Lake Land student runs for mayor of Sigel
Sean Miller, Writer
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Features
Lake Land College sophomore Derrek Line was recently on the ballot for the Mayor of Sigel. The small town, which is about a fifteen minute drive from campus, held elections on April 7 after the current mayor, Cheryl Long, decided not to run. For a while, no one was on the ballot. In an interview, 20 year-old Line stated that "I was talking to a bunch of friends… and they thought I should run for mayor." After thinking the decision over, Line decided to put his name in on the ballot. If elected, Line would have been one of the country's youngest mayors.
Line's goals as mayor would be "1. Listen to the people of Sigel and 2. Make the village financially sound and cut off some lose ends."
He said he would have to assess those "lose ends" once he was in office and had access to budget records and would make decisions from there. With a far reaching recession, all municipalities are cutting back to an extent on their budgets. In reference to what he would cut from the town budget, Line said, "It depends on what I have to work with."
"Basic infrastructure, like the sidewalks and streets are in a bad shape. Again, I'll have to see what I'm working with." said Line.
However, two weeks before the election, Line discovered that he had an opponent. Doug Deters ran against Line in the final weeks leading up to the election. Deters was on the town board for 18 years and was mayor before Cheryl Long took office. Line's work to get elected was definitely cut out for him. In the end, Line lost the race to Deters 121-17.
"Doug was on the town board for 18 years and a mayor. I didn't think he was going to run. He told others he wasn't going to run, but I found out 2 weeks prior to the election," Line stated. When asked if he thought that his youth was a factor in his losing the election. Line said, "Yes, somewhat."
Line is now finishing up his semester at Lake Land, then transferring to University of Illinois at Springfield. However, this might not be the last time we see Line's name on the ballot. When I asked him if this was a onetime thing, he replied "Onetime …for now."
Line's goals as mayor would be "1. Listen to the people of Sigel and 2. Make the village financially sound and cut off some lose ends."
He said he would have to assess those "lose ends" once he was in office and had access to budget records and would make decisions from there. With a far reaching recession, all municipalities are cutting back to an extent on their budgets. In reference to what he would cut from the town budget, Line said, "It depends on what I have to work with."
"Basic infrastructure, like the sidewalks and streets are in a bad shape. Again, I'll have to see what I'm working with." said Line.
However, two weeks before the election, Line discovered that he had an opponent. Doug Deters ran against Line in the final weeks leading up to the election. Deters was on the town board for 18 years and was mayor before Cheryl Long took office. Line's work to get elected was definitely cut out for him. In the end, Line lost the race to Deters 121-17.
"Doug was on the town board for 18 years and a mayor. I didn't think he was going to run. He told others he wasn't going to run, but I found out 2 weeks prior to the election," Line stated. When asked if he thought that his youth was a factor in his losing the election. Line said, "Yes, somewhat."
Line is now finishing up his semester at Lake Land, then transferring to University of Illinois at Springfield. However, this might not be the last time we see Line's name on the ballot. When I asked him if this was a onetime thing, he replied "Onetime …for now."
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