Monthly Archives: April 2009

City of Peoria, Museum Block

Museum vote spurs more downtown-killing development

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Gee, I can hardly contain my excitement over news that downtown Peoria is going to get a new skywalk.

“We decided to move ahead with a skywalk project connecting 401 Water Street with buildings being renovated on Commercial Street,” said developer Kert Huber.

“It’s a $5 million to $6 million project. We’re doing this because the museum went forward. If the citizens of the area hadn’t got behind it, I would have walked away,” he said.

And then where would Peoria be? Imagine what would have happened had we lost this skywalk project: All those high-end condominium residents would have to walk outside to visit renovated buildings across Commercial Street. Oh, the indignity! Thank heavens the museum referendum passed so we didn’t miss this exciting development. [end sarcasm]

The real shame is that these skywalks, which are becoming more and more common in Peoria regrettably, will only hurt downtown commerce, not help it. Studies I’ve quoted in a previous post tell the story. Here’s a quote from Kathleen Hill:

Skywalk design in North America has frequently been critiqued for the barriers it has created between different levels of pedestrian circulation. (Cornell University, Transport and Society May 10, 2007) Skywalks are pedestrian bridges linking buildings at the second floor level creating a second-level city….

Critics of skywalks maintain that their proliferation has reduced street level activity. Kent Robertson (Pedestrianization Strategies for Downtown Planners, Journal of the American Planning Association, Summer 1993) states that businesses located on the street level have closed due to lack of pedestrian traffic and property values have declined. Kurt Anderson (Fast Life Along the Skywalks, Time Magazine, August 1988)
reports this lack of street level pedestrians and activities creates the perception of an inactive and dull downtown, stating that skywalks negatively impact street level retail and social activities.

Some city planners feel that street level retail shops are the key to a vital and multi-use downtown. Critics are also concerned with the privatization of these public spaces and a separation of people based on class. Many of the skywalks link upscale hotels, shops and professional offices signaling to many low and moderate income people that they are not welcome.

So in addition to a museum block that will be devoid of street life because of its defective design, it’s spurring more development that will likewise keep pedestrians off the street. But since Peoria’s mantra is “all development is good development,” the project is promoted as an exciting, positive change for Peoria.

Aaron Schock

Schock comes in second

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Freshman Congressman Aaron Schock is the second-fastest runner in Congress. The 27-year-old Schock was bested by 60-year-old Bart Gordon, a Democrat from Tennessee. Via the Murfreesboro Post:

Congressman Bart Gordon won the “Fastest Member of Congress” award in the Capitol Challenge Charity race, running the 3-mile course in under 19 minutes despite high winds and rain Wednesday…. Gordon retained the “Fastest Member of Congress” title by finishing the race in 18 minutes and 49 seconds, off from his record-setting best of 16:59 in 1995. The second fastest runner from the U.S. House was Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL) who finished in 20 minutes and 2 seconds.

It’s good for Schock to come in second for a change. Since he can’t run for President for at least 8 years, this will give him a challenge to work on in the mean time. I imagine he’s already started training for next year’s race.

Peoria Public Schools

District 150 releases audit report, statement on McArdle

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District 150 has just released a statement (reprinted below) and a copy of the audit by Clifton Gunderson of the District’s Grade School Activity Funds.

DISTRICT STATEMENT – For Immediate Release – Wednesday, April 29, 2009

  • First, we need to clarify that Julie McArdle was not fired. Her contract was terminated without cause, pursuant to her employment contract.
  • The Board of Education and Administration stand behind their decision to terminate Principal Julie McArdle’s contract without cause. As an employer, we are bound to personnel laws that prohibit us from discussing or outlining reasons behind the decision to terminate her contract.
  • Regarding financial reviews – as part of routine procedures, our district used an outside accounting firm to conduct random, routine financial reviews of school activity funds. These reviews occur on a rotating basis every three-to-four years at all of our schools. We also request a review of these funds each time a new principal is named at a school or a building is closed.
  • On April 24, 2009 – (last Friday) – a police report was filed because 2007-2008 Lindbergh MS financial records are missing. These documents were reviewed in the summer of 2008 by the accounting firm during a routine review of the fund, which found no misuse of the school’s funds.
  • District staff members are diligently working with multiple sources to find documentation, receipts and statements that will assist in the reconstruction of the missing Lindbergh 2007-2008 financial documents. We are also hoping for a rapid conclusion of the Peoria Police Department’s investigation into our two filed reports.
  • Regarding the use of personal credit cards and District issued credit cards:
    • It is routine practice for school or District personnel to use a personal credit card to purchase items for our students, classrooms or other needed supplies, so long as appropriate and detailed documentation is kept.
    • There are currently nine different district-issued credit card accounts. The statements for these accounts are reviewed by the Business Manager and payments are processed by the District.
  • A decision had been made to recommend the termination of Mrs. McArdle’s contract prior to receiving any allegations of misconduct under the Illinois whistleblowers act.

