If one is to agree with the stated goal of the law which is to "... involve more citizens in the democratic process," then one must accept the premise that the current system excludes certain people from participating. Perhaps I am the one who is naive, but I have found the process of registering to vote quite easy. I have found, without exception, county clerks to be courteous, helpful and cooperative when I have inquired about registering.

I applaud the state legislature for not taking action. Admittedly, politics probably played a large part in their indecision. It's unfortunate that our state legislators do not have the moral backbone to have taken an active stance in defiance of the federal government and its unfunded mandates and intrusion on states' rights. If state legislators took Halperin's position that the decision was already made and that all the state legislature had to do was rubber stamp it, then why bother with state government at all? Why not simply employ additional federal bureaucrats in the state to enact federal legislation — paid for, of course, from state tax dollars? What the heck. Why bother with state tax dollars? Let's just send it all to Washington and let them use their infinite generosity and wisdom in giving bits of it back.

Lastly, does anyone really think that this mandate can be implemented without cost? (Those of you responding yes, please contact me about a really good real estate deal I can give you.) Does Jennifer Halperin really think that with a simple okay dokey from the state that this program will magically be in place? Has she never operated a program of any kind? I administer a local health department that operates a nutrition program for children and pregnant women. Under the motor-voter act, my agency will also be required to register voters. I have read the proposed federal requirements, and I can assure you that this will take time and resources away from the primary function of the nutrition program, which, by the way, is marginally funded as it is. For years human service agencies have been fighting to remove barriers such as overcomplicated paperwork, long delays, waiting periods and limited hours of operation. If this act is implemented as now proposed, it will become the single greatest barrier to these services. Even though my agency's doors are not more than 50 feet from the county clerk's office, I must still go through the inquiry, registration, declination and documentation process. If the client is a child, I must find the parents and take them through the process. There are no waiver provisions for agencies in my situation. So much for the insight, intelligence and compassion of our federal legislators.

Get a dose of reality, Ms. Halperin. The motor-voter bill was passed for purely partisan political reasons and not for any altruistic "protector of the down-trodden" triteness that may have been spouted during the bill's debate. If there is a problem with people not having access to the current system of voter registration, fix it, but don't disrupt other public services in the process.

Whatever the cause for the inaction of the Illinois legislature on this issue I, for one, hope it continues. While it may be true that "politics" is the reason for the state's inaction, this is one case in which those politics resulted in something good. I hope I never see the day when our state legislators simply roll over and make nice whenever the federal government says they must do something.
Douglas E. Beardsley
Administrator, Boone County
Health Department
Belvidere

Kudos for matching technology with state government
Editor: I wanted to thank Illinois Issues for the recent article on Access Illinois (see July 1994, page 41) and more importantly, the use of technology in state government. Access Illinois is a good starting point for the state and provides a great service to the citizens of Illinois.

Gov. Jim Edgar and Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra have displayed leadership in bringing this type of technology into their offices and in revolutionizing the way their offices interact with citizens and other state agencies. Even more important than bringing technology into state government is bringing technology into the classrooms in Illinois (see Illinois Issues, May 1994, page 18). Distance learning technology will provide all students in Illinois with the access to education and information they will need to compete at either the collegiate level or in the workforce.

Dave Chayer
Springfield

Bigger not better
Editor: I disagree with July's guest columnist William Edward Eaton. He thinks Illinois should consolidate schools. Logically, he assumes that cost savings would occur and administrative effectiveness could be increased. This does not seem to be the case. Just look at our most consolidated school system — Chicago. Larger schools get more political and bureaucratic.
Gale Teschendorf
District 98 school board member
Berwyn

Defends Chicago's Circulator
Editor: Building on more than 20 years of detailed analysis by city departments and civic associations, the Central Area Circulator represents an exciting and visionary response to the transit needs of Chicago's vibrant and expanding central area. And this response, which connects the six-square-mile central area's far-flung destinations, moves reliably through congestion. It complements and extends the city's excellent Chicago Transit Authority and Metra network, and it has the enthusiastic support of the city's civic and business leadership. In fact, Chicago's central area business leaders are so eager for this transit improvement that they agreed to tax themselves to finance the local third of the $775 million project.

