31 Comments - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 2:00 pm: Dear Charleston, “Vote Accordingly”, it appears no one is listening(?) Maybe a change in the GA is in order? Maybe Rauner thinks your school and town are expendable… Maybe… Food for thought…. - wordslinger - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 2:06 pm: Higher Ed is like “Oliver Twist”: “Please sir, may I have some more?” GOP GA members are like “Animal House”: “Thank you sir, may I have another?” Gov. Rauner is like “Caddyshack”: “You’ll get nothing and like it!” - Beaner - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 2:21 pm: Charleston is a nice location for the development of an Active Retirement Living Center. I mean, once you get rid of those noisy College kids. And the real estate should be really cheap with all those college kids, professors and AFSCAMMies gone. Would not be surprised to see a lot of for sale signs in the next year. - MSIX - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 2:21 pm: OW, we’re listening. For which candidate would you have us vote? Right now it appears both Reggie and Righter will run either unopposed or against some no-name who may garner 3-4% of the votes here. I’ll certainly vote accordingly in any race that matters and in the event someone does runs against the incumbents here, I’ll give them serious consideration. But until the next election for governor, there isn’t much for us to vote accordingly about. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 2:36 pm: - MSIX - I do mean NO disrespect or say “vote accordingly” in a flippant way. I hope you, and others understand that. To your question, Lots of proxy races. Rauner has a few people he is supporting. To Reggie, specifically, if “you” (collectively) decide not to send a message in his race, even if it’s to make Reggie sweat, then I dunno what to say. Sometimes being fed up starts s movement, and that movement builds a ground game… It’s May… it’s up to y’all to decide how big of a message you want sent. With humbled respect. I do sincerely wish you all well. Who knows, Durkin might get Rauner to take Charleston seriously. Pressure. Lots of pressure. - Anonymous - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 2:44 pm: Those who have never really paid strict attention are doing so now. Hitting higher education is a great way (/s) to hurt someone other than those at the bottom. The more levels of society (but definitely not anywhere near those at the top) affected, the greater the pressure to cede to his agenda. Our governor is single handedly destroying this state and it’s citizens. If he were not hell bent on his agenda, we’d be a functioning state. What claim of success or even progress can this man make? Are there really supporters of his antics? If so, what pleasure do they derive from so much destruction and pain to others? - Anonymous - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 3:18 pm: The ugly fact is that enrollment was plummeting at EIU long before anyone heard of Bruce Rauner. The university is bloated and fundamentally mismanaged. They even closed an entire dorm a few years ago. The lack of budget is appalling, but this should force each of these universities to take a hard look to their operations. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 3:20 pm: Great example(s) of the - @MisterJayEm - rule on - Anonymous - Pick a name. Please - Scamp640 - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 3:26 pm: @ Anonymous 3:18. How do you know so much about EIU and its declining student enrollment? Are you a university administrator? Are you on the board of trustees? Do you work for the IBHE? Undoubtedly, EIU has enrollment problems. Is it possible that Illinois demographics, coupled with long term state funding cuts to higher education, and concomitant rising tuition costs could have something to do with the declining enrollment and regional public universities across the state? You say that it is due to it being “fundamentally mismanaged.” If you mean that Governors (both Dems and Reps) and the GA (both Dems and Reps) have mismanaged higher education in this state, then I agree with you. Otherwise, I respectfully have to disagree with your premise. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 3:40 pm: I don’t remember Bruce Rauner running for governor and closing Eastern, Western, and Chicago State as part of Rauner’s “Agenda” Wonder why? - MSIX - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 3:48 pm: @Scamp640 You are correct that as state funding has declined, so has enrollment. Partially due to the need to increase tuition as funding declines. Something those who howl about the high cost of tuition can’t seem to grasp. Demographic changes have also, of course, affected EIU just as they have many schools. And while some management issues could have been handled better in the past, it certainly is not true that EIU as been “fundamentally mismanaged.” EIU actually has a very low administrator-to-student ratio. - gdub - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 3:49 pm: “vote accordingly”??? Hardly anyone voted in the 2014 election. That was the problem. I say to those Chicago State students get out and vote. Also, why hasn’t the millionaire tax been passed. 