General News

Ancient oak felled to make way for yet another strip mall

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Here’s a picture of a large, beautiful old oak tree that has stood for at least one hundred years, maybe even two or three hundred. This picture was taken just a few weeks ago on Big Hollow Road, next to Michael’s, across the street from Barnes & Noble. Here’s what the same parcel looks like now:

The property was recently sold, and now it’s being cleared to make way for a new strip mall (because if there’s one thing Peoria needs, it’s another strip mall). The City of Peoria has no tree protection ordinance, although attempts have been made to establish one for many years. Eleven years ago, a giant white oak was removed from the Michael’s property, even though it was in the corner of the lot and not obstructing anything, and even though the developer assured neighbors it would be spared. Now another ancient oak is gone.

I don’t know if a tree ordinance is a good idea or not. The prospect raises a number of concerns about property rights and government power. I guess I just wish people would, of their own accord, value old trees like this and not so cavalierly uproot them in the name of “progress.” Commercial development that incorporated natural features of the land would be so much more interesting. But there seems to be a blueprint for strip malls that all developers follow. As a result, we’re treated to the same, generic look wherever we go, not just in Peoria, but throughout most of the country. It’s a shame we can’t be more creative… and less destructive.

City Council, City of Peoria, Kellar Branch

Liveblogging the City Council 5/11/2010

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Here we go again! It’s Tuesday night in beautiful downtown Peoria in historic Peoria City Hall, Council Chambers. All the council members and the Mayor are present except for Montelongo, and they will be disposing of the following agenda. Be sure to refresh this post often as I’ll be updating it throughout the evening.

The business portion of the meeting starts at 6:41, after 25 minutes of proclamations.

Continue reading Liveblogging the City Council 5/11/2010 →

Peoria Public Schools

D150 public comments on the web for all to hear

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The Peoria School District 150 Board of Education decided last month to discontinue live broadcasts of the school board meetings on public access cable television starting in May. Instead, they are going to show the meeting a week delayed, and they’re going to excise the public comment portion of the meeting — that is, they are going to censor part of the official meeting because they don’t want the public to see it.

However, since the school board meetings are open meetings, recordings can be made by any member of the public. Former Journal Star employee Elaine Hopkins made an audio recording of the public comments and posted it on her blog, Peoria Story. Kudos to her for keeping the public informed while the school board tries to keep the public in the dark. There are still a few kinks to work out; for instance, she’s uploaded the file in WAV format, which is uncompressed and makes for a hefty download. Once she learns to compress it into a reasonably-sized mp3 file, we’ll really be in business.

It’s funny. These comments used to be available only to those who watched the meeting live on Comcast Cable in Peoria. Now they’re available on demand to anyone in the world who wants to hear them. The school board’s attempt to suppress the broadcast of these comments has resulted in even wider distribution! I love irony.

Kellar Branch, Peoria Journal Star

Journal Star shamelessly defends secrecy in government

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The Journal Star Editorial Board had this to say about the recondite Kellar Branch Corridor Corporation, created by Tom Leiter:

Leiter’s group was never formally hired by anybody. But it’s not as if he acted without the knowledge of the governments involved, whose elected representatives had by majority vote publicly endorsed this rail-to-trail conversion, and who could have asked him to stop at any time over the last couple of years. Some feel he gave the impression that this effort was being done pro bono; he says he did volunteer his personal time, as did others, and that his organization is merely recovering its expenses, which includes work done by his law firm and by outside counsel. The risk of borrowing the money for the escrow account is his group’s, not local taxpayers. Leiter got the job done here when all other efforts at breaking the gridlock had failed.

The whole editorial is one long ends-justifies-the-means argument, with this paragraph being the apex. According to the brain trust at 1 News Plaza, there’s nothing wrong with having a third-party organization do the public’s business in private — so private that not even our elected representatives knew what was going on. It’s okay to have that organization then come to the public body and ask for reimbursement of $1.25 million in expenses after the fact, when the line is abandoned, the railroad companies paid off, and it’s too late for the elected representatives to say “no” without putting the whole plan into legal limbo. Basically it’s okay to have third parties obligating taxpayers to the best deal they can secretly haggle.

…as long as the newspaper agrees with the end result, of course. It’s not hard to imagine how much ink would be spit onto the editorial page in outrage had this kind of chicanery been done for a project with which the newspaper disagreed. I guess when the newspaper is opposed, it’s corruption. But when the newspaper agrees, it’s just “the way the sausage is made.” Ho-hum. It’s just the way politics works. Nothing to see here; move along!

