Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis has appointed Stephen J. Perez, a Caterpillar Strategic Consultant to head up a group to address the litter problems in the community. First meeting is tomorrow at 1:15-2:15 P. M. at the city office of Steve Fairbanks. The stated purpose is to “create a team that will be able to initiate and oversee the process development, to clean up Peoria’s litter problem”.
As you might imagine this move to get serious about the litter problem is good news for most of us who live in Peoria. Good luck and may all good citizens pitch in.
Unfortunately, litter is just one of the many disturbing symptoms facing this community as evidenced by the voter turnout of only 22% of all registered voters yesterday.
We need more good news for this community and the turn around of the Bradley basketball team is good news for all of Peoria.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Just the Facts
Evidently Scott Siegrist showed the JSEB payment stubs of the weekly East Peoria newspaper he claims he delivered to me from Feb thru Dec.of 1974. The pay-as-you-deliver stubs totaled somewhere around $30.00 – approximately 48 weeks at from 60 to 70 cents a week. He shows he was paid all but $6.60 which he says I still owe him. For the record, support payments to my then wife started on July 17 with the divorce finalized on November 15, 1974. I did not live at the location where Scott delivered and collected. My ex did. When he couldn’t get her to pay, he tried to collect from me.
The bus incident? This was not “just a litter” problem. I was “passing” at 65 miles per hour, not “following” the bus when the missile flew out the window, narrowly missing my windshield.
As to the year 2000 incident brought up by the JS numerous times, twice reported that I approached the plaintiff when the police report filed by the plaintiff reported the opposite. Small “errors”, of which there were many, changed the facts.
My record on the police blotter is clean and will remain so. The Woodford County Sheriffs Department asked me if I wanted to file charges. As I told them and told MHS officials, I am not. Competent Morton school officials have handled the problems. Rules are that the drivers do not open the door unless an emergency. They are to hand signal you to come to the driver’s side and talk thru the window. The policy of no food and drinks on school buses will be enforced. I apologize for becoming upset.
The bus incident? This was not “just a litter” problem. I was “passing” at 65 miles per hour, not “following” the bus when the missile flew out the window, narrowly missing my windshield.
As to the year 2000 incident brought up by the JS numerous times, twice reported that I approached the plaintiff when the police report filed by the plaintiff reported the opposite. Small “errors”, of which there were many, changed the facts.
My record on the police blotter is clean and will remain so. The Woodford County Sheriffs Department asked me if I wanted to file charges. As I told them and told MHS officials, I am not. Competent Morton school officials have handled the problems. Rules are that the drivers do not open the door unless an emergency. They are to hand signal you to come to the driver’s side and talk thru the window. The policy of no food and drinks on school buses will be enforced. I apologize for becoming upset.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Landfill Siting Testimony
Visit www.peoriacounty.org and find on the sidebar to the left your options and read the six days of testimony, evidence and opinions regarding the siting application by Peoria Disposal to expand Landfill #1 Hazardous Waste site. You need to be as well informed as the county board even IF you have already made a decision on granting or denying the application. I believe it is the duty of every citizen in Peoria County to at least read the testimony if they didn’t attend the hearings.
The decision of the county board will be made public on a meeting open to the public on May 3. I can perhaps help guide you to certain testimony that you may wish to examine but I will not make any comments on testimony presented.
You can also visit the Peoria County Clerks office and view all the hardcopy testimony.
The decision of the county board will be made public on a meeting open to the public on May 3. I can perhaps help guide you to certain testimony that you may wish to examine but I will not make any comments on testimony presented.
You can also visit the Peoria County Clerks office and view all the hardcopy testimony.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Another Plan to End Chronic Homelessness??
The “Heart of Illinois Homelessness Continuum of Care, composed of 30 agencies serving four counties has a main goal of prevention thru education and resource sharing”, Amy Cahill, chair of the organization, is quoted in the JS on 3/6/06 “Peoria and the surrounding area is rich in services but we don’t always do a good job of working together. Another key goal for us is to develop 250 new affordable, safe and decent housing units by 2016.” Ms. Cahill says about one third each of the homeless, are mentally ill, alcoholics and drug abusers and people who have maybe made a bad choice. The average age of the 556 homeless interviewed locally was 10 years.”
Back in November of 1993, I was part of a newly organized group called the “Homeless Youth Coalition” or (HOIUW) an offshoot of the Tri County Community Partnership. Headquarters were in the Peoria Area Community Foundation offices. This group was organized shortly after an article appeared in the JS on November 15, 1993, titled “Sheltering city’s poor remains an uphill battle. The homeless are going from shelter to shelter each night” said Pam Schubach, YWCA Executive Director. “Many of the homeless people come from public housing and refuse to go back. They know the horror of living there” said Vicky Berchtold from the Southside Mission. This article was sparked by a paid assessment made by the Enterprise Foundation of Maryland in 1991 and the assumed failure of the community to act on recommendations made.
Members of HOIUW were names like Parks, Krupa, Lenart, Haerr, Oakford, Davis, Frank, Day, Simpkins, Vonachen, Leitch, Gorenz, Wogsland, Kennedy, Nelson, Nolde, Bennett, Stroud and Williamson. I was named Chairman of Public Relations.John Lenart was named Chairman of the coalition.
Funds were raised, visits and phone calls to other communities were made, many meetings were held and YWCA plans were listened to. Eventually, the YWCA got a mid 6 figure grant to convert part of the YW into more transitional housing units.
A deal was struck with the Fire Chief and the City Council that since the firehouses were open 24 hours a day, these firehouses would be a safe haven for the homeless to go to in times of emergency. Fliers were posted, articles appeared in the newspapers and after a year had passed, the program was discontinued Only one fire station reported anyone stopping in for help.
On April 12, 2000 a letter to “Dear Valued Homeless Youth Coalition Member” read in summation: “The community has devolved over time to now include a Homeless Commission (city) and the Peoria Area Homeless Consortium (Peoria, Woodford, Fulton and Tazewell), both with youth representation. (As a member of the Peoria County Board since 2000, I know we have helped implement low cost housing programs but I am not aware of a homeless consortium or the need for one in the county not including the City of Peoria) The Coalition’s initial focus was on program implementation, over time the focus was achieved and the group’s focus seemed unclear which led to poor attendance and a decrease in ownership. There were several attempts to address various issues or to take on a new role but this was unsuccessful. There are other entities in our community that can do and do address homeless issues on a broader base with youth representation. There have been well over 600 youths that have received help since the inception of the program.
I would like to thank each and every one of you for your time, efforts, commitment and most importantly your desire to help meet the needs of the youth of this community.” Signed Jeff A Gress, Director of Youth Service; Children’s Home.
That was the closing statement of HOIUW.
There are several billions of words written on the subject, hundreds of millions spent on “experts” opinions, hundred of thousands or groups and committees formed and dissolved and the problem is still out there. Maybe an article written by Ms. Heather MacDonald appearing on 11/17/1997 sums it up best. Her lengthy article describing the futility of trying to help people who don’t want to help themselves she says, is best narrated in a document “To Reach the Homeless” written by Columbia journalism professor Bruce Porter described as a jaw-dropping account of the homelessness outreach profession. On the other side of the issue ,Ms. MacDonald also quotes Rev.James A. Forbes, Jr., pastor of the Manhattan’s Riverside Church “We should value the one gift the homeless bring is the ability to say “No”, saying that is a strength , and why the homeless are so beset by illness and fear.”
Ms. MacDonald closing paragraph reads “The advocates may see the homeless as martyrs to American injustice, or as free spirits marching to a different drummer but by now most of the rest of us see them as confused marching to disaster – thanks to the policies designed by homeless advocates.”
