Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to take a moment today to thank a friend and a remarkable public servant. John Spring ended his second term as mayor of Quincy, IL, earlier this week. Mayor Spring led Quincy through some of its most difficult times in recent memory. Under his leadership, Quincy weathered record floods and the Great Recession. Not only did Quincy survive these crises, the city actually came out stronger than before. Any elected official would be proud of that record. It is even more impressive in Mayor Spring's case because he was a political rookie. He had never won public office before the people of Quincy elected him mayor in 2005. His only previous public service experience was a stint as the appointed chairman of Quincy's Police and Fire Commission. For many of us, it takes a few tries before we actually win a race. But John is a natural. He won his first election. Quincy, IL, is a river town. It sits right on the banks of the Mississippi River. At one point this past winter the river was so low that barge traffic was in danger of being halted. During Mayor Spring's final weeks in office, however, heavy rains swelled the river to flood stage. When flooding threatened the city's water and wastewater treatment facilities, Mayor Spring and his team immediately put into place emergency procedures they had honed during previous floods. With leadership, hard work and a lot of sandbags, Quincy weathered the storm.…”