My take: The report from Clifton Gunderson is not exactly a clean bill of health. Notice this statement near the end:

The above procedures were performed at the request of the Controller/Treasurer of the District. We make no representation regarding the sufficiency of the procedures for any purpose. We were not engaged to and did not conduct an examination, the objective of which would be the expression of an opinion of the financial statements of the Student Activity Funds of Lindbergh Middle School. Had we performed additional procedures, matters might have come to our attention that would be reported to the District.

So, if I’m reading this right, they’re not offering an opinion of the financial statements. In fact, given the parameters of what they were asked to do, it’s unlikely that they could have detected any fraud that might have been perpetrated, unless someone had actually written “stolen funds” in the ledger or on the memo line of the check. They pulled 20 disbursements at random and found two that had no supporting documentation. That’s ten percent of a random sampling that were defective. Shouldn’t that have been a tip off to the Controller/Treasurer that the controls in place were deficient?

As for the statement from the District, the last point is the most interesting. According to their statement, the decision had been made to terminate McArdle’s contract “prior to receiving any allegations of misconduct under the Illinois whistleblowers act.” This is pretty shaky. Obviously it’s designed to try to absolve the board of any impropriety; it says, “hey, we didn’t know anything about the charges against Mary Davis before we decided to terminate McArdle, so we should be held harmless.” But they did know about the charges before they voted to terminate the contract. The police reports were made on Friday, and the termination took place on Monday. Once they heard the charges against Davis, they could have held off and investigated the matter first. Instead, they went ahead and terminated the contract for reasons they cannot publicly by law disclose.

Why should they have held off? Because Davis is McArdle’s superior, and it’s most likely that the information on which the board based their termination decision was evaluative information received from Mary Davis and her supporters. If Davis were involved in wrongdoing as alleged, it stands to reason that she would have tried to keep that information from coming to light. One way would be to undermine the potential whistleblower (McArdle) and try to get her discharged. Caution should have been the order of the day.

Crime, Peoria Public Schools

McArdle sues D150 (UPDATED)

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As promised, Lindbergh Middle School Principal Julie McArdle filed suit against District 150 (PDF Link click here to read it) after being fired Monday — and it covers a lot more than just misappropriation of funds. The suit is filed against District 150, Superintendent Ken Hinton, Human Resources Director Tom Broderick, and Academic Officer Mary Davis.

Six incidents are alleged:

  1. “Misappropriation of School Funds for Teacher’s Aide to Pay an Unpaid Student Teacher and Refusal to Spend Funds Authorized for Teacher’s Aid”
    The story here is that teacher’s aides get paid, but student teachers do not. In this case, there was a woman who had worked as a teacher’s aide at Lindbergh who was also taking classes at Eureka College to become a teacher. When it came time to do her student teaching, she wanted to do so at Lindbergh. Mary Davis allegedly instructed McArdle to continue paying her as if she were still a teacher’s aide, even though she was actually student teaching. There were two problems with this: (1) it was an unauthorized expenditure of funds on District 150’s part, and (2) it violated the student teacher’s contract with Eureka College.
  2. Falsification of Student Addresses to Deny Poorer Students Their Right to Opt Into Lindbergh Middle School Under the No Child Left Behind Act

    3. Three children who did not live within Lindbergh School’s boundaries were allowed to attend without getting the proper boundary waivers. Instead, McArdle was instructed by Davis to list a false address for these students. “The result of the falsification of the three out of boundary students addresses in the District 150 records denied three poorer children the right to opt out of their school to attend the non-failing Lindbergh Middle School – which had the wealthiest residence and was the best Middle school in District 150 under the No Child Left Behind Act.”