As to the mentally impaired, the question is by whose judgment and to what extent impaired? Do you hold them against their will? How do you do that? Bring back Zeller? More care for the mental I support but not locking them up unless they are a threat to others. Even then, you could not hold someone who wanted leave the building. How can the homeless take care of a nice house? Many never learned how, certainly not those now on the streets who might have spent some time in Peoria School District #150. How do you treat those who barricade themselves and are prepared to resist service providers at all costs? You want to put them in homes around law abiding people just like we leave disruptive kids in some schools and classroms to disrupt others?
Do all you can as an individual or as a group to help those in need. I applaud you all. Be careful what you are asking the responsible tax paying voting citizenry to do in the way of more funding. As I’ve implored before, I do not want to die in a socialist country filled with pacifist do gooders unless they do the funding themselves. Most of us learned responsibility. I expect others I must live with and around to be responsible also.
More preventative programs I support. More free everything with no responsibility, I don't.
Everyone needs help now and then. That help should be transitory; not permanent unless disabled and no family support. Even then, help must come with some responsibility.
Examine the past on this subject as older than the pyramids. Do not try to reinvent the wheel. Find the programs that have had some successes and good luck!!
Back in November of 1993, I was part of a newly organized group called the “Homeless Youth Coalition” or (HOIUW) an offshoot of the Tri County Community Partnership. Headquarters were in the Peoria Area Community Foundation offices. This group was organized shortly after an article appeared in the JS on November 15, 1993, titled “Sheltering city’s poor remains an uphill battle. The homeless are going from shelter to shelter each night” said Pam Schubach, YWCA Executive Director. “Many of the homeless people come from public housing and refuse to go back. They know the horror of living there” said Vicky Berchtold from the Southside Mission. This article was sparked by a paid assessment made by the Enterprise Foundation of Maryland in 1991 and the assumed failure of the community to act on recommendations made.
Members of HOIUW were names like Parks, Krupa, Lenart, Haerr, Oakford, Davis, Frank, Day, Simpkins, Vonachen, Leitch, Gorenz, Wogsland, Kennedy, Nelson, Nolde, Bennett, Stroud and Williamson. I was named Chairman of Public Relations.John Lenart was named Chairman of the coalition.
Funds were raised, visits and phone calls to other communities were made, many meetings were held and YWCA plans were listened to. Eventually, the YWCA got a mid 6 figure grant to convert part of the YW into more transitional housing units.
A deal was struck with the Fire Chief and the City Council that since the firehouses were open 24 hours a day, these firehouses would be a safe haven for the homeless to go to in times of emergency. Fliers were posted, articles appeared in the newspapers and after a year had passed, the program was discontinued Only one fire station reported anyone stopping in for help.
On April 12, 2000 a letter to “Dear Valued Homeless Youth Coalition Member” read in summation: “The community has devolved over time to now include a Homeless Commission (city) and the Peoria Area Homeless Consortium (Peoria, Woodford, Fulton and Tazewell), both with youth representation. (As a member of the Peoria County Board since 2000, I know we have helped implement low cost housing programs but I am not aware of a homeless consortium or the need for one in the county not including the City of Peoria) The Coalition’s initial focus was on program implementation, over time the focus was achieved and the group’s focus seemed unclear which led to poor attendance and a decrease in ownership. There were several attempts to address various issues or to take on a new role but this was unsuccessful. There are other entities in our community that can do and do address homeless issues on a broader base with youth representation. There have been well over 600 youths that have received help since the inception of the program.
I would like to thank each and every one of you for your time, efforts, commitment and most importantly your desire to help meet the needs of the youth of this community.” Signed Jeff A Gress, Director of Youth Service; Children’s Home.
That was the closing statement of HOIUW.
There are several billions of words written on the subject, hundreds of millions spent on “experts” opinions, hundred of thousands or groups and committees formed and dissolved and the problem is still out there. Maybe an article written by Ms. Heather MacDonald appearing on 11/17/1997 sums it up best. Her lengthy article describing the futility of trying to help people who don’t want to help themselves she says, is best narrated in a document “To Reach the Homeless” written by Columbia journalism professor Bruce Porter described as a jaw-dropping account of the homelessness outreach profession. On the other side of the issue ,Ms. MacDonald also quotes Rev.James A. Forbes, Jr., pastor of the Manhattan’s Riverside Church “We should value the one gift the homeless bring is the ability to say “No”, saying that is a strength , and why the homeless are so beset by illness and fear.”
Ms. MacDonald closing paragraph reads “The advocates may see the homeless as martyrs to American injustice, or as free spirits marching to a different drummer but by now most of the rest of us see them as confused marching to disaster – thanks to the policies designed by homeless advocates.”
As to the mentally impaired, the question is by whose judgment and to what extent impaired? Do you hold them against their will? How do you do that? Bring back Zeller? More care for the mental I support but not locking them up unless they are a threat to others. Even then, you could not hold someone who wanted leave the building. How can the homeless take care of a nice house? Many never learned how, certainly not those now on the streets who might have spent some time in Peoria School District #150. How do you treat those who barricade themselves and are prepared to resist service providers at all costs? You want to put them in homes around law abiding people just like we leave disruptive kids in some schools and classroms to disrupt others?
Do all you can as an individual or as a group to help those in need. I applaud you all. Be careful what you are asking the responsible tax paying voting citizenry to do in the way of more funding. As I’ve implored before, I do not want to die in a socialist country filled with pacifist do gooders unless they do the funding themselves. Most of us learned responsibility. I expect others I must live with and around to be responsible also.
More preventative programs I support. More free everything with no responsibility, I don't.
Everyone needs help now and then. That help should be transitory; not permanent unless disabled and no family support. Even then, help must come with some responsibility.
Examine the past on this subject as older than the pyramids. Do not try to reinvent the wheel. Find the programs that have had some successes and good luck!!
Saturday, March 04, 2006
What's Ahead for Your County?
In the 2/27/06 issue of County News, 16 county administrators across the country talked about their plans and projects under way for 2006. Six counties said they are either building new jails or expanding them. One is so crowded they are shifting inmates to other counties to temporarily hold them. One is building a new juvenile detention facility. It appears more counties are building their law and justice centers, juvenile detention facilities, county jails and administrative centers in the same area for the convenience of all involved..
Our capable county administrator, Patrick Urich was quoted about plans for Peoria County. He talked about our new county building code which will go into effect April 1. He talked about our new voting machines (the city is using the same system) which all people I have talked to seem to like very much. These machines are ready for early voting for county voters. He talked about our efforts to expand our speaker’s bureau; anyone looking for a speaker to talk about what is going on in Peoria County, call 672-6056 or visit our website at www.peoriacounty.org. He is quoted about our hazardous waste landfill siting hearings which are open again to the public on April 3 at the ITOO Hall. Information is being added with frequency as to what is going on in our county on this website.
Recently, our capable County Board Chairman, David Williams was featured in a national edition of this same County News. Dave, who is running against Dave Koehler in the Democrat Primary for a spot on the November ballot and a possible seat in the Illinois Senate, has done an excellent job in keeping the county board running like a unit and the results are very evident. That’s one reason why our fund balances went from a 1 ½ million dollar deficit in 2000 to what will be a $21 1/2 million dollar gain by the end of 2006. By working together, the board, the board chairman, administration, staff, employees and elected officials make a better place to live for the citizenry of the all the county. To do this it takes competent leadership and a strong board. Peoria County has these attributes.
Another county talked of how they consolidated the two law enforcement agencies and having one center where emergency calls are dispatched. Can that ever happen here? I believe many of the voters in Peoria County would support consolidation.
You should read with more than a “passing interest” the “letter to editors” in today’s JS written by Paul Wilkinson, President of the Altamont Park Neighborhood Association. Also an article appearing in the JS on 11/22/03 titled “Discipline Problems Getting Worse in City Schools” by Chris Jewell. Also find a copy of the fine and disturbing two part series dated Oct. 27 and Nov. 2, 2005, titled “Unlicensed to Drive” showing that our courts are a revolving door and with the final conclusion that “The Verdict: the system is broken”. This series was written by one of the most capable writers in Peoria, DeWayne Bartels of the Observer.
