|
 He was also recently
named deputy state central committeeman for the 18th District of the
Illinois Republican Party.
Wright will close his
law office at 503 Broadway but will keep his district office at 407
Keokuk open at least through the November veto session and probably
until the new legislators are seated in January, he said.
He has been serving
as state representative for the 90th District since June of 2001,
when he was appointed to fill the seat vacated by John Turner, who
became an appellate court judge.
After the
redistricting, which divided Logan County into two representative
districts, Wright chose not to run in the November election for
another term in the House. His term expires in January of 2003.
However, he will
remain active in Republican politics because of the appointment as a
deputy committeeman, he said. He was asked to fill the position by
State Central Committeewoman MaryAlice Erickson, Peoria, after her
re-election.
"MaryAlice contacted
me eight weeks ago, told me her former deputy had to resign, and
asked me if I would accept the position. My job is to assist her,
and part of that entails working with county Republican associations
in the district."
The 18th District
includes Logan, Tazewell, Peoria and some of McLean counties and is
the same as Ray LaHood’s U.S. Congressional District. Altogether
there are 19 districts in Illinois.
Wright said his new
job as assistant state’s attorney won’t conflict with his duties as
a committeeman, because most of his political activities will be on
weekends and evenings.
The State Central
Committee, he said, determines how the party will stand on issues
and how it will support candidates. It is not a paid position but
does play an important role. "I will have some input on decisions
the party makes," Wright said.
The committee decides
policy and platform issues and makes sure the Republican
organization is moving in the right direction. It also supports
candidates with money, time, phone calls and other resources.
"It’s a great honor
to be asked to step into this kind of role. What’s going on right
now makes me realize how important the position is," he said.
"I believe the
Republican Party is at a crossroads. We have an important election
coming up, and it would be naive to ignore the scandals going on,
the investigations that involve Republican officials. Scandals have
put the credibility of the state party at issue.
"There needs to be a
serious housecleaning in the state Republican Party. If we do
anything less than that, we will lose whatever credibility we have
with the public."
Both parties need to
clean house, Wright believes, and he expects to see the General
Assembly take some action on that in the November veto session.
"I think at the very
minimum some effort will be made then to deal with the question of
state employees working on political campaigns," he said.
Politicians of both
parties need to stop concentrating so much on winning the next
election, Wright said.
"I have seen, at the
state level, how much winning the next election drives our elected
officials. Too many are pandering to whatever constituent group
squawks the loudest.
"We have public
apathy because there are too many elected officials the public
doesn’t respect. Voters want someone they can respect. Contrary to
what some officials think, if they took a stand on principle they
might be surprised how many votes they would get."
Short term, he says,
the GOP needs to clean its house. Long term, it needs to revisit its
principles."
"I am disappointed
that we didn’t try to change our fiscal policy. We have plenty of
money to run the state of Illinois; the problem is how it is spent
and what it is spent on.
"We have a $22
billion budget. We need to look at which programs we are spending
money on actually work and which don’t work. Too many members of the
General Assembly don’t really have a good grasp of the budget. It’s
a huge and complicated thing, difficult to get a handle on.
"At the 11th hour in
the budget process we are finally asking the questions we should
have asked months ago. It’s a lot of work to go through this budget
in detail, but that’s what we should be doing."
[to top of second column in
this article] |
Wright has made his
own contribution to controlling government spending. At the end of
the last fiscal year he returned $13,000 to the state, the part of
his allowance for a district office that he didn’t spend. He said
John Turner also used to return funds to the state, from $5,000 to
$8,000 a year.
Another problem with
state government, Wright believes, is that too often it doesn’t have
a broad picture of what it wants to accomplish and passes a lot of
piecemeal legislation, in both criminal law and on social issues.
"I had a lot of
trouble trying to funnel all the bills brought up in the House
through a consistent philosophy," he said. "Government needs a
consistent philosophy."
