REWARDING UNIONS
This is less about trying to solve job vacancies and more about fulfilling campaign promises made to unions ("City's employee residency requirement could be suspended," Nov. 2). Misty Buscher made the claim that if Springfield elected her, she would "sell Springfield." Well, it sounds like she's fulfilling that promise by selling Springfield to Chatham, Rochester and Sherman, because they will be the only winners from this proposed moratorium.
Arthur Dunkin
WHO CARES?
This is a good move for the city, in my opinion. When I call the fire department, police department or CWLP for assistance, I personally don't care where the employee lives. I care that the employee is qualified to do the job and not just an employee because they happen to live in the city limits and nobody else was available who fit that requirement.
There are so many holes in the doughnut: Leland Grove, Jerome, Grandview, unincorporated areas, etc. When the last storm hit, imagine if we would have only accepted help from people who reside in the city – unthinkable. We don't require retirees to live in the city in order to be eligible to earn a pension payment, why require workers to live here to be eligible?
I look forward to this passing, because if I am reading the tea leaves correctly, the votes are there to make this silly residency requirement a thing of the past.
Terry Young
MULTIPLE FAILURES
As someone who has worked with grants, it is incumbent on the granting agency to provide a grant monitor to assist the grantees with the proper and auditable documentation ("Cannabis business grant recipients push back on audit claims," Nov. 2). If this was the case, then the failure is with the monitor and the management of the grant monitor. Moreover, in most audit experiences, there are meetings held to correct and/or provide context to the initial findings. An auditor can only audit what is provided to them – things are lost, forgotten or misunderstood. Seems this was also not done; both should have been requested and expected by the city.
Allowing the damaging language to be published this way without having the proper controls in place allowed the public to demonize the recipients when they were not guided nor counseled prior to publishing the audit. This seems to be only half of the story.
Jen Aholt
Springfield
NO TO NUCLEAR
If people think nuclear is a good idea, have them look at the Clinton power plant ("Beware the nuclear industry bearing gifts," Nov. 2). It was billions and billions over cost and hundreds of millions has been spent to keep it from closing.
Jim Valentine
Springfield
TOO MUCH TAX
We recently went to Walmart to get contributions for the Coats for Kids program held by Green Family Stores and News Channel 20. We got the warmest ones we could find, which cost a little more, but we could afford them. At the cash register I learned something that bothers me a lot. There was a 10% tax on the coats.
Again, I could afford it, but I remember a time when I was raising two little kids and living from check to check. Keeping them fed and warm was difficult. A lost mitten was a crisis. If we don't believe that parents live like that in Springfield today, what would be the need for Coats for Kids?
I looked into this tax robbery and found: Illinois state tax, 6.25%; Sangamon County tax, 1%; Springfield tax, 2.5%; and another 1% for Central Business special tax (kind of like your cellphone bill, who knows what the heck it's for).
Springfield has the highest sales tax compared to 90% of other Illinois localities. As I look around me, I don't see a darn thing being done with this tax money that is worth more than keeping a little kid warm.
Martha Miller
Springfield
CORREX
In last week's cover story, "This I Believe Illinois," Leilani Essien's photo was used twice and Sofia Flick's was omitted.
