By BEN DOBBIN

East St. Louis: Down but not out

Past and present municipal officials in East St. Louis are not hesitant about pointing a finger at others when asked who is to blame for the city's huge problems. If they agree on anything, it's that the city can still rise phoenix-like with pride and prosperity from its own ashes. This is the second of two articles by Irishman Ben Dobbin about the city's prosperous past, bleak present and half-hopeful future

Photo by Roger McCredie Federal funds were obtained in 1977 to erect a new city hall behind the old one. Many factors — including a disputed property title, a change in the city's administration and inflation — combined to halt the project before completion. Although a nationwide search for funds was unsuccessful, the city has recently raised $1 million through the sale of bonds to complete construction. According to Deputy Mayor Lamar Gentry, the new city hall may be occupied as soon as April 1982.

AFTER two years as mayor of East St. Louis, 29-year-old Carl E. Officer has found himself in the same predicament as his predecessors — a target for frequent criticism.

Officer, a Democrat and political neophyte, campaigned as a reformer and soundly defeated William E. Mason in 1979. Mason's administration was shaken repeatedly by scandal, notably the convictions of half a dozen city officials, including a police chief, on graft charges.

Officer's main objective since assuming office has been to reestablish the city's credibility. "I think the city had a very poor image," he says. "We have to change the image from corruption, from disillusionment, from buffoonism, from cronyism, from moral degradation, to one of character and one of courage and one of complete consciousness about the public and the ability to be a decent public servant. Without that, there can be no economic revitalization, any housing, any respect for law and order. There could not be any growth if people inside and outside your community view your government as one that is distasteful and disdainful."

There have been no substantive allegations of misconduct against Carl Officer; criticism instead has focused on the city's continuing financial problems.

On the eve of the 1979 election, Mayor Mason expanded the city payroll by about a third (to 519), a common political move for an incumbent seeking reelection. When Officer was elected, he quite naturally began by firing 187 people in what he called "patronage jobs." In fact, several of Mason's appointees changed all their personnel forms and had to be sued to be removed from office.

According to Richard Hargraves, editorial page editor of the Belleville News-Democrat, Officer then took on a "large" personal staff.

"I don't think he's any different," Hargraves accuses. "He's building a political machine. He's putting his people into every spot. He's building his town empire, like every mayor. He's building a personal staff instead of building a city-wide government."

"When I came in," rebuts Officer, "I was hellbent on moving certain people off the city payroll — they were basically political as well as civic leeches. I released them in the first 15 minutes of my administration, not hitting those considered to be professional employees — police and public works and the necessary areas."

After a year in office, in December 1980, Officer made further cuts. He now has a staff of approximately 390.

"I think he tried to limit his cuts," observes former city commissioner Bobby Mays sympathetically. "In a city like East St. Louis, sometimes the city has to be an employer of last resort. This is a poor, black city where employment is the key, where it plays an important part in keeping the city together."

Hargraves is convinced, however, that Officer could and should do much more in trimming the payroll and that the city would be in line with similar-sized cities if the mayor eliminated another one-third of the city payroll. Officer says he wil soon be making a third set of cuts, though he declined to say how severe those cuts will be. He compares his financial troubles with Boston, Detroit, Cleveland or nearby Granite City, all of which are being forced to cut city payrolls.

"In East St. Louis, our situation is a little bit different," he says. "We really don't have fat; I'm cutting muscle out right now. But there will be more cuts."

Early in December 1980, the city failed to meet the payroll. According to Officer at that time, several of the city's businesses had failed to pay their state taxes, and part of the state aid received by the city is based on taxes collected from local businesses.

Missing a city payroll is a serious business — perhaps not unprecedented in East St. Louis, but certainly not easily forgotten.

"Mason had a lot of faults," says Hargraves, "but he paid his people. A

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year ago, I saw their [Officer's] budget. It was the worst budget I've ever seen. I've done better budgets for social clubs. Officer, he offered them something new; cut the budget, cut out the waste type of program." Hargraves shakes his head. "Why the people stand for it is another matter. I think they've had it so long, they don't know where to go."

"Our biggest problem," Officer explains, "is that persons have not paid simple things like $2 a month garbage collection bills." The city loses some $30,000 a month for garbage collection; only 11 percent of residents pay their bills.

"Nobody but nobody wants garbage on the streets," says Officer flatly, "but nobody wants to pay for it either."

