MARION - Marion Mayor Mike Absher laid out an ambitious agenda Monday night for the city he was elected to lead for the next four years, calling for a strong effort to bring commerce back to the largely defunct Illinois Star Centre mall and actively pursuing new businesses and residents throughout the city.
"I want us to become more entrepreneurial in our approach, as we seek new opportunities," he told a packed house at the Marion Cultural and Civic Center.
He said that goes beyond Marion just being "business-friendly," and means aggressively reaching out to businesses and prospective residents where they are, "and not wait for them to come to us," he continued.
Absher, an entrepreneur himself and until recently the president of the Marion school board, was elected mayor on April 2. He was sworn into office Monday night by Judge John Sanders, along with a new board of commissioners: Doug Patton and Jim Webb, who were re-elected to their seats; and newcomers John M. Barwick Jr. and John Stoecklin.
Given the somber news that legendary former Marion mayor Bob Butler had passed away that very morning, the celebration was somewhat subdued.
But Butler was heard from, in the voice of his pastor, Ed Rucker of First Christian Church.
Rucker visited the retired mayor every Thursday, and on April 4, they were talking over the election results, he said. Butler had filmed a campaign commercial for Anthony Rinella, who was Butler's choice to succeed him when Butler retired in January 2018 and now was running for the seat in his own right.
"I did what I could for Anthony," Butler told Rucker. "I worked with him for a long time and I owed him that. That being said, I think Mike will do a good job."
Later, when Absher thanked Rinella for 42 years of service to the city and his personal help with the transition, the crowd rose in a thunderous standing ovation.
Taking place in the Marion Cultural and Civic Center instead of City Hall to accommodate the crowd, the regular City Council meeting opened with a presentation of the colors, and four members of the Marion High School Air Force Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps marched across the stage.
Rinella and commissioners Angelo Hightower, Doug Patton, Jim Webb and John Goss then sat for their last vote, unanimously certifying the election results. Judge Sanders administered oaths of office.
Mayor Absher and the commissioners were officially assigned their areas of responsibility. Absher will do public affairs; Patton, accounts and finance; Webb, streets and public improvements; Barwick, public health and safety and Stoecklin, public property.
The new council also unanimously approved Cody Moake as the mayor's chief of staff, and city engineer Glenn Clarida as part-time director of economic development and municipal planning. Also approved were the department heads, including City Clerk Alice Rix.
There was a little comic relief, as Rix at one point asked for a vote from "Mayor Rinella," and the audience of about 200 erupted into laughter.
The business concluded, Absher took the podium to discuss his agenda for the city.
He encouraged Marion residents to view the city through "visitors' glasses, to see how we can all improve our surroundings."
He warned that bringing about an economic renaissance won't be easy, but will be worth the effort. He likened his goals for Marion to President John F. Kennedy's promise 57 years ago that the United States would put a man on the moon.
"We live in a region that is impoverished and underemployed. We live in a state that overtaxes its residents and is dominated by the politicians and their agendas six hours to our north," Absher declared. "We live in a state that has more residents moving out than moving in."
Illinois, he said, had been described to him as a desert.
"My vision for Marion was to become an oasis in that desert. An oasis of opportunity."
Further, Marion can emulate the approach America took when faced with getting to the moon, Absher said.
"It was not up to one man to get us there, but the strength and character and ingenuity of an entire nation."
If the city works hard, Absher said, perhaps a half-century from now the residents of Marion can look back at this administration's goals and accomplishments, and say, "Thank God, they set out to win."
