Tim Baldermann, Small Town Mayor, Tells Locals To Boycott Gas Stations

How high are gas prices in New Lenox, Ill.?

They're so high, the mayor is sending people out of town to fill up their tanks.

At one New Lenox station, gas is $4.14 per gallon -- 30 cents higher than the national average -- and Mayor Tim Baldermann is urging locals to go down the road if they want to gas up, according to a recent report from CBS Chicago. You can get the same gallon for five cents less in nearby Frankfort.

Baldermann told CBS that a boycott effort is "the only way we can send a clear message to the companies."

Global demand for gasoline keeps climbing as countries like Brazil and India grow ever more industrialized, and geopolitical uncertainty in oil-producing regions means that no one can offer a confident prediction about when gas will get more affordable.

And that's unwelcome news at a time when plenty of Americans can't cover their basic household expenses. High pump prices don't seem to have made much of a dent in consumer spending, but with so many households living paycheck to paycheck, price creep in something as necessary as gasoline could put the middle class in trouble.

Balderman told reporters that gas stations in New Lenox set their prices based on what other stations in the town are doing -- not based on gas prices in nearby communities. With his call for a boycott, Baldermann evidently hopes to change that.

Baldermann hasn't always shown such concern for the taxpayer's wallet. In 2010, just before Baldermann retired as police chief of nearby Chicago Ridge, he was given a $70,000 salary bump, which may have resulted in him getting a higher pension paid out of the town police fund, the Chicago Tribune reported.

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Comments

[ChemicalPulse]

03:27 PM on 04/27/2012

More people need to think like this mayor, instead of being a bunch of passive, kool-aid drinking, reality TV watching, cubical robots. Turn off your TV and turn on your mind. Voting for the lesser of 2 evils won't accomplish anything. Taking personal responsibility, and taking personal action, having awareness of how changing your actions can change the world, is the real way to vote. Vote with your mind & your actions. Stop buying crap you don't need, and stop giving the banks money. Stop taking on more student debt. Stop Voting for a rigged game. No one can even run for office in this country without political/industrial connections and tens of millions of dollars. No working man/woman has ever been president. Wake up and vote with your mind & actions.

[Vroto]

12:22 AM on 04/27/2012

How about we establish a Infrastructure Bank that is Government run. We can invest in rebuilding our bridges and roads and put our construction workers back to work earning a decent wage. That will jump start the economy. That is the bold America I know. That is FDR. That is the America that the world respects for taking care of their people. That is the vison of IKE.& JFK - Oh no lets not do that, that is just BIG GOVERNMENT. We will privatize a infrastructure bank and pay minimum wages to maximize profits. That is free market and small governement. Those who preach small government want to be free to take advantage of the people. Big Government is not the problem. Bad Government controlled by Big $$ is the problem. Stop watching FOX News. Walter Cronkite where have gone.

[Allen Dixon Jr]

12:15 AM on 04/27/2012

smart move. wish more would think like that. we really need to unify against the oil companies.wonder if he's a demo or a repub???

[Vroto]

12:04 AM on 04/27/2012

Lets give a few more tax breaks to the oil companies and the super rich. The economy is in a death spiral and the middle class cannot afford to drive their cars. Lets cut Social Security while we are at it and lets see how bad we can make it for Middle America and seniors. We will be a country of the super wealthy few and poverty for the masses in 20 years. Keep watching FOX News and push for the Ryan Plan. We will get what we deserve.

[Chris Berman]

11:59 PM on 04/26/2012

Obama's secratary of the interior had said he didn't know if gas would reach $9.00 a gallon, but he thought it was possible, yet he said his administartion was not taking any responsibility for this. Go figure.

[Vroto]

11:53 PM on 04/26/2012

When Bill Clinton was President gas was .89 per gal. Then Bush and his Big Oil Buddies got elected. Think before you vote.

[Dancenownzen]

11:04 PM on 04/26/2012

instead of all the blaming ans bitching wht not do something about it

I reide my bike to work ( 6 miles one way) every day for the past 3 months
Saves 6o miles a week = 240 miles a month SAVES MONEY HELLO

so based on this I fill my tank up ONCE a month ( $70.00 Divided by 4 = $17.50 a week) AND I Get exercise AT THE SAMe TIME

wow HOW HARD IS that TO FIGURE OUT?

or
you can car pool
you can take public trans
etc

the problem is AMERICANS don't want to change their lives 1 INCH and when they gave to they WHINE about it

Save on Grocery bill = cut your bill by 1/3 by EATING 1/3 LESS FOOD ( most Americans can lose some weight)

So Cut down on food + ride bike = SAVE money and IMPROVE HEALTH..... so simple but people are LAZZZZZZY " I don't WANNA ride my bike .......I don't WANNA eat healthier"
Fine complain about evcerything and be fat and outta shape

LOL

[Chris Berman]

12:03 AM on 04/27/2012

Last time I thought it was a good idea to ride a bike to run some errands, I was struck and nearly killed by an SUV.

