Mayor's Row...by Ned Mitchell
You really have to love these guys, gals to I suppose, who run things in Springfield. While filling up three vehicle gas tanks on Saturday evening spending over $137.00 I got to thinking about a trip I made to Springfield last week. I spent the day in Springfield and visited the state capitol for a while. I'm always out searching for grant money for Sesser and a trip to the big city never hurts ones chances of getting funds released for vital projects.
Visiting our own Senator Gary Forby on the senate floor found him hard at work studying the issues that were coming up for a vote that day. Talk was in the air on a compromise with the utility companies on the rate issue but nothing was to happen that day or the next either for that matter. Gambling boats were the talk of the town as various northern Illinois cities vie for proposed new casinos. I commented to Senator Forby that I certainly did not envy any of those who had to cast votes on that particular day, or any other I suppose. There are many difficult decisions to be made and often they have to be made in a split second. Someone is always trying to slip something in on a bill and it is hard to keep up with all of the changes.
The one thing the senate did do last week though that in my opinion was poorly timed was to increase their salary by almost 10 percent. I am also told the pay increase will be retroactive but I have not had the time to verify that information. We have witnessed a virtual deadlock among the democrats who control everything in Springfield. One would think these guys could get together long enough and get on the same page long enough to pass some meaningful legislation that would benefit those of us who live in Illinois.
The compromise that I heard about concerning electricity rates would call for customers to see their bills go up by 20 percent this year and another 5 percent next year. The difference between that and what we are paying now would be rebated back to the consumer. This would give some immediate relief and the rebates would help a lot of people. About the time I got all excited about this compromise and thought that it would surely pass last week I realized that it was not even going to get called for a vote. I know that Senator Forby and Representative Bradley worked tirelessly to get some sort of agreement hammered out but thus far that has not happened. Surely the power companies don't want to have legislation passed that would freeze the rates and surely the legislators don't want to be in court for the next five years defending their laws. It appears to me that both sides would benefit from some type of compromise that we could all live with. We'll see on that one!
That brings me to the one big bill that did pass and that was the one dealing with elected official's salaries. This could not have come at a worse time, especially for legislators who are up for re election next year. As I have said before I have no problem with elected officials getting pay raises. I do have a problem with how they go about getting it done. In the first place the base salary for a state legislator only involves the basic freshman legislator. Most legislators after a year or two in office are given committee posts that pay extra money. Some of these legislators make several thousand dollars more than their base salary by having lucrative committee assignments. That is another one of those things that we don't hear about from anyone in Springfield. So before you start feeling sorry for someone only making about $57,000 per year, think again, many of them have thousands of dollars more added to their paycheck for committee work.
The problem with this pay raise legislation though was it was wisely tied to other legislation involving education funding. Talk about being between the proverbial rock and a hard place, legislators either could vote no and that would be a vote against education funding or they could vote yes and look like they were being greedy. Senator Forby voted for the legislation and then added that he would donate his raise to charity. Whether or not elected officials have earned a pay raise is up to me and you to decide. It would make that decision a lot easier if legislators had actually done something up to this point to earn the extra money. Perhaps it would have been better to tie the pay raise to the electricity problem. Once that problem is solved to the consumer's benefit then the pay raise kicks in.
At the very least now republicans will take a seat at the table when decisions on the budget are being made. Democrats had an opportunity to pass a budget by midnight on May 31st that would have cut the republicans out of the picture but failed to do so. It was a huge display of egos put forth by the democrats as Speaker of the House Mike Madigan went his own direction, Senate President Emil Jones went his, and I'm not sure what the reformer/unreformer governor was doing other than hiding from the press. It will be interesting to see how this all pans out but so far it looks like a tough month in June for legislators as they are scheduled to work three days per week. Of course they will be paid a daily allowance while in Springfield so already we know the taxpayers are going to have to cough up extra money for the month of June.
Shifting back to the Sesser scene, now is a great time to make plans to attend the Sesser Homecoming or annual Rend Lake Days. This is one of the oldest celebrations in southern Illinois and has been going on for 52 years at least. This year the event will be June 13, 14, 15, & 16. Free grandstand entertainment this year will feature local singer Brittany Clarke on the 13th at 7:30 pm; popular rock and roll band Four on the Floor will perform on the 14th; Nashville star Ronnie McDowell will take the stage on the 15th at 7:30 pm and the finale on Saturday night will feature country music star T. Graham Brown at 8:00 pm. All of this entertainment is free. Friday evening, the 15th will feature a horse pull beginning at 5:00 pm as teams vie for prize money in the Robert Lappin Memorial Horse Pulling contest.
Saturday will be a full day of events starting with an antique tractor pull at 9:00 am followed by antique car show registration beginning at 9:30 am. The afternoon rounds off with a huge parade down Sesser's Main Street. Of course the full menu of our own hickory smoked bar b que and roasted corn of the cob will be featured in the concession stand. There will also be a full compliment of carnival foods available. Prince, Princess, and Queen candidates will be selling raffle tickets for a trip to Hawaii to raise funds to pay for the events that will be taking place. We encourage you to donate a little money to this worthy cause. The Homecoming gives Sesser the opportunity to put our best foot forward and show off our little town and we enjoy meeting new folks as well as visiting with those who come home each year for this event. We hope to see you there!
Questions continue to come in concerning the attempt to attract famous television star Oprah to Sesser. We have only had one contact with Oprah's production company but we have not given up. Presently we are working on a new video to send to Oprah that shows what Sesser is all about. All of this is being done to promote not only Sesser and our historic Opera House, but to also call attention to author Gary Moore's book "Playing With the Enemy".
The movie "Playing With the Enemy" is schedule for filming late this summer and much to our disappointment the film will be shot in Louisiana and not in Illinois. For the most part our state film office might as well not even be in existence as they failed time and again to even return phone calls to a well know Hollywood movie producer and director. Now, much of Sesser's Main Street and the Moore home place will be constructed on site in Louisiana and the movie will be made there. We did everything possible on our end and Gary Moore tried from up north and a few others pitched in but to no avail. Illinois and Southern Illinois in particular missed out on millions of dollars that would have been spent to make this movie. You just have to wonder what folks in the Illinois film office were "thinking" about when they muffed this deal.
Final numbers are being tallied concerning ticket sales for the Opera House Company theater troupe's first show "Pirates of Penzanze". The show was viewed by almost 800 people from a wide area and did turn a small profit. Plans are already underway for their next show which will take place sometime in October. We will keep you posted as to when and where that event will take place.
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 277, Sesser, Illinois 62884. You can always come by for a visit either at city hall or the famous Opera House Café where we can be found throughout the day. We are always willing to listen to your concerns and help where we can. We appreciate your suggestions as we work together to make Sesser an even better place to live!
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