Talk about dropping the ball. Once again Granite City sits in the dark. You ride through town and you don't even know it's Christmas time. There was a committee formed by a local elderly woman named Nina Jackson who was given the task to organize a Christmas decorating mission that was to plan and organize fundraising events, to raise the necessary funds to purchase new decorations for the city to hang on the electric poles.

This woman (who struggles with health issues) worked like a dog at the encouragement of mayor Parkinson to pull off the impossible. One single elderly woman, along with her husband and 5 or 6 committee members did just that. They worked non stop since the spring of 2024 and raised thousands of dollars, an impressive large amount of money to order these decorations and have them arrive in time to be displayed for this Christmas season.

She went above and beyond and more than did her part, her and her husband both. You would think with the amount of funds being used to buy up properties throughout the downtown area and being put towards other projects like the Mill building hiring bands and other acts, that the plans to prepare and hang these brand-new Christmas decorations would have been a priority.

Obviously not. Her efforts of racing the calendar and clock for this Christmas season were all for nothing. She, her husband and committee of volunteers did their part and more, but the mayor dropped the ball. He, just like Mrs. Jackson knew what kind of time frame they were facing. The mayor and many others knew that there was no electric supply boxes put in place when the poles were replaced from the old wooden poles. (HOW MANY YEARS AGO)?

This situation was ignored until the FINAL HOUR and now it's too late. The electric is STILL not in place to light the new pole decorations. This situation and the people of the city's inner circle making excuses for this selfish blunder on the part of the city, should be ashamed of themselves! There is NO excuse good enough. I don't care what they had to "order" and what they had to "assemble", no excuse! Plans could have been put in place at the same time Mrs. Jackson was handed this task, to ready these poles in preparation for the Christmas season. But instead, attention was once again focused deep down in the "district" to decorate old abandoned buildings that have set vacant for decades. Decorations in old store fronts sitting on streets that are barely even traveled for lack of draw to that particular area. Money, time, effort made a priority in an effort to attempt to clean that decrepit area up and make presentable, but NOT one of the busiest and most traveled streets Madison Avenue in the city.

The city dropped the ball, the mayor dropped the ball. This electric situation should have been addressed early spring as soon as the committee started organizing. People are sick to death of the focus of attention being on that damned area while the rest of the city decays. Don't even start that Tiff district talk and the special grant talk, not when THOUSANDS are being spent on special interest projects and goals.

The city owes Nina Jackson, her husband and the committee a huge apology for allowing this to happen. Even after her disappointment of not seeing her decorations lit for the season, she is still defending the mayor over this mistake and his lack of attention to insure this didn't happen. He was fully aware of the electric situation of these poles and has been for years, and her concern is for people to not hold him responsible for DROPPING THE BALL. This is one gracious and forgiving lady.