2,200,000 people voted yes to tax millionaires at a higher rate. Only 1,823,000 voted for Rauner for Governor. - Norseman - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 4:01 pm: MSIX, yes you have a problem. Hopefully, the Dems will come up with someone good to run against Reggie at least. Odds are extremely long, but a concentrated effort may make Reggie sweat and be more attentive in the future. It could also set the stage for more successful run in 2018. - RNUG - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 4:09 pm: == For which candidate would you have us vote? == This year, that means voting against anyone who consistently votes ‘no’ or ‘present’ … basically all GOP members of the Legislature. And any Democrat who has either been a no show or voted with Rauner on the key votes that fell one or two votes short. The sole exception might be Sam McCann … even though he has voted with Rauner 99% of the time, he did show he can vote his district on a couple of votes. - Whatever - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 4:13 pm: OW ==I don’t remember Bruce Rauner running for governor and closing Eastern, Western, and Chicago State as part of Rauner’s “Agenda” Wonder why?++ Maybe because he’s grown in office? /s - Norseman - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 4:22 pm: RNUG @ 4:09 +1 - Anonymous - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 5:33 pm: Reggie will most likely have an opponent in the 110th from the Dems. Signatures are being gathered as we speak. - James Knell - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 5:38 pm: “Reggie will most likely have an opponent in the 110th from the Dems. Signatures are being gathered as we speak.” Does that mean a write-in campaign or can someone still get on the ballot after an empty primary? - Annonin' - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 5:39 pm: The real tragedy here is that BigBrain had no real idea what he was doin’ when he gave colleges and university zero in June 2015. Later he sent out one of the Junior BigBrain with a bunch of dated hate speech points. Finally when facin’ another GOPie revolt he tossed out $600 million to avert an override. Ain’t goin’ to be enough. Meanwhile students are walkin’ and faculty members are rejectin’ matchin’ offers. The damage will take a decade unless BigBrain launches a “local control” plan that mandates anyone under 22 enroll today. Sounds like the type of idea his guy Trump will like. - Mama - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 5:46 pm: == For which candidate would you have us vote? == Vote for the candidate who will stand up for you after he/she is elected. - DuPage Dave - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 6:13 pm: Coles County voted 65 percent for Rauner in 2014. Hope you guys are happy now. Didn’t see this coming? Too bad, so sad. - Norseman - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 6:46 pm: James, the parties have a certain period of time to fill an empty race. They do have to accompany the appointment with a petition containing at least the same number of signatures required to get on primary ballot. - James Knell - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 6:50 pm: Thanks Norseman! At least I learned something new today. BTW, I have long enjoyed your comments and insights. - illinois manufacturer - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 7:16 pm: Hammond in WIU district has a serious opponent in John Curtis. Vote accordingly…..and SCI has allread - Norseman - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 7:28 pm: Thank you James - MSIX - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 7:44 pm: =Vote for the candidate who will stand up for you after he/she is elected.= No such choice for us. - Anonymous - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 8:33 pm: It’s hard to know what candidate will stand up for you after he/she has been elected. Rauner did not run on his TurnAround agenda, did he? Our local rep met with us and told us his position, which was ours as well. He became a state senator and did a 180 degree change of tune. For me, voting has been a joke. If only I had known what they’d really do…… Traditional roles of Dems and Republicans seem to have blurred as well. Who’d ever have thought Quinn would have done some of the un-Democrat things he did? - RNUG - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 8:56 pm: == No such choice for us. == Best you can do sometimes is vote for the person you think will do the least damage … that’s what the presidential race is coming down too. - RNUG - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 8:59 pm: == Who’d ever have thought Quinn would have done some of the un-Democrat things he did? == Who would have thought Raymond Poe would have voted against the State employees that consistently helped elect him? But he did … for a appointment in the Rauner administration. - illinois manufacturer - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 9:35 pm: The dems better get a candidate in every seat with Rauner blasting Trump. The Trump supporters may ..will retaliate. The smart thing would have been to shut up but he never does that so …..I predict Kirk Munger and a veto proof house and at least one US house seat…Hang on EIU - Jimmy H - Friday, May 6, 16 @ 10:33 am: EIU and CSU are the most dire, but all the Universities will have layoffs if there’s not additional FY16 funding. If there’s not a FY17 budget by June, then massive layoff notices go out. University districts are vulnerable, but there are many more districts in play. R members in lock step with Rauner own. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.