[Munchausen]

10:51 PM on 04/26/2012

Bravo!!!!

[Dancenownzen]

10:44 PM on 04/26/2012

What is totally WRONG and the GOV should step into is the gouging

Where I live ...... one CHEVRON station charges 30 cents MORE per gallon than the one near my house. They are BOTH CHEVRONS why should one be 30cents more?

I understand trhe difference between Shell and Chevron etc.....but this is insane

[RBlakeH01]

10:37 PM on 04/26/2012

And the Obama administration is sending refined fuel from the United States to his Brazilian buds. In California we refine fuel here and still pay $4.25 per gallon of unleaded regular. Tell Obama to stick it up his bronze butt.

[noobc0mb0]

11:58 PM on 04/26/2012

You're a fool if you think Obama started this exporting trend. Look to the other party for that. The GOP is 100% behind the belief that we should export our gas while lying to the people that we need to increase domestic production and that Obama is to blame.

[RBlakeH01]

12:10 AM on 04/27/2012

You need to take a closer look at your references, namely don't listen to the liberals. The price of gasoline and diesel did not double until Obama took over. Under President Bush it was half of the cost today. Obama has stifled the production of oil whether he says he increased it or not. The higher production is on PRIVATE land not government controlled land. Obama stopped the drilling of several wells and will not allow new wells. His green energy that has cost about a trillion in losses is his aim and fossil fuel and coal are his enemies and he and his administration caused the increased prices. So open your eyes and take off the blinders.

[john yunker]

10:30 PM on 04/26/2012

So the gas stations are in collusion with each other..Conspiracy is a felony

[blockjacques]

10:26 PM on 04/26/2012

$4.14 and the mayor is mad?? I live in Eureka, CA and our LOWEST gas prices are around $4.43 right now!! Unbelievable!!

[noobc0mb0]

11:59 PM on 04/26/2012

IL and CA have some of the highest prices in the nation so yeah, 4.14 and 4.43 is considered too high for most Americans.

[Chris Berman]

12:03 AM on 04/27/2012

Please remember that in November!

[bbrady2222]

08:45 PM on 04/26/2012

We need to replace the communist muslim and take care of th USA, f the muslim countries and get rid od the dog eating dog.

[Iamthatdude]

08:55 PM on 04/26/2012

No ...what YOU need to do is replace the meth pipe with a book ,and maybe a few moments of reflection before you post.....

[clearthinker16]

09:42 PM on 04/26/2012

you're a fool

[bbrady2222]

09:54 PM on 04/26/2012

You r an A###hole go F## yourself, maybe then you will be satisfied.

[tjktoml]

08:43 PM on 04/26/2012

How totally stupid! For a small community, it would be like cutting off the nose to spite the face.

[noobc0mb0]

12:01 AM on 04/27/2012

It's not as small a town as the article suggests. It's an average sized suburban town surrounded by other average sized suburban towns.

[k cid]

08:36 PM on 04/26/2012

Can we drill yet?
Two decades ago the USGS estimated there were up to 60 billion barrels of oil resting under ANWR. The oil was expected to be profitable to harvest at less than $30 a barrel.
GWB campaigned on opening ANWR, but the left said it will take ten years for that oil to have an impact on the price of crude.
ANWR might have been is full production today if we had listened to Bush. Today, the price of crude over 100 bucks a barrel means far more than 60 billion barrels would be economically feasible from ANWR.
Drill here, drill now, before it's too late.

[noobc0mb0]

12:05 AM on 04/27/2012

Keep drinking the Tea. We are drilling here, right now, and we're exporting it to other countries. Thank the GOP and blue dog Dems for that. They're in bed with oil companies. Real liberal democrats want to bring jobs back home. They want to expand clean energy. The GOP and blue dog Dems are on the Right and they love our addiction to foreign oil. They couldn't care less about America keeping its domestic oil.