Fast away the old year passes

Although reporters often complain about late-night meetings or the simple drudgery of certain beats, we can't honestly look back at 12 months without realizing how many things there were to make us smile. That said, if you're not a Clintonian, this piece may not do much for you.

There was a point this year when I thought the city had been overrun by vicious dogs driving remote control locomotives along Mill Creek Parkway.

Such is the life of a reporter covering Clinton City Hall. The last 12 months are the first time in my short professional career that I have lived and worked in a community for an entire calendar year.

I witnessed 24 regular meetings of the Clinton City Council this year (and one or two special committee meetings to boot) and watched the council deal with a broad variety of issues that did not make it to the Clinton Herald’s list of Top 10 stories of the year.

Here are a few:

The debate over the vicious animal ordinance, which at one point threatened to turn the council chambers into People’s Court.

The public campaign waged against remote control locomotives that later spilled to the Clinton County Board of Supervisors.

The emotional issue of extended benefits for city employees called to active military duty for the war in Iraq, another crossover issue.

The problem of all-terrain vehicle riders tearing up the dirt along the Mill Creek Parkway.

The motorized scooter saga, one of the more odd topics that flared up several passions.

When at-large councilman Morris Crouse resigned, 11 people lined up for his spot. After it was awarded to Ed O’Neill, he ran unopposed in the fall election

The city finally decided to go back to red fire trucks. Although at-large councilman Bob Soesbe said it should have been done for common sense, Fire Chief Mark Regenwether said the actual reason is concerns about resale value.

Of course there was debate about the building code, featuring a self-described “street preacher” who compared corrupt contractors to animal owners who can’t keep their oxen from goring their neighbors.

The council chambers were remodeled this year, with the lovely old orange carpet and chairs removed, along with some past-its-prime wood paneling. In the middle of the renovation, Mayor Pro Tem Ron Mallicoat began a council meeting wearing a hard hat.

It was at that session the council voted not to approve its own budget, then came to its senses and sent the financial paperwork on to Des Moines.

Looking ahead to 2004, I expect more of the same at City Hall. In retrospect, I truly enjoyed my year of going to council meetings. The people on the council care a great deal about the future of the city and work hard toward progress for the future.

This is true of Chuck Horner, the Ward 4 councilman deposed in the Nov. 4 general election. In 2003, Horner continued to stick up for his beliefs and exhibit a true connection with his constituents. He also has had nothing but praise and well wishes for his successor, Rodger Holm. Both men are exemplary residents of the city’s north end.

Over the next 12 months, I anticipate an awful lot of progress at the Lyons Business and Technology Park. I also anticipate an awful year for those hoping to see the Liberty Square project completed within the next decade, unless the federal government comes up with a big chunk of change in its transportation reauthorization bill.

We’ll see, for real, what all the fuss is about the Harding School property and its potential use as a public library. In fact, library board members say it will take about six months to complete feasibility studies.

That means we’ll know about Harding right around the same time we find out how things go at Riverboat Days next year now that the Jaycees Carnival will be outside the festival grounds and the Sixth Avenue North parking lot is totally open to the public.

While many thoughts will turn to the presidential, federal and state elections in 2004, city government will keep its nose to the grindstone and hope to avoid any further budget reductions from our friends in Des Moines (who lose some of their money because of our friends in Washington, who have the power to print money).

I also want to thank the eight people who have served on the City Council this year for their dedication to the city.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but public service can be one of the most unforgiving jobs in the world. City Council members know this, as do county supervisors and other elected officials and department heads. Paying taxes and voting gives you a right to complain, and many people aren’t shy about using that right.

So I raise a proverbial glass to toast a year’s worth of completed efforts. And, because this is the holiday season, I raise another to toast the future and 12 more exciting months in a wonderful place on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Grumpy young man

This title speaks for itself. I'm invoking my genetic predisposition to incessantly whine about trivial life events.

I used to like Christmas.

That was, of course, before the Christmas shopping season started in October, outdoor lights went up before Thanksgiving and Christmas music assaulted my eardrums as soon as Dec. 1 rolled around.

Wait a minute, you’re asking, aren’t you far too young to be a crotchety old man? Frankly, no. Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but 12 days of Christmas is about all I can handle anymore.

Maybe I’m bitter because I don’t get Christmas vacation anymore. Sure, I don’t have to work Dec. 25. But when I was in grade and high school, there was a guaranteed two weeks of freedom every December. By the time I got to college, it was up to three or three and a half weeks, depending on when finals were over.

But in the real world? In the real world, Christmas vacation is a bit of a myth. I’m sure the retailers know this. For them, Christmas isn’t so much a time of happiness and relaxation, but a four- to five-week make-or-break period that sometimes decides if the store can stay open another year.