For example, he says,
the Department of Human Services has three line items for teenage
pregnancy programs. "They may all be good programs, but there is
probably a lot of overlapping. If we combined all those resources,
the program could be more effective."
The closing of the
Lincoln Developmental Center epitomizes the state’s lack of an
overall approach, he said. There was no consistent policy involved
in deciding to close the Lincoln center or in the methods use to
close it.
"We will work to push
developmentally disabled people out into the community because we
don’t want to spend $125,000 a year to care for them. Yet we
spend at least that much on people who commit sex crimes."
Wright has no trouble
defining his own political philosophy, which is derived in part from
his strong Christian belief.
"I like to think of
myself as a true conservative, one who believes in limited
government based upon the premise that people of faith and values
will regulate themselves. Our government was never designed to
regulate what it has to regulate today.
"The papers of our
founding fathers are based on the premise that individuals would
have faith and values. The problem is that we have gotten away from
having values of right and wrong and from personal responsibility.
"We’ve let political
corruption run out of control, and we don’t have the philosophy and
character to back up what we are doing.
"If people of all
faiths would stand up for what they believe in, we would have a
better society and a better government."
Wright is strongly
pro-life and recently tried to get through the House a bill that
would protect any infant born alive by requiring it be given
whatever medical attention is needed.
The bill was the same
as one sponsored by state Sen. Patrick O’Malley, R-Palos Park, but
it did not get out of the House rules committee.
Wright said it is
almost identical to the bill recently passed 98-0 by the U.S. Senate
and signed by President Bush, protecting any infant with signs of a
heartbeat, voluntary muscle movement or breathing.
One bill he sponsored
that did get passed and recently signed into law by Gov. Ryan
concerns school prayer.
"It clarifies and
codifies students’ right to pray out loud in a non-disruptive
manner, so long as it is not endorsed or promoted by school
officials," he said. This means a group of students might meet for a
prayer session before or after school, at lunch break, or any other
time when they are not disrupting any type of instruction.
"School officials
lacked real guidance on this matter because there is nothing in the
statues," Wright said.
"Our constitution
doesn’t separate church and state. What it does is prohibit the
government from establishing a religion and mandating that everyone
follow it. It doesn’t prohibit faith from public life."
Wright said taking
the deputy state committeeman post shows that he is not closing the
door to further involvement in the state politics.
"I believe in GOP
values. I am open to and would activity pursue other options that
might become available to me in the future," he said.
Wright, who began practicing law in
Lincoln in August of 1997, lives in Hartsburg with his wife, the
former Melanie Usherwood, and four children: Katie, age 6, Alison,
5, Melissa, 3 and Joshua, 2 months. He is an active member of the
Park Meadows Baptist Church of Lincoln.
[Joan
Crabb]
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"Making a good impression is important,
and this site provides information that can help people get off to a
good start," said Jane Scherer, U of I Extension urban programs
specialist. "With the economic problems of the past year, we’ve seen
an increasing number of people entering the job market again after
layoffs or plant closings. Additionally, we have many first-time job-seekers. Often, individuals in both groups can benefit from the tips
on this site."
Among the site’s categories are "Dress
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"How you
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and not getting the job as well as a promotion," said Scherer.
"Clothing choices, grooming, interview tips and positive body
language are important areas, and anyone seeking a job or promotion
could benefit from reviewing them."
[U
of I news release] |
|
Thank You
To Lincoln Developmental Center
employees:
The Lincoln Parents'
Association would like to express our sincere appreciation for the
excellent care you have given our loved ones over the years. You
chose to make a career in caring for the most fragile of individuals
with disabilities. For this, we are most grateful.
The
stress of this past year has been almost unbearable for you and for
us. In spite of poor management, politics and constant scrutiny, you
have maintained your excellent level of care. There are not enough
words to express our thanks.
Sincerely,
Members of the
Lincoln Parents' Association |
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