As we debate the merits of this proposed solution to Chicago's real and long-identified transit needs, it is important to slice through the confusion and distortion and understand both what the Circulator is, and what it is not. The Circulator is a modern, high-capacity, fully accessible, efficient and reliable light rail mass transit system that benefits from the experience of dozens of European and U.S. cities. The Circulator is not a return to the streetcars of old. The Circulator will run in dedicated rail-only lanes, not intermingled with other traffic, and it will feature a computerized signal priority system to smooth its movement through intersections. Furthermore, rather than serving tourists, more than 60 percent of the Circulator's riders will be workers traveling to or from work or engaged in employment-related activity.

Critics have claimed the Circulator will not achieve travel time savings. They rest their argument on a technical comparison of scheduled bus operations to scheduled light rail operations. Key factors that they ignore are the shortness of trips within the central area, thus making time savings appear relatively small, and the greater reliability of light rail adhering to schedule. As the recently approved final environmental impact statement shows, compared to a proposed bus improvement, the Circulator will attract six times as many new transit trips to the city's transit network and enable the central area to absorb more easily the new growth that is both projected and desired. And it interfaces much more readily with the existing CTA and Metra network than a monorail or other system. In fact, monorail was investi-

10 / November 1994 / Illinois Issues

gated and rejected as an alternative five years ago by the Metropolitan Planning Council because of its expense and incompatibility. Furthermore, rather than costing $10 million per mile, as claimed by one critic (see Illinois Issues, September 1994, page 10), monorail systems designed for Honolulu and Houston and the O'Hare People Mover range in cost from $70 million to $109 million per mile.

The city has taken bold steps to ensure its health and vitality well into the next century. With two-thirds of the financing in place — the local share through the special service area tax on commercial real estate and the federal share through Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) New Start Program funds — and with Gov. Jim Edgar's anticipated commitment of the state share, we are ready to forge ahead with this ambitious initiative to complete what is one of the country's best mass transit systems.
Stephen E. Schlickman
Executive Director
City of Chicago Central Area Circulator Project

Not 'gimmickry'
Editor: It is too bad that you, like the press at large, basically ignore (the treasurer's) race which truly has issues that separate me from my opponent (see Illinois Issues, October,

page 20). Although an administrative office, it causes problems when it is not run right. But then, if things go wrong, I trust that you and yours will be there to point out the problems. Would it not be better to ensure, going in, that all pertinent issues are covered so that a better handle on the office might be had? If the press considers the office of state treasurer not worthy of any real note, why should the public?

As to the issue of Grant's Tomb, and my desire to move the tomb to Illinois, I would say this. (I would settle for just General and Mrs. Grant, if need be.) My resolution, though it has yet to get the Grants to Illinois, has nudged the White House and the U.S. Department of the Interior to move on the tomb of this great Illinoisan, Civil War hero and 18th president of the United States. Some $370,000 has been released in federal funds to have the tomb's roof repaired. That roof has been in disrepair for 15 years already, and probably would have been left that way had Illinois and all of its senators and all of its representatives not acted upon a resolution chastising the Feds for inaction and negligence, with strong public support following.

I realize that there is a certain amount of cynicism in the press. But, to attribute all activities a candidate does for the public good to gimmickry is just unfair. Did you ever consider that this issue of getting the Grants back home and provided for was done just out of interest? My Senate office has continued to run and provide constituent services throughout the treasurer campaign. Once the campaign is over, I will continue my activities as per General Grant and his wife. No one said it would be easy, or that it could be accomplished overnight. However, your relegation of the issue to "gimmickry" certainly does not enhance our cause.

Judy Baar Topinka
Illinois state senator, 22nd District;
candidate for Illinois state treasurer

How to write to us
Your comments on articles and columns are welcome. Please keep letters brief (250 words). We reserve the right to excerpt them so that as many as space allows can be published. Send your letters to:

Letters to the Editor
Illinois Issues
Sangamon State University
Springfield, IL 62794-9243

e-mail address on Internet:
plong@eagle.sangamon.edu

e-mail address on Access Illinois:
peggy.long@accessil.com or: dial (217) 787-6255 for free access

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