Mayor’s Row……by Ned Mitchell

As the fog is lifting on the recently passed budget here in Illinois we are beginning to see two classes of citizens. We have the losers and the big losers, there are no winners. I read a lot of newspapers everyday and listen to a lot of talk radio and I have yet to hear anyone say the legislature has done a good job in the handling of this mess. Governor Quinn is making some very unpopular decisions and those decisions have already gotten him a viable opponent in the upcoming primary election.

Yes, folks, it is election time here in Illinois once again and candidates are jockeying for position. State Representative Art Turner just this week announced his candidacy for Lt. Governor becoming the first to do so. Others are mulling over decisions to run for Comptroller, United States Senator and Treasurer as all of those offices will be vacated by the incumbents who are attempting to move up the political ladder.

Even with all of the cuts Governor Quinn is making there is still over $3 billion dollars in bills left over from last year that have not been paid. What we did in Illinois was borrow money to pay the everyday bills. It is akin to me and you borrowing money to pay our monthly bills that will get us by this month but next month we have no money to pay the bills plus we have to pay back the loan with interest. That would not make sense at any of our households and it does not make sense for state government to operate that way either.

I have been trying to find information about not only the budget legislation but also the stimulus package passed by Congress and signed by the President. It is disheartening to read that of the 50 states Illinois is the leader when it comes to making information difficult to find. At least we are first in something!

It is merely a guess on my part but I did notice $103 million dollars for highway work on Illinois Route 13 from Walton Way to Division Street. The line item does not specify exactly what this is but I suspect that it is the widening of Route 13 from 4 lanes of traffic to 6 lanes of traffic from the western edge of Marion to Carterville.

I have long been an opponent of this project simply because in my opinion it is a huge waste of resources. I have spent a considerable amount of time traveling that route and basically the theory is to get travelers from Marion to Carbondale and back quicker than what they can make the trip now. I have never, and yes I said never, been stalled in traffic on that route. There is no interstate traffic going from point A to point B on this route.

On top of all of that when I first wrote about this waste of money we were at that time only going to waste $55 million dollars and now it has grown to $103 million dollars. How do we justify this expenditure when we are whacking the rest of the state budget with a huge ax? That would be a good question to ask those we elect!

One hidden idea to help bail us out of the budget mess we are in is the expansion of gambling here in Illinois. Legislators have for years tried to get up the nerve to expand gambling but have seen it fail year after year. This year they have craftily expanded gambling to where each qualified business in Illinois would be allowed to have up to 5 video machines; or poker machines as they are commonly known.

This form of gambling is known as the “crack cocaine” of gambling and is highly addictive. I should know as I confess to having played these money grabbers years ago. They are addictive and you cannot win so it is not like I am writing about something I have not had experience with.

The built in escape for legislators however is written in the bill that cities and counties can opt out of this system and can actually outlaw this form of gambling in their respective areas. This is a classic example of passing the buck. When legislators get hemmed up in the corner on expanding gambling they can merely tell those concerned to take it up with your local officials, they can outlaw what we just did.

I have two trains of thought on this subject. First and foremost I don’t think that gambling is a good way to fund government services. We were out and out lied to when the lottery was put into place to pay for education and we all know how that turned out. I also think that government simply cannot do everything for us so I am not sure government intervention on gambling is a good thing. I mean, after all we as individuals should be able to make our own decisions as to if we will gamble or not.

If this all comes about though I do feel like in Sesser we will put this issue to a vote and have our citizens decide with the City Council if we will allow video gambling in our fair city. You can have your say in an official manner then. Stay tuned!

We are saddened to report the passing of Sesserite Dorothy Dugger. Dorothy was a Christian, a great musician, teacher, and a wonderful caring mother and grandmother. If you grew up around Sesser you knew of Dorothy and her talented daughters, Darby, Connie, and Nancy as they performed for us here in Sesser during their school years under the direction of their mother. In reflection all the girls have become successful in life as well as motherhood so it speaks volumes about Dorothy to me. Dorothy has heard “well done thou good and faithful servant”. Her race is over but her legacy lives on through her family.