For many professional people, Christmas vacation is a possibility if they either take no time off the rest of the year or have earned enough vacation to burn some time for spring break, a summer trip and winter holidays. Even so, it often means a stack of work before you leave and a bigger stack the first day back.

But my bitterness isn’t all about vacation. I have some personal days off I can spend before the end of the year, so I’m doing well. I just don’t understand why Christmas keeps growing and growing, eclipsing Thanksgiving and Halloween.

Halloween I could live without, I suppose, but I really enjoy Thanksgiving. And anymore, Thanksgiving serves simply as a day to rest up before the Christmas shopping season takes off. Never mind that Thanksgiving is also a great time to reach out to those less fortunate than most, we plow through the Turkey dinner, power nap and line up outside our favorite store at three the next morning.

Oh, and give thanks for this country we’re in and stuff like that, you know, if we have the time.

Celebrating Christmas from Thanksgiving on doesn’t leave us much room to honor Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, either, but no one seems too concerned that we don’t take time to observe the different traditions of alternate cultures.

And Christmas songs… ugh. I love a good Christmas tune. “O Come All Ye Faithful” is one of my favorite songs, period. But if you’ve heard it 300 times since Dec. 1 — and not just the original as performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but also a blues version, a jazz version, a Clay Aiken “American Idol” special or the Jay-Z and Snoop Dog “Faithful Posse” remix — it’s tough to get choked up when you hear it Christmas morning.

This might not be so bad if I wasn’t married to a music teacher, which means going to three or four concerts stacked with holiday repertoire. But sometimes it’s just the radio that gets to you, or the music piped through the PA system of your favorite store. I feel guilty if I think about something else in December besides Christmas. Like, oh, I don’t know — Pearl Harbor?

Why is it that Christmas, a religious holiday commercialized almost beyond recognition, commands almost an entire month of our attention, while other days are allowed simply to sneak up on us?

Do people outside of military families know the depth of certain holidays like Veterans Day or Memorial Day? Nearly all of us benefit from the struggles honored on Labor Day, but we mostly use the first Monday in September to put away our white shoes until May.

I’m not trying to glorify Arbor Day or even Mother’s and Father’s Day here, but why are there countless made-for-TV movies ready for the Christmas season and barely a sniffle when we prepare to honor our country’s independence and the people who fought and died for it? Is there any perspective left in the world?

At the end of the day, I suppose my problem isn’t with Christmas. I still really enjoy the day, remember why we celebrate it and look forward to Dec. 25 (though I might not start looking forward as earlier as the rest of the capitalistic world). I like getting presents. I like giving presents. I even like decorating the tree (though I do not like yelling at the cats to stop eating it).

My problem is with the ability of American people to ignore that which should be treasured the remainder of the year. Christmas is great, no doubt. But there are lots of other events that deserve similar attention.

Might as well face it…

… I'm addicted to steps. Anyone that has seen me lately has seen my permanent fixation, an omnipresent pedometer tracking my every movement as I look to shed a few pounds. I think the column speaks for itself. Keep checking the blog for step updates as I work toward my goal of 2 million steps in 2004.

Like Rush Limbaugh, it’s time to come clean about my compulsive behavior.

I’m addicted to steps.

It’s not a fancy new designer drug. I mean steps, as in walking. Just simple steps, counted obsessively on my new pedometer.

The goal is 10,000 steps a day, about 4.73 miles at 30 inches per step. The only places I haven’t worn the pedometer since I bought it in late October are bed, the shower and on a rental tux while I was best man for my college roommate’s wedding.

Not that I didn’t try to wear the pedometer during the wedding (those 30 steps down the aisle would have been nice to add the tally). It’s just that the tuxedo pants were too far up on my waist for the pedometer to register anything.

At the end of every day, I take the pedometer off my belt and write down the steps I’ve taken for the day as well as the equivalent mileage. I’ve topped 10,000 a handful of times, with most of my good days falling in the 8,500 range and my bad days at the 2,500 level.

I’ve learned that when I’m walking at top pace, I can get about 100 to 120 steps per minute, meaning an hour-long walk nets about 6,250 precious steps.

At work, I try to pad my step count by parking at the back of the company parking lot. When I have to go to the county administration building or city hall, I employ the same technique. I try to walk whenever an assignment calls for me to go somewhere downtown, such as the fire or police stations.

From my home near Clinton High School, I’ve learned I can get to the Bickelhaupt Arboretum in roughly 5 minutes, the nearest mailbox in about 10 minutes, to Hy-Vee in less than half an hour and the movie theater in about 40 minutes. My car’s odometer tells me it’s only two miles to Fareway and Eagle, next on my list of actual destinations.

