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During the run up to last April’s referendum, I talked to many people who were going to vote in favor of the museum tax. One of the big selling features for many of them was the proposed IMAX theater that would be included as part of the package. The museum group wasn’t shy about touting the IMAX. They included it by name on their marketing materials. When Citizens for Responsible Spending pointed out that the museum group had no contract with IMAX, museum officials defended their use of the IMAX brand name and explained that they couldn’t sign a contract until the referendum passed, but that they had a contract sitting on their desks ready to sign.
It’s now been ten months, and there is still no signed contract with IMAX. More tellingly, museum officials have stopped using the IMAX brand name. In their presentation to the Peoria County Board last Thursday, it was consistently referred to as a “large screen theater” or a “giant screen theater.” When board member Brad Harding asked if it was an IMAX or a large screen theater, Lakeview’s chairman of the board stated that they can’t use the IMAX brand name because they don’t have a contract signed with IMAX yet. He did say they were still negotiating with IMAX, however.
I sincerely hope that the IMAX negotiations are successful. Because if there is no IMAX, it will be one of the biggest bait-and-switch swindles ever propagated on Peoria taxpayers.
The Bradley Scout reports:
Student Senate passed a resolution this week calling for University President Joanne Glasser to form a mascot committee. If formed, that committee would be responsible for slating ideas for a new mascot….
[Student Body President Kyle] Malinowski said there are several reasons senate wants to make the change now. Philosophically, it fits with the Campaign for a Bradley Renaissance because of the mindset of being in a renaissance as well as campus’ physical changes.
“The less philosophical reason is we have the best people in the position right now to do it,” he said. “We have a new university president who is all about shaking things up, a new athletic director, a new director of marketing whose job was charged by President Glasser to brand the university and we’ll eventually have a new provost.”
In 1993, Bradley decided to keep the Braves name, but use a bobcat as its mascot. In 2000, officials said the students had a “lack of affinity” for the bobcat and got rid of it. Then a survey for a new mascot was circulated in 2006-7 resulting in several options (including oddities like a fighting squirrel and a clock tower) but the university didn’t choose any of them.
March 6, 2009:
Although a funding gap of about $11 million to build the Peoria Riverfront Museum would remain even if Peoria County voters approve a sales tax increase next month, project officials say they are confident a successful referendum will trigger the final donations.
“We will go out after the referendum is passed, and while it won’t be a piece of cake, we do feel that once we get over the hurdle of the referendum, the other $11 million can be put together,” said Mark Johnson, project manager of the Caterpillar Experience, the Cat visitor’s center that will share the Downtown block with the museum.
April 8, 2009:
The $40 million county contribution to the $77 million museum doesn’t fully fund the project; a $10 million funding gap remains…. Officials are looking at the possibility of federal economic stimulus money to help pay for the parking garage and other public money in a capital budget out of Springfield. Vergon said he thinks the money will be raised one way or another.
“We’ve got a capital campaign to restart,” he said. “It shouldn’t be too difficult to do that because most of the people that had not pledged or committed were concerned whether we’d get all the public money or not, and it looks like that seems to be behind us now.”
May 21, 2009:
Initially short about $10.2 million even with the $40 million raised through the voter-approved Peoria County sales tax increase, the funding gap to build the Peoria Riverfront Museum is narrowing.
“We knew there were people who didn’t want to formally commit to a donation until after the referendum to see which way the vote went,” said Michael Bryant, the CEO of Methodist Medical Center, who also heads the group of area leaders and business people – called the CEO Roundtable – that is raising money for the museum.
“We are seeing that those people are stepping up right now and committing money to this project.” Bryant said the new shortfall is about $7.2 million, meaning the project has received about $3 million in donations since the quarter-percent sales tax referendum was approved by voters 50.7 percent to 49.3 percent 44 days ago. “We’d like to see the gap closed all the way by the end of the summer,’ Bryant said. ‘I’m cautiously optimistic it can be done.”
February 4, 2010:
Governance agreements for the Peoria Riverfront Museum are within sight, paving the way for construction to begin this summer, though the Museum Collaboration Group is saddled with a $7.2 million revenue gap.
So, to sum up, there was a $10.2 to $11 million private funding gap before the referendum in 2009. Not to worry, museum supporters assured us. Once the referendum passes, they were confident they could raise the rest of the money. After the referendum passed, the CEO Roundtable went to work and raised $3 million in a little over a month.
And that’s it. Since May 2009, the funding gap has remained at $7.2 million. A child conceived when the last dollar was raised for the museum could have been born by now.