As for the police and fire departments, Officer says he has "no control" over hiring, but wishes he had. "I think the police department needs to be completely closed down and rehauled," he thunders. "I'm searching for a way to do that. I'm confined a little by state law." Abuses, he alleges, range from bribes to civil rights violations to illegal transactions. "You name it, they do it."

Hargraves continues his attack. "Officer prefers the flashy projects, such as building the riverfront. He is redoing the downtown area, the highly visible area. But drive around that town; it's depressing. I don't see how people live there. If Brauer [mayor of Belleville] did the same kind of thing, the people of Belleville would run him out of town."

But Hargraves finally makes a surprising concession: "After all is said, Carl Officer is probably the best for East St. Louis. I don't see anyone with as much ability, with the leadership, the magnetism, to run a city government. What scares me is that maybe he's the last hope. If Officer, with all the things going for him, lets the city go bankrupt, if East St. Louis goes down, the people are in for some bad times."

Business and jobs

Photo courtesy Belleville News Democrat James E. Williams, first black mayor of East St. Louis

Photo courtesy Belleville News Democrat William E. Mason, mayor until 1979, when 'reformers' won

Photo courtesy Belleville News Democrat Carl E. Officer, mayor since 1979, still trying to change city's image

If the key to a city's well-being is the health of its business sector, things certainly are not improving. Major businesses continue to leave East St. Louis, and the people along with them. The city has lost at least $18 million in assessed valuation in less than two years, according to Mays.

"I heard the mayor get up at a council meeting the other night," pronounces Del Valine, vice president of First Illinois Bank, with a bemused look of wonder. "He said that 82 businesses have been added into this community. I don't know what he calls a business. It might be a fish stand. I question that," he grumbles. "As president of the [Southwest Regional] Port Authority, I see a continuation of a loss of business."

Mayor Officer says the new jobs have all been created in service industries. "I have not been one for advocating or pushing big business," he replies, claiming that there has not been one new job created among the top 1,000 major businesses in the United States in the last five years.

Hunter Packing Co., the city's largest employer, was the latest to pack up and leave. It once employed 900. That was in December 1980.

Two years ago, the Obear-Nester Glass Co. closed, putting 600 out of work. Since Officer's election, several car dealerships have folded, leaving only two, Mixon Buick and Chevrolet.

Ex-mayor Mason blames the departure of Dan Truck Motor Co. on the change in administration. The city used to purchase vehicles regularly from the firm to entice them to stay. Officer, alleges Mason, in order to accommodate a "political friend," went to Collinsville for his cars. In doing so, concludes Mason, the city lost yet another source of sales revenue.

"I bought 22 police cars from Bo Beuckman Ford," Officer patiently replies. "I openly bid it, so it wasn't a sweetheart deal. Bo Beuckman was a personal friend of mine, a political friend; I think he contributed $1,100 in my campaign. I would like to not think that $1,100 is enough for me to go and buy 22 police cars. I may not be a multimillionaire, but I can make five times my salary going back to my father's funeral business." Carl Officer is a descendant of the city's wealthiest and most prominent family.

As for the previous arrangement with Dan Truck Motor Co., "I think that's political blackmail," says Officer. "Who's getting the payoff?" he asks sardonically.

In the long run, Mason believes, there is a conspiracy on the part of some whites — whom he could not identify — to let the city die. The first black mayor, James E. Williams Sr., was elected just 10 years ago. Once blacks are no longer in control, both former mayors predict, whites will return to reclaim the city and buy the land at cheap prices.

"I think there's a merit to that theory," Mason nods sternly. "When I see realtors buying land in abundance when I go to the auction, I have to believe [there's] something in that. I do not believe East St. Louis, strategically located as it is, is going to just sit here. I think that once persons are helpless in doing anything about it, you will see people move in to take advantage of the profit to be made from the city. I think they're just waiting it out."

Land prices in East St. Louis have plummeted since the mid-60s. An average residential lot, according to several realtors, would now sell for between $250 and $500; in Belleville or Fairview

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Heights, the same sized lot (approximately 60 feet by 120 feet) would cost from $8,000 to $10,000.

Regrowth and money

State Rep. Wyvetter H. Younge (D., 57th district), who also subscribes to the conspiracy theory, is in favor of an "orderly development approach" in rebuilding East St. Louis — an industrial park rather than an enterprise zone.

Industrial park development, she says, would not "break up the culture of people, wipe them out, superimpose enterprise zones, but take raw land and develop it close to where they [workers] live."

