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	Marilyn Vise Hired As Webmaster for St. Clair County By George Pawlaczyk Belleville News-Democrat January 8, 2006 http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/local/13577828.htm BELLEVILLE - Marilyn Vise of Fairview Heights has been hired to be St. Clair County's first-ever webmaster. Vise, a former News-Democrat reporter, will earn $36,000 in the full-time job to help design and maintain a Web site for the county. "She is talented and well-qualified for the spot," said St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern. Vise, who will not receive paid health insurance, will be responsible for the overall Web site that is set up to provide citizens with access to county services online. But Vise will not be a spokesman for the county or any elected official or department head, according to Kern. "Although Marilyn is creating Web pages for each department with their cooperation, each elected official is her or her own spokesperson," Kern said in a written statement. On Thursday, when St. Clair County Assessor Gordon Bush held a press conference at the County Building concerning additional hires and new equipment intended to catch up on assessments, Vise appeared to be running the press conference. After asking a News-Democrat photographer whether a reporter was on the way, she said, "We'll wait a few more minutes." Later during the press conference, she stood up and said, "Mr. Bush has time for a few more questions and then he has to leave." Vise denied that she has been hired to be a county spokesman and referred all other questions to Kern. Although common in larger counties such as Cook or St. Louis, an official spokesman for a county the size of St. Clair would be unusual. In the mid-1990s, Vise wrote an influential series of stories about sexual abuse of minors by Belleville Diocese priests that were among the early news accounts in the nation to highlight what was part of a widespread problem. The stories won a first-place award for best news story in 1995 from the Illinois Press Association. Contact reporter George Pawlaczyk at gpawlaczyk@bnd.com and 239-2625.
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