Beague 'League' forum

From left to right, tiny blurred images of Wissman, Fritzler, Haynes, Simon, David, Jack (off the record, the best restauranteur and promoter of the bunch), Stalls, and Neill, all of whom acquitted themselves well. They did good, as Paula Abdul might say, and I hate to be a Simon Scowl about it, so go 'dogs'. Maybe I should have called this blog "Carbondale Idle." Let's hope they all get record deals in the music business of Carbondale politics. And, if elected...



As Dan Ackroyd said to Jane Curtin? There wasn't much personal exchange between Brad and Maggie in the debate last night, but each of them performed well for the audience in the council chambers and for the live broadcast on the City's cable channel. The forum will also be rebroadcast on CityVision 16 at 7pm on Friday, March 28, and at 1pm on Saturday, March 29.

Madeline S.

Who is M. Stalls? I don't really know, but she'd be a good member of City Council. So would any of the group in the running. Perhaps the council should be expanded to Athenian proportions. You want to talk about a Renaissance vision? This blog isn't really about Stalls, it's about the future of Carbondale's political machinery, about maintaining the talent and vision brought to the table of question and answer. How will Brad Cole include Maggie Flanagan in advancing his goals for the city if he is elected mayor? and vice versa. Clearly, Brad is a young man of integrity, initiative and ideas. (You could say he has three 'i's'.) Maggie on the other hand has more "personality. More magnetism and grand ideas. She's a natural born networker. Brad on the other hand, is a throwback to the 50's. He's like the father on Father Knows Best, with a fair and consistent, 'fiscally responsible' approach to solving problems, and a track record of coming up with innovative ideas and seeing them through. Both would make excellent salespersons for the city. How about co-mayors? Why not? Combine BRad with mAGgie and Carbondale would have something to BRAG about. The city could experience a Renaissance of the expansion and growth of the 50's and the days of Delyte Morris, except the money won't be coming from the state, but from the private sector. You won't find this in any academic book on "Downtown Revitalization." It's Public Relations, and Carbondale needs a ton of it. Not "decorative parking meter shafts" (C.Wissmann's phrase) and banners, but substantive improvements, of the kind envisioned in the pages of this blog.

What about the rest of the candidates? How can THEY be retained as active members of the process. Perhaps they already are, and will be. I still don't know much about Madeline, but she has good ideas for the Northeast part of town.

Doherty not 'against' the idea

My meeting went very well with City Manager, Jeff "No Pictures Please" Doherty (pictured here in "artists" rendering with a calculator in his hand:)



I came away better educated about the dollars and sense of downtown redevelopment. Jeff and I share the same vision of a number of areas, including the value of having a swimming pool in town. And I can see the appeal of a water park on the Superblock. The two have different target markets. In fact, we probably need 3 pools! One in Attucks Park, one near the Life Center on Sunset Dr. and one in the old high school football field and tennis court property. Small pools. The city where I used to reside, Greeley, Colorado has three pools, and many Southern Illinois towns have at least one.

Jeff also agreed with the feasibility of ONB making some of it's parking lot property fronting Illinois Ave. available for commercial lease. I didn't mention the idea of holding an upscale flea market there on Saturdays. And supports a "Restaurant Row" concept. I discussed with him the possiblity of having an outdoor restaurant soiree behind the old train station, and he was cool with that, too. What next? (I'll try to obtain a better drawing of Jeff, since the one above was drawn in 20 seconds during the interview. ;))