The only trouble right now is attracting the developers. The money. Mention "regrowth" in East St. Louis and you're likely to hear about monolithic projects that are either in the planning stage or have been held in abeyance. But extravagant projects have had trouble getting off the ground in the past, and not everyone is confident that the city can overcome decades of corruption and neglect.

Project 2000, a socioeconomic organization with a goal of revitalizing East St. Louis by 2000 A.D., says it is seeking a $3.4 million grant to build an industrial quarter in the general area of the old Obear-Nester site, approximately a 16-block area from 26th Street to the riverfront. Up to this time, the group, which consists of public, private and religious leaders, has had some moderate successes. In 1979, two swimming pools in the city, at Lincoln and Jones parks, were renovated at a cost of $63,000. The group also purchased the Majestic Theater for $1,000 and deeded it to the city; after an architectural review is completed, the group will consider restoring it as a theater, restaurant and community center.

"I'm a little disgruntled," says the dour and towering ex-mayor, William Mason, "because the projects that I had going are standing there."

During Mason's administration, in 1977, the city secured a $5 million federal grant to build a new City Hall behind the old one. Construction went ahead but inflation, according to Mayor Officer, ate up the grant $500,000 short of making the structure habitable. The city searched nationally for someone to lend it the $500,000, but without success.

It is not the only modern structure in the city closed for lack of funds; the new State College cannot be opened because of the poor condition of the 60-year-old sewer system, which is also a deterrent to bringing industry to the area.

"Every year, a street caves in here," says former city commissioner Bobby Mays. "Every time that river rises above 19 feet, the city has tremendous sewer problems. East St. Louis is a combined sewer system — sanitary and street-water combined. Fifteen years

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ago, you coud handle that, but you can't now. Because of changes in industry here, they no longer pump water. One quarter of everything in our sewers is from seepage — weeds, rocks, vines. The river is horrendous in tearing up sewer lines. We're sitting where the river used to be. We're flooded every June, July. It's all patchwork, piecemeal."

Riverfront project

"Piecemeal" might also describe the process of regrowth. The only prominent renovation now going on in the city is on Collinsville Avenue. Last January, the city signed a $1 million contract to spend Department of Housing and Urban Development funds, and under the project, the main street's run-down hulks will be considerably brightened by brand-new pavement, curbing and streetlights.

"The regrowth has to start at a point; it has to start," says Del Valine. "I think it can on the river. I think that is the first opportunity we've ever had."

The riverfront project — an idea that merged in the 1930s — would free the riverfront to improve the efficiency of the railroads in East St. Louis. Almost 80 trains a day travel through

The riverfront project may be the catalyst for East St. Louis. It would be a free-trade zone, allowing any country to deposit their goods there without duty

the city at 15 miles an hour, causing endless delays; rail lines intersect traffic arteries at 13 places.

The $4 million federally financed study, which came out of the planning stage in July, calls for freeing railroad land to permit riverfront development. Its request for $500 million to clear rail facilities has received initial approval in Washington. If the land were cleared, the riverfront construction would be left in the hands of private developers.

The 1,500 acres, according to the project director, Tom Walsh, would be suitable for a mix of light industry — steel fabrication, welding, machinists —plus water-related industries, including a rail-barge transfer port for grain, warehousing between barges and perhaps some automotive industry, suitable for a river port.

The area would be a free-trade zone, allowing any country to deposit their goods there without paying duty. The only time duty is paid is when the product leaves the area. Along with the industrial components, there would be cultural and tourist attractions, and several condominiums and hotels in the area. The project was partly funded by the Federal Railroad Administration. Walsh considers its participation the key to the project's success. In previous studies, the railroads have always been excluded in the planning.

"It's going to have national benefits," Walsh claims, "making the flow of goods across the country better. It would have local benefits — improve the time it takes for companies to get their goods in, saving their money and consumer's money. Everyone's going to benefit from this project." Except Mr. Reagan, perhaps?

"Since he's been in," says Walsh a little forlornly, "projects such as this are having problems with their funding and have fallen by the wayside. It's the only thing left for East St. Louis. Something has be be the catalyst, to make this area worthwhile. This is the only thing right now." But realistically, Walsh concedes the project has only a "50-50 chance" of being completed.

