Monthly Archives: May 2009

Museum Block, Peoria County

Gee, if only we knew of some unnecessary capital project we could cut…

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This story popped up on the PJStar.com website tonight:

Peoria County faces $4 million deficit by year’s end

A sharp decline in revenue streams has Peoria County officials looking down the barrel of a $4 million deficit by year’s end that likely will affect budgets for years to come….

The picture has officials balancing needs with wants: What essential services are required by law, and what can be postponed?

“We’re kidding ourselves if we say we’re going to cut (our budget) and not cut staff,” board member Bob Baietto said. “We’re not going to get out of this without cutting.”

Hmmm… what can we cut? What large, completely unnecessary public expenditure could we eliminate to help plug this deficit? If only there were some new, fungible source of revenue coming on line next year that, while currently slated to go toward a non-essential project, could instead be redirected so that basic county services can continue to be provided. Can you guys think of anything? I’m drawing a blank here…..

Peoria Public Library

A grave situation

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The proposed expansion of the Peoria Public Library’s Lincoln branch is staring in the face of death. Literally. The land on which they want to build the addition has been and could possibly still be a graveyard, and the cost to relocate the buried bodies could deep six the expansion plan.

Sorry, I just couldn’t resist all the opportunities for puns in that story. It’s funny, but then it’s also kind of creepy the more you think about it. I hope they don’t find any bodies.

Caterpillar

Are Cat layoffs unethical?

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New York Times columnist Randy Cohen thinks so.

Although the law limits the duties employers have to employees, ethics sets a different standard. Caterpillar’s workers have existed for years — sometimes generations — in profound dependence on the company. (No work, no food.) In accepting and profiting from this relationship, Caterpillar (i.e., its stockholders) incurs moral obligations to those workers. In hard times, it may not simply say: find another job. There are no other jobs, or surely not enough of them.

Mass layoffs relegate people to the status of disposable objects. A company can mothball its welding robots…. But people are not machines. Many ethical systems mandate that you do not treat a person like a thing. You must regard other people as full human beings with the same moral rights as you. And that must include the right to make a living…..

Before adopting the ethics of the overcrowded lifeboat, before tossing thousands of non-millionaires over the side, gentler — and more equitable — methods must be tried. Everyone’s hours might be reduced, diffusing the pain. Dividends to stockholders can be eliminated. Pay cuts can be instituted company-wide, with the deepest reserved for the highest paid (that is, those most able to endure them). To its credit, Caterpillar has done some of this, trimming some executive pay by up to 50 percent, less for other management and support staff, and offering buyouts to some employees.

City of Peoria, History

Name That Peoria Landmark* – Sandy’s Sheridan Road

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*With apologies to PeoriaIllinoisan and NTPL.

 

peoria-landmark

Hint: The building still stands today.

Many readers remembered Sandy’s on Sheridan, across the street from Sheridan Village. The building is now occupied by Dairy Queen. I got the above picture and the following information from this website on the history of the fast food chain:

Peoria Sandy’s Sheridan Road was Sandy’s number one. It opened on August 8th, 1958 and was originally planned to be one of the first McDonalds east of the Mississippi River. Ray Krok, however, changed the leasing agreement to his favor when the building was being built. The founders of Sandy’s were not happy with the new terms which were violations of the original contract. They decided to follow the McDonald’s playbook and open their own drive-in and called it Sandy’s which is a Scottish play on the Irish McDonalds and to present a theme of swift and thrift service….

The choice of Peoria turned out to be a great one and by 1961 there were three Sandy’s locations in the city which were incredibly popular. Supported by Peoria’s numerous high schools as well as Bradley University, they became powerhouse businesses and Sandy’s was on its way spreading across the nation and becoming a dominant force in the fast food industry….

Sandy’s Peoria was not only the birthplace of the chain but it also was the spearhead of the transition between Hardees and Sandy’s. Sandy’s was in need of capital for expansion as well as to keep up with the leading fast food rivals in the nation. Based in Kewanee, Illinois, Sandy’s had one bank for financing. McDonalds, on the other hand was based in Chicago and had many of the most powerful banks in the world to choose from to finance their expansion plans. In order to compete, Sandy’s had to either issue stock or merge with a competitor. Hardees, on the other hand, needed Sandy’s strength, which was its board of directors and had plenty of capital. The merger made total sense….

The merger itself was announced in December of 1971. At some point, most likely in 1972, Sandy’s decided that it was in its interest to allow Hardees to buy the corporation out and become one…. Ninety percent of Sandy’s by this point had converted into Hardees. A few locations such as the Muscatine, Iowa Sandy’s remained Sandy’s well into the late 1970’s! Other locations became independant operators such as Bucky’s in Lawrence Kansas which continues to this day in 2004!

Peoria Public Schools

Plan to cut library managers surprises board members

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Last week, word started getting out that District 150 was looking at possibly saving money by getting rid of nearly all library managers:

The recommendation calls for the elimination of 23 library positions, said Deb Chavez, president of the Local 6099 support staff and cafeteria union. It would affect nearly all of the primary and middle schools in the district.

Not affected are the four high schools, the two Edison-operated schools and Valeska Hinton Early Childhood Center, where the positions are either certified teachers or set up differently than the rest of the district, Hinton said.

