Two short years ago, we created this blog as a way to share our observations on some interesting goings-on in, and around, Williamson County. We quickly got fixated on the culture and governance of John A. Logan College, as it was at the start of the election season for the open JALC Board of Trustees seats.
Well, it's election time again. So, we've roused ourselves, mid-winter, to take a look around. And just in time, too! There is controversy regarding the Community Health and Education Complex, a related budgetary emergency, and elbow throwing as the taste of fear is in many mouths. Tuesday morning, readers of the Southern Illinoisan woke up to this unsigned editorial, the Voice of the Southern: Golf. An unsigned editorial is a big deal. It's not the individual ravings of a staff writer given some space to fill, but the institutional position of the paper. Logan got called out. In chronological order the column relates a quick series of contradictory events that set a program up on a pedestal, invited prospective student athletes to participate and then nearly killed the program.
For those unfamiliar with the events, they are well summarized in the Southern's editorial. For more background, see the news articles that preceded: Logan golfers land Hamlton County's Vaughn, Golf standouts to be induced into Logan's Hall of Fame and JALC Board tables vote to cut golf.
Five days later, there was this: Logan women's golf signs Effingham twins. School board elections of any kind tend to be boring. This one won't be.
Hopefully the fireworks begin on the election trail and most of those fireworks should be directed toward Jake Rendleman. It is definitely time for Jake to be off the board. Too many years on this board and it is time for him to step down. He is at the school way too much and his constant running for this position reminds me that he may be partially responsible for that big penalty of 1.7 million repayment that Logan is paying. We really thought he would be like Mike Hopkins-who decided not to run after serving 8 years and stepped down so others could have a chance in the position. EXCELLENT job by Mr. Hopkins-we need more like him
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