Not to worry, though. Lakeview Museum Board of Directors Chairman Tom Bardwell told the County Board on Thursday how they plan to close that gap:
We strongly believe that, through research and also conversations in the community and everything that’s happening right now, we believe there’s about $4 million that can be raised in private dollars here in Peoria County or in the local area.
We also believe there’s about a million and a half dollars — in fact, we have a target for about $3 million of line-of-sight that we can see, but let’s be conservative and say a million and a half dollars — from either grants, foundations, other government entities that may make pledges towards this project, which basically takes you five and a half million.
And then there’s also a third avenue of funding we’re pursuing — some of you may have heard some of this — something called New Market Tax Credits. New Market Tax Credits are something we’re pursuing for this project. We believe, conservatively, $4 million should be our target number.
So, our funding strategy is targeted to raise about nine and a half million dollars which is obviously about the $7.2 million gap, but obviously we want to be as conservative as possible in those numbers, so we hope to get there as soon as we can….
Note that their plan to close the private funding gap includes efforts to get $4 million in public funding via the New Markets Tax Credit program. They’re also trying to get public funding from “other government entities.” And despite the fact they’ve not raised any money the past nine months, we’re supposed to believe there’s still $4 million in private funding out there based on their “research” and “conversations.” These are the same people who assured us the funding gap would be closed right after the referendum passed.
Why should we believe any of this? What possible reason is there to have any confidence in the museum group’s fundraising plans? In fact, other than the $3 million raised after the referendum passed, fundraising efforts have been effectively stalled for years, which is why the museum group came to Peoria County for tax funding in the first place.
Instead of this eternal effort to bleed the region for money, the museum should do what it should have done years ago: change its plans. Redesign the building so it’s more efficient to build. Build up instead of out, which will free up more of the block for private commercial development. Dispense with the parking deck, as there is already a glut of available parking downtown, especially along the riverfront. Cutting the deck (pun intended) and/or redesigning the building would also remove the engineering challenge/expense of putting a boomerang-shaped building partially on top of a rectangular deck. If just those things were done, millions of taxpayer dollars would be saved, and the project could be built without any additional fundraising.
The first step in problem solving is to correctly identify the problem. The problem here is not a fundraising problem. It’s a design problem. The project is too large and too expensive. Caterpillar should be using its influence to get the museum group to do their part in reducing expenses instead of bullying the County into building something unaffordable and unsustainable.
Looks like the Peoria County Board is set to capitulate to Caterpillar’s demands. In Caterpillar’s letter of January 20, they gave this ultimatum:
Our message to the Peoria County Board is clear: We must have a deadline or the work for the museum project will continue to languish; the county must modify its governance demands to allow museum activists and professionals to run the PRM; and the Board must help close the funding gap caused by the loss of New Marketing Tax Credits … the county’s contribution needs to be the full $40 million authorized.
In the absence of a positive response from the Peoria County Board by February 12, 2010, Caterpillar doesn’t believe this project can be viable. Failure to move forward in a responsive manner will result in Caterpillar withdrawing its funding commitment for a PRM and termination of our plans to move forward with the Caterpillar Visitor Center.
According to Peoria County Board member Merle Widmer, the County has drawn up an agreement that dutifully complies with Caterpillar’s demands. “The board will be asked to increase the amount voted to give the museum committee to $40 million instead of the $34.7 million the board voted on to help make up the shortage in the endowment,” he reports. “To accept ownership of the building, the County Board will be asked to approve a minimum of three contracts totaling 120 pages . . . and containing such language ‘that a board member can be removed without cause’, an advisory committee (all agreeing to the museum mission) of not more than 60, several layers of boards with the county owning the building forever.”
And if you ever thought the County Board was a professional, deliberative body, looking out for the best interests of taxpayers and thoughtfully considering both sides of an issue, Mr. Widmer adds an account of this conversation, recorded in closed session when at a meeting from which he was absent: “…Mike Phelan, Democrat County Board member [told] the Executive Committee to disregard Merle Widmer and get on with building this museum. He said the public voted on it and the public wants this museum…. He also said board members comments should be limited tommorrow afternoon and Board Chairman, Tom O’Neill said something about ‘putting a sleeping pill in his water.’”
Impolite comments about fellow board members aside, Mr. Phelan forgets that voters were told in town hall meetings that the county would be financing $34.7 million of the cost, and that the museum group would be responsible for raising the rest of the money. Caterpillar is blaming the County for the supposed loss of $5 million in New Market Tax Credits, and are demanding $5.3 million in additional funding from sales tax receipts. No independent proof of this supposed “loss” has been produced, at least publicly. Nevertheless, it appears the County is willing to take the rap for the alleged loss and plug the hole with yet more public funding. All the while, there is still a huge question of whether the other private money that has been supposedly raised will materialize. Most of it is in the form of pledges that have yet to be collected.
