Monthly Archives: June 2006

Peoria Public Schools

School board to discuss Glen Oak siting plan tonight?

It’s not on the agenda, but I’ve heard through the rumor mill that the school board will be talking about the Glen Oak School siting plan at their board meeting tonight. Word is they are going to say something to the effect that, unless the city helps acquire the property needed to give the school 15 acres surrounding the current Glen Oak School site, they will recommend putting the school on the Glen Oak Park site.

This should come as no surprise since their arbitrary 15-acre minimum policy appears specifically designed to torpedo any attempt at compromise. Regrettably, I can’t be at the meeting tonight, but if anyone else can make it, please ask them to provide the public any evidence that minimum acreage improves student performance, starting with their own schools.

The school board meets at the district headquarters, 3202 N. Wisconsin Ave., tonight at 6:30. The meeting is also broadcast live on Insight cable channel 17.

Uncategorized

Quote of the Day

Neil Postman“I don’t think any of us can do much about the rapid growth of new technology. However, it is possible for us to learn how to control our own uses of technology. The ‘forum’ that I think is best suited for this is our educational system. If students get a sound education in the history, social effects and psychological biases of technology, they may grow to be adults who use technology rather than be used by it.”

–Neil Postman (1931-2003)

City of Peoria, Peoria Journal Star

Don’t take it so personally, PJS

1 Comment

I know this is old news, but I didn’t get a chance to comment on this at the time, and B.J.’s recent post about Ann Coulter reminded me of it again….

The Journal Star was all out of sorts on Thursday when syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts said in his column that Ann Coulter’s book “plays in Peoria.” They were so incensed, you would have thought the guy personally called up the editorial board and told them, “eh, your mother wears army boots.”

My advice to the PJS: let it go. He wasn’t talking about Peoria, Illinois, or the fine people who live here. The Miami-based Pitts probably can’t even readily locate Peoria on a map. “Does it play in Peoria?” is just a generic phrase that means “does it appeal to mainstream America?”

The JS said, “We tried to reach Pitts, without success.” Thank goodness! I hope they stopped trying. Can we please stop embarrassing ourselves by attempting to cleanse the English language of this phrase? Does the Indianapolis Star get incensed every time someone in Missouri uses “Hoosier” in a derogatory manner?

Pitts isn’t hurting Peoria’s reputation. Journal Star columnist Phil Luciano did more to embarrass Peoria when he appeared on the nationally-broadcast “Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know” program on NPR in 2000 (“Peoria is 20 road houses and a strip joint”), but I don’t remember any hue and cry over that in the editorial page….

City of Peoria, Heart of Peoria Plan, Peoria Public Schools

The 15-Acre Impasse

19 Comments

It only took me until the second paragraph of Clare Jellick’s story in the Journal Star to start shaking my head in disbelief:

The [Peoria Public School] district [150] has agreed to partner with the City of Peoria to identify a site of about 15 acres that includes [Glen Oak] primary school, U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood announced Monday at a press conference following a meeting between local officials.

What is it with the school board and their obsession with getting 15 acres for an urban school? This arbitrary standard is the single most destructive policy the school board is following — it is the reason they wanted to build next to Glen Oak Park in the first place, and if it is not abandoned, it will damage every neighborhood where they want to build a new urban school.

Any compromise the city makes with the school district must include a decrease in their minimum acreage standards.

Why? There are five main reasons: (1) Minimum acreage requirements have been officially abandoned by educational experts as of 2004, (2) the State of Illinois does not require any minimum acreage for school siting, (3) there is no evidence that the amount of acreage has any effect on student achievement, (4) acreage requirements are counter to the Heart of Peoria Plan, which the council adopted “in principle,” and (5) minimum acreage requirements have a negative impact on student health and the environment.

Continue reading The 15-Acre Impasse →

City of Peoria

Casual comment: GPS

1 Comment

I see the city approved putting GPS tracking devices in city vehicles. Will they be putting one in City Manager Randy Oliver’s car as well? He gets a $575/month “allowance” for his vehicle, so it would be kind of nice to know where we can find him when we need him, too.

Uncategorized

Posting will be light

I’m blogging from Ohio, where my nephew is graduating from high school this weekend.  I’ll get back to blogging in a couple of days, unless I see something really blogworthy and i just can’t stand to wait.  Have a nice weekend, everyone!

Blogosphere, Technology

DSL is lightning-quick

16 Comments

DSLGreat Scott! I knew DSL would be faster, but I really didn’t expect it to be quite this fast.

For those of you my age or older, do you remember the old 1200 baud modems? Remember the first time you upgraded to 2400 baud and how screamin’ fast it was for getting on those direct-dial bulletin boards? That’s kind of what I expected.

This is nothing like that.

No, this is more like going from a rickshaw to a Lamborghini.

And just to raise the “cool” factor even more, I’ve got my wireless router hooked up, so now I can be anywhere in or around the house and access my smokin’ internet connection: porch, kitchen, bedroom, garage — you name it!

I know, this isn’t very exciting for you, you “haves” who’ve been taunting “have-nots” like me lo these many years with your speedy broadband. It’s all old-hat to you. But I don’t care. It’s new to me and I’m not ashamed to admit I’m ecstatic with the improvement over that old 56k modem I’ve been using.

City Council, City of Peoria, Southern Gateway, TIF

To TIF or not to TIF: that is the question

6 Comments

I’m not a big fan of tax increment finance districts (TIFs). I’ve seen them used irresponsibly (Midtown Plaza, for instance), and I’ve seen them divide this community. People are soured on TIFs. However, when used properly, TIFs can be a good thing. Sometimes, some places, you really do need tax incentives or development really won’t happen.

The Southern Gateway — and specifically the Eagle View Biotech Business Park — is one of those places.

The amount of money it would take to rehabilitate this area is enormous ($125,000/acre) and enough to dissuade even the most committed urban developer. Jennifer Davis gives an excellent overview of the city’s plans in today’s Journal Star. You can also read the Request for Council Action (PDF file) on the city’s website.

There’s a rule for determining eligibility for TIF funding. It’s called the “but for” test. According to www.illinois-tif.com, “When considering an area for TIF designation, municipal officials must ask the question ‘Will the same kind of private investment occur here without an incentive?’” I think the answer to that question for the Southern Gateway is definitely “no.”

I couldn’t say that about Midtown Plaza. I think that area could have been redeveloped without a TIF. Whether or not a TIF was needed around the Sears block, it certainly didn’t need to be extended for an unnecessary underground parking deck. It’s because of these and other abuses that Peorians are gun-shy about another TIF. I understand that.

But the Southern Gateway is different. The city isn’t trying to bring in a shopping center or visitor’s center or touristy stuff here — it wants to attract industry. And industry means real, well-paying jobs. Peoria needs to attract more industry, and putting it in this area along the river makes sense. We don’t want to see this industry go to other cities, nor do we want to see it going in a suburban corn field.

TIFs get a bad rap in Peoria, and deservedly so. But this time, I’m for it. It’s for this kind of project that TIF laws were made.