  3. Weekly Attendance at Lindbergh School by Private Counselor for Fees Paid by the Parents of the Students Contrary to District 150’s Obligation to Provide a Free Education
    Mary Davis was allowing a private counselor to provide services for a fee. Parents of students were expected to pay the counselor directly.
  4. Report to Superintendent and Peoria Police of Theft of District 150 Funds and Authority
    The claim is that Mary Davis got a credit card in the name of Lindbergh Middle School without the knowledge of or approval from the district. Purchases and cash advances were made, and a $4,000+ payment was made on the card from the student activity fund for “miscellaneous items.” The itemized activity fund report for those “miscellaneous items” is missing.
  5. McArdle’s Report of Mary Davis’ Misconduct and Theft of District Funds to Superintendent Hinton and Board Vice President Deb [Wolfmeyer]
    It was reported via e-mail and had specific names and amounts listed. Nevertheless, when Hinton reported the apparent theft to the police, he said the person responsible was “unknown” and that it was for less than $300.
  6. Policy Making Agents of District 150
    This section says that Davis, Hinton, Broderick, and the D150 Board interfered with McArdle’s employment, resulting in her wrongful termination.

The suit alleges violation of McArdle’s rights to free speech, violation of the Illinois Whistleblower Act, and breach of contract. She’s asking for $550,000 in damages, plus attorney’s fees, and reinstatement to her job.

UPDATE: Here are the exhibits that go with the complaint that was filed:

PDF Link Exhibits to Complaint court document
PDF Link Exhibit 1
PDF Link Exhibit 2
PDF Link Exhibit 3
PDF Link Exhibit 4

Caterpillar, Museum Block

Cat talking points on museum

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In the post office box of the Citizens for Responsible Spending, we anonymously received this memo purportedly from Caterpillar, dated April 9, 2009:

Build the Block: Peoria Riverfront Museum and Caterpillar Visitor Center Leader Talking Points (Peoria Area)

Caterpillar is pleased about the vote to move forward with Build the Block. We made a commitment in 2002 to support a new regional museum and we will stay true to this commitment. Caterpillar’s funding of this project will be in the near future, but will not occur in 2009.

  • The budgeted cost of the Visitor Center is $41 million. Planning for this project will be modified to reflect our current financial circumstance.

  • The Caterpillar Foundation has pledged $13.5 million to the museum. We have made the decision to temporarily suspend outright cash payments, however, the Foundation will continue to match payments to the museum project from employees and retirees.

The Visitor Center will benefit Caterpillar in many ways:

  • Enhance the overall customer experience when Caterpillar dealers bring customers to Peoria to visit the company.

  • Provide a complete perspective of our commitment to customer success, regardless of where they are working around the world.

  • Exhibits will focus on the value of our equipment, engines and services and the long-term relationships which offer customers a superior value in providing solutions to their business challenges.

Hmmm. So much for stimulating the economy while so many people are facing hard times. Evidently the new plan is to wait for better economic times to build.

Peoria Public Schools

D150 principal fired (UPDATED)

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Lindbergh Middle School principal Julie McArdle was fired tonight at a special meeting of the District 150 Board of Education. The story is on WEEK’s site, and more details are on Billy’s blog.

Since it’s a personnel matter, the District is not talking. However, McArdle’s lawyer, Richard Steagall, is saying the principal is actually a whistleblower who uncovered a number of different improprieties by someone in central administration. A lawsuit will be filed against the District.

This story is bound to get bigger.

UPDATE: The Journal Star’s story is up now. Note:

The action [firing McArdle] occurred about six months after McArdle is said to have first blown the whistle on the previous Lindbergh principal….

Police and other sources confirmed that the investigation centers around McArdle’s allegation that her predecessor as Lindbergh principal, Mary Davis, misused district money in 2007-08….

[McArdle’s attorney, Richard] Steagall said McArdle informed district administrators about the credit card after receiving a phone call from a credit card company on Oct. 26 regarding late payments on the balance due. Previously unaware of a school credit card, McArdle asked for statements to be sent to the school.

According to Steagall, the balance on the card had at one point climbed beyond $9,000. He said McArdle also found documentation that $4,002.05 was paid toward the balance of the credit card from student activities funds on June 30, with that amount received by the credit card company on July 4.

“She found out there was a credit card for Lindbergh School with $9,000 in charges on it,” Steagall said of his client. “There were charges for Peoria Toyota, FedEx/Kinko’s, Amazon.com, Best Buy, an American Girls doll store, cash advances, things like that. One payment for over $4,000 was from the student activity fund. She’s reported all of this.”

After bringing the suspicious financial information to the district’s attention in October, McArdle assumed the district was investigating and didn’t pursue if further, Steagall said.

But recently, McArdle was asked by the district to resign, Steagall said. He believes that was directly in relation to McArdle’s whistle-blowing.

What’s interesting is reading the comments on WEEK’s and the Journal Star’s sites. If each commenter is really a different person, it would seem that there is no small amount of animosity toward McArdle. Yet other sources tell me McArdle is innocent and is being punished for blowing the whistle. Hopefully the police investigation will get to the bottom of the matter.

