UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Was this article meant to be journalism or just act as a mouthpiece (“New mayor makes appointments,” May 11)? There are so many unanswered questions that myself, and I would hope other residents, would like answered. I was hoping Scott Reeder would ask some follow-up questions to Mayor Misty Buscher, but it seems that was not the case.
Is the new Public Works director, Dave Fuchs, going to be receiving a greatly reduced salary compared to Nate Bottom’s, considering it sounds like he will be doing nothing with major projects, which is a complete change from the other directors the city has had recently? Nothing was stated on Fuchs’ background. What qualifies him to be director of Public Works?Â
Additionally, is the chief of staff a new position? Or is this taking the place of the deputy mayor position? That would’ve been great to know. What are the chief of staff’s duties going to be?
On the Fire Department: “I’ve just known them a long time, and I thought Chief (Ed) Canny and I had the same vision,” Buscher said. What is the vision she is speaking about? Is this just another broad claim?
How about the fact that Mayor Buscher ran on how unsafe the city is, but now is saying the police union (who supported her) has full faith in Chief Ken Scarlette? What is the disconnect then? Making no changes there seems weird, considering she acted like we lived in a war zone.Â
Let’s hold elected officials accountable. Reeder wrote articles about government transparency and pay-to-play during the election cycle, so I would hope this is Illinois Times’ standard.
John Morris
Springfield
GOVERNMENT STILL WORKS
I enjoyed Karen Witter’s article on her Washington, D.C., trip (“Democracy up close,” May 11). It was very insightful, and at the same time, encouraging that the functions of government are still at work, despite all of the despair that envelopes the daily news cycles.
Greg Hurst
DEMOCRATS DESTROY
I would be curious to know if you have written an article about how Democrats have destroyed our state with their lack of fiscal responsibility. Dick Durbin is one of the biggest culprits. In the beginning of his political career, he was impressive, with independent thoughts and plans. I volunteered for him during one of his campaigns. He lost races until he became a blood brother to The Machine. After that, he won his elections and lost his soul.
Chicago is on the road to becoming the next Detroit. Masses of people are fleeing or dreaming of leaving this state due to its taxation policies, fees, stance on crime and more. Where do we go from here to once again become a fiscally strong state?
Vickie Storm
NOT A MYTH
I am deeply disappointed to find Scott Reeder, a writer I respect, descend into tawdry labor-bashing in his review of a pivotal event in American labor history (The myth of May Day,” May 4).
It’s fair to say that there was plenty of violence, by and against labor, in those decades following the Civil War. It’s the unfortunate nature of human beings to respond to violence with violence. But Haymarket was not a riot, it was a protest, which was beginning to break up when the police arrived. Nobody disputed that the bomb was what killed the policemen; the forensic evidence was not at issue. What was at issue was who threw the bomb – something that to this day is not known.
The real purpose of the trial was to break the back of the labor movement in Chicago by taking out the leadership. It was enough under Illinois law that those arrested could be convicted for having called for violence in the past, although not on this occasion. The evidence, based on eyewitness testimony, was inconclusive, and the jury selection process was very slanted toward getting people who would convict.
This event, which Reeder depicts as a myth and wants to abolish (DeSantis-like) from our history books, is something that needs to be taught and discussed as part of the formative struggle for workers’ rights under a capitalist system.
Jeffrey Hobbs
Springfield
This article appears in Summerguide 2023.
