Four hours into last week’s hearing about
relocating a state facility from Springfield to Harrisburg, enthusiasm on
the part of Illinois transportation-safety employees hadn’t
diminished.
Packed into the first few rows of seats in the
Capitol rotunda, some of them chomping on fistfuls of popcorn, the
neon-green-clad workers intermittently whooped, hollered, and booed as they
followed the proceedings on a giant screen.
As much as the phrase “This is not about
Springfield versus Harrisburg” is uttered, the arrangement of
Springfield boosters on one side of the chamber and plum-shirted citizens
of Harrisburg on the other, suggested otherwise.
In September, the bipartisan legislative Commission
on Government Forecasting and Accountability delivers its recommendation on
whether to take 140 jobs from Springfield, which is experiencing its
highest unemployment numbers in almost two decades, and give them to
Harrisburg, where a 10 percent joblessness rate eclipses the state average.
Local opposition to the move, which, IDOT estimates,
will cost Sangamon County $295,000 per year in economic production, has
been fierce and fueled largely by mistrust of Gov. Rod Blagojevich. During
the COGFA hearing, state Rep. Rich Brauer, R-Petersburg, derided
Blagojevich, who did not attend.
“What a cruel situation, what a cruel thing for
a governor to do to come out, make a position — you’re either
going to win or you’re either going to lose. That’s not
fair,” Brauer said.
If Springfield wins, the loser will be Saline County,
in southeastern Illinois, which, according to the transportation
department, stands to gain close to 250 jobs and a $12 million boost to the
regional economy. IDOT plans to purchase and remodel a building at the
proposed Harrisburg site, which currently houses the Southeastern Illinois
College Foundation, for about $800,000, compared with the $1.7 million
taxpayers now pay to rent the IDOT annex, located at 3215 Executive Park
Dr.
Milton R. Sees, IDOT’s director, has
characterized the proposed “geographic relocation” as a win-win
for all parties, having a “negligible” effect on Springfield.
The city of Springfield, he maintains, won’t lose property taxes
because the taxes will continue to be paid by to California-based
Government Property Fund LLC, which owns the annex building. He also noted
that 13 employees in the division have already transferred to other
agencies.
“We can help them [Harrisburg] without hurting
the economy of Sangamon County,” Sees said.
In response to Sees’ testimony that Blagojevich
has publicly stated, but not guaranteed in writing, that Springfield
workers’ jobs will be protected, state Rep. Richard Meyers, R-Macomb,
offered: “We’ve heard his public statements before.”
Myers’ remark elicited such applause that the
clapping of rotunda audience members could be heard inside the second-floor
meeting room.
Brauer, sitting in for state Rep. Patricia Bellock,
R-Westmont, also wanted to know whether relocating the office will increase
productivity and whether stimulating economic development in the state is
part of IDOT’s mission.
“In terms of efficiencies, I do not think that
the geographic location of that particular operation is directly linked to
its ability to be effective,” Sees said.
He added: “Our highway system and our
transportation network is the very lifeblood of the economy of the state of
Illinois. Without our roads and bridges, there is no Illinois economy in my
opinion.”
Contact R.L. Nave at rnave@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 6, 2008.
