Monthly Archives: November 2007

State of Illinois

Should fear keep us from having a Con-Con?

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Bring up the question of whether Illinois residents should call for a Constitutional Convention and you’re likely to get a response like this one from local blogger Brad Carter. Whenever I’ve brought the subject up on my blog, that has inevitably been the “conventional” wisdom (ha ha) from commentators.

But today in the State Journal-Register is an op-ed piece in favor of a “Con Con,” as it’s called for short. Of course, it’s written by a Chicago Democrat, which is sure to be brought up by critics as a reason to be wary. Nevertheless, I thought he made an interesting argument:

Critics from both the left and the right say that holding such a convention will open a “Pandora’s Box.” In fact, there is no doubt that various front groups will be created and funded by the very special interests that want to preserve the status quo, which has led us to our present morass.

The purpose of these groups will be to coax voters into accepting our current dysfunctional government by convincing them that they should fear the unknown outcomes of a Con-Con. I submit that the majority of Illinoisans doubt that things could get much worse.

He goes on to explain the safeguards that are in place — most notably that the final result has to be approved by the voters — and concludes by saying we shouldn’t pass up an opportunity to improve things because of fear:

We have no way of knowing what the process will bring, but fear of the unknown is no reason to shy away from debate. Doing so simply signifies an acceptance of the current system.

Indeed, there was no small amount of risk when the founding fathers decided to break ties with England. Think about the daunting task of forging a new nation from scratch. We face nothing quite so challenging here in Illinois (this would be a peaceful revising of the constitution, not a call to arms after all), yet we seem to have lost our courage even in this.

It isn’t easy reforming government, nor should we expect it to be. Yes, a Con Con would be a risk, and yes it would be a fight to improve things, and yes we might even lose some things we like about the current constitution. But is the status quo really a better option? Should we allow fear to keep us from fighting for something better for Illinois?

City of Peoria

The Bell doesn’t even say goodbye

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I have a gift certificate to The Bell, a local men’s clothing store. But I can’t use it, because The Bell is no longer a local men’s clothing store. It’s no longer any store at all.

Paul Gordon reported Sunday that The Bell closed on August 31 — without telling anyone they were going to close.

I used to get postcards from The Bell telling me of their sales, and I’ve been meaning to get over there to buy some new shirts and use up my gift certificate. It would have been nice if I had gotten a postcard saying they were going out of business.

According to the article, the closing was due to changing clothing styles (no one dresses up anymore). That’s certainly plausible. But I can’t help but wonder if changing locations (they went from a highly visible location across the street from Sheridan Village to a more or less invisible corner near Godfather’s pizza) and a decline in good customer service didn’t take its toll as well. As for the latter issue, I’ll give you a personal example.

I went in a few month ago to buy a hat. The size I needed was a special order, which was fine. I asked if I needed to make partial or full payment for the special order, and was told no, I could pay for it when it came in. One month went by… two months…. Finally, I called to ask the status of the special order. I was told that it couldn’t be ordered unless it was prepaid. This was the same guy who had previously told me I didn’t have to pay for it in advance. I guess he really, really didn’t want to sell me that hat. I’ve never quite figured out that one.

So it didn’t surprise me when I saw that they had closed. I just thought they might have told their customers it was coming. It would have been nice to visit the store one more time, maybe get some good sale prices on shirts, and indulge in a little nostalgia of this store that had been in Peoria over 100 years. My grandfather even shopped there.

Instead, I’m left with a worthless gift certificate and a bad memory of poor service. What a shame.

UPDATE: Perhaps this is the reason they didn’t have a going-out-of-business sale:

The Bell Clothing & Shoe House Inc., 5329 N. Sherwood Ave., Peoria; liabilities $261,700; assets $23,608.

David B. Frankel, 5329 N. Sherwood Ave., Peoria; assistant manager, Walgreen’s; liabilities $386,468; assets $216,925.

Gordon’s article didn’t mention the bankruptcy. A sad end to a long-standing Peoria business.

General News

There’s a reason the “It’s a Small World” ride is located in Fantasyland

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You’re bound to hear about this sooner or later if you haven’t already. Disneyland is rehabbing the “It’s a Small World After All” ride because boats keep getting stuck going through it. The reason would seem obvious — Americans are getting so overweight, they’re causing the boats to bottom out on the ride. But Disney doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

The boats get stuck because “layers and layers” of fiberglass have built up where maintenance teams have patched and re-patched problem areas, said Disneyland Resort spokesman Bob Tucker.

