Lest you forget, of course you have, LaHood was the leading supporter of a museum on the riverfront and the $40 million spent recently on Peoria Public Libraries. Yet, years ago when I made a personal appeal to him to help on the ongoing problems at Peoria Public School District #150, he wrote "because of my position on a national level, I leave it to local communities to work on their own problems". Sure, the libraries are nice but the roughly $40 million (includes interest on the long term loan) spent on the libraries could have been spent on our underfunded public safety and our questionable public streets, sewers, etc, department, questionable because of the involvement or lack of by the City Council, management, unions, or funds.
And Lahood's involvement in the museum speaks for itself and will speak more loudly in the future as long as Phil Luciano is still the only journalist on the JS with guts to get the facts out.
Then there is "Chappie" Chapman, a stockbroker and "mover and shaker" of the ballpark and museum. who wrote in the JS "Museum could be crown jewel of Peoria" summing his 'facts' up, "we only have to look at the new Peoria Zoo, the Peoria Civic Center and O'Brien Field (now Dozer Field) as jewels in the Peoria County Crown".
I guess "Crown Jewels" has different definitions to the elite and the unemployed and all who drive the streets of Peoria and the ones who won;t drive at all after dark.
And Brad McMilllan, then Chairman of Friends of Build the Block who wrote "Small Costs, Big Benefits to building The Block, 3/9/09, JS" and later a constant reminder to all that the museum overall $100 million cost would be small potatoes to the public as the private sector would be supporting 2/3rd of the cost. He was wrong as all politicians and wanna-bees usually are.
It was just the opposite.
Also, remember that the JSEB, with the exception of one editoria, was a very strong supporter of the museum.
Hmmmm.
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