PRIORITIES

If you are viewing my postings for the first time, I urge you to log on my first posting titled “in the beginning” which is found by logging on “archives” and scrolling forward to this posting.

To those interested in why I am using my retirement time to research and do these postings, I offer these thoughts, statements and visions:

As a resident, business owner and politician in Peoria area for the past 40 years my vision of this community is the same as the majority of those who live here; good schools, libraries, churches for all denominations, varieties of recreational facilities from youth to seniors, well maintained parks with amenities, modern museums and unspoiled waterways. Jobs paying a living wage and affordable housing are absolute necessities.

Many of us will retire here. We don’t want to see our neighborhoods, our city or county deteriorate. We don’t object to paying reasonable taxes to achieve these visions. We know it takes money to provide public safety, good roads and streets, waste disposal and other vital services. We must stay informed and involved in what our elected officials are doing for us or to us and pay attention to what is going on in our community is it really needed and, more importantly, how are we going to pay for it?

“Government of the people” means all the people have the right of input into the decision making process by our elected officials. We must be certain that those we elect to positions of power don’t lock us out of power. Elected officials must respond responsibly to the greater demand for our tax dollars. That is why I try to provide leadership on community issues where I feel qualified and informed.

I support the orderly growth of all communities in Peoria County and the rebuilding and expansion of our older neighborhoods, all with easy access to public services and conveniences.

I’ve been outspoken about the conditions of our roadways and put maintenance of exiting roads and highways over new roadways that are not proven to be worth their cost. I do not put steel, asphalt and concrete over development of the “whole person”. This development is done within our families and with family involvement in our most important resource, our school systems. A 2001 article by JS writer Omar Sofradzija quoting David Hartgen, director of the transportation department at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, reads as follows, “There are hundreds of cities that are growing rapidly without (superior) highway access". Highway access is a key. It’s not the key to most cities’ futures. Fix your roads? No. Fix your schools”.

I have written and spoken many times about what are the priorities of this community and strongly believe that many who are in positions of power, are putting their own desires ahead of community needs. My postings have already called attention that we are spending too much time and money on amenities and not enough on necessities such as education.

This leads into my next posting “Forward Peoria School District #150”

I close with these thoughts: “Schools need to discover a person’s talent and then seek the best outcomes to develop these talents. Developing these talents does not necessarily mean creating a rocket scientist”.