Word on the Street was especially newsy today. What I found most interesting was the response from Mayor Ardis and Senator Koehler when asked about comments that I and other bloggers interpreted as fear mongering to gain support for the proposed museum.

Ardis said he didn’t mean it that way. But Koehler upped the ante:

State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, […] said he’s concerned about the future of Caterpillar in Peoria with or without a museum, especially in today’s global corporate climate.

“If Peoria wants to turn this down, we need to be responsible for anything that happens in the future,” he said. “I’m not trying to overplay this. I’m being realistic.”

Wow. So, the future of Cat in Peoria is uncertain whether there’s a museum or not. What a comforting thought. So much for the museum driving “deep stakes” here for Cat, as Brad McMillan suggested. But here’s the best part: If we build the museum (translation: if we pass a big county-wide tax increase) and Cat decides to leave anyway, it will evidently be because of “today’s global corporate climate.” But if we don’t build the museum and Cat decides to leave, it’s all our fault for voting against a tax hike. It’s not scaremongering; it’s just “being realistic.”

It’s being realistic, but what was the other thing he said? Oh yeah: “State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, said he hasn’t had any conversations with anyone from Caterpillar about its future in Peoria if a museum isn’t built.”

I think it’s time for Caterpillar to clear the air. They didn’t return a call for comment to the paper. They should. Peorians deserve to know whether Caterpillar is giving Peoria an ultimatum or if the museum backers are just trying to use fear and misinformation to scare people into voting for a tax increase to build a museum whose current plans and cost they don’t like.