South West Illinois News

Mayor Dale Fowler of Harrisburg, Illinois, has been grass rooting his campaign for a seat in Senate District 59, speaking directly to the constituents via door knocks and telephone calls.

Things are picking up. “The last few months things are progressively picking up…each and everyday as we move forward,” he told Southwest Illinois News. “Right now, [we’re] going up the roads. A lot of meetings. Meeting a lot of people. Knocking on a lot of doors. A lot of phone calling. A lot of networking. Just everything that goes hand to hand with the campaign as far as my grass roots efforts. It’s a big district here in the 59th. A lot of territory to cover.”

As Mayor Fowler spoke face to face with potential voters, he keeps quiet, preferring not to speak about himself. Rather, he listened to their voice and opinions. And they have a lot to say.

“Most importantly, I want to hear from them. I ask them ‘what’s your concern?’ It’s a lot more than me just telling you who I am or what I want to accomplish or like to accomplish. It’s what’s important to you,” he said. “If I go to Springfield to represent you, what’s most important? What’s your priority list? I like to really involve the citizen in the conversation.”

By giving citizens the opportunity to speak, Mayor Fowler has been hearing the latest on what Southern Illinois has been thinking about the state. He said many are embarrassed at the affairs of the state.

“We’ve let the state…become the laughing stock of the nation,” he said. “As a business development officer for a major bank, I’m working with businesses all the time. Naturally, they [the businesses] are concerned about all the citizens that are leaving the state and all the businesses and companies that are leaving the state and taking the jobs with them. We all know what happens when someone leaves.”

He elaborated, stating that just one family makes a difference. If they leave, it sends a ripple through the community.

“If just a family leaves…if a family of a mom and dad and two kids leave, well…that’s two kids that are not in our school system," Fowler said. "If you lose your population, you lose your school enrollment, you lose your incentives, and support. The list goes on and on.”

It didn’t happen over night, Mayor Fowler said. He said the current situation in Illinois is the result of a decade of ineffective policies. It’s not helping the people and he doesn’t know how much longer Illinois can take. He used a balloon analogy to emphasis the point.

“A balloon only holds so much air. The air on this state balloon is getting pretty tight. The last thing we need for it is to burst,” he stated.

A problem that may cause the balloon to burst is the current situation with the Illinois school funding reform that is being discussed at the capital. Recently, a proposal pushed by Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) to rewrite the state's school aid formula was squashed due to little support. The reform apparently had problems. Mayor Fowler commented, stating that it is imperative for Illinois to properly fund its schools.

“We have to properly fund our schools. In our schools, just like any public entity, you have to establish budgets,” he said. “When you’re establishing a budget, you’re actually establishing on what you think your state subsidies are going to be. When you’re only getting a portion of that, well guess what? You have to eliminate jobs. You have to make severe drastic cuts. Obviously it’s a matter of survival." 

Mayor Fowler stressed the difference between a school and a business.

“A school district is not a business. A school district is an imperative necessity,” he said. “It’s required that your community to have schools. A school just can’t shut down like a business could if it goes bankrupt or runs out of money. We have to educate our children. We all know that.”

Providing education for the youth is an important part of the mayor’s campaign. In fact, it is one of his top priorities.

“Education always has to be our top priority. I’m a firm believer that a strong school district is our number one economic engine for a community. It all starts there,” he said. "It teaches our kids, it teaches job creation, and most importantly, it teaches leadership. Some of our students will come out as our leaders one day and, hopefully, business people. We want them to be in the State of Illinois. We don’t want them to go Indiana, or Missouri, or Kentucky.”

Creating future leaders in Illinois will be a difficult project due to what many consider is an unfair formula for deciding school funding. Illinois needs to work on it, Mayor Fowler said.

“The formula has to change. And that’s what they are trying to work on and compromise on," he explained. "Schools have to be properly funded and have to be funded 100 percent of what they are promised. Right now, the funding formula is not fair.”

He elaborated, speaking about the discrepancy between Harrisburg and other schools,

“I don’t have this 100 percent accurate but the city of Harrisburg gets [estimated] $6,900 a student and there are school districts in the north that get up to $20,000 to $30,000 per student," he said,

With a balanced funding program, Mayor Fowler believes that Illinois schools will succeed. And if the schools succeed, Illinois may yet keep their future leaders.