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Still Waters,
the
em space, Where They Stand,
By
the Numbers,
How We Stack Up,
What's
Up With That?
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Economic
pie
By Mike
Fak
[SEPT.
1, 2001] I
want to give you folks a number. The number is 15,418. Go ahead and
write that down someplace. Now for the sake of analogy, let’s call
that number the economic pie. Don’t hang up on me; I’m not
giving out a recipe. I’m trying to ask a question that you folks
should answer, not I. Now some of you are sharp enough to realize
that the number is the population figure given to the city of
Lincoln for the 1990 census. That number is, for want of a better
explanation, all the potential consumers this city has to offer.
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Yes,
we can add some for travelers or visitors during one of our
promotions, but we can subtract when all of us seem to head out of
town on vacations or to find the alleged "super" bargains
in Springfield or Bloomington. We could subtract for toddlers or
seniors who don’t get out and about anymore. Just for the sake of
clarity, let’s stay with the number 15,418.
Our
city seems to be in the midst of an argument over whether we are for
economic development or are stifling it with our rules and
regulations and, most importantly, our attitude toward new business.
My
question to all of you is: Does an auto parts store when we have a
half dozen, or a Casey’s when we have eight such stores already,
really constitute economic growth at all? Is adding a business
of a type that has already met a saturation point in this town
really what we should call economic growth? Yeah, I’m for free
enterprise and creating a new tax base and creating new jobs. But if
everything that comes to Lincoln adds just enough to offset what we
eventually lose in a similar business leaving, are we really
growing?
Remember
the number 15,418. No matter what business comes to Lincoln, that is
all the economic pie there is for all the retail businesses to
absorb.
Now
new business blood can stimulate prices. There is no doubt of this.
Sometimes those new prices are short-lived, as we see another friend
of the community give up on trying to keep just enough of those
15,418 customers to stay in business. Again I have to ask, "Is
that growing?" Or are we simply changing the names of the
players involved in getting business from the 15,418?
[to top of second column in
this commentary]
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Economic
growth, to me, isn’t seeing more of the same type of retailers we
already have in Lincoln coming to town. Economic growth, to me, is
seeing the number 15,418 change to a higher number. More people mean
a larger pie to take an economic slice from. More people mean some
major retailers might look differently on us. Having a 100-year
stagnated population number doesn’t excite most major retailers
into believing growth is around the corner.
We
as a community need to determine what economic growth really is. In
my mind it is little factories and widget companies that not only
take up our unemployed workforce but also cause others to come to recognize
the opportunities those companies present in the city of Lincoln.
Changing the number 15,418 will allow new like businesses to come to
Lincoln and prosper, without meaning some of them have to close.
I
cringe when I hear the words that Lincoln is a bedroom community.
Those are the words spoken by every little town across America that
has given up on the prospect that it can attract new non-retail
business. Yes, the job is tough. We can’t just look in a catalogue
and order this kind of factory and that kind of manufacturing plant.
It can be done, however, if we put our minds and our hearts together
and decide it can be done.
Let
me know what you think. Your ideas might be just what all the rest
of us have been waiting to hear.
[Mike Fak]
Reply to
Fak
(not for publication):
mikefak@msn.com
Response
to Fak's commentary:
ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com
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Zoned or
not
By Mike
Fak
[AUG.
25, 2001] The
city council broke tradition Monday evening with an 8-2 vote
overriding the planning commission’s rejection of a variance. The
council, often rubber-stamping the decisions of the commission, this
time went with what they feel is best for Lincoln. Well, what they
feel is best for a large portion of Lincoln. The decision to approve
the Casey’s location perhaps was summed up best by Steve Fuhrer
when he said the council either is for new business or is not. The
vote seems to say that the council this time kept their campaign
promises of helping new business locate in Lincoln.
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To
many the issue is not as cut and dried as the council made it seem.
The zone change requested by Casey’s met with three primary
objections from citizens. One group, concerned with the effect of a
modern convenience store across from Postville, didn’t want the
structure in that neighborhood. A second group of homeowners did not
want to see their neighborhood subjected to further residential
deterioration by another commercial venture. Others felt that the
decision by Casey’s to be on Jefferson Street was a thinly veiled
attempt to take over the established business of the Citgo
Convenience Mart and the Bruns service station.
To
those who are upset with the decision based on historic aspects or
neighborhood concerns, I am sorry but I have no words to console you
with. To those who feel the Casey’s will hurt established
businesses, I say, "Only if you let it."
Often
during the night, the statement "free enterprise" came up
in the debate. Free enterprise is a two-way street. In America we
should allow businesses to start and grow and prosper or fail
according to their own efforts. Free enterprise also means that we
have a choice to use any business we want for whatever reasons we so
desire. Just because a Casey’s moves to the area doesn’t mean we
need to send farewell flowers to either the convenience store or the
Bruns service station.
We
at Lincoln Daily News and Channel 15 visit with
hundreds of merchants in the area. They are our friends and our
neighbors, but we always make a concerted effort to patronize those
who help keep us online and on the air. This subtle but primary
decision by us is because we appreciate those who allow us to give
you folks the news and programs you want. Sure we move our
monies throughout the community, but we always make sure that our
sponsors get a significant share of our business. Grandpa said,
"Always remember who buttered your bread." It seems
that Jim and Jan at Lincoln Daily News, and Jim and
Tim at Channel 15 and everyone else associated with these
businesses must have had the same grandpa.
[to top of second column in
this commentary]
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The
question of Casey’s as a major chain offering cheaper prices on
some items, more so than perhaps any business throughout the city,
is valid. In a day and age when costs for everything escalate every
day, it is important to stretch a dollar as far as possible. It is
just as important to remember which businesses are important to a
consumer and those that are important to the way of life in this
community.