The fact is, this is bad public policy. Even trail supporters see it. As much as they want the trail, they aren’t in favor of obligating taxpayers to an underhanded payoff to get it. The public’s business should be done in public. Sure, there are times when councils have to go into closed session — but it’s still the elected public representatives who are deliberating in those instances, and any final action to expend money still has to be done in open session. What we have here is a deal that was done not by elected representatives entirely in secret, with the final price tag revealed at the end of a process that is past the point of no return.

The Journal Star has sunk to a new low in defending this kind of deceitful tactic. It doesn’t matter if they’re for the trail or against it, this process is wrong and should not be condoned. They’re a newspaper, for crying out loud. The fourth estate is defending secrecy in government! Journal Star Editorial Board, have you no shame?

City Council, City of Peoria, Kellar Branch, Peoria Park District, Village of Peoria Heights

Taxpayers to be soaked $1,250,969 for non-essential trail — and that’s just the beginning

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I’ve been saying it ever since the sphynxlike Kellar Branch Corridor Corporation first appeared that its clandestine efforts were going to cost the taxpayers lots of money. Now we know just how much: $1,250,969.

That’s the amount of money in taxpayer dollars the Peoria Park District is going to pony up to buy out the leasehold interests of two rail companies on the Kellar Branch rail line: Pioneer Railcorp and Central Illinois Railroad. Doing so will free up the middle portion of the line to be converted into a recreational trail.

But that’s the beginning. After they buy out the leasehold interests, they still have to actually build the trail, which will cost untold millions itself. In 2006, the estimated cost of conversion was just under $6.5 million.

But there are other costs. The City of Peoria actually owns the Kellar Branch. So in order for this plan to go through, the City has to give the Kellar Branch (technically, the easement) to the Park District. The appraised value of the Kellar Branch is $2,872,500. So how much is the City planning to ask for this valuable asset? $1. That’s right, $1. And the City doesn’t even get the salvage rights for the rails.

Perfect timing. Right on the heels of a City Council retreat where we learned the City is facing a $10-11 million budget deficit and is in dire need of a new revenue source, our illustrious City Council will likely approve a request next Tuesday to squander a nearly $3 million asset. Pioneer Railcorp at one time offered the city $750,000 for the line, but the City turned them down. No, they were holding out for the Park District’s winning bid of $1.

Anyone who thought that the Kellar Branch Corridor Corporation was buying out the rail carriers’ leasehold interests out of charity was naive. Included in that $1.25 million is $140,800 for the Corporation’s “expenses.” No list of expenses is given. I suspect it includes a little reward from the Park District for finally acquiring what they’ve coveted for so long.

For those of you keeping score, let’s see what our new grand total is for tax dollars wasted on non-essentials/poor investments:

“Wonderful Development” (Downtown Hotel) $37,000,000
Peoria Riverfront Museum $34,700,000
Firefly Energy Loan Guarantee $6,000,000
Civic Center Expansion $55,000,000
Kellar Branch acquisition $1,250,969
Kellar Branch conversion $6,441,738
Total $140,392,707

It’s like they say, pretty soon you’re talking real money. But we can’t afford to fix sidewalks or resurface streets, or fully staff our police and fire departments. Yes, I know I’m conflating expenses from several municipal organizations (City, County, Park District), but the fact is that all that tax money comes from the same source: our pockets. The Park District raising its property tax levy puts pressure on the City not to raise its levy. It’s all related.

Perhaps we could take those toll booths we’re removing from Riverfront Village and install them at the entrances to the Kellar Branch trail. Given the number of users predicted by the Journal Star, we should be able to solve our entire budget deficit by charging a modest toll.

City Council, City of Peoria

Council faces grim budget realities

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The Peoria City Council had their annual retreat Wednesday night at the Peoria NEXT Innovation Center on West Main street. All the council members, the Mayor, and City department heads attended the retreat.

I was unable to attend the entire retreat, but did get there for roughly half of it. Based on materials distributed at the meeting, revenues are down again, and they’re expecting another ten to eleven million dollar deficit. They also appear to be anticipating a possible decline in population. One of the slides labeled “Key Expense Drivers” stated, “5,000 Loss in Population equals Approximately $500,000/yr of per Capita Income — 1 person = $100/capita.”

The Journal Star reports that revenues are down for a few reasons: (1) “reduction in property tax revenues because of a slump in the city’s equalized assessed valuation” caused by “assessment devaluations of commercial properties throughout the city,” (2) “January’s sales tax figures dropped by 10 percent from their November and December numbers,” indicating a troubling trend, and (3) “state income tax revenues are down from a year ago.” Nothing but bad news from the finance director.