Mayor Officer, however, is optimistic. "I'll build it," he says firmly. "It is vitally important. I'll build that riverfront before I'm 35." And Officer points to the $42 million in federal and state grants he claims to have brought to the city in 1980 as a token of his effectiveness. The state may only be beginning to realize its role in helping economically depressed towns like East St. Louis.

'Re-definition' battle

Bobby Mays, former city commissioner: 'a lot will depend on faith'

Del Valine, vice president of First Illinois Bank: 'regrowth has to start'

Rep. Younge has been battling in the Illinois General Assembly for a "re-definition" of the assistance role of the state. "The state," she says, "has very cleverly watched a pingpong game going on between the federal government and the municipalities. I think the assumption through the 'golden age' of the war on poverty, the New Deal, the New Frontier, was that the federal government will handle the problem. I think the state has never thought it their responsibility to do anything substantial except in education, not to get in the way of what the 'feds' were doing in a town like East St. Louis."

Younge believes that she along with Sen. Kenneth Hall (D., 57th District), has been successful in showing the General Assembly that cities are, "first of all," children of the state. "This year, for the first time, I have been able to get [my] bills to the governor's desk."

Her most ambitious bill for Gov. James R. Thompson's consideration calls for the establishment of the Community Development Finance Corporation Act. This bill was vetoed by Thompson, but Rep. Younge says it will be on the spring calendar next session with identical provisions to set up a corporation on a state level that would make equity and debt capital available to small businesses in depressed areas.

Younge estimates that the "Reagan Plan" of budget reductions in social service areas will cause a $600 to $1,000 loss of income in each family. "We've got to offer some alternatives for those families — food co-ops, clothing co­ops — to try to offer them some redemption. They are the target."

"The Reagan plan will not hurt East St. Louis," says Mayor Officer firmly. "We will make it. I have constantly

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State Rep. Wyvetter H. Younge: 'We will make it through this'

State Sen. Kenneth Hall: showing General Assembly that cities are children of the state

preached to my people, we're going to make it with or without the federal government's help, on our own. I confidently predict that I will do things in East St. Louis that no man or woman had ever dreamed could ever happen before."

Bobby Mays is less certain about the city's future. "A lot will depend upon fate," he says. "Many of the things that will bring about change are beyond Officer's, my control. This isolation, segregation — I don't know if it can be broken down. It's racial. There's a lot of people still here . . . ." His voice trails off.

Lionel Hankins, a store owner, is also matter-of-fact about the future. "I've seen changes — when times were good, when they were bad — and we dealt with both of them." Prosperity? He laughs at the idea. "I don't think I'll be here."

Other residents wish they were somewhere else. Cora Slaughter would like to go to Arkansas where she was raised, and get a job. Annie Nicholson, when she finds the opportunity, will be taking her family back to Detroit. Gwen McGee doesn't know what she wants to do. "I can't see nothing that I like," she says. "I mean it's home. When you can't go nowhere, it's home."

William Mason is optimistic, though not about the Officer administration. "Where there's life and land, there's hope," he says. "There's a lot of people here doing things despite the conditions, keeping their homes up."

Mason has built himself one of the most impressive houses in the city, Spanish-like, surrounded by flower beds. He has also maintained the open lot across the street. "One lady came by yesterday," he says. "I gave her petunias. Made me feel good that she's going to make her house look pretty. Little to some people, but big to me. I take great pride. My contribution is out here right now." His hope is that some of the young people who leave, go to college, will drift back to the town with the skills they have learned.

Del Valine says that won't happen until there is employment in the town. "Jobs are the answer," he states plainly. "That's what we lack. Until we get that, to give this economic base to East St. Louis, it will continue to deteriorate."

Rep. Younge understands the importance also of civic spirit. "If you were to go around East St. Louis, on every block, you will see that between 20 and 30 percent of the houses are being painted, the grass is neatly cut. I can see a coming back, a people saying, 'well, ya know, I know it ain't pretty, but I can make it a little pretty.'" She laughs, and there is defiance in her laughter.

"There is a remarkable tenacity to hold on to life here. We will push on with our groups, aspirations and goals and sustain our culture even as we go through this Reagan torture.

"Somehow, understand, that with all the problems there are here, we will make it through this.

"We'll survive this onslaught, too. We goin' a be here.'"

Ben Dobbin is from Dublin, Ireland, and has been in the U. S. a year. In 1980 he won the Champaign-Urbana News Gazette's first Ed Borman Scholarship for promising political reporting. He has a master's degree in journalism from the University of Illinois.

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