While both St. Louis and national media were hailing the election of Mayor-elect Tishaura Jones as the first African-American woman to hold that coveted office, right across the Mississippi River, East St. Louis, IL held a minimally covered, yet significant election.
And while East Boogie’s low-key election of city council, township and school board members may not be the stuff that attracts outside media now, one elected official’s story may very well become a viral news event if my sources prove correct.
I’m speaking specifically of the election of Jo Anne Parks to ESL’s city council. She just happens to be the wife of Alvin Parks, the outgoing ESL township supervisor, former mayor, former city council member and former school district administrator, who also just happens to badly need a job.
That is because Alvin, dating back to 2011, amassed $176,000 in fines from his failure to file campaign contribution reports and was banned from running for elected office by the Illinois State Board of Elections.
This is where Alvin’s wife, Jo Anne Parks, comes in. According to multiple sources, the newly-elected ESL city council has the necessary votes to fire Brooke Smith, the current ESL city manager; not because of malfeasance or incompetence, but for political expediency, also known as “politricks”.
Guess who their rumored pick to replace Smith is? None other than Jo Anne’s boo, Alvin Parks!
For those who are oblivious to this story, Jo Anne Parks has never held political office and has worked for over 30 years for the federal government, most recently being promoted to director of contracts for the Defense Management Agency at Boeing St. Louis.
Now why would a respectable professional, in her own right, suddenly become bitten by the political bug? She claims that she is tired of the way her city is run and that she stayed in the background because Alvin was in the forefront (politically) and because of her demanding career.
Time will tell whether her explanation reflects the view of someone one who seeks to become a true public servant or one who is yet another “public serpent”, whose motivation is to assist in appointing her husband to another stint as a $110,000 per year city manager, a position from which he’d previously been fired.
She could prove me and my sources wrong and simply recuse herself from any vote to terminate the current city manager and from voting to appoint her husband. Now THAT would require integrity and character. But it would also be so unlike the Parks clan.
After all Alvin is no stranger to family hook-ups. His mother Dr. Lillian Parks orchestrated his hiring into a $72,000 a year position with the East St. Louis school district back in 2007.
So, there’s no shame in the Parks nepotism and cronyism game.
However, newly elected Councilwoman Parks has an opportunity to prove that she’s above reproach in her conduct in office or that she’s just another loyal member of the political family clique.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com and Twitter@JamesTIngram
