News Conference
Where: Labor Temple
Politicians presenting - Dave Koehler and Secretary of Transportation, Gary Hanning
Subject - Unspecified but I'll bet to announce earmarks for the unfunded underground parking deck for the museum plus maybe a few more "goodies" we taxpayers will be paying for all our lifetimes.
These "earmarks" will be masked at "stimulus packages and job creation".
Want to bet? Looks like the trip by County Administrator Patrick Urich, Tim Riggenbach; he's the one with three kids who visited Lakeview Museum once on 2008, average admission charge; 0.64 average admission cost, (110,000 alleged vistors but only collected $61,000 in admissions), board members Tim Dillon and Junion Watkins who took a taxpayer paid junket to Washington, D.C. to meet with Schock and Durbin is paying off for earmarks that the same politicians say are killing our economy. But, hey, it's jobs and Peorians are no different, I guess, that other citizens and politicians, instant gratification and monument builders to huge egos. No worry about pouring millions of millions of dollars forever in not a totally fenced in "deep hole" but a new modern "deep money pit".
That group of County Board people will say "but you went one time too". That's correct. I was Vice-Chairman and went at the request of my chairman, three of us,. not four, and I talked to Durbin about the sorry mental health problem we have in Illinois. I attended seminars on mental health and transportation funding. Surely not as important as an unneeded museum and unwanted Visitors Center. I'm sure our kids grades will improve after seeing these monsters and as an after thought, why is it competitor Komatsu in full full employment??
How can a Caterpillar executive look a fired Cat worker in the eye or a retiree who is told the retiree will now need to pay for his or her gift usually given to an employee. Of course they will get a discount, wow, and can keep their health insurance for one year. These same block of people who are now offering a 15% discount to Peoria County Museum visitors, $150,000 off a much needed revenue of $1 million. Just pass the cost on the the (people who occupy the 55,000 beds each year while visiting this "destination"), and on to taxpayers, the majority of who will only visit a time or too and a large group that won't visit at all.
The good news, while the CEO Roundtable failed to come up with the shortfall of $11 million needed even if the referendum passes and the $7 million or more needed to fund their endowment, Cat stock today is only down 60-65%. I'll also take side bets on the pledgers who have withdrawn or cut the size of their pledge is significant. Outsiders won't know until the museum released their year end financial statement for 2009 in the spring of 2010. Over half a million dollars in pledges were cancelled in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008.
As to the meeting on Jan 30, just an "educated guess". I'm sure I'm wrong but I'm a betting man. The shrewd politicians went from "shovel ready" to up to 18 months. Some immediate stimulus.
Have you ever met a politicain who never saw an opportunity to increase taxes he didn't like. Pray tll me who.
If I'm wrong about my "predictions" I'll aplogize to all concerned on this site.
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