In the Massac County community of Metropolis, popularly known as “Superman’s hometown,” mayoral candidates’ responses to a recent survey explored whether it may take heroic efforts to overcome the city’s challenges and implement needed improvements.
“What are the major challenges you foresee in the future and how do you plan to tackle those?” asked a recent survey, among other questions, in a questionnaire posed by WKMS radio of Murray State University, located across the Tennessee River from Metropolis in adjacent Kentucky.
Incumbent Billy McDaniel and three challengers — Julian "Butch" Adams, Richard Corzine Jr. and David McManus — each conveyed his respective vision, with economic growth front and center.
Corzine, a businessman who owns and operates Big Daddy’s BBQ, cited “high hopes” for Metropolis, emphasizing the need for visibility and networking. He said the biggest problem for Metropolis consists of dwindling business interests, coupled with what he termed “lack of interest in others.” Like Adams and McDaniel, he lamented the state of the city streets, citing neglected landscaping and dirty sidewalks.
“Who wants to locate their business in the middle of a cesspool,” Corzine told the radio station.
Referring to Illinois as the worst state for starting a business, he also told WKMS that the mayor of Metropolis would do well to leave his desk on occasion; express needs directly to elected leaders and the governor; and on a local and regional level, establish and cultivate relationships with business owners to build the city’s economic base.
Additionally, said Corzine, the city occupies an excellent location for industry as it sits on a major river with convenient access to both railway and road infrastructure.
McDaniel, coincidentally also with a background in the barbecue business and a self-described lifelong public servant, articulated his enthusiasm for his now 12-year stint as Metropolis’ mayor before pinpointing the state as the city’s “number one obstacle” for growth.
“We have budgets every year, but we are handicapped because the state doesn’t have a budget,” McDaniel stated in his survey response.
Secondly, the mayor identified police and fire department pensions among the city’s top challenges. He suggested solutions such as finding grants and low-interest loans to carry the city over until greater stability is achieved on the state level.
Locally, McDaniel stressed a strong need for beautification, citing that the city could use a cleanup and pointing a finger at the state budget impasse as a deterrent to local growth.
“Anybody can probably be Mayor as long as you are smart enough and humble enough to surround yourself with the best people you can,” McDaniel added elsewhere in the questionnaire.
In response to the survey question, lifelong Metropolis resident Adams concurred with incumbent McDaniel that the jurisdiction’s appearance needs cleaning up. He expressed two specific concerns: first, that without support, the community could lose its river casino; and second, the city could potentially face bankruptcy if its course is not corrected in the near future.
On a positive note, Adams said, he supports bringing in more jobs to bolster the population and city income. Additionally, he expressed a desire to involve the community and its denizens to plan and attend more public meetings on a regular basis.
Growing up in the city in a working-class family, Adams held blue-collar jobs in local industry. He conveyed a love for the city and dedication to the community.
Metropolis native McManus, a Vietnam veteran who has served as a city alderman for the past dozen years, said he agrees with McDaniel on a majority of the issues and concurs with the perspective that the state has created a high-pressure situation fiscally.
McManus also sees the city’s proximity to Kentucky as an issue, stating “[Kentucky] has their billfold open where Illinois has its hand out.”
All told, the candidates expressed a common interest in overcoming economic woes generated or at least exacerbated by the state of Illinois, as well as a unified outlook on sprucing up the Southern Illinois city.
Elections are April 4.
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