Our capable county administrator, Patrick Urich was quoted about plans for Peoria County. He talked about our new county building code which will go into effect April 1. He talked about our new voting machines (the city is using the same system) which all people I have talked to seem to like very much. These machines are ready for early voting for county voters. He talked about our efforts to expand our speaker’s bureau; anyone looking for a speaker to talk about what is going on in Peoria County, call 672-6056 or visit our website at www.peoriacounty.org. He is quoted about our hazardous waste landfill siting hearings which are open again to the public on April 3 at the ITOO Hall. Information is being added with frequency as to what is going on in our county on this website.
Recently, our capable County Board Chairman, David Williams was featured in a national edition of this same County News. Dave, who is running against Dave Koehler in the Democrat Primary for a spot on the November ballot and a possible seat in the Illinois Senate, has done an excellent job in keeping the county board running like a unit and the results are very evident. That’s one reason why our fund balances went from a 1 ½ million dollar deficit in 2000 to what will be a $21 1/2 million dollar gain by the end of 2006. By working together, the board, the board chairman, administration, staff, employees and elected officials make a better place to live for the citizenry of the all the county. To do this it takes competent leadership and a strong board. Peoria County has these attributes.
Another county talked of how they consolidated the two law enforcement agencies and having one center where emergency calls are dispatched. Can that ever happen here? I believe many of the voters in Peoria County would support consolidation.
You should read with more than a “passing interest” the “letter to editors” in today’s JS written by Paul Wilkinson, President of the Altamont Park Neighborhood Association. Also an article appearing in the JS on 11/22/03 titled “Discipline Problems Getting Worse in City Schools” by Chris Jewell. Also find a copy of the fine and disturbing two part series dated Oct. 27 and Nov. 2, 2005, titled “Unlicensed to Drive” showing that our courts are a revolving door and with the final conclusion that “The Verdict: the system is broken”. This series was written by one of the most capable writers in Peoria, DeWayne Bartels of the Observer.
Why Can't We All Just Get Along?
Thanks to Mike Bailey and the Journal Star for their fairly accurate appraisal of me and picture in the Journal Star today. I just finished reading a book “Will we win the Clash of Civilizations” by Tony Blankley. Tony says that “decent, honorable people have a duty to oppose conduct they judge harmful to their civilization.” We are becoming a nation of disrespect for authority that is mainly the reason why Judge Shadid said yesterday that he’s tired of the growing number of teenagers he sees waiting in front of him awaiting sentences for serious crimes. I perhaps have visited too many classrooms and witnessed first hand kids out of control and excuses made that “well, kids will be kids” and if we send them to the principals office we are judged as being a teacher unable to handle our assignment or receive a call from the kid’s home the next day. Maybe my observing a plastic container being pitched out of a car on Knoxville fifteen minutes before a crushed pop can was hurled at me while I was traveling 65 miles an hour on Rt. 74 or maybe my reaction was triggered by some emotion inherited by ancestors a twenty-five generations removed. I received no pleasure or feeling of authority from my actions but attention has to be called in one way or another to what is happening in this country. Most of my friends in the school systems and law enforcement agencies, call it the “broken window theory”. I also believe that the time to correct the error is when it is discovered. Call the police? (I don’t endanger the public by using a cell phone while I’m driving. I don’t use a cell phone.) I didn’t endanger anyone by asking the bus driver to pull over both by hand signal and after approximately one quarter of mile slowly pulling over in the aright lane and again by turn signal and hand signal indicated there was a problem either with or on his bus. Those who say I had no right. What if I had observed a fire under the bus, a tire going flat or some mechanical failure? Then I would be asked why I didn’t stop the bus and report it. Should I have waited for a school board meeting or drove a couple of miles where I could have found a phone and called the police? I suspect that many hours after the incident, a story would have been made up and a denial so then it again would be my word only and the incident would have been closed. I appreciate the coach for at least finding out who the culprit was right then.
I did apologize to Morton High School’s Roger Kilpatrick by phone for lecturing the kids about good behavior. Mr. Kilpatrick assured that appropriate action was taken. I do not apologize for asking the but to stop, which by the way he did not have to stop, he could have switched lanes an kept moving. I’m not about to challenge being rear-ended by a bus. Maybe Phil will check my accident history.
Each of us in our own way makes decisions every day, some of which get questioned daily by ourselves and in the media. As George B, Shaw said “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”
By the way I have had far more emails and phone calls in support of my actions than those who sent “anonymous” hate messages on this site. Except the lady who identified herself and wrote she wouldn’t have stopped because she had been raped once. I have always had the courage to use my name on any position I took. Have I always made the absolutely correct decisions? No. But then have all of you who? You even might be interested to look further into critic Phil Luciano’s background to see if he has been a paragon of modesty and virtue.
As to my new neighbors of the past three years, Steven and Michele Aaron Hope, we enjoy each others company and they throw one of the best Mardi Gras parties in Peoria as my wife and I have been their guests for the past three years.
What happened to the former black and white unmarried couple neighbor? I was told by a man who worked with him that they left the community by request of his company after he had filed two lawsuits against them and he had intended to hit me with a civil suit as he heard I had a lot of money. Two Peoria Police Officers, one a Lieutenant, told me to make no contact with this couple because they were considered dangerous.
Why did the JS reporter, Andy Kravetz take a shot at me in year 2000? Because my now long removed neighbor was a PHA Section 8 investor and Andy covered PHA proceedings and was a friend of my neighbor. He mis-read the police report but the JS City Desk actually corrected the error in a a remote spot of the newspaper after I threatened them with libel. As to Terry Bibo, she was upset when I asked her to look into local fund-raising drives in which the fund raiser was keeping 90% of the funds raised. She never wrote on the subject and after a year, I went over her head again with no results except a phone call from her that wasn’t very flattering. That fueled her vicious column calling my attacking and long departed 27 year younger neighbor a “mild mannered Arthur Ashe”. (To my knowledge the fund raiser is now only keeping 85% of the funds raised by certain social clubs.)
Anyway, I’ll try to be a better citizen. I have nothing on my record except some speeding tickets or parking tickets. The day the Journal Star’s writer Luciano’s vicious attack appeared in print, I had my usual breakfast meeting with friends, played and won 2 and one half tennis matches at the Clubs at Rivercity; a privately owned fitness club (not taxpayer funded), had lunch with my Southwest Kiwanis Club friends, had two county board meetings where I was asked to make a presentation before an upcoming community wide business event, and attended a dinner (at the request of the county); a meeting of the Council of River Governments of which I am the only elected representative for Peoria County. The meeting was at the Ashford Convention Center in Morton; my mother and father and two sisters lived in Morton, considered by them and most others to be a fine community. I will keep on working for the Peoria County taxpayer to help keep the county fiscally responsible. And I’ll keep doing what I perceive to do as my civic duty.
Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.” Things haven’t changed much in 140 years or so.
As to my “anonymous” attackers, why not come out from behind your secrecy and talk to me personally. We might get to know each other better. You can tell me what you are doing to make this a better place to live. And yes, back in year 2000, I did say I would need an “equalizer”. What would you say if your neighbors said they were going to send someone up from the south side of Peoria to take my M-F head off in at least three rather unpleasant ways?
After all, can’t we all just get along?
I did apologize to Morton High School’s Roger Kilpatrick by phone for lecturing the kids about good behavior. Mr. Kilpatrick assured that appropriate action was taken. I do not apologize for asking the but to stop, which by the way he did not have to stop, he could have switched lanes an kept moving. I’m not about to challenge being rear-ended by a bus. Maybe Phil will check my accident history.