A Committee of the Whole meeting will take place today (Thursday) at 3 p.m. at the Peoria County Courthouse.
Billy Dennis informed me that he’s in the middle of a site migration, and that’s why you’ll likely get a “server not found” or similar error message if you try to visit his site this morning. He’s working on getting the site back up as soon as possible.
Peoria County Sheriff:
| |
City |
County |
Total |
Pct |
| x-Mike McCoy |
5,911 |
4,511 |
10,422 |
72.88% |
| Vince Wieland |
2,010 |
1,869 |
3,879 |
27.12% |
Peoria Board of Education, District 3:
| |
City |
County |
Total |
Pct |
| Ernestine Jackson |
1,144 |
5 |
1,149 |
17.59% |
| x-Christopher Crawford |
3,435 |
17 |
3,452 |
52.84% |
| Jeff Lickiss |
1,921 |
11 |
1,932 |
29.57% |
Peoria County Board, Dist. 1:
| |
Total |
Pct |
| David Williams |
109 |
42.91% |
| x-Bonnie Hester |
145 |
57.09% |
Peoria County Board, Dist. 5:
| |
Total |
Pct |
| x-Rachael Parker |
248 |
54.75% |
| Bud Sous |
205 |
45.25% |
Brimfield Community Unit School District 309 $13.9 million bond to build a new high school:
| |
Total |
Pct |
| x-Yes |
802 |
61.93% |
| No |
493 |
38.07% |
10th Judicial Circuit (Barra vacancy) – Republican:
| |
Peoria (City) |
Peoria |
Tazewell |
Putnam |
Marshall |
Stark |
Total |
Pct |
| x-Michael Risinger |
3,029 |
2,791 |
6,823 |
162 |
566 |
508 |
13,879 |
47.13% |
| Kate Gorman |
4,083 |
2,760 |
5,512 |
171 |
673 |
366 |
13,565 |
46.06% |
| Verne Dentino |
625 |
575 |
668 |
23 |
81 |
32 |
2,004 |
6.81% |
10th Judicial Circuit (Vespa vacancy) – Republican:
| |
Peoria (City) |
Peoria |
Tazewell |
Putnam |
Marshall |
Stark |
Total |
Pct |
| x-John Vespa |
4,077 |
3,312 |
4,688 |
191 |
807 |
489 |
13,564 |
46.84% |
| Valerie Umholtz |
2,432 |
1,837 |
6,447 |
111 |
326 |
222 |
11,375 |
39.28% |
| Bruce Thiemann |
1,177 |
879 |
1,607 |
55 |
164 |
140 |
4,022 |
13.89% |
Main Township High School District 207 in suburban Chicago is having a serious budget crisis. According to the Daily Herald, they are looking at cutting 137 jobs, 75 of them teachers. Why?
After months of alluding to an “accounting error” that led to a larger-than-anticipated deficit that year, District 207 administrators last week explained how it happened.
The district’s current leaders learned last July – weeks after Superintendent Joel Morris and Assistant Superintendent for Business Pamela Schau [emphasis added] retired – that a projected deficit of $3.8 million for the 2008-09 fiscal year was actually $10.3 million.
Pamela Schau became the Comptroller/Treasurer at Peoria Public School District 150 right after she retired from District 207 in July 2009, replacing Guy Cahill. The Daily Herald article continues:
What officials didn’t anticipate was the additional $6.5 million deficit due to the then-administration’s failure to include some expenses in that year’s budget, current Assistant Superintendent for Business Mary Kalou said.
Those missed expenses were salaries and benefits for some of the 12 newly hired teachers and teaching assistants and increased district contribution toward the Teacher Retirement System per changes made to the teachers contract – amounting to $2.4 million.
The district also saw a dip that year in property tax revenues – personal property tax receipts came in 1 percent lower or $1.5 million under what was budgeted and corporate property taxes were down $500,000 – that weren’t known until after Kalou joined the district last July 1.
“It’s hard to say what they should, shouldn’t have done,” Kalou said. “Hindsight is always going to be 20/20. (With taxes) you can’t predict with certainty what that trend is going to be for … it was a reasonable amount to budget.”
Other contributors to the deficit were two unexpected early retirements – including Schau – that cost the district a $300,000 penalty under state law, and lower than expected revenues from the district’s book store, summer school and tuition, she added.
