1.0The Sourcehttps://the-source.netrich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="vbQrUkO5Bq"><a href="https://the-source.net/manker-running-for-south-jacksonville-village-president/">Manker running for South Jacksonville Village president</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://the-source.net/manker-running-for-south-jacksonville-village-president/embed/#?secret=vbQrUkO5Bq" width="600" height="338" title="“Manker running for South Jacksonville Village president” — The Source" data-secret="vbQrUkO5Bq" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(c,l){"use strict";var e=!1,o=!1;if(l.querySelector)if(c.addEventListener)e=!0;if(c.wp=c.wp||{},c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage);else if(c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if(!t);else if(!(t.secret||t.message||t.value));else if(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret));else{for(var r,s,a,i=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),n=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=0;o<n.length;o++)n[o].style.display="none";for(o=0;o<i.length;o++)if(r=i[o],e.source!==r.contentWindow);else{if(r.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message){if(1e3<(s=parseInt(t.value,10)))s=1e3;else if(~~s<200)s=200;r.height=s}if("link"===t.message)if(s=l.createElement("a"),a=l.createElement("a"),s.href=r.getAttribute("src"),a.href=t.value,a.host===s.host)if(l.activeElement===r)c.top.location.href=t.value}}},e)c.addEventListener("message",c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",t,!1),c.addEventListener("load",t,!1);function t(){if(o);else{o=!0;for(var e,t,r,s=-1!==navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE 10"),a=!!navigator.userAgent.match(/Trident.*rv:11\./),i=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),n=0;n<i.length;n++){if(!(r=(t=i[n]).getAttribute("data-secret")))r=Math.random().toString(36).substr(2,10),t.src+="#?secret="+r,t.setAttribute("data-secret",r);if(s||a)(e=t.cloneNode(!0)).removeAttribute("security"),t.parentNode.replaceChild(e,t);t.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:r},"*")}}}}(window,document); </script> https://the-source.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/TM-1.jpg360360“I feel an obligation to serve my community.” – Tyson Manker By Kyla Hurt Tyson Manker has submitted his petition for candidacy in the upcoming April 6 Village of South Jacksonville presidential election. [Editors Note: “The chief executive officer of a village shall be a village president, who may also be called a mayor,” according to Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS). Reference 65 ILCS 5/3.1-15-10. Going forward, the term of president and mayor may be used interchangeably.] Manker, 39, was born and raised in Jacksonville. He says, “living here my whole life and after working with the board and working to clean things up in South Jacksonville for the last six years as an attorney, I feel that at this point in time, I am the most qualified person for the job … I feel that right now is a critical moment for new ideas to really beef up the economy, but also restore the reputation of South Jacksonville.” Manker is also a U.S. Marine and Veteran of the Iraq War. Manker states, “I feel an obligation to serve my community” as one of the reasons behind his decision to run for mayor of South Jacksonville. He does not, however, plan on being a career politician. “That’s totally the opposite of what I’m about. So, one of my promises out the gate is, if elected, I’ll serve a four-year term and then step aside … I’m all about getting in there, doing the job that needs to be done.” Manker says he hopes that after progress is made, others will be impassioned to run for mayor and continue work to improve the community of South Jacksonville. “What I want to do, if elected as mayor, is to make people’s lives better,” says Manker. To do that, he has ideas to get the economy going again, grow the economy and restore the reputation of the village. “The people of the Village just want to have the basic services … pick up the leaves, clean the culverts, do street sweeping, make sure that the park is open, make sure that the sidewalks for people who need accessibility don’t have giant gaps in them … those are simple things that because of the current makeup of the board … nothing’s getting done.” Manker discusses what can be done right off the bat that is important to the people of the Village, saying that anyone may visit his website, www.vote-manker.com, as it lists his initiatives and also gives more information about his viewpoints, background and otherwise. His projects include a Cellular Communications Improvement Plan, an American Flag Landmark Project, the Village Ambulance Restoration and also a Dewey Park — Post-9/11 Veterans & First Responders Memorial. He also states on the website that he will “restore basic municipal services so that residents actually benefit from their tax dollars,” listing the services as road and culvert maintenance, additional leaf pickups, street sweeping and having accessibility to Village codes/ordinances online. Manker adds, “The Village of South Jacksonville owns 40 acres behind Love’s Truck Stop, so we don’t need to worry about negotiating for easements or anything like that. What I’m going to do is on day one in office, I’m going to start negotiations with the major telecom companies … and we’re going to get some new towers up so we can improve the cellular service.” Not only does Manker have the cellular initiative planned for the 40-acre field, but also a large amount of patriotic pride – literally. He intends to use some of the tourism money to erect a “massive American flag out there, a 120-foot flagpole with a 30 by 60 flag … exactly, as it turns out, as the one that they’ve got down at Alsey … What I want to do is recreate what they’ve done and make South Jacksonville kind of a landmark on I-72,” essentially adding a giant American flag to the giant red heart. People will remember that. “Pricewise, again, we’ve got a tourism fund … that has been funded over the last several years by all the hotels out there and all the events; we’re sitting on $800,000 plus, so we could easily use $50,000 of it, whatever you want to do, and put up a flagpole and really make South Jacksonville a tourism landmark. It will draw people in. They’ll spend their money on our gas. They’ll stop here as opposed to going on to the next place.” Another of Manker’s main projects as Village president would be to bring back the ambulance service. Manker believes it was a mistake to defund it. On his site, he writes, “It is an extremely important service that could make the difference between life and death. To save one single life would make it worth the investment. If elected, I will make sure that the Ambulance service is restored and properly funded. I will reach out to neighboring communities like Woodson and Murrayville, who benefit from our Ambulance service but aren’t part of our tax-base, to negotiate a reasonable buy-in to offset costs and increase cooperation with our neighbors. At the end of the day, I feel very strongly that the people of South Jacksonville should have access to our own emergency services, as a public service.” The final on his list of initiatives is a Post-9/11 Veterans & First Responders Memorial to be constructed in Dewey Park, which is located across from Village Hall and South Jacksonville Elementary School. Manker says the revitalization of Dewey Park is something he’d “like to see come to fruition.” He continues, “Make it into an educational experience for the kids from South [Jacksonville Elementary School] to walk across. We’ll have multiple pillars, and on those pillars or whatever shape – a block, a monolith – tell them a story! On September 11th, we were attacked [as an example] … and then they walk through.” Close to the middle of 2020, then-trustee Greg Nelson had requested Manker prepare a presentation for a Veterans Memorial...