The interesting thing about justice and accountability is that it sometimes takes a very long time. We just saw a remarkable example of it taking 41 years. As I watched the verdict being announced in the case of Edgar Ray Killen, age 8l, I saw a mean old man who almost escaped being punished for a heinous crime. As people age, they usually adopt a more frail, harmless appearance, regardless of past conduct and crimes. Even with his oxygen in place, he looked neither weak, frail, nor remorseful.
Forty-one years to the day after the murder of the three young civil rights workers in Mississippi, Edgar Killen learned that he would spend his remaining days on this earth in prison. This was the case that prompted the movie, “Mississippi Burning.”
Throughout history we have witnessed the days when regardless of heroic effort, the Dragon wins. We can award the dragon a few battles, but hopefully, he will never win the war. The Mississippi case reminds us of the tragedy of the evil that results from arrogance, peer pressure, ignorance and abuse of power unchecked.
From the beginning of mankind, the battle between good and evil has been waged on a royal scale. We have been fortunate and blessed in times of peril, we have always had a few good men who met the challenge and rose to the occasion. I don’t believe that any of us ever know what we will do until we are actually faced with the challenge and the tough choice in determining what path we will walk down.
The City of St. Charles now faces this dilemma and has some serious choices to make, about not only what is acceptable from a practical standpoint, but also which is ethically and morally acceptable. These choices will define who we are as a society and as human beings.
We have a new publication which reared its ugly head to educate us about “honesty” and “honest issues.” The editor is Ed Watkins. He may have vested interests in economic ambitions with his cronies, however he does not nor ever has lived in the City of St. Charles. His greatest accomplishments during the past 25 years seems to be the ability to promote himself and show up at all events which may present a new deal or opportunity.
Watkins has shamelessly ignored every truth and reality and has consistently used this bi-weekly hate missile to attack decent people in St. Charles who live here and work for the benefit of this City and its future. These decent people will still be around working for their City and the quality of our lives long after Watkins has moved on to a more lucrative opportunity.
His cohorts appear to be advertising giant, Glennon Jamboretz, Great Rivers Habitat Alliance, Carl Maus and Raymond Stone of Citizens for Responsible Community, T.R. Hughes, St. Chuck Watch, and Mayor York. All these groups appear to have hired Jamboretz to do their public relations work and promote the agenda of Mayor York. At the moment, he seems to have a full-time job trying to repair her deteriorating public image.
Except for six members of the St. Charles City Council, these groups and individuals have their people in place at both the county and state level and are unchecked in getting their way. Those six St. Charles City Council members are all that is preventing the big boys from totally controlling our city government. The attacks upon our City Council and misinformation and outright lies will not stop until Watkins and his cronies have driven them from the offices WE elected them to serve as our representatives.
Individuals attending Tuesday’s City Council meeting were shocked at what they observed. Jamboretz was reported to have been communicating from his laptop computer to Mayor York who was responding to him on her laptop. It was observed Jamboretz closed up his computer and left with Stone and others. Mayor York then left to follow them out, accompanied by a St. Charles City Police Officer, who appears to be serving as her “body guard.” I do not believe that anybody is interested in the Mayor’s body or wishes her any physical harm. The public would like nothing more than the Mayor to fulfill her duties with honesty and integrity. That is not a “life-threatening” request.
Our city is at a major crossroads and the decisions we make and the path we choose will define our integrity and our future. May we all have the wisdom to make these decisions based on common sense, logic, and whole lot of conscience and soul seeking. We can rise to this challenge with dignity based on ethics, morals and compassion or we can allow self-serving people to direct our thinking and be a party to injustice.
