Contemplating another run for council

I’ve been asked by many if I’m going to run for council again. I’m entertaining the idea, but things are much different then they were four years ago.

Four years ago, I ran mainly on the platform of historic preservation. While historic preservation is still important to me, it is completely unrealistic to use it as a platform for economic development. Over 20 buildings have been razed since I started that campaign. Even if every remaining building was renovated, it won’t be enough to sustain downtown. It is time to seriously look at infill development.

Last election, I stated I believed the Mattoon had the right amount of professional management with the City Administrator. I wasn’t really interested in the City Manager form of government. Now after watching the way Mattoon and Charleston operate (Charleston has a city manager) for four years, I believe the manager form is more desirable. Some may call it a ‘flip flop’ but I say I am more informed on the topic then I was four years ago.

Mattoon voters will be choosing if they wish to change the form of government to a City Manager form in the November election. If elected, I would want to focus on legislative issues so the outcome of this may make my decision easier. If we keep the mayor/council form, council members will also be department heads and in charge of personnel. I am not interested in managing department.

I am also not interested in running to replace current department heads. While I may not agree with some of the decisions they have made, I believe they all would start even at the start of the new term. Again, this topic may be taken off the table if the manager form is adopted.

What else?

TIF districts: I am a strong believer of TIF districts as a tool for economic development. Mattoon now has four; three of which were good decisions. The I-57 TIF district is a gross misuse of the TIF law. However, it is in place and appears to be legal. I am not going to run on the platform of undoing the actions of past councils.

Business districts: I am not convinced these are a good thing. I can’t see raising taxes as an effective tool to attract more business. However, I am open to debate. I would not want to create any new business districts for two years so we can see if the ones created are working as planned.

Fiscal responsibility: I will not vote for projects unless funding is secured. Taking out loans based on projected sales tax revenue is not secured funds in my opinion. Applying for matching fund grants with no plan on how to pay for the city’s share is irresponsible. Approving business district grants based on projected sales tax revenue for a business that doesn’t even exist yet is dangerous.

Update codes: The subdivision and zoning ordinances are grossly outdated. The comprehensive plan was approved in 1968. These need to be updated and enforced. This would be a goal of mine if I served on the council.

I also need to take a serious look at my personal life. Do I have the time and energy to put into a campaign and serve? I have lived a lifetime in last four years since the last local election. Some things just don’t seem as important as they used to. Will I be able to give the citizens all they deserve by electing me? How would serving on the council affect my relationships at home?

Finally, do I realistically believe I can get elected? One thing I learned four years ago is local elections have little to do with issues, ideas, and knowledge. They are more about who you know. Not the status of who you know, but how many of those people can you get to show up on Election Day and vote for you. I don’t really have a base of voters. I don’t belong to a service club; I am not a member of any lodges; I am not an active member in a large church. I am not sure how far my recognition from my column will carry me.

Am I electable? If I get on the ballot and get spanked twice in a row, will I ever have enough political capitol to get elected? I really don’t want to be the guy who always runs, but never gets elected. Continuing to lose elections will erode my credibility and make my goals harder to reach.

Edit:
Open meetings: Current and past councils have caught flack about violating the open meetings act. If I am in a meeting where topics are being discussed that violate the act, I will bring up the open meetings act and refuse to take part in the conversation. If it continues, I will leave the meeting and publically acknowledge the act was being violated.

Treasures of an old house

I’ve been doing some foundation work on my house. The house was built in 1891, but there was an addition put on it at a later date. I found this token between two bricks. It is a sales tax token from the 1930’s. (The must be when the addition was built).

Merchants had to pay sales tax based on their daily sales. For a ten cent item and three percent tax rate, the merchant could either round down and not collect tax or round up and charge an extra tem percent. Or they could give sales tax tokens for change. There were around 5000 of these Charleston tokens put into circulation. This ¼ cent token is worth about 2 bucks today.

The amazing thing is, someone put this between two bricks for someone to find, and I actually did. I’ve been on several construction jobs where someone will imbed a new penny somewhere on the job. And I myself have left time capsules in my house when doing some remodeling. But this would have been easily missed.

Does Illinois need a Constitutional Convention?

Every 20 years, the citizens of Illinois are allowed to vote on the need to overhaul the State Constitution. The current Constitution was adopted in 1970 after the 1968 referendum called for a Convention. In 1988, voters overwhelming voted against a Constitutional Convention by seventy-five percent.

