Cairo port project shows the good side of politics
It's very easy to pick on politics.
Late-night comedians offer stories of political missteps by politicians as an everyday part of their featured broadcasts.
Newspaper editors, myself included, often glean stories from the national level down to local politics to call out government inefficiency and hypocrisy. We often don't have to look too far. Rather, it can be difficult to distill an editorial column from the many offerings.
I think it's more difficult to find an example of politicians working across the aisle to make good things happen.
The Port of Cairo project is one of those good things.
On Tuesday, the Alexander-Cairo Port District announced the next step in bringing a new inland port to Cairo. A Project Labor Agreement, or PLA, with the Illinois AFL-CIO will ensure the hiring of 500 local union workers to construct the project. It's a huge shot in the arm to the region, and to a once-prosperous city that became overlooked and bypassed by changes in transportation.
A railroad bridge spanning the Ohio River in 1889 brought a drop in the ferry business. A bridge built over the Mississippi River nearby at Thebes further diminished options for the city. Bridges at Cairo over both the Ohio and Mississippi rivers were the final nail in the coffin to ferries. Plus, motorists now could bypass Cairo entirely as a result.
Cairo had its peak population in 1920 with 15,203 people. The 2010 Census showed just 2,831.
That decline is likely to reverse somewhat with the construction of the new inland port.
State Sen. Dale Fowler, R-Harrisburg, has been a champion for Cairo and envisioned the port project prior to being elected. He understood the significance of the city's location at the confluence of two major rivers and knew bringing an inland port there will have a positive effect on southern Illinois. Fowler has spearheaded the movement to build the port, and he deserves a lot of credit for keeping the project's momentum going.
Gov. JB Pritzker also deserves praise for including the Cairo Port project in his Rebuild Illinois program. In making the announcement of the PLA, Pritzker noted that southern Illinois, especially Alexander County, has been neglected by the state for far too long.
Leaders in the Illinois AFL-CIO, who certainly have a significant influence on Illinois politicians, also should be commended for working to ensure members of the local labor force will be used.
Of course, the members of the Alexander-Cairo Port District also have worked tirelessly with officeholders to keep the project from going away.
There may be some naysayers who don't want to see change; there always are.
But it's refreshing to see politicians and others involved in the process work together to shine a light on southern Illinois that has the potential to rekindle the region's economy.