An anonymous commenter on the Daily Herald article suggested that District 207, under Superintendent Ken Wallace, “paid a nearly 200,000 penalty to TRS to hasten the departure of error-maker Pam Schau.” Consider the source on that last comment. Sometimes anonymous commenters are ignorant cranks with an axe to grind; other times they are conscientious citizens with insider information they could get fired (or compromise their source) for sharing on the record. Wallace was quoted in the June 26 (2009) Journal Star as saying Schau is a “really, really bright, talented person … genuinely a nice person, good people skills, good problem solving – Peoria would be well served, lucky, to get her.”
A request for comment from Ms. Schau was not immediately answered.
For most races, Tuesday’s election is a primary. But for the third district of the Peoria Board of Education, Tuesday’s election is final. Current board member Dr. David Gorenz is not running for reelection, and will be replaced with one of three candidates: Ernestine Jackson, 69; Christopher Crawford, 37; and Jeff Lickiss, 49.
Ernestine Jackson is an Equal Opportunity Associate for the City of Bloomington. She hasn’t held public office, but has experience in politics. Her husband is attorney Don Jackson, president of the Peoria chapter of the NAACP. She supported the charter school initiative, “with the understanding that it will, in fact, be open to all students, not just select students,” she told the Chamber of Commerce. She believes the number of administrators needs to be reduced, based on declining enrollment. Her top three priorities are getting a balanced budget, closing the achievement gap, and reducing discipline problems. Her stated priorities are right, but her support for the charter school is counter to the first priority on her list. Also, this gave me pause:
What the District is presently producing is unacceptable and does not meet the needs of the business community. There needs to be drastic changes if this District is to produce a competent workforce that is ready to meet the challenges of a changing job market. The city needs to be able to attract new businesses in order to increase its tax base. This cannot be accomplished if the Board continues on the present path.
When I read this, I picture our schools as factories spitting out little workers for area businesses. In fairness, she was responding to a Chamber of Commerce survey, and was thus likely tailoring her answers to her audience. Nevertheless, I chafe when educational benefits are reduced to “meet[ing] the needs of the business community,” as if the only purpose for public schooling is economic utility. It’s hard to inspire kids when all you have to offer is a common cubicle in corporate America.
But I digress. Jackson also promises to “deliver honest and accurate information to parents and the public,” according to her interview with the Times-Observer, and that would certainly be a welcome change. She also pledges to review the district’s current contracts “with the intent to eliminate excessive spending. This includes doing away with the notion that we must hire a consultant to study every issue confronting the District.” She’s also the only candidate who put “discipline” in her top three priorities for the district. All in all, Jackson is a strong candidate, but will likely be discounted by many because of her continued support of former superintendent Kay Royster.
Christopher Crawford is a local attorney with no previous political experience. He has been endorsed by the Journal Star and the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce. But on the positive side, he has gained favor with various parent-teacher organizations by being, in some cases, the only candidate to attend their meetings. He’s a strong supporter of the charter school initiative and retaining the Edison schools contract. He supported closing Woodruff High School. He’s in favor of an alternative high school, and might be in favor of returning schools to a K-8 configuration, but wants more information before making a decision. Frankly, his stances on the issues appear indistinguishable from those of Dr. Gorenz. Those who are looking for a good status-quo candidate will find one in Crawford.
Jeff Lickiss is a registered nurse and former Peoria County Board member. He is the only candidate who would not have voted for the charter school because of the district’s financial situation. He believes his County Board experience would be an asset on the School Board — especially his ability to “ask the tough questions and demand factual answers.” However, he also thinks the next administrator, by which I think he means superintendent, should be “a candidate with a MBA emphasis” rather than “a candidate with emphasis on Education PhD.” This looks to me like it betrays a less-than-full understanding of the roles of Superintendent and Comptroller, or alternatively, an ignorance of the educational requirements to be Superintendent. Or maybe it was just meant to be rhetorical. In any case, his point is that he’s concerned about the financial health of the district, which is fair. Like Jackson, he would also cut consultants. He would “spend the district’s money on education.” Lickiss says, “The district needs to focus on its core responsibilities, develop a long term strategic plan and stick to it.”
I think change is needed on the Board, so it comes down to either Jackson or Lickiss. They’re both good candidates, and residents of the third district would be well-served by either of them. Since you can only pick one, I’m giving the edge to Lickiss based on his stance on the charter school initiative. It takes guts to stand up to powerful local interests and insist on financial accountability above political expediency. We need more of that on the school board. Lickiss is endorsed.