The Chicago Tribune lobbied against the Con-Con praising the Constitution adopted in 1970. “The Constitution they drafted is still a fine fit for Illinois …” the Tribune stated. Fast forward 20 years, and the Tribune seems to have changed their tune “Vote yes because if this referendum proposal fails, you do have a guarantee: The sweet-smiling panderers who run this mismanaged state will give you 20 more years of what you have now.”

State government is pretty much a mess compared to 1988. We have spent half the time since then with unpopular, corrupt governors from both major political parties. Our general assembly and governor constantly cannot agree. We have lost billions in federal transportation funding. And balance the budget by underfunding pension plans. This chaos may sway voters to call for the rewriting of the state constitution this fall.

If a Constitutional Convention is called for, there are several topics that will be addressed. Some of which may not be looked at by simply proposing amendments to the current constitution. Some of those topics include:

· Selection of Judges – should the Governor appoint judges or should the voters elect them?
· School financing – should schools be funded through property taxes or otherwise?
· Public pensions – should state employees be guaranteed a pension, and should the state be mandated to fully fund the pensions?
· Legislative Redistricting – The current “tie-breaker” system is not being used as it was designed. But no one has come up with a better system.
· Gay Marriage – should Illinois define marriage as being between one man and one woman?
· Death Penalty – Should the governor have the power to commune or pardon sentences, effectively clearing death row and negating all decisions made by the trial process? Or should the death penalty be abolished altogether?
· Graduated Income Tax – Illinois currently has a flat income tax, where everyone pays the same rate. Should there be higher rates for higher salaries similar to the federal system?
· Recall provision – Should the voters have the right to recall their elected officials before the next scheduled election? This is how Governor Schwarzenegger was elected in California.
· Term limits – Should Illinois elected officials be forced to step down after a given time?
· Binding Referenda – When lawmakers refuse or are unable to come to a solution, should voters be given a chance by putting the topic on a ballot?

Some of these issues can be resolved without a Constitutional amendment. Others require an amendment, but not the complete rewriting of the constitution. However these are ten topics that are heavily debated today. Some of these issues didn’t even exist twenty and forty years ago.

A Constitutional Convention could cost Illinois $100 million. It could also delay important legislation while the convention is held. The list of officials campaigning against this is growing, including former Governor Jim Edgar who fears the process will be taken over by "interest groups and single-issue zealots that have wielded undue influence in the Statehouse."

This is an issue that should be studied closely. It is now two weeks before the election and I have heard little about it. It is a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly and will have a greater impact on Illinoisans then the presidential race. However, I’ll bet most voters haven’t heard of it. Make your choice wisely.

Missing Matt

Once upon a time, long, long ago (ok it was 1996); there was this little boy across the street that would wait for me to get home from work. He would hop on his little bike and peddle like mad over to my place just to ask how my day was and tell me what he did in school.

A year later, I married that boy’s mother. As a junior usher, he seated my mom at the wedding. He also carried the ring in a pinch when the ring bearer got cold feet. The night before, I spent the night with the boys at my mom’s house. He didn’t feel good and climbed into my lap for comfort. That was the first time I felt like a parent.

The next eleven years were filled with all the ups and downs of raising children. The memories are too many to mention. It is odd which ones seem to float to the top. When he was younger, he didn’t want to waste time at the dinner table. He would stuff his entire meal into his mouth, packing it into his cheeks like a chipmunk, and then spending the next ten minutes chewing and swallowing.

A couple of the not so good memories were also character building ones. I remember helping him with the Cub Scouts Pine Wood Derby. We spent several nights carving, assembling, and painting what we believed to be a winning car. I don’t know who felt worse when we finished last. Another competition found him at the plate with two outs and the tying run on base. He was crushed when he struck out to end the game.

Even though through his teen aged years, things seemed rocky in our relationship. There were admirations that went silent but not overlooked. There were times we would argue to the end over a choice he was to make. Sometimes it was a financial decision, others were academic. He would spend hours telling me how I was wrong and he was right. But when the decision was made, he often silently followed my advice. This did not go unnoticed.

Friday, June 13, 2008, the unthinkable happened. This little boy that eagerly awaited my arrival from work was killed in an early morning automobile accident. There isn’t really much to say about that except it happened and it is as bad as anyone can imagine losing a child.

Now, the smallest things bring reminders of Matt. A few weeks before the accident, I was microwaving a couple hot dogs. Matt saw this with disgust. “Eww, you eat those? Do you know what they put in them? You actually like them?” he pestered. “You don’t eat hot dogs because they taste good” I explained, “You eat them because you’re hungry”. He thought about that for a second and began preparing a couple for himself. I will never eat a hot dog again without thinking of that.