In the absence of somewhere to go, I just kind of walk around. Sometimes I head north toward Ike’s Peak Road. Other times I go south, toward the Clinton Country Club. Occasionally I go east into downtown. Sometimes I drive myself downtown, then walk along the riverfront on the recreational trail — from the south bridge to the north is little more than 30 minutes.

I realized I was overboard with my addiction when I started pacing from the living room to the kitchen and back during the two minutes it takes for my electric toothbrush to complete all four cycles. I pick up more than 250 steps in those two minutes as well as a healthy amount of mocking from my loving wife.

Unlike other addicts, however, I’m not in denial. Rather, I bask in my obsession. I show off my pedometer to anyone who asks, though I’m not sure where I got the idea that 10,000 steps a day was the ideal benchmark.

I got into walking for selfish reasons. Basically, my pants kept getting tighter. I tried not washing them to avoid any shrinkage, but my wife reminded me that probably wasn’t either the problem or the solution.

“Buy bigger pants,” she said. Easy to say for someone in her fifth month of pregnancy.

Perhaps our first child, due in mid-April, is really what compelled me to try to do something active. It may have been the voice in my head reminding me that I once told my dad I’d never buy pants with a 40-inch waist, but mostly I figured if I didn’t get a minor fitness routine in place before the kid comes, it will be almost impossible after.

I know walking isn’t going to drop extra pounds off in an instant (even eating smarter, I’m not sure I’ve shed any more than a few ounces). I know even 10,000 steps a day isn’t some magical fitness equation, otherwise we’d all look as stupid as me, bending over every couple of blocks to see what the new tally is.
It’s like a permanent telethon on my pants.

But walking four or five times a week has made me feel more like an actual Clinton resident than anything else since we bought our house this spring. I go through the neighborhoods and look at the each one’s different characteristics. I wave at people I pass on the street, and find I recognize them more and more. I walk by businesses that I have never visited and often go back later. It all helps me get a feel for the people who make this community whole.

I don’t run, mostly because it’s much more effort (I said I was trying to be active, but I didn’t say I wanted to sweat). But also, running moves me too fast through Clinton. If I want the houses and streets to be a blur, I’ll hop in my car and get somewhere fast.

Instead, I choose to relish the flavor of the town I now call home. Walking isn’t for everyone, but it does serve as a great reminder that sometimes there doesn’t even need to be a destination. Just getting out and experiencing your hometown is always worth the effort.

The first regular

In November 2003, I began writing "Salmagundi" with official regularity — every other Wednesday. Not nearly as often as the two per week I was cranking out in Independence, but with a full-time newswriting job, bi-weekly columns are about all I can muster and still be proud of. I had some real clunkers in Indee, and I like the new schedule. The only problem is I sometimes have to let timely ideas go by. But, if it makes me a better writer overall, I'm all for it.

THOMSON, Ill. — OK, house hunters, have I got a deal for you:

Imagine a 146-acre lot in scenic Northwestern Illinois, close to a major highway and the Mississippi River. Picture, if you will, 625,000 square feet of never-used living space, including 1,600 bedrooms and a 200-bed guest house.

There’s an abundance of off-street parking, top-notch security in place to protect your investment, the finest in kitchen appliances and ultra-modern fiber-optic ethernet connections. Minus a pool and a fireplace (though there is room for expansion if the buyer desires), all this and more can be yours for roughly $140 million.

If you’re not hip on buying at this stage of your life, the annual rent figures only to be $50 million, enough to endow you with a personal staff in excess of 760 willing servants. Just because the building, as its current owner puts it in the real estate listings, is a “thick-skinned prison built to house the state’s most aggressive and violent inmates,” doesn’t mean it won’t be heaven to live in for you and your family.

Here’s guessing the State of Illinois would sell the Thomson Correctional Facility to just about anyone these days, or at least lease it out. One of many albatrosses hanging around the state budget’s neck — it is, after all, the second most expensive building ever built by Illinois — the prison was conspicuously absent from Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s economic development plan for Northwestern Illinois.

Blagojevich unveiled the second of his 10 “Opportunity Returns” plans in an East Moline factory at the end of October, calling it part of the most aggressive, comprehensive approach to create jobs to date in Illinois. It included $13 million to develop the Galena bypass for tourists and a $25 million revolving loan fund to help manufacturing companies retool and upgrade their equipment.

There’s no doubt that revolving loan fund will be helpful, even to Whiteside and Carroll county companies. But if the governor wanted to create jobs and stimulate economic development, where was the $50 million to open the prison? After all, the state itself acknowledges $30 million would be spent on payroll alone, creating at least 761 state jobs (average salary and benefits of just below $40,000) with the potential for additional contracted workers.

