Still Waters,  the em space,  Where They Stand,  By the Numbers,

How We Stack Up,  What's Up With That?

By Mike Fak

[APRIL 17, 2001]  The straw vote at last Thursday’s Logan County Board meeting shows us that the change from at-large representation to districts is not as easy as some would have us believe.

That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen. How the county is broken into districts, however, is probably more important than the decision to go that route actually is.

With a board that seems to have a strong majority for rescinding the previous motion to retain the current system, but far less enthusiasm for voting yes for districting, one has to ask if the board members themselves don’t already understand that voting for an abstract, which is what districts are at the moment, could cause a further rift between the urban and rural community. Several board members have explained that without a defined plan as to how the county should be segmented, it is difficult to just say: "Yes, let’s go to districts."

The need to rescind the at-large continuance needs to be done expeditiously. Until a plan for new districts is formed, studied and meets approval by county residents as being fair and equitable, the motion to become districts should wait in the wings.

The movement to give voice to the nonbinding referendum recently mandating districts is not something that can be ignored. Not if a person believes in the voice of the people.

To assume such a major change will be quick or simple, however, is ignoring the point of the referendum in the first place. Residents feel they have been left out of the county decision-making process. A speedy decision to go to districts without vigilance to the boundaries of such districts could cause an even larger problem with rural residents.

[to top of second column in this commentary]

How the districts should be broken down is important. Should the city of Lincoln actually be split into districts needs to be asked. Is chautauqua to be part of the city or should it be in a western district, which goes out to New Holland? Does Mount Pulaski deserve its own representative, or will it be part of an area that encompasses other small towns? One has to ask if proper districts can remain within township boundaries or will some rural residents find themselves going to two different polling places on Election Day. Finally, the number of districts must be determined. Should the number of board members, currently at 13, be lowered or increased by a few to help balance representation?

All these questions will take some time and thought.

At Tuesday’s meeting the board should rescind its previous commitment to remain at large. The district vote should be placed on hold until a workable plan has passed through committee. That’s the way it should be. Unless you all had so much fun with the last referendum that you want to see another one brought on by another group of disgruntled residents claiming they still are not represented.

We have time. Nothing has to be in place until this fall. Why don’t we give the new district system a chance to show itself? Then we can say it’s what the majority of us want.

[Mike Fak]

Reply (not for publication) to Mike Fak:

mfldn@lincolndailynews.com

Reply as a letter to the editor:

ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com 

By Mike Fak

[APRIL 12, 2001]  Forgive me the pun, but it looks like the question of who should pay for the future sewerage system upgrades is nothing more than money down the drain. Potential expenditures of upward of $10 million tell all of us that what we send down the drain or flush is nothing to take lightly.

Although the city’s general fund is flush at the moment, the costs of refurbishing our system will mean borrowing funds from an agency such as the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to cover this huge expense. With the need to maintain standards for waste removal as well as having future capacity to lure new business, it looks like the upgrade is something we need to do before the costs rise still higher.

I found it amazing that a flow study showed our two prisons responsible for 40 percent of the solid waste sent through our plant, but that statistic should help in negotiations between the city and the Department of Corrections regarding how much of the bill prisons should foot. If the prisons use 40 percent of the system, they should pay 40 percent of the monthly cost of operating the plant

.

It seems there is an attempt to bring the old well on Fifth Street across from the Postville Courthouse back into use. The well, now in front of the VFW Hall, was once part of the landscape known to courthouse visitors as Deskin’s Tavern. In the mid-1800s, many a hot summer afternoon found participants in the legal system taking a break to go across the street and draw a cool drink of water from the well.

Yes, you figured it out. That means the city could have a tourist attraction such as "Have a drink of water from the same well Old Abe used." I can just see us bottling the water as well and selling it to tourists to take home. I will leave a name for such a product up to others, but Abe-aid comes to mind in a hurry.

[to top of second column in this commentary]

I’m not sure if any issue, save perhaps the Central School referendum, caused more debate than the talk three years ago of consolidating our grammar schools. In Chicago, where I grew up, neighborhood schools were as much a part of the landscape as corner penny-candy stores. The candy stores are now only memories, and in many parts of the country, including Illinois, so too are the small schools. The principal reason for consolidation was stated to be a reduction in administrative costs. The chief reason for maintaining smaller schools was to keep local control over a child’s educational process. Both points have validity; both points may soon be moot if the state Legislature creates new laws requiring further cutbacks to small schools. Is the concept good or bad? Let me know what you think.

