" Many government entities are finally starting to be run like a business, but Mattoon continues to slog along like the typical governmental body of the past. They claim the only way they can do their job is to raise taxes, or in this case say they would have to raise water rates to do what they are supposed to be doing in the first place.

It appears that it's time for a total housecleaning over at city hall, starting with Mr Wortman. "

" Early Bird, David Wortman is doing just what you want. In this case, he is looking out for the taxpayers and not spending money on people that do not pay taxes. The taxpayers and water rate payers should not be forced to spend money for something that is 5 miles out of town and does not benefit them in any way.

For too long the City has provided services to people that pay no taxes to the City but want all the benefits, like those that live just outside the city limits (pay no property taxes) and then complaint when their branches are not picked up by the City after the storms.

The people you are wanting to get rid of are the ones running this City like a business now and not continuing the good old boy network that you want to see put back in place. You may not like the way the City is running (mostly because you know only what the newspaper tells you or the coffee shop rumors you hear) so I suggest you get off your duff and run for council instead of hiding here. "

" I must agree with Penny on this one. Mattoon needs to attract people not repel them. I think that a meeting of the minds between the town and Lake Paradise residents could easily be accomplished. Both Mattoon residents and Lake Paradise residents have enjoyed the lake for many, many years. It wouldn't take much money to hire one of the teens in that area to mow every other week for a few months of the year. The last few times that I went there, the weeds were atrocious and trash was everywhere. The people that go there need to clean up their act too. When you want to go for a picnic, bring an empty garbage bag and bring your trash back with you. But everywhere I go around here, there's trash EVERYWHERE. We all need to take some personal responsibility and clean up after ourselves. "

" EB, I think yu hit the nail on the head with that one, and for mattoon.party.line, how much did his boiler slag fiasco wind up costing the good people of Mattoon? Care to defend that decision too? The man seems incompetent to me, and a lot of others. I suspect mattoon.party.line is either a city employee or married to one. By the way, you might be making a mistake assuming those who post on here are not in the know. I agree, it's time for a whole new crew at city hall! I would add Preston Owen's name to the list as well as Randy Ervins. "

" If the city spent $120,000 annually to "mow and maintain grounds around the lake", I'd like to see the details of that budget. If Mr. Wortman is talking about, say five years ago, that number, adjusted for inflation, would be $140,000 today. At $8 per hour employment cost for unskilled labor, that's about 17,500 pay hours, very close to a crew of nine (9) fulltime employees year round. Something doesn't add up. It doesnt take nine year-round fulltime employees to do that job. // Penny's point here is that Lake Paradise has become an EYESORE in recent years. The area she's talking about has become, in legal terms, a very dangerous "attractive nuisance". Is Mattoon prepared for the sure-to-come lawsuit filed by the parents of a child injured on the un-maintained surplus playground equipment or from the parents of the child who contracts a serious disease because of the goose dung all over the place out there? The answer to the Who pays the bill? question: obviously, the landowner pays the bill. Mattoon owns the lake and all public access areas around the lake. Either properly maintain it, or sell it to a private party who will. "

" Don't tell me that city residents don't benefit from that lake. I clearly remember driving out to Lake Paradise thirty-some years ago with my date and getting one HECK of a benefit from it! At that time, I didn't think they called it "Lake Paradise" for nothing! "

" Tom is right, it's the owners responsibility to keep their property up. Try letting your yard go for months at a time and see what happens. This is clear example of total hypocrisy on the part of the Mr Wortman, or any other apologist making excuses for the city over this issue. "

" Wow! Dave Wortman does his magic tricks again. First he says it used to cost 120,000 to mow Paradise Lake but then he said if water bills increased 75 cents a month it could be mowed. That is only 72,000 from 8,000 customers. No. Lake Paradise was abandoned to fund pet pork projects in the city. He tried to justify mowing Lake Mattoon because it provides income. It costs the same to register a boat on either lake. Some of that money could pay for mowing around Shadow Lake and the handycapped dock. Besides, how much money does Peterson Park or the Downtown Train Depot bring in? Speaking of expense, if you take Wortman's salary for last year and add the quarter of a million dollars it cost to fix the oil slag problem he caused I can think of another way for Mattoon to save money besides closing down parks. Especially after his almost apology to the people of Mattoon. He said they probably wouldn't do it again but that he wasn't going to loose any sleep over it. People in Mattoon did regularly go to Lake Paradise before the restrooms were ripped out, the drinking fountain ripped out, the electric lights ripped out of the pavillion, the ponds allowed to dry up and kill the fish, and weeds allowed to grow to prairie grass stature.
As for "Mattoon.party.line"'s comment about some of us longing for the good old boy network, I think it is alive and thriving in Mattoon today. Just different good old boys in charge. "

