"No
thanks," they reply. "As mayor, I have to
get back to City Hall tomorrow."
Impossible?
Not to Springfield Mayor Karen Hasara. She hopes to
find a safe, yet fun place for young people to be at.
Still, that
isn’t Hasara’s only concern - a few of her others
are discussed in this week of "Politics
Today."
Q: You said
publicly that you approved of expansion at O’Hare
Airport in Chicago. When else have you mentioned your
opinion on a national issue, and what does it take for
you to do that?
A: Regarding
O’Hare expansion - actually, although Congress will
be voting on it, I say for me, it’s more of a state
and local issue than a national issue. The reason that
I spoke publicly is because it affects Springfield,
and I would speak out on any national issue that
affected our community. It affects Springfield because
we’re vying with other cities for slots at O’Hare
Airport, ...and the more runways and the more areas at
O’Hare, more planes that will be able to fly in and
out, which gives Springfield a better chance at
getting more flights in and out of O’Hare. That’s
very important to our airport and to the town of
Springfield.
There are a
few other national issues: most like funding issues,
federal grant money, for example, that we might be
able to get. We lobbied for that with our congressmen.
We even occasionally go to Washington to lobby on
utility issues, for example, because Springfield has a
municipal utility, and some of it is regulated,
certainly the environmental aspects are regulated by
the federal government. So we would speak out on
anything that affected our town.
Q: Each year,
you meet with mayors from across the nation. What are
some of the things you’ve discussed at these
conventions that have helped you with your job here in
Springfield?
A: I go to a
few meetings with mayors from around the country.
Probably the biggest help that I’ve gotten from
those meetings was right after 9-11. There was a
wonderful national seminar for mayors and their police
and fire chiefs (we took the public health director
too), and there was a wonderful opportunity to meet
the head of the FBI, Tom Ridge homeland security, and
to just hear from so many people who were in charge of
policy. I had to set up a good security plan for our
community. That’s been the biggest one, but there
are a lot of other things that mayors participate in:
improving neighborhoods, even breast and prostate
cancer, ...fine arts projects...Like any subject,
it’s always good to get together with your peers and
discuss what we call "best practices," which
means we learn a lot from a city which already had
experience with different things. The Mayors’
Association publishes a lot of this in practice
handbooks so even if you don’t go to a lot of the
meetings, you get the information.
Q: You’ve
been involved in state government as well as local. Do
you have any plans to run for higher office? Why or
why not?
A: No, I have
no plans. I was, as you may know, in the running for
lieutenant governor with Jim Ryan but was not selected
to be his running mate. But I like being the mayor,
and I’m 61 years old now, so when I finish being
mayor I’ll probably retire. I always say I’ll
never say never, but I certainly have no plans. I’m
in Congressman LaHood’s congressional district, and
he’ll certainly be around as long as he wants to. I
never really had the goal of going to Washington. I
love local government, and I enjoyed being in the
state house for 10 years while I was a rep, so I
really have no plans to run.
Q: Explain
what you do with the Mayor’s Youth Commission. How
is this helping young people today?
A: The
Mayor’s Youth Commission, in my opinion, is a
leadership training opportunity for young people.
That’s why there was a grant received and a couple
of groups shared to set up a leadership training
program for young people who would not necessarily be
the brightest in their class but had a potential for
leadership. So that’s been my focus with the
Mayor’s Youth Commission. I try to get them involved
in projects and reporting on topics that they’re
interested in that I think are good policy issues.
It’s fairly new. I have in the past had commissions
for the local high schools, but they were always the
best and the brightest students that were chosen by
teachers. They’re so busy and have so many
opportunities, that this seems to be more ideal
because it gives young people who ordinarily probably
would not have a chance to have some of the
opportunities, and it gives them a chance to have
them.
Q: Do you
believe the city should have more to do for teenagers
and young people? If so, what?
A: I’m not
sure the city should be doing more for teenagers and
young people. There are a lot of recreational
activities. For example, I have had a dream of having
an outdoor skating rink in the wintertime. That was
one of the things that I’ve instituted, and
certainly people have taken advantage of that...
One thing I
think would be helpful but it’s difficult is that I
truly believe that young people want to be with their
friends and listen to music. If there were more places
to do that, the city would be interested in helping.
But there are a couple of private places, and it is
difficult. There are problems at them; it’s very
costly. So it’s just very difficult to keep them
running and keep them open. That’s the one thing I
think we’re lacking.
Q: Last
month, you announced that the first "Here I Have
Lived" Lincoln exhibits in the downtown would be
completed by Spring 2003. Other than more tourism, how
do you expect this to bring Springfield further?
A: The
"Here I Have Lived" exhibits other than
promoting tourism, one of the main goals that I think
is exciting is the fact that it will get people who
live in Springfield a much better sense of history,
and it will give them the opportunity to learn some
wonderful stories about our community that probably
none of us, or very few of us, know about or even
remember. I think it’ll be very good for
Springfield, and I think there are a lot of benefits
into letting the citizens know about their history.
Hopefully, they feel better about their community,
more positive, and that carries over into a lot of
different areas: more positive about their
neighborhood, more positive about their government,
just having a better feeling, and that pays off in so
many ways.
Q: You were
Springfield’s first female mayor. How much longer do
you think it will be before women become a leading
force in politics, especially in Washington?
A: Actually,
I think women have already become a leading force in
politics, but the numbers at the top levels are still
not where they should be. You have to remember, I’ve
been in elected office now for close to 30 years, so
I’ve seen such a huge difference from where there
weren’t any to now when, for example, I think in the
legislature you have close to 30 percent of the
legislators are women. That’s a huge increase.
Hopefully someday, it’ll be 50 percent, but in the
higher the level, the less the percentage - still not
nearly high enough in Congress. I really think even in
my lifetime, I will live to see a woman president. I
really do.
Politics
Today 
Politics
Today: Karen Hasara