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Monday, April 24, 2006 10:35 PM CDT
Hesse remembered as ‘strong voice’
By HERB MEEKER, Staff Writer
MATTOON -- Friends and people who worked with former Mattoon City Commissioner Jerry Hesse said his influence will affect city operations for years to come.
Hesse died Sunday of medical complications stemming from a blood clot.
The Mattoon businessman took his penny-wise philosophy to heart when he joined the city council in May 2001. He also had ideas that are benefiting the city today, said a city commissioner who served on the council with Hesse.
“I will miss him as a friend and I had a great deal of respect for him because he gave so much time to the benefit of the city. I think he will be remembered as one of the most influential council members to have served the city for many years,” said City Commissioner David Schilling on Monday.
Schilling said Hesse was very supportive of the idea of hiring a city administrator to help put full-time, professional management in Mattoon City Hall. He also supported efforts to hire a computer technician and a public works director with an engineering degree. Both positions were intended to save the city money in the long run by reducing dependence on outside contractors for computer repairs or basic engineering work.
“Having someone as public Works director with engineering experience has saved the city a lot of money. That way we don’t have to have a private engineer signing off on certain work projects,” said Schilling. “And Jerry was behind the idea to hire a full-time computer technician for the city.”
Mattoon Public Works Director Dave Wortman said Hesse was instrumental in having the city street, sewer and water departments consolidated into the Public Works Department a few years ago in an effort to make those operations more cost efficient.
“He was a strong voice on the council. And his work will affect the city for years to come,” Wortman said.
Hesse also helped coordinate changes at the Mattoon Yard Waste Facility to eliminate truck hauling of yard waste elsewhere in favor of purchasing a huge tub grinder that produces large piles of wood chips and mulch through recycling of limbs, leaves and other yard waste. Much of the mulch is sold under an agriculture contract.
But city residents can also pick up the mulch and wood chips for free.
“That tub grinder did cost a lot of money. But we can see with the contract we have with the city of Charleston that it has been beneficial,” Schilling said. Charleston contracts for using the tub grinder to help with its yard waste program.
In April 2005, Hesse lost his re-election bid for city council. In many ways, Schilling said it showed that Hesse was more of a businessman than a politician. He was blunt with people on what the city needed to balance the financial ledger.
“Jerry was not very good at being a politician. There were people working against him in the election. He was thinking about the big picture. Many of them were only seeing the little picture,” Schilling said.
Contact Herb Meeker at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.
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