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East St. Louis in the News
Nothing is static in East St. Louis. Buildings we photographed in June
were burned down by the end of August. Housing projects with gaping windows were boarded
up. The Hughes Quinn Junior High School was closed and boarded. The adult evening school
was moved and the old Park School site boarded up. The sidewalk project on Missouri Avenue
from Collinsville Avenue to the Federal Building progressed. Vandalized schools were
repaired. There hardly is a day that East St. Louis is not on the front page of the area
dailies. Then there was the ridiculous news St. Clair County Circuit Court Judge Roger
Scrivner had given City Hall to a creditor!
To keep this book as current as we can, we capsulate the news that has
occurred since we began preparation of this book last Memorial Day and is not covered
elsewhere.
 | Sept. 27 Judge Scrivner awarded East St. Louis City Hall and the Alcoa property deeded
to the city to Walter DeBow, who was awarded a $3.4 million judgment against the city in
1985 for permanent brain damage suffered when the man was beaten in the city jail. That
award also was by Judge Scrivner. The city issued $5.2 million in bonds to pay DeBow who
would receive more than $4 million in annual installments including interest until the
year 2003. DeBow's attorney, Clyde Kuehn, went back to court arguing that the bonds, not
marketable, were worth only $2.8 million and asking the judge to award DeBow the real
estate to make up the difference. Eric Vickers, attorney for the city, said the city has
never missed a monthly interest payment of $20,000 on the bonds, already had paid DeBow
$656,000 in bond money in the last three years. Judge Scrivner authorized quitclaim deeds
transferring the property to DeBow, and Kuehn in turn "sold" it to a blind
trust. A quitclaim deed quits the claim of the issuing party, but does not necessarily
negate the claims of other parties, a question that has not been raised. The city hall
cost about $10 million, was financed in a major part with federal funds, and the other
land has a possible value of $5 million. The award of property valued by the city at $15
million is in addition to the bond obligation, which continues. |
| Oct. 5 Vickers struck back and at a press conference announced he was seeking a federal
court injunction prohibiting the transfer of the property ("You cannot give away city
property because it belongs to the citizens") and seeking $125 million in damages
($25 million actual, $100 million punitive) from St. Clair County Circuit Court,
contending the court and Judge Scrivner engaged in racially motivated actions against East
St. Louis; filing a motion in circuit court to reverse the decision and that he was asking
the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, headed by Sen. Joseph R. Biden, already investigating
charges of harassment of black officials, to investigate racial actions against Carl
Officer and the city. |
Who cares about the
citizens, Carl?
Who cares? Who cares? |
The action by Vickers reportedly was taken without
consultation with the aldermanic council, which President
Oliver Hendricks was quoted as saying planned action of its own. |
With no one -- including Judge Scrivner showing any concern for the
citizens of East St. Louis or that the legal mumbo-jumbo failed to pin responsibilities
for any action on any person or officer, but would tend to damage institutions and
citizens instead of those who might be responsible for any misdeeds - or even identifying
the misdeeds - Mayor Officer added to our sense of outrage at the tragic comedy when he
posed for a photograph in the Post-Dispatch dressed in a frenchcuff shirt and wearing a
tie, "slam dunking a toy basketball" at his desk, with five golf clubs leaning
against the wall. The display evidently was intended to show his personal disdain for the
whole mess - but also indicated a lack of concern for the image of his city and the harm
done to his people! Sorry, Carl, we have tried to be understanding and impartial in this
book, but we couldn't contain that editorial comment. You must see yourself as you appear
to others. Why didn't you hold the press conference in a partially burned building in the
South End surrounded by jobless people to show who really is hurt by these legal
shenanigans? Who cares? Who cares?
| State Rep. Wyvetter Younge has gotten the
question of city manager government on the city ballot for the April 1991 election. Also
on the ballot is a proposal to stagger the terms of the aldermen they now all expire
simultaneously. Some council members said they will not support the proposal because
Younge did not consult with them in advance. Especially critical was Percy McKinney. |
| Gov. James R. Thompson signed the Distressed Cities Act in East St. Louis Aug. 30 and
appointed Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville President Earl Lazerson, 59, chairman of the five-member
East St. Louis Advisory Authority to oversee the city's finances. Other members are Ron
Bean, 47, executive director of the Illinois Development Finance Authority; Ronald
Thompson, 41, president of the GR Group Inc.; Claudia Thomas, 72, retired East St. Louis
teacher and Rev. Jerome Jackson, a minister at the Southern Mission Baptist Church.
