Mayor’s Row………by Ned Mitchell

It has been another sad week for Sesser residents as we mourn the loss of another of our citizens. Wendy Brown was tragically killed in an automobile accident last week on her way home from work. I have known Wendy since she was born, not as a close friend, but as one who would casually see her about town. I have seen her in plays and performances at school but I came to know her much better a few years ago. We sponsored a contest at Sesser-Valier High School for a student to design a logo for our 100th year celebration here in Sesser. Wendy created the winning design and we used that on our commemorative coin and other official documents. Wendy became a part of our history. I spoke with Wendy at the Opera House Café a few days before her untimely death and she was thrilled that she had been accepted into the Registered Nurse program at Rend Lake College. She was well on her way to becoming a successful and caring nurse and she would not have it any other way. It is difficult for me to understand why some like Wendy are taken from us, yet I know that Wendy’s heart was in the right place. She cared about her friends, she cared about Sesser, she loved her family, she lived her life as an example to the rest of us and she will be missed.

In reading a newspaper article last week I noticed a story by a writer from Murphysboro who has put a lot of work into the Ameren CIPS rate debacle. The writer, John Carvell, has figured the rates for electric costs to consumers for the next four years and compared that with the proposed rebate that consumers will see if and when that great reformer/unreformer Governor of ours signs the legislation. In calling the rate reduction plan all smoke and mirrors, Carvell explains that in the next four years 1.2 million Ameren CIPS customers will get back $488 million dollars in rebates. According to Carvell that will average out to be $407 per user or about $102 per year. Those who use more electricity will get a larger rebate than those who use less energy. Using his own household as an example Carvell explains that his annual electric bill was $1,738.88 in 2006. Using the proposed Ameren CIPS new rate his bill will increase by $1,259.58 or an increase of 72.44 per cent. This means that Carvell will pay Ameren CIPS an extra $5,039.92 over the next four years while getting back a rebate of $407.00.

I have said all along that when the smoke clears and we wade through all of the double talk coming out of Springfield, folks are not going to be happy with this bill of goods. It is always suspect to me that when legislation comes up about any given subject we notice lobbyists from all over begin throwing money at politicians and that is exactly what happened in this case. Despite all of the clamoring and political posturing we never did see a vote on true rate freezes or reductions. What we did see was a vote on compromise legislation that made the utility companies happy and for the most part consumers too, until they do like Carvell did and figure out they have been sold a bill of goods. My original comments were that folks will not be happy when they figure out they have been had once again and I’ll stick with that thought for now. It will be interesting to see how this one pans out in the very near future.

While we are on the subject of Springfield I also thought it was interesting that our elected officials not only got a recent 9.6 percent pay hike but now they are in line to receive an additional pay bump of another 3.5 percent. This will mean they have voted themselves not one but two pay raises in the past week. Illinois lawmakers are already among the highest paid in the nation. They will see their base pay go from $57,619.00 dollars to $65,353.00. All but a few of them though also receive stipends or extra cash for committee assignments so most of them will make at least $72,000.00 per year. The Governor himself will get a $20,000.00 per year pay raise which as they say down here “ain’t too shabby”.

Senate President Emil Jones has proclaimed that a lot of these legislators have to get by on $72,000.00 as their only means of income. Actually most of us have to get by on our means of income so I doubt that most folks will have too much sympathy for someone who has to “get by” on $72,000.00 per year. This especially holds true in a year like this when the democrats who run everything in Springfield have literally fought each other to the death on a wide range of issues that are important to all of us in this state. Lawmakers have collected more than $1 million dollars in expense cash for the over time session and it is not over yet. One has to wonder if any of these folks are concerned about facing the voters in February.

Will the reformer/unreformer Governor appear in the Du Quoin State Fair Twilight Parade next Friday night or will he skip it as he did in Springfield? He is hard guy to figure out and he will not be real popular among Du Quoin folks who have just recently figured out they will once again be denied $104 million dollars for a new school. Du Quoin has been promised for 5 years now state help in building a new school but when the new budget was approved it soon became clear that not only Du Quoin but also 23 other schools had a technicality standing in the way of their construction. Other area schools that were shortchanged are Carterville, Benton, and Johnston City. It is doubtful if any of these folks are going to be lining the parade route to cheer for the reformer/unreformer. My guess is that the Governor will make limited appearances at the Du Quoin State Fair due to his vast unpopularity down here. I have witnessed the past two years the booing of the Governor when his name has been announced at the grand stand and that was before this latest legislative session. My thinking is the reformer/unreformer will be hard to find in Du Quoin and if you do see him there will be a huge security detail between him the common folks. I doubt there will be a lot of glad handing!

We had to read all about in the Chicago Tribune, but they did break the story first instead of the local media. I’m talking about a story down here that had to be written about up there to get the word out as our own Southern Illinois media missed this one for some reason or another. The story involves SIU President Glenn Poshard and his refusal to release public records concerning contracts at SIU. A local weekly newspaper, the Anna Gazette filed a freedom of information request to see Poshard’s employment contract as well as a few others at the university. Poshard refused saying the documents were confidential. Hogwash, Glenn, this is public money being spent at a tax supported institution. A local kangaroo court agreed with Poshard but when the matter got to the Appellate Court it was dead on arrival as it should have been. The law in Illinois says “The disclosure of information that bears on the public duties of public employees and officials shall not be considered an invasion of privacy.” If public money is being spent, in my opinion, the public has a right to know all the workings of a contact including perks such as travel, housing allowances, vehicles, pension plans, bonuses and other such items. If you can’t live with that, you don’t need to be working in a public venue, you need to be working in private enterprise where our tax dollars are not on the table, or under it either!

Southern Illinois has a wide range of things to do most weeks and this one was no exception. We attended the Balloon Fest in Centralia on Saturday and then hit the Thresherman’s Festival in Pinckneyville on Sunday afternoon. Christopher had their annual homecoming last weekend and I understand it was a success. This week we have the Du Quoin State Fair opening up. If you are tired of the heat and want to get out to see a live show come on over the historic Sesser Opera House this Thursday and Friday and see the Pyramid Players performance of the play “Bus Stop”. This promises to be a great show as all of their productions are. Tom Herman of Benton will direct this show as well as appear in it. Others performing include Benton’s Jennifer Norman and Sesser’s Darren Hutson. Tickets are available at the door and we encourage you to come out and support the cast and if you have time get there early for a delicious home cooked meal at the Opera House Café.

Linda and Farrell Page recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They had an open house at the First United Methodist Church in Sesser where they are loyal members and then hosted a friends and family dinner upstairs at the Opera House in the Woll banquet room.
Hershel Gunter recently celebrated his 60th birthday with a couple of surprise parties attended by family and friends.
A couple of Sesser-Valier students recently competed in the Wrangler Junior High Finals Rodeo in New Mexico. Stetson Bauman finished 21st out of 947 contestants in Chute Dogging competition. He and Brody Bauman also competed in other events at this national meet. Congratulations to Stetson and Brody as they represented Sesser very well and made the long trip. We are proud of these Sesser-Valier students!

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 by snail mail to P. O. Box 277 in Sesser, Illinois 62884.

 

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