Syverson: Sell one of state’s four planes to keep state parks open
September 18th, 2008 at 04:42pm Chuck Sweeny
Gov. Rod Blagojevich says the state can’t afford to keep all the state parks and historic sites open. So, he plans on closing 11 parks and numerous historic sites. Included are Lowden State Park near Oregon, which actually MAKES money, and Castle Rock State Park, a gem of natural beauty on Rock River’s Illinois 2.
Meanwhile, State Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, has done some research. The state of Illinois has four airplanes, which are Beech King Air 350s, and the value of them is about $2 million to $2.5 million a piece, he says.
“We’ve been told that the cost to keep the parks open for a year is $2.1 million. So, senators Brad Byrzynski and Tim and I have introduced a bill to sell one of the four planes and use the proceeds to keep the parks open for a year,” Syverson said.
“This would be more than enough to keep all parks open for a year. And it helps put to rest the fears of park employees that they’ll be unemployed. Also, people planning to go to the parks for special events, weddings, family reunions, scouting events, would be reassured that they could count on the parks still being open,” Syverson said.
Maybe this issue will be taken up on Monday, when the gov has called a special session to deal with ethics reform. We know the Senate will convene, the Chicago Trib reports, because Barack Obama called up his mentor, Sente President Emil Jones, and asked him to go back to Springpatch.
Entry Filed under: state parks
7 Comments Add your own
1. TBruce Watson | September 18th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
How politically motivated and pompous that our Gov would close a profitable park that turns a profit ! Let’s see if A-Rod cares more about his expensive state planes than he does the people who enjoy our parks, and prove it by selling them off so those of us who enjoy nature can continue to enjoy.
2. hokumboy | September 18th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
And what do we sell next year?
And the year after?
3. Juice | September 18th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Alaska says: My Gov can beat up your wimpy Gov. WOW, if we only had her brain in IL.
4. coldhotel | September 18th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Sounds like a really good idea, though I’m wondering who would buy these planes with the economy in such dismal shape. The obvious buyer would be a corporation; I think most corporations are avoiding these type of purchases for now.
5. Chuck Sweeny | September 18th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
We keep selling planes. A-Rod can live in Sprinpatch, where there’s an empty mansion waiting for him.
6. hokumboy | September 19th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
So,
this bit of brilliance, “Cheap Trick Day”, and “pay before pumping”, are the best ideas “Darling Dave”’s come up with in the last 12 months. Maybe we could be saving some more money for the State Parks by just getting rid of Severson and having no representation in the State Senate at all. We wouldn’t seem to be missing much.
7. Craig Knauss | September 22nd, 2008 at 10:03 pm
I fully agree that the governor should live in the state capitol. But Blago isn’t the first to avoid Springfield and conduct state business from Chicago. James Thompson did it for years and only went to Springfield when he absolutely had to. And when Big Jim wasn’t in Chicago, he was in Wisconsin. In fact, he spent more time in Wisconsin than he did in Springfield.
And somebody should tell Juice that Sarah Palin does the same thing, i.e., avoiding the state capitol. And she has the gall to charge Alaska for per diem WHILE SHE LIVES AT HOME near Anchorage.
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed