And while the arguments on the other side are also compelling (worker displacement, no cost savings, some disruption at IDOT), what is starting to bother me is that the Governor is now, in effect, pitting one part of the state against another. A bus (or busses) from Harrisburg are bringing people up here tomorrow to show support for the move at a hearing on the proposed move. Of course, Springfieldians will also be there to root for our community. Great. Maybe we can have a mock Civil War battle reenactment to decide the winner.Then there’s this similar situation pitting north-central Illinois against northwestern Illinois:
The departure of IDOT’s traffic safety division from Springfield would have little direct impact on Pontiac, but McCoy wants to stay informed because his city faces the prospect of a similar loss.This just seems like a bad idea. Don’t relocate existing facilities. Build new ones as the need arises in other communities if you like, but pitting communities against each other is unnecessarily divisive and lacks leadership.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich wants to shut down the Pontiac Correctional Center and, in effect, replace it with a new prison at Thomson in northwestern Illinois that never has been fully utilized.
5 comments:
I really dont have a dog in this fight, but I think what the governor is doing is wrong and mean spirited.
He is playing with peoples' lives here. Only a scumbag would do something like this.
I would not have a problem if the state opened a brand new division or office in Harrisburg but to simply move jobs from one part of the state to another just for political purposes shows what a piece of shit he and his Chicago ilk really is.
dave how can you be so heartless? Did you not see the videos posted at the SJ-R? State jobs are not like serving in the army, where you pack up and move whenever the government tells ya. Darn to heck Dave, watch the vids and get a heart. Just kiddin :)
Any hoot, I am puzzled. I do not want to seem heartless, because I am all for the "disabled" working and living independently, but I was reading somewhere (I think the SJ-R) where someone works for the state and has someone assist him in doing his job. Doesnt that kinda defeat the purpose and why are we paying two people to do the job of one? (Of course, that could be said of abled bodied people)...
In fact I'm for outsourcing all State of Illinois jobs to India. They'll work for peanuts compared to state workers, we won't have to pay them any benefits, or pensions.
And if they get pesky and try to unionize we can always move operations to China.
Not one city in this state has a right to have state jobs located in it - having agreed to that - I say let's move the whole operation to India.
LRS here in town has a healthy number of Indians right here in Springfield who could "assist" in the transition - so it's something that could be started almost immediately.
It's not like Americans aren't used to sharing their social security numbers, dates of birth, mother's maiden names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, insurance policy numbers, investment account numbers, the names of their spouses, children, the amount of their assets, and debts, - essentially every possible aspect of their lives with data centers in India.
So why not move our government there too?
Think of the money we'll save!
Oh yes, and we can send that God Dammed Blogobitch over there too.
Like I've said repeatedly, if this were a one-time thing, proposed by a rational and trustworthy governor, and there was some logical reason to believe that Traffic Safety would be able to serve the public more effectively by moving, I'd be for it.
As it is I'm totally against it because 1) Blago has said it's only the beginning of a trend of moving state jobs around; 2) he's neither rational nor trustworthy, 3) Traffic Safety personnel travel all over the state, and local officials come to them, so it makes sense for them to be centrally located.
I also think this does emphasize the urgent need for Springfield to develop a more diversified economy that isn't so dependent upon state jobs.
By the way, where did you find that map that makes it look as if there is some kind of rugged mountain range up around Galena, Freeport and Rockford?
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