" P.S.
In July of 2004 I wrote a letter to the editor named "Lake Paradise should be "Lake Dogpatch" "

" The solution is easy. Tear down the pavillion, remove the old playground equipment and fill in the ponds. Then you just have a simple few acres of flat field that the city can mow every other week in just a few hours. As a water customer I sure don't want to have to pay for it. I appreciate at least someone looking after where the city money is allocated and not to things that have no benefit except for thr residents who live around the lake and don't even contribute to the tax base that supports it. "

" i agree that the lake was never maintained to the level to justify 120,000 for its upkeep..the city and county have ordinances in place for the residents of the city and county yet they don't have to abide by thier own ordinances...we would get notices and fines if we let our properties get overgrown..i would maintain the whole area for 100,000 and save the city 20,0000...they just found 150,000 just lying around a car at steak & shake pay me out of that.. heck i'd even plant flowers too "

" Wortman is pleasant to talk to? Dont make that judgement from one phone call. Make about 10 calls then take an average from that, you wont think the same. I always question the $120,000.00 to mow. Don Osborne used to do the mowing and with his salary and gas it did not add up to that. It has not properly been maintained since Don retired. Maybe they short changed Don on his salary. The city also charges too much for boat launching. I have a little 14 foot boat and the charge is $40.00. A fews years ago when it raised is was $14.00, that was quite a jump. I have not put my boat on Mattoon or Paradise, since then. There needs to be different fees per lake and or a combination fee. The city used to have day passes and weekend passes that would entice visitors to the area that would sometimes rent hotels and use the resteraunts. Most of that has stopped because of the high launch fees. "

" I know for a fact that the city spent thousands of dollars cleaning up Mattoon and Paradise Lakes. When you hire an administrator and a director from out of town they don't care what they tinker with or how much of the tax payer's money they spend on special projects. If we could add all of the boards, management and support staff together we would have enough workers to complete the work instead of just talking about what needs to be accomplished. We don't need finger pointing or decision makers, we need people to get the work done.
Don't get on the fire department when there are other department managers wasting fuel and vehicles driving to work and home again every day.
P.S. Mr. Wortman, the playground equipment at Lake Paradise was new when it was installed. But you wouldn't know about that because you were not here at the time. If the tax payers from town hadn't fed the geese then there wouldn't have been goose droppings all over the pavilions. The tax payers used the pond for ice skating in the winter until you decided to empty the water and back fill the ponds.
We need less committees and more public works employees to get the jobs done! "

" The political toadies think all the taxes collected belong to them "

" Just the facts. Lake Paradise property owners DO pay taxes to the City of Mattoon. As already pointed out, the city has ordinances that would cause any citizen to be fined if they left their property in the condition that the City of Mattoon leaves Lake Paradise. What a disgrace. Mr. Wortman, Mayor Cline, Mr. Gilmore, and the whole city council should be ashamed of themselves for not providing the residents of Lake Paradise and Mattoon residence a safe and clean area to enjoy. Mr. Wortman, how would you like for your neighbors to allow their yards to grow to a rat and snake infested pit? Mayor Cline, where is your voice in allowing this to continue without demonstrating the leadership you swore to uphold? Mr. Gilmore, you have shown some skills in bringing new business to the Mattoon Community, now show the leadership to improve the area and perhaps businesses and residents could be proud to call Mattoon home. Lake Paradise is so close to town and could be a valuable asset to the citizens of Mattoon, area residents, and could be a recreation area for visitors. Come on Mayor, Mr. Gilmore, and the City Council, step up and invest in more than Future Gen! Where did all of the $800,000 go for the Lake Improvement grant given to the City to improve Lake Paradise???? Mr. Wortman give the citizens an actual account of where that money was spent. "

" Maybe Wortman needs to pave over the place with boiler slag. That would solve the weed problem. How about that idea, Dave? "

" My pop took his mower when we went camping at Paradise. We gathered up
tree limbs and roasted weenees and marshmallows and had our fishing poles along. This was years ago. As a teen it was a hotspot to neck, and other things. Boy if the trees could talk.
Last time there we had trashbags and bagged up a lot and put the bags in the trash bin. We wore vinyl gloves.
We found all sorts of trash. "

" I find it interesting that mattoon.party.line somehow interprets my post criticising Mr Wortman as support for the good old boy system. I didn't infer that at all, but I guess he/she must think I did and can somehow read minds. "

