Public Policy to Heal the Wounds of City Still
Sought by Sen. Simon
U.S. Sen. Paul Simon has bills that will be passed someday, including a
full-employment bill, job training act bills, and perhaps bills for his dream for the
city, a $60 million world-class museum, but East St. Louis needs can't wait. It needs any
help that can provide some economic stability, Simon said.
| "Way back when" Simon wanted to put Southern Illinois
University's Metro-East branch in East St. Louis rather than Edwardsville. "I think
my idea was right, but I didn't have much support at the time. But what you need is some
kind of anchor to start building an economic base. If we can have my idea of developing
this museum that would be world class, would attract people from all over the world, that
would be tied into the riverfront complex, then you generate jobs, and all that needs to
be done. You generate a lot of tourist jobs; tourist jobs frankly frequently require less
demanding skill levels than a lot of other kinds of jobs." Simon, a Democrat from
Makanda, south of Carbondale, is a former Troy resident. He and Illinois' other senator,
Alan J. Dixon of Belleville, served together in the Illinois House of Representatives and
Illinois State Senate. Dixon and Simon were elected to state offices, Simon lieutenant
governor under Gov. Ogilvie. Simon's wife Jeanne was a state representative; they met in
the Illinois House. |
|
Simon moved to Makanda to run for the congressional seat vacated by
Kenneth Gray. Unhappy with having to spend so much time campaigning every two years, and
wanting to be able to spread his sphere of influence, he ran for the Senate and upset
Republican incumbent Charles Percy. Meanwhile, Dixon had been elected to the Senate, so
the two are serving together again. Simon ran for this party's nomination for president,
unsuccessfully, in the last presidential election.
A long-range goal is educational, particularly attacking adult
illiteracy. 'When I mention longterm, it is really not quite as long term as a lot of
other things. That's something where you can have, I think, a fairly rapid increase in
improving things. Illiteracy is a long-time concern of Simon's.
President Gorge Bush this year signed into law new Simon-authored
legislation that expands a movement he began six years ago to promote the use of libraries
in tutoring adults to read and write. The new legislation will equip libraries with the
latest literacy teaching materials. Public and private literacy programs still reach only
about 19 per cent of those in need, Simon said.
"One of the things we clearly need is for the governor of Illinois
to really take an interest," he said. "There is always a pre-election interest
in East St. Louis, but not much post-election interest."
On a more immediate basis, Simon has been involved in individual
problems, including the federal takeover of the housing authority, hospital financial
difficulty and an earlier dispute over payback of federal funds used to build the city
hall.
East St. Louis desperately needs to build confidence in its integrity
among federal and state agencies and others outside the city that could give help, Simon
said.
Simon took time from a busy schedule, involved in the federal budget
crisis and concerned about the Persian Gulf, and on weekends campaigning for re-election
to his senate seat, for this quick interview. Whatever the action that will help East St.
Louis, Simon made it clear he stands ready to lend the power and prestige of his office.
Two years ago Sen. Simon wrote a column about Jackie Joyner-Kersee and
her pride in East St. Louis. He recalled it during our interview, and later sent me a
copy, which follows:
Jackie Joyner-Kersee, winner of two gold medals
at the Olympics in Seoul, is being called the world's greatest female athlete by
newspapers everywhere, but I think she is doing something even more important that winning
gold medals in Seoul.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee deserves a gold medal for citizenship. Let
me tell you why.
When she entered the stadium in Seoul for the closing ceremonies
on the shoulders of her husband, Bob Kersee, she carried a sign: "I Love East St.
Louis, Illinois."
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Today, East St. Louis, is a city of devastation,
of crime, of unpaid city employees, of intense poverty - but also a city with marvelous
people. It is a city that many, black and white, have fled and forgotten.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee wants to return to reopen the Mary E. Brown
Community Center where she ran her first track meet at age 9 and where she longjumped 16
feet 9 inches at age 12. (Her gold medal winning jump in Seoul was 24 feet 3-1/2 inches).
She has signed a sponsorship contract with SevenUp to help fund a foundation to reopen the
center for young athletes in East St. Louis.
Jackie, now 26, grew up in poverty. Press accounts say she
sometimes ate bread and mayonnaise for dinner and the family used to collect plastic tubs
of water in the kitchen because their pipes froze frequently.
She remembers her mother telling her, "Don't get pregnant
at a young age, and make sure you finish school." Jackie graduated from UCLA with
scholastic honors and in the top 10 percent of her class. Her mother died of meningitis in
1981 at age 38 but Jackie says she feels her mother is with her in spirit. |
Says Jackie, "I have this burning desire to
get out there and do my best. It's as if I'm keeping it all in a little bottle, and it's
all going to come out when I do the best I'm capable of doing."
East St. Louis has so much potential, and the people there have
so much potential.
The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Donald
McHenry, grew up in East St. Louis and has done much to help that city.
Katherine Dunham, the ballet and dance pioneer who received the
Albert Schweitzer Music Award grew up in East St. Louis and still maintains a home there.
She has also done much to stimulate young people to take an interest in culture and in
their African-American heritage.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee is a great athlete. But she is an even
greater person for remembering her roots and for striving to see that more of the talented
young people in that depressed city have a chance.
America is one family. When anyone in that family hurts,
ultimately all of us hurt.
People in East St. Louis are hurting and Jackie Joyner-Kersee
wants to help heal the wounds.
She needs to be joined by public policy that does the same. |
Sen. Simon is willing to chair a "summit conference" on East
St. Louis after the elections. City, county, state and federal officials all agree the
city cannot solve its problems alone. Such a conference would be a working meeting at
which the problems could be considered one by one and authoritative officials including
the governor, federal department heads, the county board chairman, city officials and the
state and federal legislators could commit to programs. It would not be an opportunity for
anyone to grandstand.
The meeting would have to be preceded by a planning conference and
supported with "white papers" accurately defining the problems, sponsored by
someone like SIU-E and requested sought -by the mayor and aldermanic council.
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