However it turns out, it’s another black eye for District 150.

City Council, City of Peoria

Council preview 4-28-09

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Here are some items of note that will be discussed and possibly decided on Tuesday (if they don’t defer everything like last week):

  • Defending BVA. The City will be defending Council Member Barbara Van Auken against charges brought by the Sigma Nu Fraternity. This is the official notification to the council.

  • Funding PACVB. The Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau wants to keep getting extra revenue from the hotel tax. The hotel tax is the “H” portion of the infamous HRA (Hotel, Restaurant, Amusement) tax. The PACVB originally got 40% of the revenue from that tax. Since July 2000, however, they’ve been getting an extra 4% to pay for the costs of leasing and subsequently buying their 456 Fulton Street office. Thus, this extra amount was supposed to be eliminated once the mortgage was paid off, which was supposed to be in 2006. But, unbeknownst to the Civic Center or the City, the PACVB refinanced their loan in 2003 over a longer time period. The difference between their old mortgage payment and their new lower payment was diverted to operations. The chickens came home to roost in 2006 when the PACVB came to the City asking for that 4% increase to be extended so they could continue paying their mortgage for another four years (until 2010). City Council members were none too happy, but gave them the money– for one year. So in 2007, the request came back again that the extra 4% be extended through 2010. That was approved. One would think that would be the end of it.

    But no! They’re back again, and now they want that extra 4% to be permanent. Of course, the current council communication doesn’t include any of the background information I just provided, nor does it explain why the PACVB wants it extended permanently, what they’re going to use the money for, or what benefit it would bring to the city. It also doesn’t include any information on whether the Civic Center Authority concurs with this request. It’s a poor excuse for a council communication, frankly.

    Furthermore, take a look at this breakdown of income sources published by the PACVB in their annual report:

    pacvb-income

    Keep in mind that this is the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, covering eight counties: Bureau, Fulton, Marshall, Mason, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell, and Woodford. Now, doesn’t that income distribution look a little disproportionate? The PACVB needs to do more than explain why they should get an extra 4% indefinitely; they need to explain why the City shouldn’t reduce the other 40% of H tax revenue they’re receiving. Perhaps a reduction here could pay for the latest $500,000 upgrade the Civic Center has floated.

  • Upgrading streets around Glen Oak School. The city is contemplating upgrading the streets around the new Glen Oak School. This is necessary because the city allowed the School District to increase their footprint dramatically and cut off Frye, a major East Bluff thoroughfare. This not only affects motorists, but also utilities. A water line will have to be relocated along Maryland, and AmerenCILCO will have to relocate their facilities from the abandoned portion of Frye. A block of brick street on Maryland and two blocks of brick street on Kansas will be converted to asphalt. Upgrading the streets, curbs, and sidewalks is estimated to cost about $2.93 million. If they want to add ornamental streetlights and other streetscape enchancements, it would cost an additional $1.35 million. That should be a breeze, considering we can afford to give a private developer $40 million to build a hotel downtown. I sure don’t understand all the handwringing in the council communication about “the need to establish priorities” and “the need to further consider bonding for improvements.” There was none of that kind of talk in the communication about the — what was it they called the Marriott/Pere Marquette project? — oh yes, the “wonderful development”!

  • Approving Harrison Homes Subdivision. In addition to the new Harrison School, the Peoria Housing Authority is planning to put in a “RiverWest” type development to replace the slums known as Harrison Homes. Before the council on Tuesday will be the preliminary plat showing how the neighborhood will be arranged. My only complaint is that they have a great opportunity to restore the street grid system, but they are choosing instead to make inefficient use of their land by putting a couple streets diagonally. Why? To what advantage? It’s demonstrably inefficient and incongruous with the surrounding area. Why wouldn’t we want to restore the grid system, as is recommended in the Heart of Peoria Plan? Yes, that last question was rhetorical.

  • Saving money. The city is still trying to save money rather than raise taxes. What this effectively means is that they’re going to continue subsidizing downtown parking, the Civic Center, the proposed museum, the Gateway Building, and the “wonderful development,” at the expense of basic services such as sealcoating of streets, weed control, building inspections, and code enforcement. The city really knows how to tighten its belt when it comes to services that benefit all Peoria residents, doesn’t it?

No doubt, all these items will pass with little or no discussion, since what we really value on the Peoria City Council is “consensus.” Who needs deliberation or critical thinking, especially where the public can see? They make for long, boring, and informative meetings. We want a council that just comes and votes “yes” or “no” as determined ahead of time in private meetings outside the purview of the Open Meetings Act. No fuss, no muss.

