Mayor’s Row……..by Ned Mitchell

            Can’t anyone get along anymore?  This could very well be the title of this column today.  Of course we see in the news every day those in foreign countries who are in out and out war.  We are deeply involved as a  country in Iraq and other hot spots of the world.  Whether you agree or disagree with the war in Iraq and our involvement there, we as Americans should all agree that the men and women who are wearing the uniform of the United States of America are the very people who protect our freedoms at home.  Many have died and some think they have died in vain while others think they died protecting our freedom.  The saying that freedom is not free comes to mind.  Every day men and women in uniform put their lives on the line, some die in battle, some live to tell their grandchildren about war.  Every one of them should be honored by those of us here.  We so often take this protection for granted.

            This column is not about international battle it is about battle right here amongst us.  On the state level we have the democratic party of Illinois in control of all three branches of government.  Democrats have the governor’s office, Speaker of the House, and President of the Senate.  One would think these three ego maniacs could get along and do the people’s business.  After all we elected them to do just that.  It turns out the reformer/unreformer has decided that he wants to offer up more free medical care.  Now who in their right mind could be against that?  I’m not; I think it is a noble cause.  Never mind the fact that we already have as much or more free medical care than any other state in the union.  Never mind the fact that it is nearly impossible for a poor person, even children to get free medical care in Southern Illinois due to the fact that the State of Illinois is so far behind in paying providers that they will no longer accept new patients.  I have two main problems with this proposal.  One; lets’ pay our past due bills first before we expand a program that we don’t have the money to pay for.  Second; lets’ make it a condition of free medical care or free anything for that matter, you have to be a legal resident of the United States to be eligible.  When we quit the give away programs for illegal aliens we will have the money to take care of our own citizens.  The only thing the main three bigwigs and their cohorts have accomplished this year is to take not one, but two pay raises for themselves.  Now there is a real incentive for all of us to get out and vote next February.  A message needs to be sent to these bastions of good government.

            That being said lets’ narrow that “not getting along theory” down to the local level where there are more fights going on that one can shake a stick at.

            About three months ago I received a call from an official of the Illinois Municipal League asking if I would be interested in addressing one of the sessions of the 94^th annual conference in Chicago.  My ego got the best of me and I eagerly jumped on board.  As the time to speak drew nearer I became more unsure.  Why me, I asked myself.  I even tried to think up excuses to avoid going.  As I boarded the plane in Marion at 6:00 am on Friday bound for Chicago I was still wondering if I should go.  Once I arrived at the Hilton Towers hotel and began to talk with fellow mayors from all over Illinois I started to get comfortable.  My speech went flawlessly and a lot of people who had never heard of Sesser now new exactly where we were located.  I met many new friends and garnered some new ideas about city government.

            The recent problems at SIUC and its’ President Glenn Poshard hit me right between the eyes in Chicago.  While walking through the exhibit section of the conference I spoke with a gentleman who was there representing a university up north.  He recognized Sesser on my name tag and asked if it was near Carbondale.  I replied that yes it was and he told me that he was a graduate of SIUC and that he had came back north to get his Master’s Degree at a Chicago.  His next words stopped me in my tracks.  He said “that Poshard guy is an embarrassment to all of us who have graduated from SIUC.”  Mayor Daley had just finished speaking to the group and here was this total stranger bringing up the dreaded Poshard subject.  Now the faculty at SIUE has voted overwhelmingly to demand that Poshard resign.  This story is not going to go away.

            Refining this column even more we focus on the local community colleges and their boards.  At John A. Logan College the Board of Trustees there has allowed the college president to retire and draw his full pension.  Hey that is great; he earned a pension and is entitled to it.  Now we know that not only is President Bob Mees drawing his pension the board has hired him back under a contractual agreement to do what?  To be President of the college so he can now draw his pension plus get paid to do his old job.

            At Rend Lake College an investigation has taken place on a federal level with Homeland Security and FBI officials interviewing employees about alleged wrongdoings at that school.  Allegations of forged documents and physical attacks by administrators on employees came to surface in an unsigned letter to local media a few weeks ago.

            What has the Board of Trustees at Rend Lake College done?  To begin with they started to pull up the corner of that proverbial rug, drag out the broom, and attempt to sweep this mess under that rug.  Once they discovered the cat was out of the bag and not wanting to go back in they decided to take some bold steps to correct the wrong doings.  Now they have voted to punish the President’s wife, Pat Mitchell Kern, by taking her off the college payroll and putting her on the payroll of the college foundation.  The Vice President who is being investigated by the feds, Salah Shakir has had his workload cut in half.  He was Vice President of Information Technologies and Student Services.  Now he is Vice President of Information Technologies and the board is going to hire another Vice President to handle Student Services.

            Now there is some real punishment being handed down by both of these college boards.  Logan cuts a real sweetheart deal for one of its’ own and Rend Lake simply moves the presidents wife from one payroll to another and cuts one of the Vice President’s duties in half and keeps his pay the same.  SIU, Rend Lake, and Logan are all mired in controversy and it appears to me that their respective boards have left their common sense, if they have any, at home when they made their decisions.  Who is doing the people’s business?  We all need to ask ourselves that question the next time we go vote!

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