There is a Red Tailed Hawk at the cemetery near Matt’s grave. This “Chicken hawk” visits Matt’s mother often. Some Indians believe the hawk is a messenger from the Otherworld, and if he has chosen to visit you, you are receiving a message. I can’t help but believe Matt is there to comfort his Mom and to let her know everything is going to be OK.

Matt’s stone came today, another chapter closed in this book. One more step towards some sort of closure. Forever loved, forever missed.

Gas Prices in relation to political power

I usually stay away from national topics. You don’t seem to be able to change people’s minds, and the chances of changing national policy are pretty much non existent. But when they filter down to local issues, I sometimes feel compelled. Gas prices are one of those topics.

Democrats are quick to blame Republicans for the current fuel price fiasco. Prices have tripled since the current president took office. In this case, they may be right. But that doesn’t mean they would do any better. They point out that while the last Democrat president was in office, fuel prices were steady and falling. Republicans can counter the same throughout the 1980’s.

When adjusted for inflation, gas prices have mostly been between $2.00 and $2.50 since WWII till the early 1970's when they started to climb. They peaked and $3.81 (adjusted) in 1981 and then fell to about $1.40 (adjusted) in 1998. Then they started their current climb. It is interesting that in 1998 when adjusted for inflation, gasoline was at its cheapest rate ever.

During the three times gas prices have dramatically risen, Congress and the White house were controlled by the same party (with an exception of a year or two on the ends of the trends) 1931 till 1938 the Democrats were mostly in charge, as was from 1978 till 1981. In 2002 till 2008, it was the Republicans.

Actually, I see no indication that one party would be able to handle the situation better then the other. If the government has any control over prices, they seem to be most effective when power is in balance across the branches of government. Except from 1961 till 1957, when one party gets to much control, the results on gas prices have been disastrous.

On a similar, but unrelated note, times (recent) history often refers to as good times or prosperous times have been times one party controls the Executive branch and another controls the Legislative branch; 1950’s Eisenhower years, 1980’s Regan years, and 1990’s Clinton years. This may be the formula we should look for in future elections.

Source: http://inflationdata.com/inflation/images/charts/Oil/Gasoline_inflation_chart.htm

Fiscal Irresponsibility

For years now, some have been criticizing the current council for over spending. This was a debatable claim until this week. The council approved seeking $10 million in bonds to pay for public works and economic development projects.

Up until now, most of the criticism has been with the TIF districts. TIF districts divert property tax revenues to development projects, both private and public, within the district. This is a proven economic development tool across the country. And one only has to look at downtowns across the area to see their benefits. So far, the City of Mattoon seems to have been fiscally responsible when granting TIF funds in the midtown TIF district. Grants have not exceeded secured funds.

Mattoon has also turned to Business districts as a tool for economic development. They are similar to TIF districts, except they rely on increased sales tax revenues instead of property tax revenues for funding. Payment for $4 million of the $10 million in bonds is too made from Business district revenues. The problem is, these revenues are fairly insecure. They depend on projected sales tax revenue. If the sales tax falls short, it is unclear how the debt will be paid.

The remaining $6 million is also to be repaid with sales tax funds. Several years ago, the citizens voted to increase sales tax in Mattoon to improve infrastructure and lower property taxes. Half of the increase was to be put into infrastructure projects, while half went to property tax relief.

The city has wisely saved the infrastructure funds for south side flooding improvements, and began using these funds for engineering and land acquisition this year. Now, instead of waiting until the funds build back up to complete the project, the City has decided to borrow money and speed up the project.

Also on tap for the $10 million is a citywide sidewalk improvement project. The estimated cost of this project has ballooned from $200,000 last year to $750,000 with this bond request. Sidewalks have been a long neglected portion of city infrastructure for decades. Another $400,000 is to be applied to matching funds for a grant for recreation improvements at the sports complex. Why is it suddenly necessary to put the taxpayers in debt for these?

Finally, the City plans to spend $3 million for new public works garage. This sounds incredibly high. In the past, I’ve been told the City plans to purchase the former Young Radiator site for this building. How much could this polluted ground be worth? This is more then the contracts awarded for Charleston’s new library.

“If we wait longer we would pay more in costs.” Mayor Cline claimed at the meeting. When is this not true? If I used this same logic in my personal budget, I would be in a lot of trouble. All we have heard in the last year is how broke the City is. “We are budgeting paperclips” we were told. And pension payments will soon exasperate the general fund.

If we needed to cash bonds, why aren’t we addressing the pension funds? How will we pay for these bonds if sales tax revenue falls short and property tax revenue is mandated towards pensions? If there was any debate in the council’s fiscal responsibility before, it has been well erased now.