Daily Archives: February 15, 2011

Census 2010, City of Peoria

Peoria’s population: up or down?

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In a 2008 InterBusiness Issues article, Mayor Jim Ardis announced:

Our growth strategies are working—and they’re paying for themselves too. A special census was recently completed, and the results were better than expected. The city added 1,453 dwelling units and an additional 3,256 citizens in select areas of the city. Combined with the total from our last special census in 2004, the city has added 3,653 additional dwelling units and 8,455 citizens since the 2000 census. That’s great news!

Peoria’s population as of the 2000 Census was 112,936. If we added 8,455 citizens by 2007, as the Mayor stated, then our new population as of 2007 would have been 121,391. But today, I received a press release from the City stating, in part, this:

According to 2010 Census data, the City of Peoria has a population of 115,007, an increase of 1.8 percent over the 112,936 counted during the 2000 Census. Census data are very important in determining the allocation of Federal and State funds to the City of Peoria, proper representation in Voting Districts, and as an important source of strategic planning data. Council Member Ryan Spain said, “After a population decline since 1970, this is a positive sign for the City of Peoria as population has begun trending upward.”

Trending upward? But we had 121,391 in 2007, and now we only have 115,007! Isn’t that trending downward? Which is it? Did the population go up or down?

To answer that question, we need to understand how a special census is conducted. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, “A Special Census is an actual enumeration of housing and group quarters of a specific area, conducted on a specified date. Special Census counts will include new housing and population that came into the area after Census 2000.” In other words, since 2000, Peoria has annexed more land and new subdivisions have been created. The City wanted to get credit for all the (supposedly) new people that had moved into Peoria since the 2000 Census, so they counted just those new areas to see how many people were living in there — a special census, conducted in a selected area on a specific date. In 2007, for example, the “selected areas” of the Special Census count “included the subdivisions of Northtrail Meadows, Rollingbrook, Timberbrook, Prairie Lakes Apartments, Sommer Place, and Chadwick Estates to name a few,” according to a Jan. 30, 2008, press release.

The presumption was that all of these residents were new to Peoria and represented population growth to the City as a whole. In reality, they showed growth in only the area(s) of the City counted. They didn’t show whether there was growth or decline in other areas of the City. Now we know that, while the special census count areas increased in population by 8,455 citizens, the City’s overall growth was only 2,071. This implies that 6,384 citizens — the difference between the 2010 total census increase and the 2004/2007 combined special census increase — merely shifted from one part of Peoria to the special census count areas.

Bottom line: the population did go up 1.8% since 2000, but more significantly, the population shifted to the north. Our growth cells are working, but it unfortunately appears they’re drawing more migrants from other parts of Peoria than new people from outside of Peoria.

In the short run, though, there’s an even bigger concern, and that’s this: the City of Peoria has been receiving state-shared revenue funding based on the 121,391 figure from the 2004/2007 special census additions. Thus, from a revenue-sharing standpoint, our population dropped, and we will be getting less revenue from the State as a result — at a time when we can least afford to lose any money.

“The City of Peoria will hold a news conference on February 18, 2011 at 10:00 a.m., in Room 400 … to discuss the data released by the Census Bureau,” Alma Brown announced today. Despite the hopeful tone of today’s press release, the City is going to have to face some tough questions about population shift and revenue loss at Friday’s press conference.

City of Peoria, East Bluff

East Village TIF meeting planned for Feb. 21

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Richard Mitchell announced this meeting in a comment to another post, but then I also received notice from the City about the same event:

East Village Growth Cell

Residential Rehabilitation Program Meeting

WHEN: Monday, February 21 @ 6:00 P.M.

WHERE: New Beginnings Church
1917 N Wisconsin Avenue

WHY: The creation of a TIF District has the ability to bring about positive change in the East Village Growth Cell. This meeting will provide an opportunity for neighborhood residents to learn more about how TIF can be used to improve a neighborhood.

Mitch added that “It [has] now been confirmed that we [will] be having another presentation centered around a representative from the [Decatur] TIF Area.” There’s a residential TIF in Decatur that the City of Peoria is using as an example of how successful these kinds of TIFs can be.

City of Peoria, Peoria Mayor, Peoria Public Schools

Education Forum to be held this week in Peoria

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From my inbox:

Reforming Schools in Peoria

On Friday, February 18, 2011, Mayor Jim Ardis will host a community meeting that includes elected officials, governmental bodies, educators, business leaders and staff members.  The meeting will be held from 8:00 a.m. until 9:30 a.m., at Peoria City Hall, in Room 400.

