Happy Independence Day! To help you celebrate, I present here Irving Berlin’s “Song of Freedom” from the movie “Holiday Inn” (1942), sung by the inimitable Bing Crosby. Enjoy!
My family went to see the Glen Oak Park fireworks last night as usual, and they did not disappoint. We’re all looking forward to Sky Concert tonight on the riverfront. I’d like to wish all my readers a safe and happy Fourth of July!
Illinois is so bad that even the New York Times is taking notice.
For the last few years, California stood more or less unchallenged as a symbol of the fiscal collapse of states during the recession. Now Illinois has shouldered to the fore, as its dysfunctional political class refuses to pay the state’s bills and refuses to take the painful steps — cuts and tax increases — to close a deficit of at least $12 billion, equal to nearly half the state’s budget.
Then there is the spectacularly mismanaged pension system, which is at least 50 percent underfunded and, analysts warn, could push Illinois into insolvency if the economy fails to pick up.
When the state doesn’t pay its bills, it hurts a lot of other government agencies — for instance, school districts. At a recent District 150 school board meeting, Comptroller/Treasurer Pam Schau reported that the state owes District 150 $9,125,000, as of June 23. That’ll put a dent in your operating budget.
Despite this state of affairs, our representatives are continuing to spend money on non-essentials, such as giving tax breaks to millionaire developers.
From this week’s Issues Update:
The City owns and operates several parking lots on the Peoria Riverfront. These are the Michel East and West Lots, Edgewater Lot, and Liberty Lot, which are collectively known as the MEL Parking Lots. These lots are controlled by means of three sets of ticket booths and gates, which are accessed from Water Street. Since 2006, the MEL Lots have been posted two?hour free parking in an effort to promote short?term parking for customer use. Parking meters and permits are available for long?term parkers. During this time, the ticket booths have been vacant and the gates lifted. Additionally, complaints have been received that the ticket booths sometimes confuse new visitors trying to park in the lots.
These facilities had been left in place in case the City would again decide to charge hourly rates in these lots. However, it is unlikely that the City would choose to provide manned ticket booths for this area. A more viable solution would be to install an unmanned area parking system to control these lots. Since these facilities no longer serve a purpose, they should be removed to create better access to the lots and remove any confusion by the motorists. The Public Works Department, using in?house labor and equipment, plans to remove the ticket booths and gates and to provide clearer signage for these lots. Our first priority will be to remove the gates at the foot of Liberty Street to allow two?way access to the lots during the Water Street construction. The rest of the ticket booths and gates will be removed over the course of the summer, as scheduling allows.
I’ve seen “unmanned area parking system[s]” in Chicago. They’re easy to understand and effective. I would like to see the City get out of the parking-subsidy business before they lay off any more police officers or fire fighters. Subsidizing downtown parking is definitely not a necessity.