Sure. There’s a reason they call it Fantasyland, I suppose.

If I were Disney, I wouldn’t worry about hurting our feelings. Considering there’s a “Fat Lady’s Guide to Disneyland,” I would venture to say our expanding waistlines are second only to our overdeveloped self-esteem.

City Council, City of Peoria

On the Agenda: Peoria Urban Living Initiative

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On the City Council’s consent agenda next Tuesday is a proposal to focus the City’s Six Sigma program on attracting homeowners back to the Heart of Peoria. “The City proposes creating a joint study group that will uncover existing programs and examine other possible methods of increasing middle class home ownership in the Heart of Peoria.” Included in the “study group” would be representatives from major employers and a couple city council members appointed by the mayor. It doesn’t appear from the agenda item that the Heart of Peoria Commission will be included in this effort, despite its focus on the Heart of Peoria area.

Here’s the full text of the agenda item:

AGENDA DATE REQUESTED: November 13,2007

ACTION REQUESTED: RECEIVE AND FILE A PLAN TO ENGAGE REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE CITY AND MAJOR EMPLOYERS IN AND NEAR DOWNTOWN TO EXAMINE WAYS TO INCREASE MIDDLE CLASS INVESTMENT AND HOME OWNERSHIP IN THE HEART OF PEORIA.

BACKGROUND: The City has been working to revitalize and rebuild the Heart of Peoria. The City has created the Heart of Peoria plan, the Renaissance Park program, an Enterprise Zone and nine Tax increment Financing Districts to lead this effort. Currently, the City also sponsors a program to provide lower interest rates for home buyers, and provides down payment assistance for first home buyers.

However, stabilizing the Heart of Peoria is also in the interest of Peoria employers within this area. These employers are seeking to improve the areas around their operations and are looking to be more competitive in attracting “creative class” employees. The City proposes creating a joint study group that will uncover existing programs and examine other possible methods of increasing middle class home ownership in the Heart of Peoria. Preliminarily, we have identified four major employers for this effort: Caterpillar, Bradley University, Methodist Medical Center and OSF. Other groups, such as District 150 and the Chamber of Commerce, could also be considered.

This study group would be comprised of two parts:

  • A policy group, comprised of a senior leader from each employer, as selected by that employer. The Mayor would select one or more Councilpersons to chair this policy group. The policy group would examine the high-level issues involved and give direction to the staff to pursue options.

  • A technical group, tasked with investigating the issues identified by the policy group. This group will be led by Christopher Setti, City of Peoria 6 Sigma Black Belt. Each participating employer would be asked to name an employee (preferably a Black Belt if available) to work with Mr. Setti. Broadly, this group will be determining who the customer of the end product might be; what motivates their home-buying decisions; and what programs could be established [to] increase homeownership in the target area.

The working title of this project is the Peoria Urban Living Initiative. The intent of the program would be to conserve and revitalize our neighborhoods in the Heart of Peoria, while helping our employers recruit and retain valuable employees. While the effort will be guided by the policy group, some of the areas of exploration might be:

  • The size and scope of down-payment assistance (and other homeownership initiatives) in the target area by both the City and employers.
  • How taxes can be reduced or mitigated in order to stimulate investment.
  • The best use of the City’s “bond volume cap” in encouraging homeownership.
  • Other initiatives, such as Neighborhood LEEDs, that might raise the profile of older neighborhoods.

FINANCIAL IMPACT: Improved homeownership in the Heart of Peoria will help to increase revenues to all taxing authorities through higher assessed property values.

NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS: Neighborhood leaders have consistently been in favor of greater homeownership rates. The technical group will seek their input in this initiative.

IMPACT IF APPROVED: The study group will be formed and the issue will be thoroughly examined. The result will be a set of recommendations to the City Council and partner employers about steps that can be taken to improve homeownership.

IMPACT IF DENIED: The City will continue to offer its incentive programs and employers will likely not address the issue.

ALTERNATIVES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: The development is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. VISION: WE HAVE A HEALTHY, THRIVING ECONOMY. GOAL: A. Provide an economic environment that supports existing and new businesses.

