Hogue Hall

Hogue Hall is falling apart, badly. That's bad news for Greenville College and for Greenville.

Apparently, renovating Hogue Hall will cost $9 million, and building an entirely new building will cost $8 million. For cost reasons, a new building will most likely be built. Greenville College President James Mannoia wants to receive state funding to rebuild Hogue. You've got to be kidding me.

Greenville College is a PRIVATE college. If it's going to start taking taxpayer money, it needs to return the favor to those hardworking taxpayers and allow them to attend at reduced tuition rates. People who work hard to make a living and pay their taxes are apparently going to pay for Hogue Hall, but most of them wouldn't be able to afford an education there. In fact, some of them wouldn't even be allowed to get an education there: as a Christian college, students must sign affidavits that they are Christians and must adhere to an honor code. It's a great school for those who want to attend-- but it's not a school for atheists or non-Christians, and therefore it shouldn't be relying on the taxpayers (many of whom are atheist, Jews, non-believers, Buddhists, what have you) to pay for its beloved Hogue Hall.

I may not speak for all Greenville College graduates, but I believe that if GC starts accepting taxpayer funding, it should reduce costs for Illinois residents to a tuition more comparable to state schools and it should get rid of the requirement that its students must be Christian. It's not requiring that the taxpayers who will fund Hogue Hall are Christian, so it's not really living up to its core values as a Christian school, is it?

What do I think should be done about Hogue Hall? A capital campaign should be created, just as any college or university does, which will alums to donate money for the cause. If alums will donate for anything, they'll donate to rebuild Hogue Hall. GC has proven in the past that it has some alumni with deep, deep pockets. It's time for those alums to open their own pockets and not expect every tax-paying citizen in the state to do right by their alma mater.

Because he loves to waste taxpayer dollars without their consent, Governor Rod Blagojevich (AKA Blago) has promised Mannoia that state funding for GC will be included in a capital bill. Why not, indeed? Blago himself has no concept of money and spends nearly these promised millions in just a couple weeks of flying back and forth to Chicago from Springfield every day. He has no concept of stewardship over the taxpayers' accounts-- rather, he just reaches in for what he can get for himself and what he can promise to those lucky enough to get to chat with him.

Greenville City Council Participates in Eminent Domain!

I was dismayed to read the Letter to the Editor from Norma Ramsey published in the Greenville Advocate on April 8. Ramsey brings up a number of excellent points regarding a proposed second lake for Greenville. The Greenville City Council should be ashamed of themselves for even thinking of taking this woman's farm away from her.

Ramsey bring up some very interesting points about this $48 million lake, which the Greenville City Council mysteriously avoided through public forums and in newspaper interviews. Conveniently. Why does the City of Greenville have the right to take away land from a woman who doesn't live in the city limits? If I recall correctly, those who live outside city limits and want city water--even the water that comes from the lake right beside them, Governor Bond Lake-- are charged TWICE what Greenville customers pay. So if Greenville had their way, they would take this woman's farm away and then charge her double for the water if she wanted it. What a slap in the face.

Ramsey explains how she has lived in LaGrange Township in Bond County her whole life except for one fall, and how she and her husband have owned the property in question and farmed it, working long hours, for over 35 years. Greenville now wants the bottom half of her property for their $48 million gift to AmerenIP.

Ramsey justly questions why Greenville has not looked into other options such as raising the current lake dam or dredging Governor Bond, even limiting the number of boats on the lake to prevent soil erosion. These are all interesting ideas that I've heard nary a mention of from the council.

Ramsey also mentions that the city hasn't taken proper care of the current lake.

She concludes by saying, "Now I know how the Indians felt when this land was taken away by the white men." Yes, governments have been up to no good for centuries, and Greenville, Illinois is no different.

Lesson learned, Greenville: you must get involved in national politics, such as eminent domain abuse, because the rooster comes home to roost, and Greenville has decided to take your land away if it sets in a desirable location.

Beer at the Bond County Fair?

