Carbondale News

A couple of things to discuss. First the Mayoral campaign. Look for Sheila Simon to announce her candidacy for Mayor of Carbondale shortly after she loses the general election to Judy Topinka. She trails, depending on whose polls you believe from anywhere from 20 to 33 points. She claims the election is much closer, but whether you lose by 33 points or 20 points, it is not good. In Carbondale she may actually be able to beat the current front runner, Jane Adams. The problem she runs into is that even in Carbondale, people get tired of her trading on her deceased dad's name. She also alienated a lot of the voters when she kept getting these "big name endorsements". Her campaign should be written up as a text book on how not to succeed in politics.  Rumor has it that if Sheila decides to run, Brad Cole may very well toss his hat in the ring. George Mulroney has decided not to run as he is still smarting from his second place finish to Joel Fritzler. No great loss here. Don Monty decided not to run citing that he wants to spend more time with his family. No one believes that. What people do believe is that Monty does not want to be around when two particularly nasty law suits get moving. There may even be a lawsuit that does not involve an alleged murder. The former Chief of Police seems like he is getting ready to file suit over losing his job too. The future is not too good if Adams is allowed to run unopposed. Perhaps

The so called "Ferguson Conference" which was held at the Carbondale Civics Center accomplished nothing other than to give people a chance to shout and yell at each other. The panel was stacked with the usual assortment of left wing authoritarian types. People like Patricia Bynes gave themselves phony titles like "Citizen Journalist" to give themselves some credibility. While she was trying to appear neutral, there is a video of her 9 days after the Michael Brown shooting where she knew enough to call for the officers arrest. She is a Democrat Party operative whose sole purpose for attending was to try to get the Democrat Party base out. They had another person who after being in the Jackson County Courthouse for 2 days was able to make the statement that 45% of the Defendant's in Jackson County were black. She called herself an "Independent Research Consultant". It is easy to see why no one has hired her if she really believed a 2 day study proved anything. There is not much to be said to people who believe that shows a pattern of racism.

Sad State of Affairs

Things are not looking up for once was a bright and shining example of Southern Illinois, Carbondale. The leading contenders are George Maroney and Jane Adams. The election of either as Mayor would be a disaster for Carbondale. Maroney has zero experience in city government. While that may be a good thing these days, I am afraid that running SIH does not show me anything except that when he is in a position of absolute authority he can run a business. Based on past conversations with him, he does not seem to have a firm grasp on any of the local issues.

Jane Adams has already played the victim card. She said she is considering the fact that her gender might hurt her if she runs for Mayor. It has been pointed out that only 1 woman has ever been Mayor of Carbondale. What people fear about her is her competence. She got into squabbles with Joel" Time to Run" Fritzler and some run ins with Don Monty. She is a tax and spend liberal, the city is running at a deficit, yet she is on record supporting the property tax giveaways from the TIF district.  She gives away money to her pet group and her pet projects. When a city is running in a deficit, it is time to cut costs, not give the Splash Park 100,000 or give her special interest groups money.

The problem with both of these candidates is I am sure they support giving SIU millions of dollars for their football and basketball teams. I realize neither was on the City Council when that give away occurred, but it only stands to reason based on her voting record and Maroney's silence on the TIF issue. Here is Carbondale at its worst. The man who bought the old Mary Lou's restaurant building was given $250,000 in tax breaks, the man who built the new Indian restaurant got $275,000. The people building the latest panacea to Carbondale's declining area are getting 1,000,000 in tax breaks. Adams has opposed none of the corrupt giveaway. I am sure you all remember the Stadium Grille? Another place that brought minimum wage service jobs to Carbondale and everyone was so excited, The Stadium Grille was closed within 6 months at a cost to taxpayers of 330,000. Well done. Things are sad when you are hoping Brad Cole runs for Mayor. He is corrupt as they come, but he is at least competent.