Not to mention the Thomson businesses that were started or expanded in anticipation of the prison’s opening. While the state has been dutiful in helping the village with its sewer plant obligation (that would not have been incurred if the prison wasn’t built), it has done nothing for the motels and truck stops that are barely getting by each day in the hopes that the prison cash cow will eventually be put out to their pasture.

Sergio Molina, spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said the state is considering everything from selling or leasing to a federal agency or even putting its own prisoners there. A federal detention trustee has requested some information as well as the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Molina said the state’s open prisons are at slightly more than 160 percent capacity. However, he points out, they’ve been operating above capacity for years. The state has to weigh its prison overcrowding against its budget deficit and decide which is more important. In the present, the decision is to deal with the overcrowding and not add $50 million to the expense tally.

Meanwhile, a tiny village that eventually opened its arms to the prison still stands there waiting, like a jilted lover whose mate promised the world and then skipped town.

A spokesman in the governor’s office said the prison simply isn’t needed right now, explaining how Blagojevich canceled another prison construction project (which, perhaps not incidentally, was being built in the town where ex-guv George Ryan got his political start).

“We will work day and night to put people back to work, to create opportunity and economic security,” Blagojevich said. “And when we do, we will make the great dream of building a better life as real and vibrant and alive as it was meant to be.”

But what will become of what was meant to be for Thomson? While money is being promised all over the state for so-called economic development, the people of Thomson and its surrounding communities still do not have a commitment to open the prison and put people to work.

The jobs are there, the switch is ready to be flipped. And there’s been no sniff that the money will be talked about for next year’s budget.

The prison is supposed to be maximum security, but it seems to be Thomson that’s gotten the life sentence.

Wake up, little Susie

Apparently I took about five months off from column writing in 2003. I probably was far too involved in the Cubs season to let my thoughts turn to anything else. And I've found, so far, that I can't find anyone to pay me to write what I think about the Cubs every day. Anyhow, I came back with this piece about the old movie theater building across the street from our office on the day of its final shows.

CLINTON — It is a sad day when something old and treasured, despite its flaws, must finally be put out of service.

That was the case Sunday, the last day of business for Clinton’s old downtown movie theaters. The good news, of course, is the only reason the old four-screen complex was shut down was to make way for the brand new eight-screen complex on the city’s rapidly-growing west end.

It reminds me of when I had to finally give up on my first car. It was hard to let go, but by the time I got inside my newer vehicle, I realized what I’d been missing (among other things, working cruise control, a battery that stayed charged and a cassette player that did more than just flip sides of the tape before playing a single second).

I assume it will be that way for those that held particular nostalgic feelings for the old Capri III/Cinema I. The new Clinton 8 Theatre brings to Clinton a sense of modern amenities. Movies today are produced to be shown in theaters like the ones we’ll have effective Friday night, not relegated to some decades-old throwback.

Being the nostalgic type, I hoped to write a column about the days gone by at the downtown theaters. The two strikes against me are that I am not a Clinton native and I was born about 14 years after the Cinema I opened. So I had to turn to the Clinton Herald archives.

Our clippings file contains a piece from Nov. 11, 1965, previewing the grand opening of the Cinema I. There were other movie theaters in the area — in town, even — but this was an event fit for a ribbon cutting by Mayor Harold Domsalla and appearances by Chamber of Commerce officials and politicians like State Sen. David Shaff and State Rep. Charles Varney.

The Herald article details the design intricacies of the Cinema I, explaining “the necessary touches that transform the workaday world of drab reality into the magic world of motion picture make-believe.”

The Herald has no easily accessible stories about the grand opening of the Capri III, but there is a fine story about Carl Harms, a 22-year-old grave digger from Sterling, Ill., who was arrested by Clinton police eight minutes after his armed robbery of the Rialto, the Cinema I’s ancestor.

Harms, arrested Aug. 21, 1952, was taken to the Anamosa prison where he reportedly escaped (or at least hid from guards) on Oct. 1 of the same year, the same day Republican women from Clinton were touring the prison.

But back to that opening night in 1965 — what an event it must have been. Surely there are plenty of those still in town that recall the panache with which the Cinema I opened its doors. The first show was “Marriage on the Rocks,” starring no less than Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Deborah Kerr. Tickets were $1 for adults, 85 cents for juniors and 35 cents for children (playing elsewhere around town were “World Without Sun,” “The Long Ships” — an adventure of the Viking age — “Ride the Wild Surf” and “The Quick Gun”).

There won’t be any flair Friday night at the Clinton 8. Local project manager and theater supervisor Roger Hansen just hopes nothing goes wrong. But I think it’s a good time for the community to celebrate.