The Greenville VFW has requested special permits to sell beer outside the Bond County Fairgrounds during the fair. Personally, I think that Greenville should amend its in-city ban on alcohol and allow restaurants to serve it (ever wondered why Greenville doesn't have any good restaurants, while Vandalia and similar-sized cities do? There's your answer!) Because of this, I thought it was maybe a good idea.

I really don't think so, though.

Joyce Alexander brings up an excellent point in the April 8th edition of The Advocate. The VFW will take all the proceeds from their sales, but they won't be paying for extra security at the fair, or for more police officers who deal with more unruliness. It may increase attendance, but at what cost?

Let's get alcohol in restaurants in Greenville where it belongs and keep it away from the Fair!

Greenville's Taxing-and-Spending School Administrators

I found myself agreeing with two letters to the editor in the March 25 edition of The Greenville Advocate. Nona Ennen and Carla Maples both write in to complain about (in Ennen's case) the specifics of the district purchasing the former LPL Financial building for the princely sum of $250,000 and (in the case of Maples) the general fact that the school district seems to have a severe case of the gimmes-- gimme more, gimme better, gimme different, gimme taxes to pay for it.

I agree that the school district has more pressing needs than a brand spanking new office for the superintendent and other administrators. I also think that if a new office was needed, a less expensive solution could have been found than stealing away the LPL Financial building (for a price so high that LPL doesn't even have a building now, they took that price and ran!) Melanie Allyn makes upwards of $100,000 a year, but the vast majority of Greenville-ites do not. In fact, for many people in Greenville, $250,000 would be their salary for five years-- if they're very lucky and make $50,000 a year. For most people in Greenville, that might be 10 or 20 years' worth of salary. Maples points out in her letter that Greenville currently has a high unemployment rate and a low income and our tax dollar stewards-- AKA administrators-- need to therefore monitor their expenditures very carefully, and I concur with her assessment.

Most students in Greenville don't even live in a house that costs $100,000, let alone $250,000. Most teachers don't even break $40,000 or $50,000 even after many years of loyal service to the district. I really have to shake my head at what the school board and administration is doing these days, and I'm glad there are other people in Greenville who have not yet gone off the deep end either and agree that something is wrong with this picture and our tax dollars are being wasted.

We all need to remember this when it comes time to elect the school board-- they did not seek public input on this decision, yet they will ask for a tax raise this year as they do every year. Let's throw 'em out.

Pocahontas' "Morals Code"?

It will be good news for the town if Pocahontas does manage to finally get what seems to be an exciting business, Mark Owensby's and Tom Stiles' proposed shooting range. However, The Advocate reports that Pocahontas had to amend its "public morals and conduct code" in order for planning for the range to commence.

What exactly is included in Pocahontas' "public morals code"? Why would a village/town have such a code in the first place? Finally, why would having an indoor shooting range violate that code in any way-- presumably, those attending the shooting range are learning how to shoot in self-defense of their homes or property. What did the writers of Pocahontas' "morals code" have against that?

Skateboarding

I was glad to see The Advocate tackle the thorny issue of skateboarding in Greenville. Kids want to do it, and adults don't want them to do it anywhere near their property.

In my opinion, the discouragement of skateboarding in Greenville leads the kids into other activities that may not be quite so wholesome, such as drinking, having sex (need I remind you about all the teenage and out-of-wedlock parents traipsing through the maternity ward at Greenville Regional?) and taking drugs. This was a problem when I was in high school and it seems to be more of a problem today. Do you want to encourage moral activities like skateboarding, or do you want to ban it everywhere and get these kids involved in bad stuff? I guarantee they're not going to sit around their houses knitting once they're banned from skateboarding.

I was particularly discouraged to see a sign banning skateboarding at the First Christian Church in Greenville. Why not just put up a sign saying, "We accept no liability for any sort of accident you're involved in on church property from skateboarding" and let the kids have a bit of fun?

I'm glad the Kingsbury Park District is looking into building a skate park, but I suspect the cost is going to keep increasing way above $100,000, just as all their projects do. Why exactly is $100,000 needed for this? Just throw up a few half-pipes (such as that that was once found at Agape) and let the kids go at it. They'll have a ball without the $100k pricetag.