Weekend Round-Up

Thank you sir, may I have another. . .

. . . State of Illinois pension, that is.

This email announcement from the Chamber of Commerce earlier this week:

We have a new face at the Chamber of Commerce. Samantha Miles, a Payson native and a senior business administration major at Culver-Stockton College, is serving as our intern for the month of December. If you call or visit the office, please introduce yourself and your company. Samantha will help us fulfill the responsibilities of Sherry Sparks, who finished her work with the Chamber on Monday to accept a position at the Illinois Department of Employment Security. We will miss Sherry and wish her the best of luck.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when Gary Sparks stepped up to take the bullet for the local machine by taking responsibility for the Murhpy hire without doing a background check? From QuincyNews:

Sparks said he did not do a background check on Murphy as he had good reports from city department heads regarding Murphy's contract work for an extended period of time at the city.

Sparks said he had no knowledge of Murphy's theft conviction in Bloomington in 1993.

Was this new position the reward for protecting Scholz and Spring? I'm sure the IDES job Sparks' wife landed was advertised and all local citizens had a fair shot at it. This makes at least FOUR taxpayer funded pensions for just two people from one family. And the nepo-patronage machine rolls on, rewarding itself along the way. It's high time for some changes around here.

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Quincy Heavyweights

Every news organization in town was on the story of a four person sales office for Nautel opening in Quincy. All the employees already worked in Quincy, so a zero net job gain. But the Whig decided to double down on it's front page announcement, with a second article taking a nostalgic look at the charm and RFness of the community, asking the question:

This appears to be a company serious about muscling into the competitive world of radio frequency products, with Quincy heavyweights Harris and Broadcast Electronics among them.

You think the mayor, the head of the chamber of commerce, local media, business associates and bagpipes would have welcomed Nautel to Chicago?

I'd say probably not for many reasons, but here's a better question along the same David vs Goliath storyline. Where were the local media and bagpipes for another little guy company competing with the local media heavyweights? The Whig should do a story on that. One advantage of the multitude of coverage was that we were treated to yet another Mentestism. This, from QuincyNews.org:

"The recognition of Quincy, the home of Parker Gates, founder of Gates Radio, and the location of a cluster of world class broadcast equipment companies and talent by a company of Nautel's stature confirms the economic strength of our community and region as a place high tech companies can prosper."

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Has anyone seen the FBI yet?

The mayor of Collinsville, IL has his own blog (HT Respublica). A great idea you won't see from the current administration at Quincy City Hall. The IT Department is far too busy updating soccer scores and combating hackers, and the Spring regime doesn't seem to be real big on open government. I wouldn't be surprised if you have to file a FOIA request to find out the phone number for the police department. Compare the Collinsville city website's business section with Quincy's.

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What's the opposite of progressiveness?

No week would be complete without a quotable quote from the Mayor of Quincy. There were plenty to choose from as Hizzoner granted interviews to local media outlets this week including, and get this, QuincyNews.org.

An old joke asks the question, "if pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of progress? ". In announcing his bid for re-election Spring laid claim to being on the side of progressiveness. This was a bold move on his part, leaving his opponent with few choices to oppose him. Spring also managed to include my personal favorite word of his, "collaborative". Enjoy this soon to be classic from the QHW:

"I'm a big proponent of progressiveness, and I think keeping Quincy moving forward is what I'm most proud of," he said. "I've really enjoyed the opportunity to work with people in an inclusive and collaborative way, starting with the City Council. I really feel like we have a great relationship."