Applause, applause for Jeff Leidel. Rarely has an editor of The Greenville Advocate stood up directly to the city council and the mayor-- that relationship is usually pretty cozy. However, he has been willing to question their actions when the occasion warrants it.
Our latest ridiculous situation is that of the $5,000 "pat on the back" awarded to Lisa Stephens, who was given the plum created-just-for-Her Royal Highness of "Assistant City Manager." Greenville never had one of those before, and the position was created to increase economic development in the city.
(One note about this: our current City Manager, Dave Willey, God bless him, is not full-time at the city manager's job. He owns and operates the Globe Theatre, which presumably takes up at least some of his day. He said when taking the job that he would be able to handle all the duties associated with it while also owning a city business. The city council apparently didn't agree because they then specifically created the assistant city manager's job for Lisa Stephens.)
Editor Leidel writes in his editorial that the city council did not discuss the $5,000 bonus payment given to Stephens for a "job well done." They just approved it without a discussion. He wonders why someone making $59,000 a year plus benefits already would need an extra bonus just for doing her job. Good on you, Jeff, pleased that you're actually trying to keep the Greenville oligarchy accountable. One of my parents has worked close to 45 years in a job in our fair city, and despite exceeding for all those years, has never gotten a bonus.
Mr. Willey probably doesn't give out bonus payments to his cashiers and baristas for making great popcorn and coffee-- that's what they're actually paid to do in their job, after all. Why, then, does he insist on giving away YOUR money to pay Lisa Stephens, who lives in one of the fanciest houses in Greenville anyway (and I hear her husband Rep. Ron Stephens isn't doing too badly on his taxpayer salary either-- together these two are raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in salary, all on the taxpayer!) Hey, maybe she'll let us all into her house on the annual Greenville Women's Club "Home Tour," where we can see what baubles and fancy things she's bought with her $5,000 bonus! Meanwhile, the rest of us will just try to scrape by with our ever-increasing property taxes this year and hope we can make it.
Speaking of Lisa Stephens, I have a friend who says that she once saw Lisa Stephens (or Princess Lisa, as some might call her) hit my friend's car with the Stephens van as my friend was walking out of the Dairy Queen. Stephens didn't look for damage or anything, just away she went without a note or apparently a care in the world. From what I know, that's a felony and not something a nice person does. My friend is pretty reliable, and says she didn't report it because there was no damage and she didn't want to get herself in a public "situation" with Stephens (obviously cozy enough with city government that they even just created a position out of thin air for her) or her husband Ron Stephens, Greenville's representative in the Illinois General Assembly. Now, my friend is struggling to pay her property taxes which are much less than Stephens' "bonus"!
Heck, my friend's entire car cost less than Ms. Stephens' little economic stimulus package. I guess she figured as she slammed into my friend's car, Hey, these people pay my salary and my bonus, why should they care if I hit their car?
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