Now
I will never be so forward as to tell any of you where you should
trade. I will ask you, as I always have, to remember who the
businesses are who buy your chances or take out an ad in a school or
organizations brochure. Remember who donates items for auctions or
free food to community fund-raisers. Remember which businesses
gladly put the jars on their counters to help still another
worthwhile cause.
Dollars
are important to all of us. We must be judicious in how and where we
spend our ever-dwindling finances. In context I have to ask,
"Are a few pennies as relevant?" I recall grandpa also
telling me never to forget who brung me to the dance.
[Mike Fak]
Reply to
Fak
(not for publication):
mikefak@msn.com
Response
to Fak's commentary:
ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com
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This
is the em
space, a staff writer’s section with observations about life experiences in Logan County and
elsewhere. Enjoy your visit.
—
Mary Krallmann
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That could be arranged
This year on
Labor Day, a trip to my brother’s house was long overdue. When a
scheduling change freed up my mother’s weekend, we quickly put together
plans for the visit.
Originally,
it wasn’t my family’s habit to travel when three-day weekends came
around. We stayed home, out of the traffic. An extra day off from school
was a treat in itself. We didn’t need to go anywhere, especially not to
see each other, since we lived in the same house.
 When jobs
and the passages of life took us to separate locations, our schedules also
shifted from school calendars to business calendars. We began to break
with tradition and make occasional trips on holidays, when there was a
better chance to get together. To justify the departure from policy, we’d
say that we stayed off the busiest roads or avoided the busiest times of
the weekend.
Now a
three-day weekend provides a basic opportunity for family time. To adapt
lyrics that came to mind during the recent trip, precious and few are the
weekends we three can share.
This time we
had to get reacquainted with the premises at my brother’s house. The
trees in the back yard had grown noticeably, giving it a more complete
canopy of green. He said that a loud chirping out there proved to be a
chipmunk.
Inside,
there were new developments in every room, with redecorating still in
progress. One of the more useful additions for guests was the set of
mirror tiles on one wall. If you have to wait your turn for time in front
of the bathroom mirror, you can always catch glimpses on the living room
wall.
That room
also serves as a guest bedroom, with the long couch as one sleeping place
and your choice of floor space for another (bring your own bedding). I
think my mom was surprised one morning to see my feet where my head was
the night before, but it was darker that way, avoiding a night light, so I
switched.
Coming from
the recent balloon fest in Lincoln, I noticed a balloon jigsaw in a puzzle
catalog on the coffee table. The jigsaw didn’t just picture balloons; it
was in that shape. True to form, the puzzle included special-shape pieces,
such as a kite.
The town had
a Chicken & Corn Fest on Sunday, but we enjoyed our sale-priced corn
on the cob, fresh from the nearest grocery store, the evening before.
Visiting at
my brother’s church, I almost managed to drop the collection plate as it
went by, but he came to the rescue as I attempted to pass it along and put
in my offering while filling out a guest card balanced on a hymnal, along
with a service folder, newsletter and notebook.
Returning
from church, we passed a mural painted on a building and saw the area’s
statue of choice — yellow, green and purple giraffes standing in for
Chicago cows or a Lincoln watermelon.
On the way
back from a walk to the park that afternoon, I stopped to respond to a
couple in a van. They were looking for the town festival site. Gesturing
in the general direction, I told them I’d just come from there and it
was down that way. I figured they’d find it when they saw the car-lined
streets. I’d gone just to take notes on unusual license plates, not to
hear the featured Boyzz from Illinoizz. My mom and brother thought the
strangers asking local directions from another stranger was the best part
of the report.
We capped
the family-style weekend with a night of table games. It took only two
attempts to win triple solitaire, so we moved on to a version of rummy
packaged in what looks like a small suitcase. As my mom put it, I got the
highest score, but the low score was the winner. My brother worked out
complex solutions, taking apart multiple sets and runs and reconstructing
them to include more playing pieces that he wanted to get rid of, but in
the end Mom won three games out of six.
When it comes to the six regular
holidays, only two make guaranteed three-day weekends, so this one almost
had to be a winner. When you see a prospect on the schedule, it’s as my
brother titled his CD of hymn arrangements, "That Could Be
Arranged..."
[Mary
Krallmann]
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Where
They Stand
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Where
They Stand is a commentary section that poses a question about a
specific issue in the community. Informed individuals present their
position with facts, opinions or insights on the issue. The
following commentaries have been printed, unedited, in their
entirety, as they were received. If you have further comment on the
issue, please send an e-mail message, complete with your name,
address and telephone number to ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com.
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By
the Numbers
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Population
estimates in Logan County
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| 30,798 |
Total population,
1990 |
| 15,380 |
Rural population -
49.9%, 1990 |
| 15,418 |
Urban population -
50.1%, 1990 |
| 2,875 |
Projected births,
1990-1998 |
| 2,736 |
Projected deaths,
1990-1998 |
| 3,143 |
Persons below poverty
level - 11.8 % |
| 258 |
Average marriages per
year |
| 135 |
Average deaths per
year |
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Alexis Asher
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| Logan
County high schools: 1960-2000 |
| 1962 |
Middletown
High School consolidated with New Holland |
| 1972 |
Atlanta
High School became part of Olympia School District |
| 1975 |
Elkhart
High School consolidated with Mount Pulaski |
| 1979 |
Latham
High School became Warrensburg-Latham |
| 1988 |
New Holland-Middletown
High School consolidated with Lincoln Community High School |
| 1989 |
San
Jose High School consolidated with Illini Central (Mason City) |
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