Thompson urged the city to create the revenue stream to repay the $34 million loan from
the state, $4 million for infrastructure and $30 million to refinance debt, but gave no
specific suggestions as to how the taxpoor city could achieve that payback. Nevertheless, Mayor Carl Officer praised Thompson:
"This man has the heart to help." He said to the governor "I share with you
a renewed vision." |
| It would take 10,000 truckloads to haul away trash strewn on city streets, alleys and
vacant lots, according to the Metro-East Church-based Citizens Organization (MECCO). The
city discontinued providing trash pickup in 1987. Ken Mensing of the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency said it would take four trucks operating eight hours a day
nearly a year to clean up about 120,000 cubic yards of garbage and trash. MECCO hopes some
of the state loan money from the Distressed Cities Act will be used for cleanup. |
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| The St. Clair County Board Taxation Committee voted Aug. 2 to discontinue payment on
maintenance and security bills at Gateway Community Hospital - formerly Christian Welfare
Hospital - in East St. Louis. Meanwhile, many employees still are owed as much as six
weeks back pay. Since the owners also owe the IRS, few expect to get any of the pay. |
Circuit Judge Jan Fiss awarded a $2.7 million punitive
judgment against Samuel and Larry Ferguson, owners of the former Morris Paint &
Varnish Co., and ordered them to pay $900,000 for a state cleanup of hazardous waste at
the plant. |
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| State Rep. James F. Keane, chairman of the Legislative Audit Commission, said
legislation will be introduced next spring to place State Community College under
Belleville Area College or SIUE if it doesn't correct its financial problems before then.
An audit showed the college gave $100,000 in grants to students who were not eligible,
paid employees who did not work, allowed students to register and get their grades who had
not paid tuition or fees. More than 70 discrepancies were found in the latest audit in
June. |
| Three homeless shelters in East St. Louis in June received grants from the Illinois
Shelter Grants Program: Call for Help $25,752; Catholic Urban Programs $7,535 and Second
Chance Shelter $65,878. |
| Financially pressed St. Mary's Hospital announced 60 layoffs effective Aug. 24. In June,
20 were laid off. President Charles Windsor said 20 more may be let go. The hospital had
500 employees, but has only about 100 patients. It is East St. Louis' largest private
employer. Sixty per cent of the hospital's patients are eligible for Medicaid, another 23
per cent for Medicare. The Department of Public Aid has said it will raise payments for
Medicaid patients to give the hospital another $2.45 million a year. The hospital planned
a 20-bed inpatient drug and alcohol abuse center to open in October. |
| The Post-Dispatch reported the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has
scheduled cleanups at the former Lansom Chemical Division, where more than 100,000 gallons
of waste oils, sludge and solvents, including PCBs, are stored; the Lefton Iron and Metal
Co., scrap salvage site with soil contaminated with PCBs, and Wastex, Inc., a defunct
blending operation with storage tanks containing liquids contaminated with PCBs and 7,000
drums with waste oils, solvents and sludge. |
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| Alderman Percy McKinney, 44, one of the more vocal members of the council, announced
Aug. 30 that he will run for mayor. Gordon Wish, a member of the St. Clair County Board of
Review, said that he has re-election to win, but then he will look at a race for mayor.
Incumbent Carl Officer's aides and Township Supervisor Will McGaughy already have said
Officer will run and he has had one unofficial fund raiser. The filing deadline is Dec.
17, the primary will be Feb. 26 and the general election April 2. |
| Aug. 27 the News-Democrat reported that the City of Centreville donated three
used police cars to the East St. Louis Park District, which embraces the city. The
donation means that the park district's four park policemen can each have a car, Leonard
Johnson, parks director, said. The park district also includes Washington Park and
Alorton. |
| East Side Health District employees volunteered to distribute 2,200 free condoms to East
St. Louis prostitutes after an outbreak of a penicillin-resistant gonorrhea. East St.
Louis policemen say some of the prostitutes, including homosexuals, are known to have
AIDS. The East Side Health District reported Aug. 27 that it had given out $7,000 worth of
condoms since January. |
| The East St. Louis School District voted to pay McIntosh & Co. $70,000 for patching
and plastering jobs in 1986-87 less $15,000 for an exterior veneer on a north wall of Rock
Junior High School. It fell down a year after it was applied.
