Mayor's Row..by Ned Mitchell

            Did the Illinois court system goof up or what when they cut loose convicted murderer Gregory Bowman?  Let me refresh your memory.  Bowman was convicted in 1973 of abducting a 15 year old girl on a Danville, Illinois sidewalk.  He was given a 30 year prison sentence.  After serving only 4 years of the 30 year term Bowman confesses to murdering two young girls in the Belleville area.  A few days later he changes his mind and recants his confession.  Bowman is found guilty of the two murders and is sentenced to life in prison without parole.

            A St. Louis newspaper makes a claim that Bowman was tricked into confessing the two murders.  Never mind the fact that he was convicted of both crimes.  An Associate Circuit Judge in St. Clair County orders a new trial for Bowman and he is eventually released on $150,000.00 bail.  He had spent 29 years in jail and after all of that a mere $15,000.00 and he was out on bond.  Bowman was out on bail just a day or two before he was again arrested this time for a St. Louis murder committed in 1979.  Thanks to some good old fashioned detective work and the modern miracle of DNA testing, Bowman is behind bars where he definitely belongs.  Here is a guy who has abducted two girls at knifepoint, confessed to murdering two other girls and is now accused of another murder.

            Are we going so far to protect the rights of the accused that we are ignoring or outright denying the rights of the victims and their families?  Here is a classic example of what is wrong with our judicial system.  A man has a criminal history going back to 1972 and all of a sudden he is cut loose only to be charged with yet another murder.   He is also being investigated now to see if there is any connection to other unsolved murders in the St. Louis area.

            Locally we are reading about repeat offenders who continue to drive drunk and kill people.  I am here to tell you that the folks who pay the bills in this county and this country are getting sick and tired of the way we slap criminals on the wrist through our court system in the name of fairness.  There is nothing just about the Bowman case and others we have in Franklin County.  Justice is being denied to citizens and hopefully we will see our court system get a little tougher on repeat offenders.  It is the least we can do to protect the innocent folks who work hard every day to pay their taxes and help support this great country. The court of public opinion is in session, lets' hope those who are in positions of authority are listening to that jury!

            Word on the street has it that Franklin County has lost a major employer to our neighbors to the south, Williamson County.  While I know who this employer is I am sworn to secrecy for now but I am told this new employer to our area will be building a 50,000 square foot building in Marion to operate out of and employ several hundred people.  A full court press was put into play to try and land this business in our county but for some reason we finished second place.  Eventually we will know what happened and perhaps we can work on correcting what ever problem we had.  One thing I tried to do in my brief stint in the State Senate was to give areas of high unemployment and poverty first chance to land new businesses.  My thinking was that if we would give the incentives to those areas first they would eventually catch up with the Marions and Mt. Vernons of the world.  Otherwise we will never be able to compete.  Businesses go where they can get the best deal and if we keep getting dealt out of these opportunities we will continue to remain behind the rest of the world.

            There is a bit of good news in our area though and that was last week's announcement of a new coal mine being constructed east of Benton and near Akin.  These will be good paying jobs and will be a welcome relief for that industry.  Hopefully other mines will follow and we can start getting some of our work force back.

            Will the Illinois lottery sell?   My guess is the votes can be had if the proposal gets called for a vote.  Hear me out on this one.  While many Senators and Representatives publicly say they are opposed to the sale of the lottery I feel like the votes are there if need be.  I don't think it is good public policy however to think we can gamble our way out of debt.  I also don't think it is a wise choice to sell a revenue producing asset such as the lottery or the toll road system.  We would be trading a quick fix of cash but once that was spent, where would we get the money to replace that revenue stream.

            Selling the Illinois lottery is popular in some circles and not so popular in others.  Anytime a hot potato issue like this comes up for a vote those proposing it talk to a certain amount of Senators or Representatives just to see where the votes are going to come from.  We see it happen all of the time.  Those who are elected in safe seats as they are known will vote for the bill while those who are in marginal districts and might not withstand a tough challenge will be allowed to vote against the bill.  Notice I said allowed to vote.  Rest assured the votes are counted well ahead of time and if not enough votes are there the cash starts flowing into the districts of the legislators who are not in support of the sale.  They get all kinds of projects funded and eventually enough is piled on the table and the vote is cast.  It's a great way to do business, believe me!

            Have you heard the City of Sesser is now in the restaurant business?  If you have, you heard correctly as we have kind of, sort of taken over the operation of the historic Opera House Café.  Mike Sulser is still smoking the ribs, chickens, shoulders, and brisket and Susan Boyd is still managing the business.  All the employees are the same.  We are now open 7 days a week from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm with breakfast served anytime.

            I know some folks question our wisdom or lack thereof for attempting to do this but as you know we are known in Sesser to tackle about any venture that comes along that will help Sesser.  The City Council and I agree that we need a restaurant in the Opera House Complex.  There is simply no way the Opera House will ever keep the doors open without the food service next door.  We are in the process of setting up an independent board to run the operation that will be made up of Aldermen and other non elected residents of Sesser.  The City Council made the decision to keep the restaurant open and to treat it as a public service.  We wanted to keep the employees already there in a job and we wanted to attract folks from outside the area to come to Sesser and visit the Opera House.  If you get bored and want to come by and visit for a spell, I and other board members can usually be found holding court at 3:00 pm each afternoon. We would be glad to visit with you and answer any questions you might have.  We have even been known to offer up lots of advice on any subject at hand.

            Sesser resident Kay Styve is in a St. Louis hospital about to undergo surgery.  Dentist Art Basso is facing some surgery in the near future and Ruth Ann King is still recuperating from her surgery.  A card, phone call, prayer, or personal visit would be welcomed by these folks and their families.

            If you need us give us a call at 625-3611 or 625-5322 or write to us at nedmitchell@verizon.net or www.sesser.org or P. O. Box 517 Sesser, Illinois 62884.  Of course you can always do the old fashioned thing and drop in for a visit in person!  Either way we will be happy to hear from you and we are always willing to listen!