Seth McMillan (left) with his family.
Seth McMillan (left) with his family.
Although Meissner Elementary School in Bunker Hill closed 15 years ago, responsibility for its demise has become an issue in the 2018 race for the 48th Senate District seat.
A recent campaign ad from incumbent Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) laments the school’s closure, blaming state budget cuts for its demise.
However, GOP challenger Seth McMillan points out that the school was earmarked for demolition after officials balked at the $1 million price tag for the building’s hazmat abatement. In the ad, Manar seems to suggest that the very legislature where he has served since 1999 is to blame for the building’s closure.
Sen. Andy Manar
“But what Manar didn’t mention is local leaders credited the failures of politicians like Manar for the closure and inability for the district to do anything with the closed building,” McMillan wrote on his campaign website.
As McMillan asserts, House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), Manar and other Democrats blocked Gov. Bruce Rauner’s efforts to get a balanced state budget passed. And a bill Manar proposed provided razor-thin funding for schools like Meissner.
“Andy Manar can’t have it both ways on school funding,” McMillan said. “He has been part of the problem for more than 20 years and his bill did more to hurt downstate schools until it was vetoed and brought both parties to the table.”
A graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, McMillan resides in Christian County, where he operates what his campaign calls “one of the largest independent landscaping businesses in central Illinois.”
The 48th Senate District includes parts or all of Christian, Madison and Montgomery counties.
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