Each of us in our own way makes decisions every day, some of which get questioned daily by ourselves and in the media. As George B, Shaw said “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”
By the way I have had far more emails and phone calls in support of my actions than those who sent “anonymous” hate messages on this site. Except the lady who identified herself and wrote she wouldn’t have stopped because she had been raped once. I have always had the courage to use my name on any position I took. Have I always made the absolutely correct decisions? No. But then have all of you who? You even might be interested to look further into critic Phil Luciano’s background to see if he has been a paragon of modesty and virtue.
As to my new neighbors of the past three years, Steven and Michele Aaron Hope, we enjoy each others company and they throw one of the best Mardi Gras parties in Peoria as my wife and I have been their guests for the past three years.
What happened to the former black and white unmarried couple neighbor? I was told by a man who worked with him that they left the community by request of his company after he had filed two lawsuits against them and he had intended to hit me with a civil suit as he heard I had a lot of money. Two Peoria Police Officers, one a Lieutenant, told me to make no contact with this couple because they were considered dangerous.
Why did the JS reporter, Andy Kravetz take a shot at me in year 2000? Because my now long removed neighbor was a PHA Section 8 investor and Andy covered PHA proceedings and was a friend of my neighbor. He mis-read the police report but the JS City Desk actually corrected the error in a a remote spot of the newspaper after I threatened them with libel. As to Terry Bibo, she was upset when I asked her to look into local fund-raising drives in which the fund raiser was keeping 90% of the funds raised. She never wrote on the subject and after a year, I went over her head again with no results except a phone call from her that wasn’t very flattering. That fueled her vicious column calling my attacking and long departed 27 year younger neighbor a “mild mannered Arthur Ashe”. (To my knowledge the fund raiser is now only keeping 85% of the funds raised by certain social clubs.)
Anyway, I’ll try to be a better citizen. I have nothing on my record except some speeding tickets or parking tickets. The day the Journal Star’s writer Luciano’s vicious attack appeared in print, I had my usual breakfast meeting with friends, played and won 2 and one half tennis matches at the Clubs at Rivercity; a privately owned fitness club (not taxpayer funded), had lunch with my Southwest Kiwanis Club friends, had two county board meetings where I was asked to make a presentation before an upcoming community wide business event, and attended a dinner (at the request of the county); a meeting of the Council of River Governments of which I am the only elected representative for Peoria County. The meeting was at the Ashford Convention Center in Morton; my mother and father and two sisters lived in Morton, considered by them and most others to be a fine community. I will keep on working for the Peoria County taxpayer to help keep the county fiscally responsible. And I’ll keep doing what I perceive to do as my civic duty.
Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.” Things haven’t changed much in 140 years or so.
As to my “anonymous” attackers, why not come out from behind your secrecy and talk to me personally. We might get to know each other better. You can tell me what you are doing to make this a better place to live. And yes, back in year 2000, I did say I would need an “equalizer”. What would you say if your neighbors said they were going to send someone up from the south side of Peoria to take my M-F head off in at least three rather unpleasant ways?
After all, can’t we all just get along?
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Free Market?
California Democrat Nancy Pelosi is quoted as saying that to ensure that America remains competitive is to “take money out of the private sector so government can spend more tax dollars on hiring public school teachers (no mention of charter schools and vouchers); take money out of the private sector so that government can spend more tax dollars on federal R &D agencies (no mention of redoing corporate tax rates to the same end); take money out of the private sector so government can spend more tax dollars on “broadband access” (no mention that this will happen faster than Congress can pass a law) and take money out of the private sectors government can spend more money on developing alternate energy (no mention of relieving legal and regulatory impediments to the only currently viable source, nuclear power) At least she has a common theme.
I have a fifth suggestion. Take money out of the private sector so government can spend money on how to educate itself on the free market, since it is so seldom encountered inside the Beltway. Perhaps politicians might learn that this outside-the-Beltway oddity- the free market-flourishes when millions of actors are permitted to keep more of the capital they earn to allocate it as they see fit in their collective wisdom, however untethered that wisdom may be from the enlightened thoughts of Ms. Pelosi.”
If Ms. Pelosi answer is to simply spend more money, could she possibly explain why school systems with the highest per capita spending –Washington, DC and New York continue to produce some of the poorest results?”
Other comments to the WSJ include “We cannot and should not, compete on cost. We must compete via innovation and high value-added. On these metrics, the U.S has no peer. We will respond successfully yet.”
These comments are in response to what Ms. Pelosi had published under the title “R &D Democrats” on 2/13 in the WSJ.
I have a fifth suggestion. Take money out of the private sector so government can spend money on how to educate itself on the free market, since it is so seldom encountered inside the Beltway. Perhaps politicians might learn that this outside-the-Beltway oddity- the free market-flourishes when millions of actors are permitted to keep more of the capital they earn to allocate it as they see fit in their collective wisdom, however untethered that wisdom may be from the enlightened thoughts of Ms. Pelosi.”
If Ms. Pelosi answer is to simply spend more money, could she possibly explain why school systems with the highest per capita spending –Washington, DC and New York continue to produce some of the poorest results?”
Other comments to the WSJ include “We cannot and should not, compete on cost. We must compete via innovation and high value-added. On these metrics, the U.S has no peer. We will respond successfully yet.”
These comments are in response to what Ms. Pelosi had published under the title “R &D Democrats” on 2/13 in the WSJ.
Museum Realities
I mentioned I had the opportunity to visit the Lincoln Museum in Springfield. While visiting, I picked up a newspaper saying that Richard Norton Smith is leaving as director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The article reads “The museum is on pace to draw 600,000 visitors in its first year. The annual budget is $9 million (although today at lunch I was told the budget is $12 million.) By contrast the annual budgets for other presidential museums range from $1.8 million to $4.8 million (Ronald Reagan). Unlike these museums, the Lincoln museum gets no federal money for operating costs. Despite sky high attendance, gate receipts which stood at $2.5 million in mid-December are not nearly enough to pay costs, so state and private funds must make up the difference. The state isn’t likely to pony up for new bells and whistles, so if the museum wants new attractions to keep folks coming back, private donors will have to pay for them. The museum foundation hasn’t raised sufficient cash to have an acquisition (traveling exhibits) fund, so it must rely on gifts from collectors of Lincoln artifacts.”
I called the Dubuque, Iowa National Rivers Museum today ( I had a 21/2 visit with the development director last summer) to see how they were doing financially. They said that attendance was down to 251,000 from 301,000 the first year. Projected attendance this year is 241,000. They have fallen short of meeting operating costs both years and are conducting fund drives to make up the deficits. (This Museum was originally largely funded by the State of Iowa to boost state visitor numbers.)
As Peoria proceeds with the planning of a new downtown Museum, many are skeptical that proceeds will cover deficits. Same is true with the planned expansion of the Glen Oak Zoo which has been stuck on about $19 of the projected need of $32 million for more than two years. And what about operating costs for both projects? With no endowments of substantial size mentioned to date, who will fund the deficits?
Many questions will need to be answered over the next few months and some big ego busting decisions will probably have to be made. If not, taxpayer, be super-aware.
I suggest as do many of my friends, that one project would be dropped and the contributions shifted to a long term operating endowment for the one project that proceeds. Most believe the project dropped should be the zoo because the Peoria Park District does not have a good track record in handling losses and their fund raising efforts seem to be static. However, if both do finally get off the ground I suspect more people will be looking for a more tax friendly environment. They know they can always come back to visit.
I called the Dubuque, Iowa National Rivers Museum today ( I had a 21/2 visit with the development director last summer) to see how they were doing financially. They said that attendance was down to 251,000 from 301,000 the first year. Projected attendance this year is 241,000. They have fallen short of meeting operating costs both years and are conducting fund drives to make up the deficits. (This Museum was originally largely funded by the State of Iowa to boost state visitor numbers.)