Parents started writing to their school board members protesting this latest plan as ill-advised. Here’s an example of one of the letters that was sent:

Dear [board member],

We have a kindergartner at Whittier Primary School. We are very pleased with our experience at the school and with the staff. Our son loves school and has enjoyed learning. He has specifically enjoyed learning how to read and experiencing the Accelerated Reader program with our school librarian Mrs. Burtsfield. Hence, the proposal of eliminating school library managers saddens my family and me.

The importance of reading and learning how to utilize the library system is a value tool that will follow these children through life. School library programs and resources play a vital role in the development of information-literate students. Research studies continue to show that an active school library program makes a significant difference to student learning outcomes.

In closing, we urge you to please vote against the proposal of eliminating library managers at the primary and middle schools. This measure would be detrimental to our children.

Then parents started getting responses from board members. Several board members said they learned of the proposal like everyone else — from the media. They expressed surprise, and more than a few said they were opposed to such a move. Now there’s speculation that the administration might abandon the proposal. While I would welcome such an outcome, I’ll believe it when I see it (or don’t see it, in this case).

The question I’ve heard over and over is this: Where’s the proposal for deep cuts to the administration? Why are administrator jobs being protected, while those with direct student contact are being heaviest hit with these cost-saving proposals?

Caterpillar, City of Peoria, Museum Block, Peoria County

What happened to Peoria’s stimulus package? Also, will Ardis be drinking the Kool-Aid this time?

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Well, it certainly is heartwarming to hear that $3 million in additional donations have rolled in for the proposed downtown museum, but it got me wondering… remember all the talk about this project putting people to work during the recession? Who was it that said that? Oh, yeah, Michael Bryant in InterBusiness Issues:

The message to “Build the Block” as our own stimulus package should be viewed very positively. We would be taking control of our destiny and using our talents and resources to help each other, not waiting for a helping hand. While Peoria may get some monies from President Obama’s economic stimulus package, it would be a mistake for us to wait and see what monies we may get while we have our own outstanding stimulus package right in front of us, literally “shovel-ready.”

Except that they’re not going to start shoveling until at least next year. But according to a new report by Bradley professors Scott and Lewer (you remember them), “the recession will end sometime during the second half of this year.”

So much for helping us stimulate the economy or helping our residents through tough times. Sounds like the economy is correcting itself just fine without turning a spade of dirt for the proposed museum. Who’da thunk? Why, I bet once the recession is over, there would even be a market for the land that’s been held hostage by the museum for the past 11 years.

It’s not too late to correct past mistakes. The current redevelopment agreement for the old Sears block is set to expire at the end of June and must be renegotiated. Now would be the time for the city to require a larger portion of the block be opened up to private, mixed-use development. That would allow the museum to still locate on the block, but in a different form, and it would allow a larger portion of the land to produce property and sales tax income for the city — something we desperately need.

It would not be unprecedented, you know. After voters overwhelmingly supported the library referendum, the city decided to scale back their plans, issuing only $28 million for expansion/updating instead of the $35 million voters approved. I believe the phrase at that time was that the mayor wasn’t “drinking the Kool-Aid on the 72%” of voters who approved the referendum. In fact, Ardis said, taking into account the low voter turnout, that really meant that only 15% of all registered voters voted in favor, and the council has a responsibility to look at the bigger picture and represent all residents whether they voted or not. Well, guess what percentage of registered voters voted in favor of the museum? 12.29% (15,327 of 124,730). So, it only stands to reason that the city would take the same cost-saving measures with this project that they did with the library project, right? After all, times are even more dire now than when the library referendum passed; now we’re staring in the face of a $10 million deficit. Will the mayor be representing all residents whether they voted or not this time?

Of course, the city won’t actually do what I’m suggesting. They’ll pass up (for the fifth time now on this project alone) an opportunity to save money for taxpayers and increase revenues to the city, and instead look for more regressive ways to plug the budget deficit, like cutting public works and public safety, and raising garbage fees.

City of Peoria, Traffic

What makes one speed limit more “enforceable” than another?

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From the Journal Star:

Nick Stoffer, a traffic design engineer, told members of the traffic commission that the Federal Highway Administration informed the Public Works Department that a blanket 25 mph speed limit “was not enforceable” and should be avoided. Stoffer said the state’s Department of Transportation echoed the administration’s thoughts.

Huh? Why is a blanket 25 mph residential speed limit “not enforceable,” but a 30 mph speed limit is? Wouldn’t one be just as enforceable as the other? Further confusing matters is this:

Instead, city officials will consider requests from neighborhood groups, district council members and others who want their residential streets or subdivisions to have a lowered speed limit.

So, if every neighborhood in Peoria requests a 25 mph speed limit, the city can do it. Apparently under that scenario, it’s enforceable. So what’s the difference between that and changing all the residential speed limits at once?

One more question: Why does the Federal Highway Administration have anything to say about speed limits on residential city streets?

Peoria Public Schools

District 150 approves $38 million bond issuance

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The deed is done:

The School Board unanimously approved the sale of $38 million in working cash bonds on Monday, estimated to add some 21.7 cents to the tax rate. . . .

Much like the cost of a loan to purchase a home or car is much more than what is actually borrowed, the amortized cost to issue the $38 million bonds, essentially borrowing the cash, will cost taxpayers $60,461,887.

The $38 million goes into the district’s reserve fund and will hopefully mean that the district no longer has to issue tax anticipation warrants, which will preserve more money for the education fund. It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this, but there are few options left after several years of irresponsible spending by the school district. The real question is, will the school board stick to the plan and not deplete their reserves again?