By the end of the meeting, the following “next steps” were established, which are nearly identical to last year’s budget process:

  1. City Manager: Sit down with the professionals and come back with a budget that shows the cuts that can be made.
  2. Look at all forms of revenue growth — everything is on the table.
  3. Department heads to sit with staff and consider additional budget modifications.
  4. Challenge to the staff to consider new, alternative, and creative forms of service delivery to reduce costs/enhance revenues.

Translation: Expect higher taxes and/or fees, the possible invention of new fees, and more cuts in services. The Mayor especially made it clear that he believes the budget hole cannot be filled by cutting alone — new revenue will have to be generated.

Radio

Debate: Are teachers unions to blame for failing schools?

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I heard this debate on WCBU tonight. It’s from the program “Intelligence Squared U.S.,” which features an Oxford-style debate. There’s a different topic, or “motion,” each week. The motion for this debate was “Don’t Blame Teachers Unions For Our Failing Schools.” Three people spoke in favor of the motion, and three spoke against the motion. Here’s the debate — which side do you think won?

Peoria Journal Star

More local content getting axed from Journal Star

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I must have missed this announcement in the paper, but apparently the Journal Star is no longer going to review local theater productions. A letter to the editor today from Steve Bortolotti, President of the Peoria Players Theater Board of Directors, asks the Journal Star to reconsider:

I think I speak for many in the Peoria area’s community theater groups when I say how saddened I was to hear the Journal Star plans to no longer offer theater critics’ reviews of local non-equity theater productions in the Sunday Journal Star…. If the paper’s decision is an economic one, I would suggest that the Journal Star hire freelance writers to cover the local theater scene. In any case, I hope the paper reconsiders its decision to eliminate theater critics’ theater reviews altogether.

That means no more reviews of Corn Stock Theater or Peoria Players Theater productions. Today’s “ARTSplus” section was a whopping three pages (perhaps they’ll soon be renaming it “ARTSminus”). I guess the National Endowment for the Arts director Rocco Landesman can be forgiven for thinking there’s not much playing in Peoria now that Peoria’s only newspaper of record is cutting its coverage of local theater. It’s just one more step in the Journal Star’s apparent quest to alienate all their readers and reduce circulation. That’s the darndest business plan I’ve ever seen.

Peoria County, Regional Office of Education

Some employees get the shaft from County Board

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The Journal Star is reporting that some County employees are getting no raises next year, even as union workers get “substantial [pay] increases” and there seems to be plenty of money for non-essential projects and travel. To make matters worse, there’s this:

…while some elected officials won’t get a raise next year, it’s a net loss because the state of Illinois isn’t providing the full $6,500 annual stipend for most elected officials. County officials say that’s not their burden to bear.

“The stipend was never from the county; it’s not part of the county, it’s a state issue,” said committee member Steve Morris. “The county shouldn’t start stepping into the shoes of the state for payment for what the state has created.”

Really? The county shouldn’t step into the shoes of the state for payment for what the state has created? Didn’t the county just give a the Peoria Regional Office of Education a $1 million line of credit to meet payroll? I guess the ROE’s employees are more important than the county’s own employees.

City of Peoria, Parking

Ticket booths and gates to be removed from Riverfront Village

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The Issues Update this week included this tidbit of news about the parking lots at Riverfront Village. It looks like they’re going to be taking out the ticket booths and gates that have gone unused for the past four years:

The City owns and operates several parking lots on the Peoria Riverfront. These are the Michel Bridge East and West Surface Lots, Edgewater Lot and Liberty Lot, which are collectively known as the MEL Parking Lots. These lots are controlled by means of three sets of ticket booths and gates, which are accessed from Water Street.

Since 2006, the MEL Lots have been posted 2-hour free parking in an effort to promote short term parking for customer use. (Parking meters and permits are available in these parking lots for long term parkers.) During this time, the ticket booths have been vacant and the gates lifted. Complaints have been received from business owners in the area who feel that the ticket booths sometimes confuse new visitors trying to park in the lots.

These facilities have been left in place in case the City would reinstitute an hourly charge in these lots. If charges were to be reinstituted, staff feels the best way to implement this would be through an unmanned area parking system where patrons pay at kiosks. It seems unlikely that the City would choose to provide manned ticket booths for this area in the future. Since these facilities appear to no longer serve a purpose, they should be removed to create better access to the Lots and to remove any confusion by the motorists.

The Public Works Department, using in-house labor and equipment, plans to remove the ticket booths and gates and to provide clearer signage for these lots. The first priority will be to remove the gates at the foot of Liberty Street to allow two-way access to the Lots during the Water Street construction. The rest of the ticket booths and gates will be removed over the course of the summer, as scheduling allows.