This new theater, as economic types put it, should help slow a lot of retail bleeding in the entertainment market. Heck, ticket prices are only going up a quarter, and you’ll be able to see the movie without craning your neck around someone and have a cupholder for your soda to boot.

The theater isn’t really competing with anything we already have, it’s just a tremendous addition to a growing community. It says something about Clinton, the type of community it is, that Cinema Entertainment Corp. made it such a priority to build here rather than let us languish with the status quo.

And, selfishly, I hope that maybe some reporter, 40 years or more down the road, will look at my stories on the Clinton 8 opening and think fondly about the Clinton of today.

War… UNH! … what is it good for?

The National Guard Unit in Clinton was deployed in early 2003. Locally, there was a strong movement of those that opposed the war in Iraq but also fully supported our local troops. To me, it was very admirable how right-thinking people could separate the fighter from the fight. The Clinton City Council was one of many groups struggling with doing the right thing in terms of taking care of an employee calle dto active duty.

CLINTON — The issue of bridging the pay gap for city employees on active military duty has created tense debate over the past few months at City Hall.

Both sides are right and both side are wrong, which makes it difficult to pick a side when it comes to what the city should do.

Before diving into the issue, it should be pointed out that at present, there is one city employee on active duty. An unmarried police recruit, he was called away from the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy to serve. The city has four other employees in the police and fire departments serving in the reserves who could be called to active duty.

Under the current contract the city has with these employees, their city pay and benefits are extended up to 30 days per year. Should any training or active duty exceed 30 days, the pay stops and the individual may choose to continue his or her existing insurance by paying for it.

All military employees are legally guaranteed their jobs upon return. A provision has been made to allow the ILEA student to return to the academy at the level he left, meaning he will not have to start over (which is the case when recruits voluntarily leave the academy).

For some people, this is not enough. Before war began in Iraq, Clinton City Council members requested the opportunity to discuss at a Committee of the Whole session the possibility of changing the policy to extend city pay and benefits beyond the 30 days. Backers suggested a minimum of extending insurance at no cost and strongly supported making sure the employees’ military pay was supplemented to equal a city salary.

Opponents of the plan suggest the move is better left to profit-making companies that don’t fund payroll with tax dollars. They also brought up the point that the city employees in question are volunteer members of the military and should have contingency plans in case they are activated.

Proponents have assured this is a “one-time thing,” only for the war in Iraq and more of a move to show the city is a good employer than anything else. Besides, with only one man at question, and a man with no dependents relying on insurance at that, how big could the cost be.

For starters, taxing bodies should not take any action when the question, “How big can the cost be” is not answered. Not only is it not smart, it’s irresponsible.

Furthermore, the notion that this is a “one-time thing” poses two problems. One that should bother everyone is the city could be setting a precedent it will find hard to undo later. Try to tell people involved in the next military call-up that the money tied to the war in Iraq was a one-time thing. And doesn’t this leave the council the option to not vote to extend similar measures when they don’t agree with a particular military call-up?

The second problem might not be agreed upon by everyone, but comments made by some council members are downright insulting, such as: “It’s not something that should be established for ‘John Doe got called up, he’s got to fight floods in Tennessee.’ They understand that as part of their military obligation, but not war.”

Anyone in the National Guard of Military Reserves understands that war is part of the deal. And suggesting that fighting floods is not a disruption to everyday life and a dangerous situation, let alone a service to the country, is an affront to the thousands of men and women who have been activated with their National Guard units to help with domestic situations.

Yes, this war is a strange and horrible thing, but uniformed service to one’s country is service to be honored and respected no matter what form it takes. Comments like this, even in context, suggest that the only time we need to make concessions or extend a helping hand to our military is when they are actively involved in a war, and that’s just plan wrong.

For those who say volunteer members should just deal with the consequences, I say no price is too small to pay in thanks that other people are volunteering their time, money and life to be in service to this country so I don’t have to. It seems to me the choice is either compensate our military or reinstate the draft so no one has room to complain about who did or did not volunteer. Even that wouldn’t solve the problem, as people would still volunteer so they wouldn’t have to wait to be drafted.

Should we use tax dollars to bridge the gap? It doesn’t appear the council members will agree on that. Might as well put the question to the people, but the cost of an election could probably outwiegh the cost of military pay gaps.

What bugs me the most is the people supporting this plan who talk about how important it is to have this volunteer military and how much we need to respect them and what our obligations are. While I agree completely with those sentiments, I wonder how loud those voices are at the union negotiating table every year.