Look for the county board to rescind their vote on maintaining the at-large system of deciding representatives. That is only the first move in a process that will take some time and thought. Districting or redistricting voter areas are never an easy process, but it appears to be certain to occur in Logan County.

Then we will have to wait and see if county residents who have been stating they have been left out of the county process do anything with their newfound representation. Changing to districts will only benefit the community if residents run for office.

Be forewarned, if the next election shows several seats having only one candidate, I will scream. In the event we have good, solid choices throughout the county, I will sing the praises of the referendum.

Regardless of what system we use, without active participation they are all worthless.

[Mike Fak]

Click here to comment on this article.

Welcome to the em space, a staff writer's commentary section with observations about life experiences in Logan County and beyond. Enjoy your visit.

- Mary Krallmann

Mayday! An English spelling for a French call for help, the term is an internationally recognized signal from an aircraft in distress.

In apparent contradiction, May Day is also an event to celebrate. The 1st of May has been observed in many countries as a festival signaling the end of winter. With roots going back to ancient times, the spring festivities have included gathering flowers for decorations, dancing around a Maypole with brightly colored streamers, singing, choosing a king and queen for the occasion, and planting a tree under a sweetheart's window.

In communist countries, however, May 1 has been an occasion for military parades featuring tanks instead of flowers.

Thanks to the Puritans, the traditional May Day festivities didn't become as popular in this country as they were in Europe. May 1 comes and goes without much attention from many of us. Arriving as it does near the end of a school year, the day often finds us preoccupied with plans for whatever comes next.

I don't remember celebrating May Day personally except by surprise. One year a next-door friend with a gift for giving gifts and a taste for things petite put together miniature sacks of brown paper filled with jelly beans. I think she left the treats in front of our doors, in her version of delivering May baskets.

The May Day observance that seems most real to me happened only in a story, a novel from my mother's bookshelves. The main character was a new teacher in a small New England town. She didn't see the children in the same way that the previous teacher had categorized them. She tried to find and nurture the potential in all, whether they were from established families or of uncertain parentage. Even in an out-of-the-way place called Nearby, she dealt with racism, poverty and the effects of a World War. Unjust rumors about her developed as she made extra efforts on behalf of those children who needed more help.

As the end of the school year approached and she had not yet heard whether she would be asked to return for the next term, a member of the family with whom she boarded went to talk with the superintendent of schools, inviting him to attend the children's May Day presentation. The visitor asked that the superintendent see for himself what kind of teacher she was.

When her students were ready for their presentation around the Maypole they'd prepared, few people had arrived for the evening. It appeared that gossip about the teacher was bringing hurt to the children as well. Then she told them about a performer who didn't want to go on stage because he'd seen only a few people in the audience. The trouble was that he'd looked through only a small opening in the curtain.

The May Day celebration had a different twist. As word about the superintendent's coming spread among the townspeople, they hurried to show up at the school to save face as a community. While the event proceeded, with individual children representing different races and ethnic groups woven together like the streamers around the Maypole, the audience grew into a crowd.

The May Day event was a turning point. Although plans for the next term were not complete by the end of the book, indications were that the teacher was able to look forward to teaching there again, in a slightly different role, serving in a pilot project as an example for others to follow.

Whatever turning points May brings for us in various stages of our lives, it retains the exuberance of spring that people have felt from ancient times.

A May Day song opening the second act of a children's operetta catches the joyful spirit:

Today the bells will ring

In welcome to the spring!

Then the music shifts to a more stately mood, reflecting the Swiss Alps where the operetta takes place:

Gracious Lord, our thanks to Thee we bring

For the flow'rs that bloom, the birds that sing....

For blue skies above,  For the beauty of

All the world this lovely day.

And two pages later, it's on to a lively May Day dance:

Clap your hands, bow to left and to right;

Whirl your partner with all of your might.

Skip around in a circle and then

You stomp with your feet and start over again.

Again and again, year after year, when the flowers bloom and the birds sing, it's a time to begin anew, come what may.

[Mary Krallmann] 

P.S. for last week's readers who participated in voting for a national tree.  Click here for the results.

Where They Stand

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.

District vs. at large

April 3 ballot proposition:  "Shall Logan County be divided into districts equal in population for the purpose of electing County Board members to serve on the Logan County Board commencing in the year 2002?"

YES!

In January of this year, citizens throughout Logan County circulated petitions to place this issue on the ballot. That effort was successful with more than 10% of registered voters signing within a two-week period (2569 total/2000 needed). The referendum has been certified by the Logan County Clerk and will be on the April 3^rd ballot throughout the county. The citizens were successful and will be able to voice their opinion on this matter for the first time in 30 years!

