Eight years ago, East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks was elected on a campaign pledge of “Life More Abundantly,” promising jobs, beautification of ESL and the attraction of businesses, based upon his relationship with St. Clair County powerbrokers.
Eight years later, ESL’s downtown businesses are fewer than when he took office, no significant businesses have opened and the same old eyesores remain for the disgust of anyone riding the MetroLink trains through East Boogie.
Parks’ ineptitude has often been front page news.
His brother-in-law, Rocco Goins, was hired as director of the Emergency Service Disaster Agency, only to leave in disgrace after botching the response to major toxic powder spill and losing the accreditation for the service.
Parks’ hand-picked deputy liquor commissioner, Walter Hill, was sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to extorting sex, booze and money from ESL business owners, as well as lying to the FBI.
Then there was the would-be fraudster, Frederick Scott, a fast-talking 25-year-old “financial prodigy” who captured the imagination of Parks and the ESL City Council. Parks and the council voted to give him exclusive acquisition and development rights for the ESL riverfront. All he wanted in exchange was a measly $300, 000 salary and the title of “fiscal manager.” Good thing that deal fell through, because Scott now resides in a federal prison for attempting a similar fraudulent scheme in New York.
Now, just in time for the April 7 municipal elections, Parks is holding so-called town hall meetings with PowerPoint dog-and-pony shows, proposing 10,000 seat amphitheaters and a broad array of businesses, from grocers to restaurants and hardware stores.
Parks has promised progress, but only delivered rhetoric, over the past eight years, making these town hall meetings a campaign stunt to divert attention away from the fact that he is facing serious challenges from opponents Councilwoman Emeka-Jackson Hicks and businessman Courtney Hoffman.
If Parks’ results were as abundant as his rhetoric, then ESL would look like Times Square in New York City, instead of Afghanistan after a bombing campaign.
Hoffman seems like a decent gentleman, but lacks the proper political experience and background that ESL needs to get the ball rolling.
Hicks has served on the ESL City Council, has state-wide connections through her father, State Rep. Eddie Jackson, but is an independent thinker regarding politics and her vision for East St. Louis.
Email jtingram_1960@yahoo.com; Twitter@JamesTIngram.