" Years ago there were picnics, fishing and family activities at Paradise Lake and Lake Mattoon. Some people may remember at one time they also had a camp grounds. My opinion is that Mattoon has remained stagnant like the Lake is now for at least twenty years and the population has not increased. I may be wrong, but I believe that the city has the two ponds for sale now. Get rid of something that may attract people here and an activity for our city is their solution. I enjoy going fishing, but last year encountered not too many places accessible to fish. Too many weeds and what is the idea behind planting lilies? Naturalization? One big mosquito lake a swamp? Private enterprises seem to be able to think of projects that draw people and income to them here in Coles County. Look around and see the income some places are making income off of water projects. Lake Mattoon had miniature golf, a beach, rides and entertainment years ago. As a tax payer I would have preferred our lakes kept up instead of a bicycle path from Mattoon to Charleston. Why doesn't the city let the tax payers decide what we want to pay for? I would like to see our city improved and move forward. Our children need something to do. "

" What about community service by those who have been in trouble with the law. I think that would be an opportunity. You know those DUI's, etc. We have enough of them in Coles County. Maybe instead of sending them over to the Salvation Army to sort clothes, we could put them on a riding lawn mower at Lake Paradise and let them clean up some of that goose dung. "

" that sounds like a great idea..except for there would be a need to monitor those that would be sent there,that position would pat 50,000/yr...plus equiptment..another 10,000/yr...see where i'm goin with this...all simple things are made complicated anymore..politically correctness, enviroment, liability..are just a short list of reasons "

" Perhaps the only way to get that eyesore taken care of is for people to flood the nuisance officer with complaints. Sometimes you have to embarrass people like Wortman into doing their job.(as if he hasn't embarrassed himself enough already). "

" Might be a good project for the Boy Scouts??? Or how about something like the adopt a highway program. Just a thought. "

" Mama says wrote on Jun 14, 2008 2:41 AM:

As a teen it was a hotspot to neck, and other things. Boy if the trees could talk.

Did we date in high school????? "

" As a resident of Lake Paradise, I find the comments on Lakeyesore interesting. The last few years the leaders of the City of Mattoon [both elected and employed] have taken the stand that the residents of Lake Paradise are the only ones who benefit from the area. The ponds, pavilions, play area, restrooms used to be available to all residents of Mattoon and Lake Paradise was treated as a park though under the care of the Water Department. There are no areas to fish along the shoreline any longer as weeds have overtaken the areas. There are several outlots which belong to the city that are in the middle of residential areas that are not being mowed or cared for. The outlots that are being mowed are being cared for by volunteers that live at the lake . Most residents that live at the lake are also frustrated with the city's policy regarding the abandonment of this lake.If the residents of Mattoon would enjoy the lake as it used to be, I would urge residents to contact the city leaders. "

" My grandmother lived at Lake Pardise for many years. I spent many summers with her enjoying the lake, swimming in it, fishing and ice skating in the winters. I lived in Mattoon so to come to Lake Paradise was such an adventure and treat.

I married a boy who lived on the West side of Lake Paradise and after our time in the service came back to Lake Paradise and built our home. His family loved the land and the lake as I learned too. For as many years as I can remember we mowed the point in front of our land. We spent our time, used our equipment and our money to make it look nice. We never asked the city for any payment. We just considered it as part of our helping out. If we took time to add up the gas, time and use of the equipment for the past 38 years it would surely equal more than what the taxes would have been.

To this day we still mow it, keep it clean AND CARE ABOUT HOW IT LOOKS!!!!!!!!

We have watched many people (where they are from who knows) come to the Lake to fish, swim, and then leave their garbage for us to clean up. We were taught to clean up our messes and it is a shame that some others do not do the same.

We have watched concrete pieces dumped across the road into the lake (have pictures of the dumping). We were told that this person was given permission to dump around the lake by city employee. After confronting the city employee he said he did give permission and that this was a nice guy. What does being a nice guy have to do with letting him dump around here. A neighbor took his mower to move the junk deeper into the bank so no one would get hurt on it. We watch many things go on at Lake Paradise but when we report the happenings we get the impression "You don't pay taxes so what right do you have."

We cannot tell you how many dogs and cats are dropped off out here. I would love to have been able to get license plate numbers and return the animals that they just left out here. What a sight it would be for them to see their animal is BACK......

No, We do not pay taxes to the city in the way Mr. Wortman feels we should, BUT We do care about the lake and the land and we do our part.

We have approached Mr. Wortman to purchase the land but have been told "NOT FOR SALE" so we will continue to keep it clean and continue to care how it looks.

We will always remember Kenny Fryman who lost his life in caring how it looked and worked to keep it clean. "