TANGLED WEB
Try to Google “Sangamon County Democratic Party,” and more than 2,000 addresses appear. The first is the wrong one: www.il-democrats.org/sangamon/. Up until Tuesday, it provided woefully outdated information — unless you’re still interested in candidates from the November 2002 elections.
As of Tuesday, that site now says just one thing: “We have Moved.” The county party’s new address is — take note — www.sangamondems.org/. Unfortunately, the new site doesn’t come up on Google first yet, but that will change with time, says Tara Davlin, the site’s webmistress and hostess.
Davlin, a daughter of Mayor Tim Davlin, runs Davlin Consulting, a Web design firm she operates out of her home on Fayette Avenue in Springfield.
According to state election records, the party paid Davlin a modest $243 for the work. She continues to keeps the site current. “They do not pay me for that,” she says. It’s a characteristic she’s finding common among political Web sites.
Davlin, who’s also a registered freelance lobbyist, manages some other sites and is working on one for the Southern Illinois University Foundation. She recently finished one for her alma mater, Sacred-Heart Griffin.
HOT TUB GOES
Tim Davlin’s current residence at 2917 Cronin, just east of Archer Elevator Road on Springfield’s west side, is for sale by owner, according to a sign posted on its front lawn. The mayor says he hasn’t decided where he’d like to move yet — though he’s leaning toward the same part of town. He also says he’s in no hurry. “Just looking,” he says. “If it took five years to sell, it wouldn’t bother me.”
According to a flier at the property, the asking price for the two bedroom, two bath house, which is owned by the mayor’s brother Kevin, is $139,000. Amenities include a gas fireplace, a finished woodworker’s room in the basement, a master bedroom suite, and a goldfish pond in the back yard. The flier also mentions what does not stay: a lighted flag pole, the refrigerator, a workbench, and, unfortunately, the hot tub.
This article appears in Feb 5-11, 2004.