As Peoria proceeds with the planning of a new downtown Museum, many are skeptical that proceeds will cover deficits. Same is true with the planned expansion of the Glen Oak Zoo which has been stuck on about $19 of the projected need of $32 million for more than two years. And what about operating costs for both projects? With no endowments of substantial size mentioned to date, who will fund the deficits?
Many questions will need to be answered over the next few months and some big ego busting decisions will probably have to be made. If not, taxpayer, be super-aware.
I suggest as do many of my friends, that one project would be dropped and the contributions shifted to a long term operating endowment for the one project that proceeds. Most believe the project dropped should be the zoo because the Peoria Park District does not have a good track record in handling losses and their fund raising efforts seem to be static. However, if both do finally get off the ground I suspect more people will be looking for a more tax friendly environment. They know they can always come back to visit.
Today's Game "Shift the Blame"
On Tuesday February 14, I was driving East on Rt. 74 when I approached a school bus traveling in the right lane. I swung out to pass the bus and as I did an object in the shape of a soda can sailed out of one of the buses side windows, narrowly missing hitting my windshield. I honked my horn and motioned to the bus driver to pull over. I pulled in front of him and turned on my turn signal and slowed down and pointed to the roadside to pull over. He eventually did and I walked between my car and the front of the bus to the side door which was open. A husky young man with a Morton High School wrestling shirt asked me what the problem was. I told him and he immediately accused me of improperly stopping the bus. He was not interested in who threw the can and why the can was even on the bus to start with. After berating me and my calling the kid who threw the can a “punk”, he told me he would handle the problem. I left him my card and told him because of the hostile way he treated me that I would call his superintendent and report the incident. The bus was still following me when I turned off to Eureka to visit friends and relatives at a nursing home. On the way home, I decided that since the adult said he “would handle” it, to drop the incident. I considered that the bus driver did not want to stop because maybe I looked like a terrorist.
A number of years ago, the driver of a car tried desperately to stop me. When I finally stopped, the driver told me that my tennis racquet was riding on top of my trunk as I was driving along. I thanked him profusely and to this day I do not know how I was able to drive almost two miles without the racquet falling off my car.
A bus driver I talked with later in the day told me that food and drinks are not allowed on school busses but also said it was a rule hard to enforce because often the teacher and coaches brought food and drink on the bus, so how could he discipline the kids?
Today, I received a call from Phil Luciano of the JS telling me that he received a call from someone from Morton telling him about the incident and putting the blame on me. Okay, I can handle it; I’ve been assassinated by better people than some Morton School administrators and coaches.
I immediately put in a call to the Morton school superintendent and left my phone number. My phone call has not been returned.
I coached five years and took many a bus ride with my students and athletes. Had I been on that bus I would have told the driver to pull over earlier as for all they knew, I might have observed a tire going flat or a mechanical failure? I would not have greeted the person who had an object thrown at them from a speeding bus in a hostile manner. I would have also found out who threw the object and that person would not have participated in the activities planned. If no one would admit to throwing the object, I would have either returned to the school and sent everybody home as it was approximately !:15 P.M. when the object was hurled.
Part of the problem with our youth today is the home environment. Another great part of the problem lies with some of the teachers, administrators and coaches who teach these kids. Many of these people constantly side with the wrongdoer. When the kid defended by his adults goes thru life, many of these kids get by with larger misdeeds until today our courts and jails are jammed with kids who grew up to make a mess of their lives aided by those adults who were supposed to help them grow into manhood or womanhood.
I learned as a youth not to throw things at moving vehicles. In route from the farm to the grain elevator, I tossed a small handful of corn in the air as a car was passing. The motorist stopped his car and came for my dad. My dad asked me if I threw the corn and I had to say yes. My dad never said a word about it until that evening when he got out his razor strap and I became convinced that I made a mistake. It was lessons like that that got me thru life. But then that was yester years and today is today.
I believe many of my friends would like to return to some of the past when it comes to discipline but the modern “educators” do not believe in the old adage “spare the rod and save the child”. We are all paying the price of defending the wrongdoer and somehow shifting the blame to the accuser. Some teachers tell me that is why they put up with chaos in the classroom because they will be blamed for failure to control the class.
Luciano selection of words was that he might do a column on me shifting the blame from the kid to me. Luciano has in his articles stated that as a youth he did some really bad things and got away with them. He indicated he did not apologize for any of these actions. If he elects to write on this incident it would appear that this might be a continued attempt by a few members of the JS to assault my reputation or that Phil has a column to meet with nothing to write in it as is often the case with some journalists.
We as citizens have a right to try to call to the attention of misdeeds committed by kids under the supervision of adults about incidents like these at the moment it happens. Maybe someday we will return to a better behaved society even in Morton where all kids are good kids and not like Peoria school kids. That’s one of many reasons why their parents move out of Peoria
If this incident is written up in the JS tomorrow, please download my blog and forward it to your friends in Morton. Yet maybe tomorrow the superintendent will call me and Phil will decide this isn’t much of a story, which it isn’t.
A number of years ago, the driver of a car tried desperately to stop me. When I finally stopped, the driver told me that my tennis racquet was riding on top of my trunk as I was driving along. I thanked him profusely and to this day I do not know how I was able to drive almost two miles without the racquet falling off my car.
A bus driver I talked with later in the day told me that food and drinks are not allowed on school busses but also said it was a rule hard to enforce because often the teacher and coaches brought food and drink on the bus, so how could he discipline the kids?
Today, I received a call from Phil Luciano of the JS telling me that he received a call from someone from Morton telling him about the incident and putting the blame on me. Okay, I can handle it; I’ve been assassinated by better people than some Morton School administrators and coaches.
I immediately put in a call to the Morton school superintendent and left my phone number. My phone call has not been returned.
I coached five years and took many a bus ride with my students and athletes. Had I been on that bus I would have told the driver to pull over earlier as for all they knew, I might have observed a tire going flat or a mechanical failure? I would not have greeted the person who had an object thrown at them from a speeding bus in a hostile manner. I would have also found out who threw the object and that person would not have participated in the activities planned. If no one would admit to throwing the object, I would have either returned to the school and sent everybody home as it was approximately !:15 P.M. when the object was hurled.
Part of the problem with our youth today is the home environment. Another great part of the problem lies with some of the teachers, administrators and coaches who teach these kids. Many of these people constantly side with the wrongdoer. When the kid defended by his adults goes thru life, many of these kids get by with larger misdeeds until today our courts and jails are jammed with kids who grew up to make a mess of their lives aided by those adults who were supposed to help them grow into manhood or womanhood.
I learned as a youth not to throw things at moving vehicles. In route from the farm to the grain elevator, I tossed a small handful of corn in the air as a car was passing. The motorist stopped his car and came for my dad. My dad asked me if I threw the corn and I had to say yes. My dad never said a word about it until that evening when he got out his razor strap and I became convinced that I made a mistake. It was lessons like that that got me thru life. But then that was yester years and today is today.
I believe many of my friends would like to return to some of the past when it comes to discipline but the modern “educators” do not believe in the old adage “spare the rod and save the child”. We are all paying the price of defending the wrongdoer and somehow shifting the blame to the accuser. Some teachers tell me that is why they put up with chaos in the classroom because they will be blamed for failure to control the class.
Luciano selection of words was that he might do a column on me shifting the blame from the kid to me. Luciano has in his articles stated that as a youth he did some really bad things and got away with them. He indicated he did not apologize for any of these actions. If he elects to write on this incident it would appear that this might be a continued attempt by a few members of the JS to assault my reputation or that Phil has a column to meet with nothing to write in it as is often the case with some journalists.