Respect for the military, just like patriotism, is more than easy to come by during times of war. But the true patriots are the ones who carry those banners every day and refuse to take the commitment of our soldiers for granted.

Spin control

One of the least favorite aspects of my job is sorting through political propaganda. Coyly disguised as news releases, politicians often send out one-sided literature that unknowing reporters and editors treat as fact. It fouls up newspapers, but it does serve the purpose of getting a personal agenda across. Sometimes, it's not the politician in particular, but a party leader using his or her underlings as puppets.

DES MOINES — My, how the fax machines cranks ‘em out.

During political season, fax machines at newspapers are assaulted with a barrage of propaganda from individual elected officials, party heads and special interest groups.

U.S. Senators Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley often send out weekly agendas so we can keep track of them, and Grassley is known for distributing texts of his letters and speeches.

In addition to those two, newsfolk are also kept abreast of the ongoing whereabouts of Gov. Tom Vilsack, his lieutenant Sally Pederson and his wife (and first lady), Christie. These faxes are nice and informative.

What is not helpful are two faxes we got Tuesday afternoon. Except for a couple of key word changes, the faxes are identical. The first screams that Sen. Bryan Sievers, R-New Liberty, has voted against rural access to health care.

Sent by Mike Gronstal, the Council Bluffs Democrat who happens to be the Minority Leader, it details an amendment that “would have made significant reforms and provided budget savings while keeping the financial impact on small town pharmacies to a minimum.”

The fax also points out that Eldridge, which falls into Sievers’ district, is one of 117 Iowa towns with only one pharmacy.

This is all well and good, I suppose. Gronstal is known (and surely he is not the only party head) for issuing press releases detailing what Republican senators voted against to the newspapers in those senators’ districts.

It is safe to say that my old colleagues in Independence got a fax titled “Senator Kitty Rehberg votes against rural access to health care,” and that the same scenario played out in every community served by a Republican senator that opposed the amendment.

What bugs me is the fax that came about 72 minutes after the first. It is headlined “Senator Roger Stewart votes for rural access to health care.” It contains many of the same quotes, word for word, that were attributed to Gronstal in the first fax.

I’m not a total moron. I know these politicians work together. I know that oftentimes political success can depend on well-rehearsed answers to frequently asked questions. But who would have looked stupider if these faxes had been taken off the machine by two different folks, typed and run on two different pages — us at the paper or them at the statehouse?

Frankly, I would much rather be served by a politician who can think and speak for himself than one with fancy press releases issued from the party chief.

I’ve met Roger Stewart, and I think he’s a nice guy and an honest politician. I’m sure this really isn’t his fault, that being a Democrat in Des Moines means Gronstal has license to attribute all sorts of quotes to you. I can’t be so sure that Gronstal himself said any of this stuff in the first place.

But some in the news industry live and die by our quotes. We in newspapers don’t have the luxuries of TV and radio stations to reproduce actual sound and video images of politicians as they speak. It is up to us to turn in reliable quotes to our editors so readers are able to trust that what they read was actually said by the person it is attributed to.

If the prosecuting attorney in a court case faxed us a press release with a quote from his assistant, then issued an eerily similar fax minutes later with a different name attached, you can bet we’d doublecheck.
But this is politics, and people have grown used to it, I suppose. It’s fairly easy for us to throw the faxes in the recycling bin and wait until Sievers and Stewart appear in person.

I just wish someone in the statehouse would live up to the promises of working together this session. Long gone are the promises for a session in which positive changes are made because Vilsack said he wasn’t seeking re-election and there were so many new faces in Des Moines.

But it’s efforts like this from Gronstal, where it seems almost more important for him to knock down the other party than promote his own, that show how the petty nature of so many of our elected officials may well keep anything progressive from happening at all.

There are true and evident problems to solve in this state, and they don’t have to be fixed with a unanimous vote. But how did things turn so sour after such a rosy outlook?

An early prediction

I first met Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, on an April Sunday in 2003. It was my first presidential campaign event, and I was more struck by his presence than his message (though his message was pretty solid, too). I didn't know then he'd win the nomination, nor did I really appreciate living and working in Iowa and getting to literally meet and great most of the presidential candidates (I didn't get to meet Al Sharpton).

On a side note, my news coverage of this campaign event got blurbed for another Web site, iowapresidentialwatch.com. I was not aware of this until I practiced "Googling" myself on a slow news day. The blurb was inserted here.


CLINTON — I’d vote for John Kerry.

I may never get the chance. As a voter registered with no political parties, I’m really not welcome at primary elections. So the only chance I have to vote for the Massachusetts senator is if he gets the nod to face off against our president in 2004.

