Not to stick my nose between Mr. Chris and Horsey but here's a little food for thought.
There is a difference between a political machine and machine politics. In the old days, a power group did indeed control Madison County and most of the cities, townships and school districts within. Jobs were usually given to those on the "inside". Deals were cut to benefit areas or people. Was it wrong? It seemed to have worked when we had a man who was strong enough and smart enough to know how to manage it. My friend Nellie was smart enough to spread the wealth to all areas and made Madison County the strength of southern Illinois. His successors have failed in most every way. Rudy Papa, Dunstan, both wanna be power brokers but neither smart enough or strong enough to do it.
What I see going on now in Pontoon is a mayor who is getting things done. I've watched and seen a new hotel go up, a veteran's memorial park being built and an aggressive action in response to flooding. He apparently has the support of his board and the vast majority of the people in his community. That might be considered a political machine because it works like a good machine. They're getting things done. Do they hand out jobs like the machine politics? No, there aren't that many to hand out in a small community. Does that mayor consider himself a "power broker"? I don't see that he does. What power would he have?
Conversely in your township you have buffoons similar to those in the county who want to be powerful but don't have the smarts to put it together. These guys want the machine politics but will never have them. They're merely a bunch of loose cannons running amuck with no plan, no foresight and no class.
I'll take the kind of leadership that Pagano seems to be offering his people. I think his interest is in improving the town where he lives. Hopefully I'm on target with my thoughts.
on April 9, 2017, 3:54 pm