Illinois law states that every ten years each county in Illinois with a township form of government shall determine whether board members shall be elected "at large" from the county or by county board "districts".

A "YES" vote on this issue will indicate that residents of Logan County want to have their County Board members representing all areas of the county. Each district must be divided equally in population and will guarantee that all areas are represented! The present "at large" system allows for all 13 County Board members to be elected from one area, while the remainder of the county could end up with no one. In fact, the east side of our county (from Mt. Pulaski to Atlanta) does not have representation at the present time! All of the counties surrounding Logan are in districts. Menard recently changed from "at large" to "districts" with an overwhelming vote. The greater majority of counties in Illinois are in districts and have been for several years. We are not the only county with this issue on the ballot. Bureau County recently passed a referendum to go to single member districts. Champaign County has a similar question, as does Adams County.

Remember that this question asks how the make-up of the County Board should be for the next ten years. Under a district system the voter is more likely to know the person they are voting for. This is your opportunity to voice your opinion and let your county governing body know how you feel. If the referendum produces a result in FAVOR of district representation, then measures will be introduced on the floor of the Logan County Board to accomplish that goal.

—Rodney J. White

(Rodney White is a member of the Logan County Board.)

NO!

It’s rather interesting and enlightening to note the places of residence of people appointed to the Logan County Board to fill terms of members who have died, moved away, or resigned.

Mr. Robert "Bud" Behrends was appointed to the Logan County Board March 18, 1975, to finish out the term of Robert E. Downing, and Lloyd Hellman was appointed November 15, 1994, to finish out Robert "Bud" Behrends term on the board. Mr. Behrends grew up in the Hartsburg area, and spent most of his life in Lincoln, and Mr. Hellman, who replaced "Bud" has spent most of his life in the rural Emden area. Mr. Downing was a rural Beason farmer.

The emphasis on appointments was the type of person needed to effectively function on the board; not where they resided. A Beason resident (Mr. Downing) was replaced by a Hartsburg/Lincoln resident (Mr. Behrends), who was replaced by Mr. Hellman, an Emden resident.

The above appointments don’t look like "district" representation. It looks like desire on the part of the replacements and their ability to effectively function on the Logan County Board.

Mark H. Werth resigned from the board December 31, 1988. L. Buckles was appointed to replace Mr. Werth, February 20, 1989. Both were from rural areas -- Mr. Werth, rural area north of Mt. Pulaski, and Mr. Buckles, rural area south of Mt. Pulaski.

Mr. Earl Madigan, who lived southeast of Lincoln, was replaced by Dwight Zimmerman, who farmed for years just east of San Jose and later lived in Lincoln. That certainly wasn’t a "district" appointment. That was an appointment based on the desire of the person to serve and his ability to serve.

Mr. Edward L. Spellman, resigned from the board March 18, 1976, and Mr. Don Smith was appointed to take his place. both came from Lincoln, Both were successful business people and served well on the board.

Mr. Robert Welch died in office November 18, 1998. He was a resident of rural Beason. Mr. Roger Bock of rural Williamsville was appointed to replace him. Again, not a "district" appointment, but one based on desire and ability.

To my knowledge, no proponent of the district plan for electing members of the Logan County Board has ever submitted a plan, so my question is: If the at large system of electing county board members is not flawed, why fix it?

If the system is working well and the members are getting the work of county government done, why change?

Will a district election plan, which apparently is only floating around in the minds of a few people and has not been committed to paper, better serve all the people of all the county?? I think not!!!

—Dick Hurley

(Dick Hurley is a former member of the Logan County Board.)

By the Numbers

Local figures are as follows:

Logan County = $44,078.23

(Counties receive an allocation on the basis of motor vehicle registration fees, with the exception of Cook County, which has a percentage allocation set by law.)

Townships and road districts = $90,973.85

(Townships and road districts are allocated an amount computed on the basis of mileage in their jurisdiction.)

City of Lincoln = $38,003.84

(Cities receive an allocation based on population.)

[Source: Economic Development report]

Alexis Asher

Alexis Asher

Lincoln High School history

1859

Lincoln School District

5

School buildings in 1859

1

"Grammar school" in 1859

1

High school teacher, Mr. January, in 1859

1870-71

Central School opened

1898

High school building started

1900

High school dedicated, Jan. 5

$20,000

Cost of new high school

1920

Election authorized community high school District #404

1958

Dedication of new Lincoln Community High School, 1000 Primm Road, in auditorium, on Nov. 9

Alexis Asher

How We Stack Up

Racial makeup of selected Illinois counties

What's Up With That?

        
[Road construction is taking place up and down Woodlawn Road.]

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