View From the Receiving End

While the proposed move of IDOT jobs fom Springfield to Southern Illinois is wildly unpopular here, it does have some support there:

HARRISBURG - A coordinated effort is under way in Saline County to demonstrate support for the governor's recent decision to move the Illinois Department of Transportation Traffic Safety Division from Springfield to Harrisburg.

That show of demonstration comes in the form of a July 31 bus trip from Harrisburg to Springfield as organized by State Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton,, state Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, the Southeastern Illinois College Foundation, Saline County government and Harrisburg city officials.

The Southern Illinois contingent will voice its opinion on the economic development role the move will play, as well as the attributes of the region.

"This is a call to action," said Harrisburg Mayor Valerie Rose Mitchell. "I'm excited about this opportunity for the region. The governor has our full support in his effort to reduce expenditures by the decentralization of government functions."

However, the version of this story that appeared yesterday afternoon online had a number of comments that were negative. Those comments are now gone for some reason. While it’s not possible to know where those commenters live, I’m guessing most were from Southern Illinois. Those negative comments were mostly either blasting the local pols for their subservience to the governor or sympathetic to the plight of the Springfield IDOT workers and their families. The funniest one lamented the poor Springfield workers who would have to move to Harrisburg and not somewhere more palatable like Marion or Carbondale.