[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6634-6635]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO MAYOR JOHN A. SPRING

  Mr. DURBIN. 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

[[Page 6635]]

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.
  In 2008, during an earlier flood, then-Senator Barack Obama and I 
visited Quincy to lend support. We were inspired to see how the entire 
city came together to protect their homes and their neighbors' homes 
and businesses.
  In 2010, Mayor Spring was able to welcome President Obama back to 
Quincy and show him how Quincy had weathered not only rainstorms, but 
the economic storm caused by the Great Recession.
  Mr. President, the unemployment rate today in Quincy and Adams County 
is 6.6 percent. That rate is among the lowest in the State of Illinois, 
and that is no accident. Under Mayor John Spring's leadership, Quincy 
has continued to be the economic engine of the Tri-State area.
  John Spring led the effort to lay a solid foundation for economic 
growth. He balanced the city's budget every year and didn't raise 
taxes--not even once. In fact, Quincy reduced its property tax rate in 
7 out of Mayor Spring's 8 years in office.
  He made tough, smart decisions that enabled Quincy to maintain 
adequate funding for basic services such as police, fire, and streets. 
He downsized city government, reducing the workforce by more than 12 
percent, implemented an early retirement program that is estimated will 
save the City more than $5 million, and built up the City's reserve 
funds.
  He worked aggressively to retain and attract businesses and good 
jobs, and he made transportation a top priority. Amtrak expanded 
service between Quincy and Chicago after Mayor Spring and others 
advocated for more downstate Illinois passenger rail. Cape Air, a 
partner of American Airlines/American Eagle, expanded its Quincy-St. 
Louis service, recently crossing the 10,000-passenger mark. Mayor 
Spring also worked with Cape Air CEO Dan Wolf and regional economic 
development leaders to open a maintenance facility at the airport, 
creating a number of good-paying local jobs.
  John Spring had big shoes to fill in 2005. His predecessor, Mayor 
Chuck Scholz, served as Quincy's mayor for 12 years and left a record 
of success. John Spring built on that record. Chuck Scholz helped bring 
Quincy into the 21st century, and John Spring positioned Quincy even 
more firmly to compete and win in this century's global economy.
  I mentioned that Mayor Spring was a political rookie. He spent most 
of his career--nearly 30 years--as a teacher, counselor and coach at 
Quincy Notre Dame High School. In his final post at the school, as 
director of the Quincy Notre Dame Foundation, he was instrumental in 
the survival of this Catholic high school which is so important to 
Quincy.
  Mayor Spring has been active in many other community organizations 
and efforts, from the Salvation Army to the Abraham Lincoln 
Bicentennial and exchanges with Quincy's Sister City, Herford, Germany.
  In January 2010, John Spring called a press conference at which he 
announced with his typical honesty and humility that he had prostate 
cancer. He recalled that when he ran for mayor he had pledged that 
serving the city of Quincy was his highest priority and he said that 
nothing, not even cancer, would keep him from serving the city he 
loved. He began a 9-week course of radiation treatments--about 15 
minutes every weekday morning--and reported to City Hall for work after 
every session
  I am happy to report that John's health is good and that he more than 
lived up to his pledge of putting the people of Quincy first.
  Quincy's nickname is Gem City. In John Spring, they have had a gem of 
a mayor. I will miss working with Mayor Spring, but I know that he has 
earned a break from public service. I wish John and his wife Karen and 
their children and grandchildren all the best. And I would simply say 
to them: Thank you for lending the city of Quincy your husband, father, 
and grandfather. He has made Quincy's future much brighter. His energy, 
dedication, and effective leadership will be missed at City Hall and by 
all of us who worked with him.

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