North Main Street, the old county jail, cemeteries and just about everything they can that will offer future generations a glimpse at our past. Wouldn’t it be just awful if 100 years from now those folks would see that we operated our of pole barns? The Wood Building has long been a huge eyesore on the Public Square and was a huge challenge to the City of Benton. When the two men from Mt. Vernon bought the structure I breathed a sigh of relief and I am certain Benton officials did the same. We have all grown up knowing the Wood Building. It was our sky scraper! I used to work in that building and made many a trip up and down the elevator with Tom or Felix at the controls. I always assumed that the way the building was constructed, it would last forever. Eventually the costs of keeping up the building consumed the building and it was shuttered. I well remember dining at Engert’s Café in the building with Lela serving the meals and Pearl behind the register. We should all be elated that someone has stepped up to the plate and is going to invest millions of dollars in saving this old landmark. Most importantly though I am thankful for men like Felix Owens who did everything that needed to be done at the Wood Building while he was there. Felix did not throw anything away that was part of that old building. He stored it in the basement and preserved history. The new owners pay tribute to Felix every time they find an item that will be used in the restoration. I see a lot of good things happening in our county seat and that is a welcome sight. Now if we could just get the differences between West City and Benton resolved, that would be the best thing that could happen to them and to us. Lets hope they can get together and resolve their issues in the very near future. We in Sesser are depending on you guys!
Last week’s news of another 140 workers who lost their jobs at an area coal mine continues to bring our job crisis to the forefront. You know President Bush is doing a lousy job of running this country in my opinion and he is not getting much help from my fellow democrats who run Illinois. I heard a man on talk radio recently who was growing tired of the famous President Regan trickle down theory. President Regan wrapped up in the American flag and offered America’s richest citizens unbelievable tax breaks and incentives and had the nerve to say if they had more, some of it would trickle down to those who had less and everyone would benefit. This guy said he was tired of being trickled on. His theory was quite funny but also true. He theorized that instead of giving more to the rich give it to the poor. He claimed the rich would not spend the money, that’s how they became rich, by not spending. He said he was poor so if he were given extra money he would immediately spend it. He even promised to buy things he did not need just to impress folks he did not like.
A friend of mine who was driving along Route 13 west of Marion Saturday noticed a large gathering of Lincoln Town Cars and an outdoor ceremony. He commented there were so many black Town Cars he was sure it was a republican picnic of some sort but later found out it was the grand opening of the Laborer’s International Headquarters. The reformer/unreformer Governor was there along with other politicians. It was strange though that the Franklin County democrats had their annual Bocce Ball tournament in Benton and the reformer/unreformer forgot to drop by. Of course how could he drop in here? Someone might ask him about the $50 million in Sparta, the $55 million dollar highway in Marion, the $3 million dollar Little League field in Marion, the $8 million dollar interchange in Mt. Vernon, or a whole host of other projects outside Franklin County. We democrats are just slow learners in Franklin County. I’ll lay it out pure and simple though, we carried the reformer/unreformer by huge margins not only in the primary election but also the general. Williamson County residents defeated him both times. Now compare how this guy has been so generous to that county and how poorly he has treated this county. One cannot argue the reformer/unrefomer does not believe in the theory that the spoils go to the victor, just look at all his cronies who have contributed to his campaign and see what they got in return. Something is amiss in Franklin County and we should all bring that to his attention if he ever does pay us a visit.
Amanda Sheridan will be performing a live concert at the historic Sesser Opera House this Saturday night. If you have not heard of Amanda, someday you will. She is a 14 year old country music singer from Mt. Vernon and is a very talented young lady. She and her band the Ton of Fun Boys will perform from 7:00 to 9:00 pm and a special guest appearance by Joe Arview will be featured. Amanda will feature old country music including tunes of Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and other performers of that era. This promises to be a great concert. Tickets are $5.00 for adults, $4.00 for seniors and students and are available at the door. We hope to see you there!
If you need us, give us a call at 625-3611 or 625-5322 or write to nedmitchell@verizon.net or www.sesser.org or P. O. Box 517, Sesser, Illinois 62884.
| |
|