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| Police Lt. Robert Dean told the News-Democrat that TIF (tax increment financing)
funds have been used to provide off-duty policemen at $18.75 an hour patrolling in the
downtown entertainment district (Collinsville Avenue area) which attracts 2,000 to 3,000
visitors on weekend nights. Later the city was warned this may be a questionable use of
TIF funds. The city had been spending about $2,000 a week on the program for about a
month, Dean said Sept. 3. |
| Sept. 6 the News-Democrat reported police volunteers on their own time collected
at least $1,000 in suspected drug money and made 56 arrests during a "sweep" of
street corners the previous week. Chief of
Detectives Lester Anderson said "We think the riff-raff, deadbeats and some of
the drug dealers have gotten the message. If they think this is the end of it, they're
wrong." Anderson lead the detail of volunteers from the detective, patrol and canine
divisions for two nights. Shots were fired at policemen once but no one was hurt. Nine
officers volunteered Thursday, the first night; 13 Friday. State Police Capt. Bobby Henry praised the
sweep, said it showed the policemen's dedication and determination, but said the state
patrolmen were not told of the plans. |
| The Post-Dispatch Sept. 9 reported that dead people are voting regularly in East
St. Louis; that there are more voters than adults in the city; that there are a minimum of
2,717 and a maximum Of 12,735 "phantom voters." East St. Louis has not been
conducting the legally required canvass of voters every two years. James Lewis, executive
director of the East St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, said the canvasses were
delayed for financial reasons, and with approval from the State Board of Elections,
according to the Post. State's Atty. John Baricevic has charged that East St. Louis has
not been required by the state to meet its legal obligations in many areas, and many of
the city's problems are a consequence. While the Post disclosure raised a hue and a cry
and some News-Democrat stories, there was no indication the rolls would be cleaned
up before the November 6 general elections. State's
Atty. John Baricevic said that there would be vote fraud even with the rolls cleaned
up. Gubernatorial candidate Jim Edgar chided his opponent Ill. Atty. General Neil Hartigan
for not cleaning up the mess, and clucked in amazement at Baricevic. The board did remove
the names of voters who had died in Missouri and asked the city for $10,000 to purge the
voter lists. Similar articles could be found in the the files of the old East St. Louis
Journal 20, 30 and 40 years ago, when the whites were in control. |
| Mayor Carl Officer, Centreville Mayor Riley Owens and Washington Park Mayor Sylvester
Jackson met to consider supporting Ted Farmer for County Board chairman because they
question Baricevic will represent the best interest of blacks, the News-Democrat reported
Sept. 2. |
| Legislation to permit East St. Louis to levy a land tax was considered as part of the
Distressed Cities Act, and evidently discarded. It would have taxed land on its best use,
rather than on its use. Thus owners of vacant land would have been taxed most heavily,
spurring development. The tax method was taught in economics classes at the University of
Missouri in 1950, but has been adopted in very few places. |
| State Community College received a $91,400 grant to enclose a second-floor walkway in
its library with Plexiglas, decreasing the noise level in the rest of the library. |
| The Illinois State Board of Education approved the financial plan of School District 189
as "financially acceptable." Supt. Lillian Parks testified that the district had
a deficit of $17 million when the state declared it in financial difficulty in December,
1988. By the 1989-90 school year it was down to $9.5 million. By the end of this school
year it will be down to $2.4 million and by the end of 1991 92 down to $1.1 million. But
she told us that this depends on the continuance of funds from the "temporary"
state income tax increase. Parks and the district were praised by State School Supt.
Robert Leininger. |
| Unofficial census returns gave East St. Louis 40,253 residents, down almost 15,000 from
55,200 in 1980. St. Clair County also dropped, from 267,531 to 261,084. The figures are
not final and are subject to adjustment. |
| Gov. Jim Thompson in September signed legislation that assured East St. Louis of a
gambling boat when it found a qualified applicant. An application by Riverboat Development
Corp. is being reviewed. The company promised to hire 500 to 1,000 residents and train
them at the State Community College, and to generate $4 million to $7 million for the city
annually, including a setaside of 50 cents for each patron in a special fund to be
administered jointly by the city and the developer. |
| A "Focus" article in the July 1 News-Democrat on SIUE President Earl Lazerson
noted that during his administration, SIUE appropriated $445,600 for an optometric clinic
on its East St. Louis campus in 1989 and had completed a $1.3 million dental clinic there
in 1990. |
| "At its first meeting, the East St. Louis Financial Advisory
Commission voted unanimously to withhold state loans until the city submits budgets and a
financial plan to the authority. The aldermanic council slashed the budget over the
objection of Mayor Officer to show the oversight group if s intent to cooperate.
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| On the crime front, Carl Lawson was sentenced to death by Judge Michael O'Malley for the
brutal knifing and killing of Terrance Kevin "TJ" Jones, 8, son of his estranged
girl friend; city policemen said Lawson was a distributor of drugs and the founder of one
of the East St. Louis gangs. State police said the stab wounds were in the shape of the
gang's symbol. "He has shown no mercy, neither will I," O'Malley said. O'Malley
sentenced Derrick Brown, 30, to 35 years for stabbing to death his girlfriend Genelle
Howard and burying her body in a shallow grave in his back yard at 764 N. 72nd St. Brown's
attorney said his client has "strong provocation," he was in love. He stabbed
her 13 times. O'Malley sentenced Mark Wysinger, 19, of 1941 Gay Ave., to 30 years for the
shooting death of Louis Dooley, 46, of Edwardsville during a robbery. Dooley was shot in
the back of the head as he fled after being robbed. His body was found in a trash heap at
14th and Wilford. Both Brown and Wysinger pleaded guilty. |
| Alderman Percy McKinney wants to rename Lincoln Park after the late boxing trainer
Theodore "Pop" Myles. Meanwhile Jackie Joyner-Kersee wants to help reopen Mary
Brown Community Center in Lincoln Park, where Miles trained his boxers. McKinney remembers
timing boxing matches at the Pop Myles Athletic Club on Goose Hill. |
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