The Independent-News, Volume 93, Number 41, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 7 March 1968 — Page 14

THE INDEPENDENT NEWS — M\RCH 7, 1968

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"1’" [ || |l 111 111 ■. ■rV 111 111 Editor’s Note: Remember Pete Simone? Or, perhaps you’ll more readily recall him as ”87776.” He is the convict at the Jackson, Michigan prison who has been writing off and on for Farm and Home Section for two years. This is Pete’s first article for Farm and Home in many months. We think you will enjoy it. "Expressway to Corruption” is basically factual. Mr. Simone took certain liberties in writing this article to protect the guilty...that ’s right, the guilty! Mr. Simone’s article is based on an interview he had with a fellow convict. Could "Expressway to Corruption” happen in your town? The Editors > 22-2^ -g The luxurious, cxeon- 1— wde Coronodo Hotel M . I *2 2 ■ convenient ^^99^l " to evetythiny . Fool and Cabana -‘ Club Private Beach. Hear Chore het 9^3ElE»^^99B^

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A Former Councilman Talks to Pete ”87776” Simone I EXPRESSWAY TO CORRUPTION My story began when the City Planning Commission disagreed on which of two proposed routes for a new expressway would be better for all concerned. It ended with an expose that sent a scheming realtor and myself to prison. Depending on what kind of voter you are, perhaps somewhere between the beginning and the end lies an in dictment of your voting conduct. The realtor and I were not close friends, though we played an occasional round of golf together. His game was unimpressive. But he was a real pro when it came to driving shrewd business deals. And his influence around City Hall was the topic of many enlightening newspaper editorials. We were chatting in the clubhouse one afternoon when he lighted a cigar, sat back and stared at me for a moment, then said, "Al, you’ve been in politics over twenty years and never lost an election. That’s quite an accomplishment, for an unselfish man." He paused, sipped his drink. "But where's it got you?” he asked, twirling the glass in his fingers. "Actually nowhere, financially. You're in hock up to your ears. And the pity of it all is that you've gone about as far as any unselfish politician can go." "You keep saying unselfish, but I think you mean honest," I said. "I mean that a politician must consider his personal welfare as well as the public's. As you probably know, I stand to profit a great deal if the expressway takes proposed Route A.” I knew, all right. Certain members of the City Planning Commission seemed anx ious to please the realtor. Their opposition to Route B had prevented an agreement and forced the Commission to put the issue up to the voters. I knew also that the Com mission was planning a huge new cultural center. A choice site for the center was split by Route B and therefore would be bypassed if the expressway took that course. It was no secret that the realtor owned this site. The sale of it to the city would net him $500,000. "The matter is now in the hands of the voters," I reminded him. "Ah, yes,” he said, "the voters the people who vote for the candidate and disregard the issue, or vice versa. One day a neighbor told me she’d been too busy to keep abreast of the presidential campaign, so she'd voted for L.B.J. simply because his name, like hers, was Johnson. Wouldn't it be interesting to know how many other Johnsons voted for Johnson? I'd wager that seventy percent of our townspeople aren't even aware that a new expressway is planned, so they’re apt to vote either way.” "But the newspapers are already harping on the fact that Route A would cost over three million additional tax dollars," I said. "So what? You've never led the voters astray. If you backed an expressway to Hawaii, they’d vote for it.” "Are you suggesting that I endorse Route A?” "Yes. And I can give you thousands of reasons why you should. Ten percent of half a million dollars is a tidy sum. Face it, Al. Space-age politics is a game where oldfashioned, hard-rock honesty is too great a handicap. Don’t play it by heart and let all the goodies go by. Play it smart and get out of hock." A week later I telephoned the realtor and suggested a game of golf. We met in the clubhouse. He gave me a check, payment in full. And that was that — until a newspaperman got a lead on the payoff and followed through. It has been said that every man has a tragic flaw in his character. Is mine less tragic because it carried a price tag? Perhaps. However, the real tragedy lies with voters who never seem to learn that every time they cast uninformed votes they sacrifice, irretrievably, parts of their investment in democracy. Indeed, more things are right with our country than wrong only because there are concerned Americans - those who care enough to vote regularly and intelligent ly. In fact, there is nothing wrong with this nation that a few more thinking, determined, patriotic and informed voters can't fix. But new expressways to political corruption will keep on being built unless, well What kind of voter are you? ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■M■MXMWMHMMMMi

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Service News CAMP ZAMA .JAPAN (ANTNCi Army Privat- First Cla s Mu ha- 1 W. Pearish IP -.n of Mrs. Regina D. Bussie, 602 f Van Buran St., Walkerton. Ind. was a guest at the Fifth Annual 1 I SC) Gold Plato Dinner held Feb. h in Tokyo, Japan. He is assigmtl to the 4th Bit- I talion of th-- 12th Infantry near ■ Long Binh. Vietnam.