We as citizens have a right to try to call to the attention of misdeeds committed by kids under the supervision of adults about incidents like these at the moment it happens. Maybe someday we will return to a better behaved society even in Morton where all kids are good kids and not like Peoria school kids. That’s one of many reasons why their parents move out of Peoria
If this incident is written up in the JS tomorrow, please download my blog and forward it to your friends in Morton. Yet maybe tomorrow the superintendent will call me and Phil will decide this isn’t much of a story, which it isn’t.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Noted Abscenses
I have recently attended these six events:
1. The League of Women Voter “Review the LWVUS Issues on January 21 attended by approximately 30 people.
2. A presentation by the Peoria Historical Society and the Downtown Museum on 1/31/06 on collaboration and attended by approximately 100 people.
3. A Peoria District #150 school board candidate’s forum presented by the “League of Women Voter” attended by approximately 45 people.
4. The Lincoln Senior Award night at the Radisson on 2/16/06 in which awards were given to 16 seniors from 16 high Schools an attended by 100 plus people.
5. The Peoria County Board Siting hearings in which thirty hours (including all day Saturday) of testimony have been presented before an interested audience of up to two hundred or more each day.
6. A Boys and Girls Club fundraiser at the Clubs of River City Friday evening. Approximately 50 tennis players or visitors.
Event one, one black person, County Board member Lynn Pearson.
Event two, I don’t recall more than one.
Event three, two black candidates and four blacks in the audience.
Event four, four blacks in the audience; none as an award winner.
Event five, 3 black people, County Board member Lynn Pearson, County Health Administrator, Andrea Parker and one black person in the audience.
Event six, none.
I may have missed a couple but this article is based on what I observed. If so, I stand corrected.
Census figures show that the County of Peoria is approximately 20% black.
If I am the only one who thinks these figures are quite interesting then you might ask why my distinction of lack of participation in some noteworthy events in this community by people of color?
“Good question” as the phrase is often used when people know they don’t have a valid answer to your question
However, I’ll answer it as best I can. Most of my friends and acquaintances believe we should all be called Americans regardless of race if we are citizens of this country. But then why are some demanding to be identified as Native Americans and African Americans? And why aren’t they participating more in the democratic process?
Personally, I call it “a community disconnect” and it is not a sign of the collaborative community as called for by ex-Caterpillar President Glen Barton in today’s edition of the JS.
On a recent bus trip; two buses, sponsored by Republican Aaron Schock, on a visit to the Lincoln Museum and the State of Illinois Legislature, the paying bus riders, to my observation, were all Caucasians. But I should realize that all Republicans are in college or working except us Caucasian elders.
Another noteworthy observation is that I do not recall seeing any members of the Civic Federation at any of these public events except a perhaps at event #2. Nope, I reviewed my list. But then, why should they be? They are the “movers and the shakers” and the rest of us are just do the “shaking”. I also do not recall any of the movers and shakers in the audience the night I put my name and reputation on the line requesting the school board continue support of the Edison schools in #150. I did see a lot of my black friends and acquaintances in attendance and two on the school board, all in support of Edison schools.
Some may wonder why I would bring to your attention what some would call “trivia”. If you believe this is “trivia”, I must believe that you do not live in Peoria or “Frankly, sir, you don’t give a damn.”
That may be one of the major problems of this community. The citizenry appear to want only to get involved when they perceive that “someone” is “trying to steal their cheese” or they are attempting to promote their own agendas.
How sad.
1. The League of Women Voter “Review the LWVUS Issues on January 21 attended by approximately 30 people.
2. A presentation by the Peoria Historical Society and the Downtown Museum on 1/31/06 on collaboration and attended by approximately 100 people.
3. A Peoria District #150 school board candidate’s forum presented by the “League of Women Voter” attended by approximately 45 people.
4. The Lincoln Senior Award night at the Radisson on 2/16/06 in which awards were given to 16 seniors from 16 high Schools an attended by 100 plus people.
5. The Peoria County Board Siting hearings in which thirty hours (including all day Saturday) of testimony have been presented before an interested audience of up to two hundred or more each day.
6. A Boys and Girls Club fundraiser at the Clubs of River City Friday evening. Approximately 50 tennis players or visitors.
Event one, one black person, County Board member Lynn Pearson.
Event two, I don’t recall more than one.
Event three, two black candidates and four blacks in the audience.
Event four, four blacks in the audience; none as an award winner.
Event five, 3 black people, County Board member Lynn Pearson, County Health Administrator, Andrea Parker and one black person in the audience.
Event six, none.
I may have missed a couple but this article is based on what I observed. If so, I stand corrected.
Census figures show that the County of Peoria is approximately 20% black.
If I am the only one who thinks these figures are quite interesting then you might ask why my distinction of lack of participation in some noteworthy events in this community by people of color?
“Good question” as the phrase is often used when people know they don’t have a valid answer to your question
However, I’ll answer it as best I can. Most of my friends and acquaintances believe we should all be called Americans regardless of race if we are citizens of this country. But then why are some demanding to be identified as Native Americans and African Americans? And why aren’t they participating more in the democratic process?
Personally, I call it “a community disconnect” and it is not a sign of the collaborative community as called for by ex-Caterpillar President Glen Barton in today’s edition of the JS.
On a recent bus trip; two buses, sponsored by Republican Aaron Schock, on a visit to the Lincoln Museum and the State of Illinois Legislature, the paying bus riders, to my observation, were all Caucasians. But I should realize that all Republicans are in college or working except us Caucasian elders.
Another noteworthy observation is that I do not recall seeing any members of the Civic Federation at any of these public events except a perhaps at event #2. Nope, I reviewed my list. But then, why should they be? They are the “movers and the shakers” and the rest of us are just do the “shaking”. I also do not recall any of the movers and shakers in the audience the night I put my name and reputation on the line requesting the school board continue support of the Edison schools in #150. I did see a lot of my black friends and acquaintances in attendance and two on the school board, all in support of Edison schools.
Some may wonder why I would bring to your attention what some would call “trivia”. If you believe this is “trivia”, I must believe that you do not live in Peoria or “Frankly, sir, you don’t give a damn.”
That may be one of the major problems of this community. The citizenry appear to want only to get involved when they perceive that “someone” is “trying to steal their cheese” or they are attempting to promote their own agendas.
How sad.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Softball Tournaments in Peoria??
Read the article in today’s JS titled “The Heartland of Softball”, East Peoria stepping up to the plate to make game big business for Peoria.” Then read what Bonnie Noble said representing the Peoria Park District about the flow of money into the area created by East Peoria hosting National tournaments. Bonnie is quoted “Together we could make this the heartland of softball IF we get several state grants to build a $1.6 million sports facility on 80 acres of land we OWN in Northwest Peoria. I challenge anyone to show me that the Peoria Park District “owns” 80 acres of land out north of Peoria suitable to build and support a small portion of tournament fast pitch softball. Also my recent blog states that this is the same thing the PPD said last year and that the diamonds would be ready this year. The reason they can’t move is that PPD doesn’t have the money and that they are spending it faster that they can collect it on taxes from you and fees! Some on the board also realize they are too late and this complex if built, it would be another drain on the taxpayers and the park budget of $48.8 million.
The Park District just passed a $48.8 million dollar budget yet they are asking our cash strapped state who can’t even pay their bills on time, to give the PPD more of your and my money for a softball facility that will lose large dollars every year along with all the other big time money losers they have built in recent years. Park officials say they have plenty of money. Of course they do, the just raise your taxes and ask the State of Illinois for more entitlements.
Why doesn’t somebody say that “Bonnie, you are a good ten years too late, this is East Peoria’s softball Tournament and Peoria would just get some of the leftovers? In a supposed location 4 miles north of the Shoppes? Are we nuts in this community or is it we don’t really care what goes on?
Do more people need to be aware of what some of our “leader” are doing to Peoria or do we all just “talk to our coffee cups? Do we believe everything the JS writes without ever following up? You say you don’t care, then quit complaining about your property tax bills.
