East St. Louis needs its own TV show and I’m willing to produce it. I already write about it so I might as well get paid network money, right?
And I’ve got an abundance of material. Forget about “Empire,” “Power” or “Scandal.” “East Boogie” the TV show would be a ratings blockbuster.
Just consider the events of the past few months and weeks. Back in April, Emeka Jackson-Hicks defeated two-term mayor Alvin Parks, signaling a change of course for ESL city government.
Mayor Jackson-Hicks then fired City Manager Deletra Hudson, replacing her with friend and Alabama native Traycee Chapman, who then replaced the police chief as well as other appointed officials at the behest of Jackson-Hicks.
Jackson-Hicks then conducted a series of town hall meetings, rolling out her transition plan, warning of impending layoffs, including police and firemen (due to a $5.7 million budget deficit resulting from declining Casino Queen tax revenues). She held a press conference, stating, “We found waste, abuse, theft and neglect of the city’s resources.”
Then the ESL City Council – feeling that the mayor had summarily thrown them under bus – called a special council meeting. They fired City Manager Traycee Chapman and rehired none other than Alvin Parks as city manager.
They are paying Parks $100,000 per year (twice his previous salary as mayor) and giving him more power than the mayor (since the city manager handles the actual day-to-day management of ESL city government).
Talk about a comeback, payback and revenge.
Who cares what the voters think when we can just hijack the electoral process in East Boogie?
But the plot begins to thicken when, just last week, three FBI agents waltzed into the ESL police department.
According to Parks, he felt that they might be stopping through, albeit unannounced, to offer a helping hand with East Boogie’s police department (yeah, right).
However, the feds also paid a “friendly visit” to the Department of Regulatory Affairs. FBI Special Agent Charles A. Willenborg even served newly elected City Treasurer Charlotte Moore with a summons, ordering her to appear before a federal grand jury on September 22, regarding the city’s towing program records during her predecessor Joe Lewis’ tenure.
All the more reason why, given the strained relationship between the mayor, city manager, city council and the sheer goofiness of Parks, I could write two seasons worth of shows just off of the current drama in East Boogie.
Stay tuned. Between the FBI’s investigation and the grand jury alone, “East Boogie” the TV show could be a ratings jackpot.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com; Twitter@JamesTIngram.
