Well by now you all are aware we have elected three new mayors in our communities. Jeff Grove in LaSalle, Scott Harl in Peru, and Cliff Banks in Spring Valley. There are those who wonder what caused this and are amazed that three cities with incumbent mayors running for re-election all are under new leadership. To start with those gentlemen who won can send a note of thanks to our “hope and Change” President Barack Obama. Last Fall he created a firestorm which called for change from the status quo and away from the media hated George Bush even though old George wasn’t running. Credit must go to Barack’s campaign people because we bought what they were selling at the time.
Add to that the fact that we are in a down economy (read recession) and the feel of the voting public was “throw the bums out” regardless of who the “bums” are. The former mayor of Spring Valley was correct when he said ”its a tough time to be an incumbent running for reelection!” Its to early to see if this feeling will carry over to next year’s elections (city of Oglesby and state offices) but unless we see a great turnaround in our economy locally and statewide its a good bet there will be upsets again.
Please don’t get the wrong idea and think I am dismissing the elections of our new mayors as a fluke. I am merely pointing out the other factors that help create the “perfect storm” for these gentlemen. It still took good campaigns and good ideas to get people to vote and I applaud the work all of these candidates did to get out the vote.
I had the opportunity to talk to our Mayor Jeff Grove prior to taking the oath of office on Monday night and mentioned to him that soon he would be sworn in and then prepare to be sworn at if the public thinks he’s not answering to their needs fast enough. That’s the nature of politics . We all want quick fixes and instant answers. Unfortunately that world doesn’t exist.
I look forward to working with our new mayor here in LaSalle and I join our surrounding communities in hoping for the best with their new mayors. It may turn out to be a great opportunity for the Illinois Valley to come together and benefit from new leadership and ideas or we may see a change again in four years. That’s the challenge for these men. We wish them godspeed!
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