Prove me wrong that the park owns 80 acres out north that they swapped for Meinen field with Bradley who paid a whopping $2.1 million for 166 acres; $13,000.00 and acre and still pays the property tax on this property of 380.00 year. Do you see that, city dwellers?
Bradley pays only A TOTAL OF $380 DOLLARS A YEAR PROPERTY TAX DOLLARS for 266 acres of prime farm land with buildings on it! Who is getting screwed?? And yes, this 80 acres of farmland SUSPOSEDLY owned by the Peoria Park District is in the name of Bradley University. Check it out at the Recorders Office in the Courthouse. Yes, I’m on the Peoria County board and property taxes on farmland will be a topic of discussion in the next couple of months.
On 9/04 the JSEB wrote that “Bradley University and the PPD worked out a land swap that appears to benefit each. Bradley gets the former Meinen Field in exchange for 80 acres near Route 91 and Fox Road.” The problem with the media is that they most often do not follow up on something they write especially if these entities pay big bucks adverting in their editions. I ask Mike Smother and Mike Bailey to refute my claims on ownership.
Probably not unless transfer was done within the past ten days.
Also isn’t it strange that Bradley would pay $13,000.00 and acres for farmland two miles south of Dunlap and have to borrow the $2.1 million to fund it?
This is my last blog for a short while. Many of you just starting to read me can check my archives while I’m in hiatus. Some interesting stuff including more proof that I’m living up to what I said in my opening blog, “This is not a politically correct blog site.”
Thanks for reading me.
The Park District just passed a $48.8 million dollar budget yet they are asking our cash strapped state who can’t even pay their bills on time, to give the PPD more of your and my money for a softball facility that will lose large dollars every year along with all the other big time money losers they have built in recent years. Park officials say they have plenty of money. Of course they do, the just raise your taxes and ask the State of Illinois for more entitlements.
Why doesn’t somebody say that “Bonnie, you are a good ten years too late, this is East Peoria’s softball Tournament and Peoria would just get some of the leftovers? In a supposed location 4 miles north of the Shoppes? Are we nuts in this community or is it we don’t really care what goes on?
Do more people need to be aware of what some of our “leader” are doing to Peoria or do we all just “talk to our coffee cups? Do we believe everything the JS writes without ever following up? You say you don’t care, then quit complaining about your property tax bills.
Prove me wrong that the park owns 80 acres out north that they swapped for Meinen field with Bradley who paid a whopping $2.1 million for 166 acres; $13,000.00 and acre and still pays the property tax on this property of 380.00 year. Do you see that, city dwellers?
Bradley pays only A TOTAL OF $380 DOLLARS A YEAR PROPERTY TAX DOLLARS for 266 acres of prime farm land with buildings on it! Who is getting screwed?? And yes, this 80 acres of farmland SUSPOSEDLY owned by the Peoria Park District is in the name of Bradley University. Check it out at the Recorders Office in the Courthouse. Yes, I’m on the Peoria County board and property taxes on farmland will be a topic of discussion in the next couple of months.
On 9/04 the JSEB wrote that “Bradley University and the PPD worked out a land swap that appears to benefit each. Bradley gets the former Meinen Field in exchange for 80 acres near Route 91 and Fox Road.” The problem with the media is that they most often do not follow up on something they write especially if these entities pay big bucks adverting in their editions. I ask Mike Smother and Mike Bailey to refute my claims on ownership.
Probably not unless transfer was done within the past ten days.
Also isn’t it strange that Bradley would pay $13,000.00 and acres for farmland two miles south of Dunlap and have to borrow the $2.1 million to fund it?
This is my last blog for a short while. Many of you just starting to read me can check my archives while I’m in hiatus. Some interesting stuff including more proof that I’m living up to what I said in my opening blog, “This is not a politically correct blog site.”
Thanks for reading me.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Exaggerators, Falsehood Tellers or Dreamers??
Let’s start out with a few examples and you, the reader, can draw your own conclusions of which category these individuals fall.
Let’s start with Peoria Park District President, Tim Cassidy who, a couple of years ago, told the NAACP and the Moss Avenue Neighborhood Association that the Riverplex was breaking even financially.
FACT – At the time Mr. Cassidy made these statements there was an official 2001 actual document showing that the Riverplex had lost $1,187,845.00. Worse than that, the Riverplex combined operation lost over $7 million in their first 40 months of operation. This figure is thru December 31, 2004. (JS 2005) The PPD financial statement for 2005 will not be published until June 2006.
“Park District nears deal for softball fields” reads a headline in JS on 11/07/03. “Construction will probably begin in 2005 because there is no money in 2004 budget”. (Quote from Cassidy in JS same date and article)
FACT – No land has even been purchased or determined for this site and it is now 2/06. I am told the park has an “understanding” on some land supposedly swapped with Bradley’s takeover of Meinen Field, now Shea Stadium. (See JS article 8/26/04) “BU arranges land swap with park district. We’ve made the trade with Bradley” quote from Mr. Cassidy in the JS. (See if you can find it on the assessor’s book down at the courthouse. You can’t because the swap of property visible to the public, never happened.) I’ll blog more on this “deal” later.
Next are some statements in the JS attributed to Bonnie Noble, PPD Superintendent:
Article in the JS on 12/12/03 titled “Park officials set to discuss softball site.” A quote from Mrs. Noble in the article says “board members have been working on this for several months and this project could provide Peoria with enough fields to host the Girls National Softball Association’s 2006 regional fast-pitch tournament.”
FACT – JS article on 1/19/06 states “Two Tazewell County cities will host the girls National Softball Association’s Class B World Series expecting 200 teams. Other tournaments will bring at least several hundred more teams to Eastside, Morton, Pekin, Mossville, ect. Peoria is not mentioned because none are coming to Peoria unless they can play in the RP. Further quotes say these tournaments are projected to bring about $11-13 million to the area. (Mostly east of the river) Another quote states that “Peoria Park District is expected to have built a $1.5 million “state of the art” complex by 2006.” These quotes are in the same article.
On 6/16/99 in the JS, Mrs. Noble is quoted as saying the RecPlex, as it was then called, “would operate about $300,000.00 in the red in its second year as a “worst case” scenario. Even in it’s fifth year (we’re there) the deficit “in it’s worst case scenario” still will be about $167,000.00.” She is further quoted “Approximately 17,028 households in the Benfield study area have a meaningful interest in the fitness center, all of whom are likely to join the proposed center. Fourth year projections are a profit of $187,058.00.”
FACT – For the FIFTH straight year, the PPD has had to sell new bonds totaling over $16 million including principal and interest this year alone of $650,000.00 payment on the ORIGINAL Rivplex bond with final payment to be made in 2021! The 2006 new bond of $3,350,000.00 was not mentioned in the JS. What was mentioned at the end of an article in section B on 11/03/05 was that the park had passed a 2006 budget of $48.8 million up from $44.8 million in 2005. Homeowners will pay a tax to the park of $242.00 per assessed valuation of $100,000.00. The budget included a cost of $11.25 for each person served at the RiverPlex.
What was not mentioned is that the park is over $25 million in debt today even with the yearly pay-down of other existing bonded indebtedness.
JSEB wrote on 2/22/03 “RiverPlex programs worth small price”
FACT – The Peoria Park District has financially strapped itself with the RiverPlex despite repeated statements to the press to the contrary. The Journal Star has been very quite on the subjects for a couple of years. The PPD doesn’t have the money to build softball fields and its now too late to build them without adding considerably more debt plus the softball fields would lose hundreds of thousand of dollars per year in operating costs.
The JS knows that the swap for Meinen Field of property of like value never took place but since the JS said it did, it did. Well, it didn’t. Find it on public record and prove me wrong.