But sure, I’d vote for John Kerry. Of all the presidential candidates I have personally met and shaken hands with, he’s my favorite. This is kind of like saying that of all the mothers I’ve had, I like my mom the best. No competition.

It’s an interesting thing, the campaign trail. I met Sen. Kerry last Sunday in the home of local Democratic activists Carol and Cami McGuire. I’d never met a presidential candidate before, but I talk with Sens. Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley almost weekly, and have done one-on-one interviews with the likes of Rep. Jim Nussle and former gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats.

But somehow, Sen. Kerry seemed to be just a bit more exciting. Perhaps it’s natural charisma, or a special energy he and his staff had because this is The Man Who Could Be King. Or maybe I was actually more excited to rub shoulders with a photographer from the Boston Globe and a reporter for the Washington Post.

I have a strong suspicion that most political moderates, dropped in a room full of fervent liberals, would be convinced that the calm, cool and collected Kerry is the man to beat, not just in the primaries, but for the whole ball of wax. Kerry used all the right buzzwords — education reform, building the strength of our nation — and was interrupted several times by gleeful applause. I think I even heard an “Amen” from the back corner.

It was fun to watch him work the room, making small talk and greeting people with honest appreciation. I watched campaign stereotype No. 1 as soon as Kerry hit the room and saw a couple with a very small baby. “And who’s this young Democrat here?” he asked, flashbulbs popping.

For full disclosure purposes, I totally agreed with many things Kerry had to say. I’ve yet to hear the first good thing about the No Child Left Behind legislation, and I really think those responsible for it should at least own up to what a mistake it’s been. But I don’t necessarily dislike the sitting president, and I certainly can’t base my view of the next 20 months of campaigning on a 90-minute brush with what may be The Next Big Thing.

Personally, I encourage everyone to register to vote for any and all elections, and to learn as much as possible about what they’re voting on. I would encourage this even if it didn’t boost newspaper sales. I think the best safeguard against most dangers is an educated, active public.

I don’t think Sen. Kerry was a bad guy at all. I don’t want anyone to get that impression, least of all his supporters from Sunday, all of whom should be commended for being a part of the process. I’m just hoping that eventually I can get used to meeting these candidates, and that I won’t be wowed by the flurry of activity surrounding each one’s (80-minute late) arrival.

It wouldn’t be right for me to tell anyone who to vote for in 2004. For all I know, I’ll change my mind with every campaigner that comes through town. And forgive me if what I really want to do is meet the actual president. The campaign trail is littered with names of those who didn’t even make it out of the first caucus.

But I do encourage everyone to get involved. Pick a horse and stick with him or her, or leave your mind totally open until you go to the polls. There’s not much more the average citizen can do to be truly patriotic than entering a ballot box.

Shave the Governor!

I had thought about offering to shave my head to promote this idea locally, but here's guessing I wouldn't have found too many folks supporting that plan. Or a happy wife when I got home.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Some people call Illinois’ new Governor “Blago.”

If a couple people have their way, we’ll soon be calling him “Baldo.”

This isn’t so much a commentary on Gov. Rod’s poofy coif (which probably deserves special attention from our friends at InStyle magazine), but a finger-crossing that Blagojevich will do the right thing and offer his locks to be shorn all in the name of charity.

Blagojevich has been asked to join the thousands of people nationwide celebrating St. Baldrick’s Day. St. Baldrick’s volunteers will be shaved bald later this month to raise money for the National Childhood Cancer Fund (NCCF).

In addition to media personalities and political figures, average citizens can join the St. Baldrick’s fun through a simple visit to http://stbaldricks.org. Participants, referred to online as “Shavees,” collect donations from families, friends and neighbors who want to see them shaved bald. They then attend a St. Baldrick’s event, typically held on March 17, to be part of a group shearing. The site offers information for those wishing to facilitate their own local event.

According to the Internet site, the tradition was created by John Bender and Enda McDonnell, two reinsurance executives from New York City. A few years ago, the men decided pub-crawling was a fine St. Patrick’s Day tradition, but not as fine as helping young cancer patients, many of whom lose their hair during radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Challenged by friend Tim Kenny to help make a difference, the St. Baldrick’s evolved quickly.

The idea of public head shaving in response to financial support grew and, with the help of the Internet, soon became an international event. In three years, the group has contributed more than $1 million to the NCCF. Much of that came in 2002 when nearly $900,000 was donated, completely eclipsing the 2001 total of just over $100,000.

So how does Blagojevich fit in? Eric Zorn, a Chicago Tribune columnist and future shavee, decided to use his high profile post to draw a big-name shavee to this years’ Chicago event. At least 75 Chicagoans will be shorn March 14 at the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse.

