In an economy where jobs are a blessing to have, you’d think that local politicians would be more respectful of their responsibility to the taxpayers whom they represent. However, if we look at the dealings of the East St. Louis Township office as well as state Representative Eddie Lee Jackson, quite the opposite is true.
For instance, Rep. Jackson as a House member earns an annual salary of $67,836. But last year, as chairman of the Armed Forces and Military Affairs Committee, Jackson earned an additional $10,326.
The kicker is that Jackson’s committee only met three times (in 2011) for a grand total of 19 minutes and 35 seconds. For you mathematicians, this means that Jackson made approximately $516 per minute for less than 20 minutes of meeting time.
When asked by the Belleville News-Democrat about how much the committee met, Jackson replied, “Not enough” then went on to explain that meetings are based upon items assigned by House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Suffice it to say that Jackson did not feel guilty enough to voluntarily return any portion of the extra $10,326 he pocketed for doing little to nothing. So much for accountability.
Then we have the East St. Louis Township office, which was recently exposed by KTVI reporter Elliot Davis in his infamous “You Paid for It” segment.
Davis revealed that despite state cutbacks in funding and services by the office, administrators and trustees continue to benefit in a major way while oftentimes doing minimal work.
For example, ESL Township Supervisor Oliver Hamilton receives an annual salary of $59,044 and $10,920 in health insurance benefits.
ESL Township Trustees Shirley Lewis, Linda Landrum, Birdie Blackmon, Edith Moore and Township Clerk Henry Longstreet all receive $853 per month to attend monthly meetings, as well as receive $10,920 in health insurance.
Yet, on the day that Davis and the “You Paid for It” cameras paid a surprise visit to one of the monthly township meetings, there weren’t even enough Township administrators and trustees for a quorum, thus canceling the meeting.
Unfortunately, ESL Township Trustees are paid irrespective to whether or not they attend their monthly meetings, which is beyond reprehensible. If you and I don’t show up for work we don’t get paid.
So, it is clear that Township officials feel no obligation to the taxpayers, not even to meet for a couple of hours per month.
And to add insult to injury, Pearson Bush, the Township attorney, had the audacity to allege that “the salaries cannot be reduced” (for Township officials) and, further, that “I don’t think it’s proper.”
This is an insult to the intelligence of ESL taxpayers. In making this statement, Bush assumes that ESL taxpayers are such moronic imbeciles that they don’t have the capacity to understand that ANY salary or perk (especially those paid for by taxpayers) can be reduced.
It is precisely this type of smug and blatant arrogance that is at the very root of why the most disenfranchised continue to receive the least in terms of representation at the state and local levels of government.
And until voters and taxpayers are educated to the point of outrage and reflect that disdain in the voting booth by challenging these “public serpents” that misrepresent them, it will continue to be more of the same.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com, Twitter: @JamesTIngram.
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