The promised skateboard park is a joke compared to Pekin’s and other cities even smaller than Peoria and cities with much smaller budgets. The location lends itself to an accident waiting to happen. It is so remote and the site is so blocked out that it is impossible to police. Ask any skateboard user about the skateboard and its location and see what they say unless they live next door. If you live next door, or anywhere, I guess it is better than nothing.
On 6/1/03, a letter to the editor appeared in the JS over the name of Roger Allen, Chairman of the Finance Committee of the PPD. He writes “The RiverPlex is not $480,000.00 in the red. It makes me wonder about the news department of the Journal Star.” Again he wrote in the JS on February, 2003, “Park Board is financially sound: reducing bond debt. The park district continues to demonstrate sound financial leadership.”
FACT – The adverting budget for the PPD in 2006 is again over $800,000.00 of which a large part of it goes to support the RiverPlex. The RiverPlex is selling memberships at least 20% below the private sector. Clubs competing in the private sector are supporting the RiverPlex with their own tax dollars!
An article appeared in the JS on January, 2005 stating that “Park employees to receive bonuses” with Mr. Cassidy stating that “we’ve been able to get thru the last couple of years with balanced budgets.” Recently, the superintendents pay was raised from $126,000.00 to $130,000.00 a year with full benefits including a retirement package
An article in the JS on 11/10/05 read “Park Board approves golf fee hike.” An increase of $25 was eventually approved.
In the 2006 bond issue is a figure of $136,000.00 for Golf Learning Center Debt Service and $15,000.00 for roof repair at the center.
FACT: Golfers were promised no hike in golf fees. Yet Mr. Cassidy promised “I hear loud and clear the improvements needed to make our golf course more competitive but we can’t do that under our operational budget.”
Take all this in consideration as the PPD struggles to raise the $32,000,000.00 for the new zoo; a zoo that will in NO way support itself without at least a $15 million dollar endowment. Hang on to your pocket book if you live in the park tax district and own property and be careful about what you wish for. Wishes sometimes come true with unintended consequences.
I will write another blog on the same theme shortly. What you have read is factual. It is all on record.
Let’s start with Peoria Park District President, Tim Cassidy who, a couple of years ago, told the NAACP and the Moss Avenue Neighborhood Association that the Riverplex was breaking even financially.
FACT – At the time Mr. Cassidy made these statements there was an official 2001 actual document showing that the Riverplex had lost $1,187,845.00. Worse than that, the Riverplex combined operation lost over $7 million in their first 40 months of operation. This figure is thru December 31, 2004. (JS 2005) The PPD financial statement for 2005 will not be published until June 2006.
“Park District nears deal for softball fields” reads a headline in JS on 11/07/03. “Construction will probably begin in 2005 because there is no money in 2004 budget”. (Quote from Cassidy in JS same date and article)
FACT – No land has even been purchased or determined for this site and it is now 2/06. I am told the park has an “understanding” on some land supposedly swapped with Bradley’s takeover of Meinen Field, now Shea Stadium. (See JS article 8/26/04) “BU arranges land swap with park district. We’ve made the trade with Bradley” quote from Mr. Cassidy in the JS. (See if you can find it on the assessor’s book down at the courthouse. You can’t because the swap of property visible to the public, never happened.) I’ll blog more on this “deal” later.
Next are some statements in the JS attributed to Bonnie Noble, PPD Superintendent:
Article in the JS on 12/12/03 titled “Park officials set to discuss softball site.” A quote from Mrs. Noble in the article says “board members have been working on this for several months and this project could provide Peoria with enough fields to host the Girls National Softball Association’s 2006 regional fast-pitch tournament.”
FACT – JS article on 1/19/06 states “Two Tazewell County cities will host the girls National Softball Association’s Class B World Series expecting 200 teams. Other tournaments will bring at least several hundred more teams to Eastside, Morton, Pekin, Mossville, ect. Peoria is not mentioned because none are coming to Peoria unless they can play in the RP. Further quotes say these tournaments are projected to bring about $11-13 million to the area. (Mostly east of the river) Another quote states that “Peoria Park District is expected to have built a $1.5 million “state of the art” complex by 2006.” These quotes are in the same article.
On 6/16/99 in the JS, Mrs. Noble is quoted as saying the RecPlex, as it was then called, “would operate about $300,000.00 in the red in its second year as a “worst case” scenario. Even in it’s fifth year (we’re there) the deficit “in it’s worst case scenario” still will be about $167,000.00.” She is further quoted “Approximately 17,028 households in the Benfield study area have a meaningful interest in the fitness center, all of whom are likely to join the proposed center. Fourth year projections are a profit of $187,058.00.”
FACT – For the FIFTH straight year, the PPD has had to sell new bonds totaling over $16 million including principal and interest this year alone of $650,000.00 payment on the ORIGINAL Rivplex bond with final payment to be made in 2021! The 2006 new bond of $3,350,000.00 was not mentioned in the JS. What was mentioned at the end of an article in section B on 11/03/05 was that the park had passed a 2006 budget of $48.8 million up from $44.8 million in 2005. Homeowners will pay a tax to the park of $242.00 per assessed valuation of $100,000.00. The budget included a cost of $11.25 for each person served at the RiverPlex.
What was not mentioned is that the park is over $25 million in debt today even with the yearly pay-down of other existing bonded indebtedness.
JSEB wrote on 2/22/03 “RiverPlex programs worth small price”
FACT – The Peoria Park District has financially strapped itself with the RiverPlex despite repeated statements to the press to the contrary. The Journal Star has been very quite on the subjects for a couple of years. The PPD doesn’t have the money to build softball fields and its now too late to build them without adding considerably more debt plus the softball fields would lose hundreds of thousand of dollars per year in operating costs.
The JS knows that the swap for Meinen Field of property of like value never took place but since the JS said it did, it did. Well, it didn’t. Find it on public record and prove me wrong.
The promised skateboard park is a joke compared to Pekin’s and other cities even smaller than Peoria and cities with much smaller budgets. The location lends itself to an accident waiting to happen. It is so remote and the site is so blocked out that it is impossible to police. Ask any skateboard user about the skateboard and its location and see what they say unless they live next door. If you live next door, or anywhere, I guess it is better than nothing.
On 6/1/03, a letter to the editor appeared in the JS over the name of Roger Allen, Chairman of the Finance Committee of the PPD. He writes “The RiverPlex is not $480,000.00 in the red. It makes me wonder about the news department of the Journal Star.” Again he wrote in the JS on February, 2003, “Park Board is financially sound: reducing bond debt. The park district continues to demonstrate sound financial leadership.”
FACT – The adverting budget for the PPD in 2006 is again over $800,000.00 of which a large part of it goes to support the RiverPlex. The RiverPlex is selling memberships at least 20% below the private sector. Clubs competing in the private sector are supporting the RiverPlex with their own tax dollars!
An article appeared in the JS on January, 2005 stating that “Park employees to receive bonuses” with Mr. Cassidy stating that “we’ve been able to get thru the last couple of years with balanced budgets.” Recently, the superintendents pay was raised from $126,000.00 to $130,000.00 a year with full benefits including a retirement package
An article in the JS on 11/10/05 read “Park Board approves golf fee hike.” An increase of $25 was eventually approved.
In the 2006 bond issue is a figure of $136,000.00 for Golf Learning Center Debt Service and $15,000.00 for roof repair at the center.
FACT: Golfers were promised no hike in golf fees. Yet Mr. Cassidy promised “I hear loud and clear the improvements needed to make our golf course more competitive but we can’t do that under our operational budget.”
Take all this in consideration as the PPD struggles to raise the $32,000,000.00 for the new zoo; a zoo that will in NO way support itself without at least a $15 million dollar endowment. Hang on to your pocket book if you live in the park tax district and own property and be careful about what you wish for. Wishes sometimes come true with unintended consequences.
I will write another blog on the same theme shortly. What you have read is factual. It is all on record.
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