City of Peoria, Museum Block

Peoria’s commitment to the museum so far: $16-26 million

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Peoria LogoLakeview Museum Board President Jim Vergon said at last night’s museum presentation to the Peoria County Board, “Over the past four years, our project has received $6 million towards the $30 million goal for public funding, leaving a $24 million gap.” He said this included federal, state, and local support. Later, Caterpillar Vice President Sid Banwart drove home the point: “We’ve looked at a lot of museum complexes around the country and around the Midwest, and we have not been able to find any that were built without substantial public funding,” he said.

What you need to know about these statements is that these museum officials are talking about cash funds. They’re not talking about other benefits such as land use, TIF benefits, etc. In fact, the City of Peoria has provided what I would consider “substantial” public investment in the museum. How much public investment? The city provided these numbers:

The following provides the City’s commitment, as approved by the Mayor and Council, to this project. Please note this analysis assumes a 2009 completion date and does not include federal grant funding.

Land value (65% of $10 million)1 $ 6,500,000
TIF through 20212 $ 7,525,892
Change in grade of Water Street $ 2,600,000
Sub-Total $16,625,892
Potential Extension of TIF3 $ 9,408,615
Total $ 26,034,507

1Based on appraised value.
2Assumes completion of the Caterpillar Center and Regional Museum by 2009.
3The original agreement proposes an expansion of the length of the TIF. This assumes the TIF is extended 15 years from the current expiration date.

To his credit, Jim Richerson did mention these items during his presentation, although he didn’t give any total dollar amounts. The $6 million in “public funding” to which Vergon referred is in addition to the $16-26 million from the city outlined above. That fact should be kept in mind while considering the museum-backers’ request for $24 million more from largely the same taxpayers.

2008 Campaign, Aaron Schock

Contrary to published reports, Schock did back down

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Aaron SchockThe Gatehouse News Service report said, “Schock didn’t back down” from criticism of his proposal to sell nuclear arms to Taiwan. I beg to differ:

“If China continues to be irresponsible about nuclear proliferation in Iran, we should tell them that if they do not care about proliferation–and since they are enablers of it in Iran, that if they don’t change their position, we will sell Pershing nuclear missiles to Taiwan for their defense.” (Schock’s candidacy announcement speech, 10/28/07, emphasis added)

“I do not want to sell nuclear weapons to Taiwan, I want China’s cooperation in dealing with Iran.” (Schock’s press release, 11/8/07, emphasis added)

This is what pundits like to call a “flip-flop” on the issues. Despite all the other rhetoric in the latest press release, Schock nevertheless reversed himself on the selling of nuclear arms. If he had said in his original speech that he simply “want[ed] China’s cooperation in dealing with Iran,” then we wouldn’t be having all this controversy. No one would have even batted an eye.

The press release was nothing more than spin, and Gatehouse apparently bought it.

2008 Campaign, Aaron Schock, Peoria Journal Star

Is McDonald a Schock supporter?

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Okay, that headline is needlessly provocative, but hey, I haven’t gotten many angry comments lately. 🙂

Journal Star reporter Karen McDonald covered Aaron Schock’s candidacy announcement event, but didn’t mention his proposal to sell nuclear arms to Taiwan. Then, when a Springfield reporter picked up the story, she attended challenger Jim McConoughey’s press conference reacting to the news, but didn’t write about it. Instead, the event was covered by Adrianna Colindres of Gatehouse News Service.

McDonald, on the other hand, wrote an article on Schock visiting public schools yesterday, but apparently didn’t ask about (or if she did ask, didn’t report on) Schock’s response to the foreign policy controversy. Yes, Schock had issued a press release that was in Colindres’s report, and yes Colindres did a phone interview with Schock’s campaign manager Steve Shearer. But McDonald had access to the man himself, and could have gotten a candid, rather than canned, answer. In fact, she could have followed up on his press release, pressing him on his clear flip-flop on this issue (he says in the press release that he doesn’t favor selling nukes to Taiwan). Instead, all we got was a puff piece.

Maybe I’m being too critical, but I think the local reporting on Schock’s campaign lately has been dismal and a disservice to those who are paying over $200 a year for Peoria’s only daily.

UPDATE: Great minds think alike. Independently, Billy Dennis and Rich Miller each commented on basically the same thing.

UPDATE 2: The Pantagraph has a much better report than the Journal Star on this story.