The results of Zorn’s on-line poll actually had a radio host take first place, but the man will be on his honeymoon on the 14th. Second place? You guessed it — Gov. Rod. Now the goal is to get enough pledge money promised so Blagojevich will have no choice but to go bald and help the NCCF at the same time.

The last reported pledge total is up to $1,750. A noble amount to help cancer, but not the kind of coin that persuades a man trying to solve a $5 billion deficit to lose his hair while the winter wind still blows.

The St. Baldrick’s Web site contains an online pledging option for those who would like to contribute funds to the NCCF in exchange for seeing the governor shaved bald on March 14. Already signed up for 2003 celebrations are 891 male and 100 female shavees set to be shorn at 109 locations. Several donation sites have already received more than $5,000 in online pledges, led by $14,255 already pledged for Jim Brady’s, the Manhattan restaurant where St. Baldrick’s began. A bar in Colorado Springs, Colo., will see 229 people go bald.

Figures on the St. Baldrick’s website are updated hourly, meaning the numbers will surely have increased by the time you read this. Sadly, there are no St. Baldrick’s events in Iowa, or any in Illinois outside of Chicago and its suburbs. That too, could change, should anyone become inspired to pick up the torch.

Will we see Blago become Baldo? Probably not. Would it be good public relations? Certainly. Elementary school principals do it all the time, and the routinely make the front pages of local papers. If Blagojevich offers up his skull to help fight cancer in children, the whole country would take notice. Here’s hoping Gov. Rod would do the right thing for more than just the money.

Foray into politics

This column came following my first trip to Des Moines with a whole bunch of movers-and-shakers from Clinton and the remainder of the county. My publisher told be it was really good, which was the first time in my professional career someone outside of an editor actually had something to say at all about my work. That was a good day.

What a pity it was Tuesday afternoon to see people from Clinton admonished for being selfless.

Iowa Department of Transportation Director Mark Wandro stated time and time again he did not mean to be offensive (something he had to say because in some minds, he was offensive). He insisted that people from Clinton choose which project they want to prioritize — U.S. 30 or the Liberty Square redevelopment.

Two problems. First, by prioritizing Liberty Square, the city is prioritizing U.S. 30, something stated perfectly by Mayor LaMetta Wynn and totally missed by Wandro. Camanche Avenue is not just the gateway to Clinton, she said, it’s the gateway to Iowa.

Look at the new Hy-Vee, and how much better it is than the housing it replaced. Imagine that beauty extended for blocks. Throw in the environmental cleanup of the leaking underground storage tanks and this is a win-win situation.

The second problem with Wandro’s edict is that no one Tuesday asked him to do anything to any other part of U.S. 30 in the Clinton city limits. In fact, Edith Pfeffer suggested that the biggest problem to be addressed is in the Tama-Toledo area, some 160 miles away. She also suggested that the Mount Vernon and Lisbon segments of U.S. 30 need more work before undertaking a four-lane project from Lisbon to DeWitt.

To top it off, Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce President Dennis Lauver told Wandro about his efforts in Washington, D.C., to upgrade a section of U.S. 30 in Illinois.

So here were movers and shakers spending what Wandro called their “political capital” on other communities and states.

This is unheard of in modern politics. The Iowa Department of Economic Development praised local officials for being on the cutting edge of regional projects, something that will be pushed heavily by the governor’s office in coming months. But the DOT scolded them for it.

It’s not as if Lauver and Pfeffer asked for Liberty Square Dollars, money for the new Lyons Business and Technology Park and complete funding on 19th Avenue North connector studies. Fix our broken section of 30, they said, and please pay attention to other communities.

Wandro, however, chastised Clinton folks for wishing to spread the wealth, leading some to second guess that Liberty Square should even be pursued at all. Meanwhile, the city is ready to pounce, already enacting a year-long building moratorium and eagerly anticipating the funds to begin property acquisition. Wandro, someone who professed firsthand knowledge of the U.S. 30/67 issues, should understand this.

This is a city trying to do three very different things that are all so intertwined that they must happen concurrently:

1. Revitalize the urban core of the old city.
2. Develop and expand commercially and residentially to the northwest.
3. Clean itself up, both in Liberty Square and at the Allied Steel property, after years of environmental abuse.

For now the concern is the federal government and appropriations allowable through the TEA-21 bill. The Iowa DOT has proven to be less than helpful for the most part. Although we understand financial constraints quite well, Clinton officials have realized that thinking outside the box is the only way to get things done. The Iowa DOT seems to lag behind this progressive stance, choosing instead to admonish those that fight for their own future.

Here’s hoping Wandro won’t criticize other cities if they choose to offer their money to Clinton. For the big dreamers, here’s hoping Wandro even gets the opportunity.