The Wisdom of Braun, the Wisdom of Us

Flossmoor voters clearly made the right choice in the last municipal elections and we see more confirmation of that every day. Recently, USA Today observed:

Federal cash is now the No. 1 revenue source for state and local governments, surpassing sales and property taxes, the government data show.

You may recall that this was a key issue in the recent campaign, with a clear choice between the two mayoral candidates. The two candidates laid out their positions at the League of Women Voters debate held at the Flossmoor Library on March 19th.

Paul Braun framed the debate this way:

Washington has decided to pump 787 billion dollars into our economy and my question is, will Flossmoor be there to take advantage of that....

we also need to be federally involved, as well. I'm committed to go to Washington, if necessary, to go knock on doors to get the funds that are necessary for our town. Because with those funds, that takes the pressure off of us, our taxpayers, the resident's tax burden. Some of you may have seen that a number of our recent mayors went to Washington and that we did not.

Our former mayor replied:

Washington will not reduce your tax dollars but good solid commercial developments in our TIF area will.

Take a drive down Volmer Road to see how far the former mayor progressed on that point.

Paul Braun was clearly right. Whether we like it or not, federal dollars are flooding municipal coffers. We need that grant writer, we need that money, we need help -- even in affluent Flossmoor. The wisdom of the voters never ceases to amaze me...