Daily Archives: September 2, 2007

State Legislation, State of Illinois

Will there be “smokeasies” in Peoria when ban takes effect?

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Back in the days of Prohibition, there were still places to buy and drink alcohol: speakeasies. What’s going to happen when the smoking ban goes into effect in Illinois? I think we can expect to find the smoking equivalent of the old speakeasies popping up around town: “smokeasies.”

You can find smokeasies in other states where a smoking ban is in effect, such as Washington, Pennsylvania, and New York. You can count on finding them here, too. Well, not everyone will find them — just those who are smokers or no-snitch non-smokers who know where to look.

Sure, in the summer they won’t be necessary because smokers can use outdoor patios and beer gardens where smoking will still be allowed (at least for now). But when winter rolls around, and it’s too cold to stand outside, there will be places where the demonized smokers will be able to sit inside, in secret, and enjoy their cigarettes and beer together.

Then no doubt we’ll have to divert limited police resources from neighborhood patrols to try to root out this new class of “criminals.” Welcome to Illinois, the Land of Lincoln Nanny State.

City Council, City of Peoria

Satterfield to temporarily run Fleet Services Department

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The city’s Fleet Services Manager is retiring, and the city apparently has no succession plan to replace him. As I reported earlier, city staff took steps toward outsourcing the management position temporarily until a permanent replacement could be found.

That plan went over like a lead balloon with Fleet Services personnel. They wrote a letter to Mayor Ardis advocating “an alternative plan…in which Tom Satterfield [a current Fleet Services union employee] would be made a super crew chief in which there would be a percentage added to his base pay.” The letter didn’t sway the mayor, but it did sway 7 of the 11 council members last Tuesday night. They voted to hire Satterfield. In addition to Ardis, those voting against that solution were Jacob, Spain, and Turner.

The back story, of course, is that there is still an open question as to whether or not the whole department will be outsourced. No doubt the personnel in the Fleet Services department saw the “temporary” outsourcing of the manager position as a step toward that outcome, and that’s why they reacted so negatively to the idea. That, and the fact that Satterfield was essentially the second in command anyway — the one who usually filled in when the Fleet Manager was away.

In the end, I believe the council made the right decision. It will save the city money, and it’s only temporary. No need to outsource what we can do ourselves in-house for less money.