Valerie Umholtz is running for judge in the 10th Judicial Circuit. The 10th Judicial Circuit in Illinois covers five counties: Peoria, Marshall, Putnam, Stark, and Tazewell. Her husband is the State’s Attorney for Tazewell County, Stewart Umholtz. He’s also her campaign manager. He’s also a big monetary contributor to her campaign:
[Valerie] Umholtz raised roughly $48,500. That includes more than $10,000 transferred from the previous campaign for attorney general of her husband, Tazewell County State’s Attorney Stewart Umholtz. She also received a recent $20,000 loan from him.
The Journal Star Editorial Board has endorsed her over her Republican primary challengers, John Vespa and Bruce Thiemann. The board acknowledges the relationship, but ultimately feels it’s “manageable”:
Voters should know that Umholtz is married to Tazewell County State’s Attorney Stu Umholtz, which could pose a conflict in those courtrooms in which the state’s attorney has a presence – felony, misdemeanor, traffic court, potentially some others. Her election would reduce the chief judge’s flexibility somewhat in assigning courtrooms, but from where we sit it’s a manageable situation – Umholtz could be placed in Peoria County, for example – and therefore not disqualifying. That said, it’s fair for voters to factor it into their decision.
A couple thoughts about this situation:
First, when the paper says it “could pose a conflict in those courtrooms in which the state’s attorney has a presence,” that doesn’t just mean Stewart Umholtz himself, but anyone in the Tazewell County State’s Attorney’s office. Mr. Umholtz’s conflict of interest is imputed to the entire prosecutor’s office. While it may be “manageable,” it’s not optimal. Tazewell County is the second-largest county in the 10th circuit with a little over 38% of the five-county population. It seems to me that the only reason to vote for a judicial candidate with such a huge potential for conflict of interest within the circuit is if there’s some compelling reason to vote against her challengers. The Journal Star offers only one reason to vote against Vespa — his low grade by his peers on the Illinois State Bar Association’s bar poll. No reason is given to vote against Thiemann. (Incidentally, Thiemann received higher ratings than Umholtz on the bar poll.)
Secondly, the Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct says, “A Judge Should Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in All of the Judge’s Activities.” It goes on to elaborate: “A judge should . . . conduct himself or herself at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.” Lawyers are able to slice ethical nuance with a scalpel, but laymen will look at Umholtz the judge married to Umholtz the State’s Attorney and see plenty of “appearance of impropriety,” even if any real conflict is “managed.” And when it comes to promoting “public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,” it’s the laymen that count, not the lawyers.
In the end, voters should ask themselves why they would want a Republican judicial candidate in the general election (and ultimately, a potential judge) who is disqualified from presiding over so much in Tazewell County when the other candidates have no such conflicts. Despite the Journal Star’s endorsement, I don’t see any good reason to vote for Umholtz.
If you haven’t already seen these this week, you’ll want to check them out:
- Outside the Horseshoe for January 26, 2010, from WCBU 89.9 FM radio. Tanya Koonce has a conversation with Peoria County Administrator Patrick Urich, Peoria County State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons, and County Board Members Andrew Rand (Dist. 4) and Stephen Morris (Dist. 10) about the proposed Peoria Riverfront Museum project. What we can deduce from the conversation here is that, at least in the county’s perception, Lakeview Museum is trying to dominate and control the project. I suspect their perception is true; Caterpillar had similar problems working with Lakeview which led to their decision years ago to put their visitor center in a separate building instead of sharing space in the museum.
- Blacktop Reform from DeWayne Bartels of the Peoria Times-Observer. You may be surprised to learn that the next time you want to get your driveway blacktopped, you’ll have to pay a lot more money and have fewer contractors from which to choose. The County Board is trying to run non-union blacktop paving contractors out of town. Let this be a lesson to current and future Board members: do your homework before you vote!
- School Board Member Laura Petelle’s thoughts on the final candidate for District 150’s New Superintendent. She wants to assure everyone that the process this time was “far different and more comprehensive” than the past. In other words, they did a better job of vetting the candidates than the board that hired Kay Royster did. That should give residents some comfort.
- Racism alleged within the Peoria County Democratic Central Committee. Rachael Parker is a sitting Peoria Board of Education member running for a seat on the Peoria County Board, and her campaign manager and communications director sent out a press release accusing local Democrats of being racist. They also questioned why the Peoria Journal Star did not interview Parker. I’m wondering how the Journal Star got a quote from Parker for their January 15 story if they didn’t interview her.
Happy reading/listening!
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