City of Peoria

“Now more than ever”: WEEK 1979

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I ran across this on (where else?) YouTube:

Now, wasn’t that a fun trip down memory lane? The times certainly have changed, but one thing hasn’t: “Getting the news is like fighting a battle.” Ain’t that the truth! And can you believe Tom McIntyre has been doing the news for the same channel for 30 years? Amazing.

These clips were put together by Paul Daniel — he wrote this about his time in Peoria:

What were you doing in 1979? I had my second job in TV at WEEK-TV in Peoria, IL. I was initially hired to do Saturday sports and shoot news during the week. Later I did both weekend shows and also did promotions for the station. What was it like? Did you ever see the movie “Anchorman”? It wasn’t too far off that. Cameras weighed about 15 pounds and you had to carry a recorder with it that weighed another 10. Back then news was shot and edited on 3/4 inch tape. This was actually good because we had just transitioned from film. We had big hair and drove Chevy Citations for news cars! Here’s a series of promos that I put together. As I look at them and remember how they were put together back them, the editor I use now, iMovie blows the effects away. Keep in mind that there were no computers then or they were even bigger than the cameras we carried. I worked with a company called Tuesday Productions to compose the music. It was cutting edge then as were the spots. Of course I got to fly in the chopper. You will even see me in the promos, Paul Daniel. I live in Pewaukee, WI now and am in marketing having left the TV world about 20 years ago but they are sure fun to look at and think “Did we really do that?” Enjoy!

Thanks for sharing, Paul.

2008 Campaign, Peoria Public Schools

Working cash bonds will raise property taxes 25¢ per $100 EAV

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I recently spoke with District 150 interim comptroller Brock Butts about the $38,000,000 in working cash bonds the District wants to issue. He said the plan is to issue 15-year bonds, but hopefully pay them off early — possibly as quickly as five years. The bonds would be paid for by putting an additional levy on property taxes. Property taxes within the District would increase 25¢ per $100 of equalized assessed valuation (EAV). That means the owner of a $150,000 house would pay an additional $125 in property taxes.

Public notice of the District’s intent to issue the bonds was given in the Journal Star on April 7. Voters have 30 days from that date to either do nothing, in which case the district will go forward with the bond issuance in May, or gather at least 6,355 signatures to force the bond issuance to a binding referendum. The soonest a vote could be taken is February 2010, unless a special election were held earlier.

I asked what would happen if the voters did, in fact, succeed in petitioning for a referendum. Butts said that unless the District receives categorical funding from the State, the District will run out of money mid-May. At that point, the district could borrow money under something called “teacher’s orders” to pay certified staff salaries, but that’s about all they could do until October when they could issue tax anticipation warrants again. In short, it would keep them in a perpetual cash flow crisis.

Some explanation may be helpful here. Tax anticipation warrants are kind of like payday loans. As the name implies, money is borrowed in anticipation of receiving future tax revenue. The loan is paid off when the future tax revenue is collected. Basically, they’re using next year’s tax money to pay this year’s bills, just like you can use next month’s paycheck to pay this month’s bills if you get a payday loan. Companies like Investors Choice Lending do this and the District has been doing this for years, allowing people to try Investors Choice Lending.

That comes with a cost: interest. Tax anticipation warrants don’t raise your property tax bill, so guess from where the money for interest comes. According to Dr. Butts, it comes out of the education fund. Not good.

This is why the comptroller (and others) have recommended that the district issue $38 million in working cash fund bonds. It will give the district money to build up their reserves so they no longer have to issue tax anticipation warrants. That, coupled with efforts to balance the budget, will get the District back on sound financial footing. While it will cost a little extra in property taxes now, it will save money in the long run. It will also keep the interest costs from coming out of the education fund. Once the working cash fund bonds are paid off, property taxes will be abated.

This plan sounds reasonable and fiscally responsible to me, and I can support it. In fact, I’ve decided I’m not going to be a part of any effort to force this issue to a referendum.

However, I still have one really big reservation about this plan, and that is my lack of confidence in the school administration’s commitment to stick to it. As has been stated before, Blaine-Sumner was closed, then remodeled for use as offices, squandering the savings there. White School was closed and sold, but the Social Security Administration building was acquired and remodeled for more than the sale price of White. More squandered savings. And need we mention the money wasted on multiple superintendents and other questionable administrative/consultant positions?

What assurance can the District 150 Board of Education give the citizens of Peoria that they will not squander the savings of the recently-decided school closures, or the additional revenue from working cash fund bonds? That’s not a rhetorical question; I really think the constituents of District 150 deserve an answer.