It was a year ago this month that the Heart of Peoria Commission voted 5-2 to disband, and the City Council obliged. Commissioners who voted in favor of disbanding were chairman Bill Washkuhn (who has since passed away, sadly), Henry Lawrence, Mark Misselhorn, Julie Waldschmidt, and Geoff Smith. Beth Akeson and I were the only dissenting votes.

The primary argument was this, from my December 1, 2008, post:

The theory goes that commissioners could have more of an impact if we weren’t a city commission. We could instead organize ourselves as a public advocacy group, similar to Peoria City Beautiful. This would free us from the restrictions of the City Council and the Open Meetings Act, allowing us to meet as often as we want and have a coordinated lobbying effort of council members.

So, I think it’s only fair on this anniversary of our commission’s demise to ask, where is this vaunted public advocacy group that the those favoring disbandment feigned interest in starting? Mark? Geoff? Henry? Julie? Funny, I haven’t heard a thing — not a peep — about this idea since our last meeting on December 5, 2008. We’re all free from the dreaded Open Meetings Act now. When’s the first meeting? What lobbying have you done in favor of the Heart of Peoria Plan this past year?

*chirp* *chirp* *chirp*

So much for having more impact.