Mayor's Row

by Mayor Ned Mitchell

Don’t you just like the idea of going from air conditioning straight into the furnace mode? This has been a fantastic summer for us in this area, although I am not sure exactly where summer went to and why it left us so fast. What started out as a great idea to sleep with the house windows open a few evenings ago turned out to be a very chilly experiment. Although I did not turn on the heat system in the Mitchell house, the thought did enter my mind!

Speaking of experiments I have been thinking a lot lately after reading Chicago newspapers. I have always looked at what we do in Sesser as one experiment after another to try and make this town unique and a pleasure to live in. To be sure some folks like the status quo and detest any type of change and they do have a point. Sesser has taken the lead on many fronts including Home Rule over 20 years ago and more recently the establishment of a TIF District. Home Rule has been successful for us and has been copied by most every other town in Franklin County. Sesser became the first in Franklin County to establish a TIF District and others have followed and still others will follow, especially if they see any success from our program.

So reading the two major Chicago newspapers on my trusty desk top computer over the weekend set me to thinking. Headlines in both papers read like this; two shot in this neighborhood, 1 killed over here, three shot and two killed over there, another mugging in the Lincoln Park area and on and on. The point is many folks were killed in Chicago over the weekend. That makes Chicago a place I would want to visit!

In my 32 plus years on the job I have had the occasion to walk through the Lincoln Park area several times. It is a nice area for day time walking and I have tried to avoid walking anywhere in Chicago at night. There have been a rash of muggings and robberies recently of folks who walk in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Chicago politicians are notorious for insisting that no person, other than themselves, be able to own a firearm. We see all sorts of ballyhoo from Chicago politicians crying out for more gun control on one hand and then find out on the other hand they are legally allowed to carry a concealed weapon. I’m still trying to figure that one out!

So I am suggesting to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley that perhaps they should try an experiment in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Why not allow folks to carry a concealed weapon in Lincoln Park only? People would have to be properly trained and licensed to carry the weapon, but why not give it a try? Right now if a person goes walking in that neighborhood the thugs know the intended victim is not going to be armed. What if the word got out that walkers in that area only just might be armed? Common sense tells me that if the thugs think their intended victim just might be “packing” some heat, I would venture to say Lincoln Park would once again become safe and the thugs would move into another neighborhood to ply their trade. If that turned out to be the case then perhaps another neighborhood could be allowed the same protection. Initially there may be a thug or two shot in Lincoln Park, but who cares?

Is there another scandal brewing at Rend Lake College? Sources have told me about an accident in Mid August involving three student athletes on scholarship allegedly taking the car of another student without permission and being involved in a wreck. In some areas this would be known as an automobile theft but so far college officials are looking for the corner of the proverbial rug to sweep this under by calling this the taking without permission of a motor vehicle.

I am also told alcohol consumption by at least one minor is involved and that in itself should revoke a scholarship for the offender. Most major universities have that policy for athletes on scholarship. To this point the owners of the vehicle have ran into one wall after another.

It would be interesting to me to be able to read the mission statement of Rend Lake College and compare it with the one created when the College was formed. I have for a long time now pondered why on earth we should be so sports driven at Rend Lake College that we not only go all over the United States but also internationally to give a scholarship to some student athlete. Is that what we need to be doing?

For some strange reason I thought that community colleges were formed to provide a cost effective two year degree for residents of the district that would then allow them to go to a four year university to complete their education. I like sports as well as the next guy, but do we really serve the educational needs of the taxpayers of the Rend Lake College district by luring athletes from thousands of miles away?

Rend Lake College officials need to be up front and in the center with those of us who are paying the bills out there on this another scandal in the making. We already know there was an accident involving alcohol and student athletes on scholarship. Although no DUI tickets were issued by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office, it is my understanding that other violations were issued. There is somewhat of a public record in this case and now is the time for college officials to address the problem and take action.

Birthday wishes go out to Clarence “Dinger” Jones who turned 101 on August 23 and to Gordon Nowland and Freda Lemons who both turned 86 last week. A card or phone call would be appreciated!