This past Tuesday primary elections were held in the Stateline area. One primary in Machesney Park caught the attention of the area. The democrats were going to decide who would represent them in the general election in April for Village President between incumbent Linda Vaughn and Ted Strickland. The outcome was a vote for change. For an incumbent to lose in a general election can be called a surprise, but to lose as an incumbent in your party primary makes a statement.

The local media used phrases like:

The residents of Machesney Park knew that it was a time for a change in how the local government was being managed. Machesney Park meetings in the past months had become the talk of the Stateline. You name it, it happened. Even Martin Short, well known national comedian joked about it and wanted to make some money selling tickets to watch them. Name calling and finger pointing were regular features of meetings. The only thing the two sides could agree on in the past several months, they didn’t like each other much. You’ve heard the old saying “you get in the mud with the pigs you are going to get dirty”. A lot of folks got in the “mud”.

I witnessed this past summer a lack of leadership by the present Village President at the Perryville Road extension ribbon cutting. I was in attendance to take pictures for the Outlook, standing next to me was a Trustee who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with her. She noticed him in the crowd, never once did she make an effort to invite him to participate in the event. During her speech to the crowd she mentioned everyone who was a part of making this happen even those not from Machesney Park, but not the trustee standing next to me. As a leader you need to lead even those you don’t agree with, that was a mistake on her part. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that noticed that event.

The final fiasco was the “petition battle” of candidates that turned out to be a real “soap opera”. You name the reason to question a petition and somebody found it. The funny part about this was that candidates who had there petitions thrown out as a party candidate found out they could run as independents. The great part about that, you go straight to the general election. Maybe Linda Vaughn would have benefited had her petition been thrown out, to late now.

Who should get the blame for the mess in Machesney Park? You would have to say the one who is in charge and that would be the Village President. The present administration over the past several years has lost the respect of the citizens of the community. Since I am a resident of Machesney Park I saw that the present administration didn’t think to much of how I felt or my concerns on issues. I don’t think I am the only one who was treated in that manner, I’ve talked to others who have been “shunned” on issues. The feeling that you receive from this administration was “don’t worry about it, we know what we are doing.” My concern with this attitude is that they work for me and you as citizens. So it was only right that the citizens of Machesney Park made the change for them, after all we are the “boss”. I was hoping to cast my ballot this April for change since I decided not to cross party lines to cast a ballot, although I would say several Republicans did.

So the change has been made and in several months Machesney Park will have new leadership. I hope that the new trustees board will make an effort to work together in the future. The key will be to learn from the past mistakes and not make them again, remember you work for the people not yourself. Every resident of Machesney Park is important, from a trustee to just us “regular folks”. Let’s hope the change works.