For the St. Louis American James T. Ingram
As you know, I already have my doubts as to whether East St. Louis will ever overcome its propensity for screwing up even the simplest of services or overcoming the criminality that repeatedly rears its ugly head.
And even if I was beginning to hope for the best, the month of September pretty much spat on my optimism.
Labor Day weekend underscored the ineptitude and inability of the Mayor Alvin Parks administration to even give a consistent account of events to media and ESL residents.
On that weekend, a toxic powder spill sent eight workers from Ro-Corp, Inc. (a “chemical wholesaler”) to area hospitals for treatment.
Yet, Mayor Parks (who never saw a TV camera that he didn’t like) quickly reported that there was “no need for anyone to be concerned.” City Manager Robert Betts must have missed that memo, because he hastily reported to media outlets that two Ro-Corp workers had died (a statement which he, later, retracted and apologized for).
Rocco Goins, emergency services director (and brother-in-law of Mayor Parks) threw the city manager under the bus by claiming that “no one at any point was authorized to confirm anything.
This begs the question: did it even occur to these three knuckleheads to confer (in order to get the story straight) before blabbering to the media? Sounds simple, huh? Not for them.
Secondly, Mayor Parks should realize that if a toxic spill was serious enough to hospitalize eight workers, then there was sufficient cause for concern by any rational, thinking citizen of ESL.
And the unsubstantiated claim of two deaths by Betts was reckless, irresponsible and thoughtless. Imagine being the next of kin, awaiting word on the status of the hospitalized workers. Then, Betts opens his big mouth with such erroneous information. The worst part is that Betts refused to even say where the bogus information originated.
Let’s not forget Rocco “You’re doing a helluva job” Goins. For the record, as emergency services director (a job for which he has zero qualifications) it would be his job to confirm everything, given that this was an emergency situation…DUHH!
Maybe the embarrassment of all eight workers having to go to four St. Louis area hospitals (because ESL’s Kenneth Hall Regional was incapable of dealing with such a disaster) clouded their judgment.
Moving on to the illustrious ESL Fire Department, where it was reported that 14-year veteran Deandre Page, 39 (who also moonlights as a licensed practical nurse at Cahokia Nursing and Rehabilitation), was arraigned on federal charges of maintaining a drug house.
Evidence included 12 pounds of marijuana, cocaine, scales and bundles of cash all sitting right next to Page’s fireman’s jacket. Now that’s what I call multi-tasking!
Quite naturally, Page pleaded not guilty. But his November 18 trial before Judge G. Patrick Murphy probably won’t be very pretty. Particularly since Page’s co-defendant, Montrez Field (who remains in federal custody), and Page have been ordered to avoid contacting each other (or any alleged victims, witnesses, etc.) prior to the trial.
Can you say “let the snitching begin”? Mr. Page might as well start saying his goodbyes.
However, the most disappointing aspect of this travesty is that ESL Fire Chief Mario Fennoy insists on hiding behind the good old “it’s a personnel matter” excuse, without disclosing Page’s employment status.
To be clear, allegations of this nature ARE the business of every taxpayer in ESL who, incidentally, pay Fennoy’s and Page’s salaries.
ESL citizens have the right to be outraged if an alleged dope dealer (who fights fires in his spare time – at taxpayer’s expense) is allowed to remain on the payroll while he awaits trial.
Page should be suspended, without pay, until the outcome of his trial is known. If he wins, then he can always be compensated for back wages.
These “public disservices” from ESL City Hall to the Fire Department are reprehensible, indefensible and an embarrassment to any one with a sense of pride in the City of East St. Louis.
In fact, it’s one of the reasons that ESL’s population continues to dwindle year after year, despite the hype and propaganda of Mayor Parks.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com.