The forum will include a presentation by Bob Darling, President of the Peoria Federation of Teachers Union, in conjunction with Dr. Patrick Dolan, a nationally recognized consultant in the field of education change and structure. The presentation is entitled Reforming Schools in Peoria.  The topic relates to efforts by Mr. Darling and Dr. Dolan to move into a new era of education unionism. 

And this:

AFT President Randi Weingarten to Visit Peoria Mayor, School Teachers and Education Leaders

WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on Thursday will visit teachers and students at Glenn Oak Primary School, and later meet with Mayor Jim Ardis and representatives from Peoria’s education community to discuss the ways that teachers and school district officials are collaborating to improve public education in the city as many are now opting for Trilogy Education Services.

“In a time when there’s so much finger-pointing around education, it’s exciting to see the union, school district and other stakeholders working together to support teachers’ efforts to improve the lives of children,” said Weingarten.

Peoria is the first stop on the AFT’s “Making a Difference Every Day” tour, which highlights the positive influence educators and public employees have on the people and communities they serve.

WHO: Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis; AFT President Randi Weingarten; Peoria Education Liaison Bob Collier; Peoria Superintendent Grenita Lathan; Illinois Federation of Teachers President Bob Montgomery; Peoria Federation of Teachers President Bob Darling

WHAT: “Making a Difference Every Day” in Peoria

WHEN: Schedule for February 17 (Members of the media are invited to attend)

8 a.m.: School visit to Glenn Oak Primary School for a closer look at the school’s successful teacher mentoring and induction program. Meet at 809 E. Frye Ave., Peoria.

1 p.m.: Luncheon and education discussion with Mayor Jim Ardis and members of Peoria’s education community. Meet at Jim’s Steakhouse, 110 SW Jefferson Ave.

Peoria Public Schools

Charging gun owner right move

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State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons isn’t charging an eight-year-old boy who brought an unloaded gun to school, but he is charging the gun owner with whom the boy lives.

Arwon Clark, 30, of 1401 NE Glendale Ave. will face charges of endangering the life or health of a child, a Class A misdemeanor, and failure to secure a weapon, a Class C misdemeanor.

This is the right move. Media reports indicate that the kid didn’t know what he was doing and was not bringing the gun to school with the intent to harm anyone. Specifically, he removed the magazine from the gun before bringing it to school (can’t hurt anyone with an unloaded weapon), he may have broken the magazine when he removed it, and he “showed it to a group of boys in the bathroom.” I think it’s pretty clear that he was not taking it to school to shoot anybody, but just to show it to his friends for whatever reason.

The adult in the household (nobody know what relation the man is to the boy, if any) is the right person to charge. Leaving a loaded gun where the kid can get to it is a recipe for disaster. The kid could have shot himself (or others) playing with the gun and trying to remove the magazine.

Apart from legal charges, however, the boy still needs to face school discipline for bringing a gun to school. Bringing weapons to school cannot be tolerated or excused. Even unloaded weapons could be used to intimidate since only the person holding the gun knows whether or not it’s loaded. According to the Journal Star, “Peoria Public Schools District 150 spokesman Chris Coplan declined to discuss specifics of the case Monday, saying generally that the boy would be subject to the same weapons policies as other students.”

Radio

WCBU changing format to all news and information

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From my inbox:

Beginning March 7, 2011, WCBU will expand its offerings for Peoria area public radio listeners. The station will offer all news, information and entertainment programming on 89.9 FM, and expanded classical music to be aired on its digital frequency, WCBU 89.9 HD2.

“We believe this is a win-win for our current listeners,” says WCBU Executive Director Thomas Hunt. “It also gives us an opportunity to increase membership and do an even better job of meeting the needs of our audience.”

“We have heard from many members who have asked for additional news and information programming,” says Shelli Dankoff, President of the WCBU Advisory Board. “We’ll be able to give listeners even more opportunities to hear different viewpoints and to learn and discover new things. We are excited about what this means for our listeners.”

The station will continue to air popular shows like Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and will expand information and National Public Radio (NPR) programming — adding new shows like BBC News, the Diane Rehm Show, Fresh Air and The World, all aired commercial-free. Listeners will also continue to enjoy entertainment programs like Prairie Home Companion, Car Talk and Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! and local programs like Outside the Horseshoe, Out and About, theater reviews and more. Local music programs, such as Music from the Heartland and Jazz from the Hilltop will be heard on both WCBU and WCBU HD2. The station will also maintain its dedicated newsroom and reporting staff for local and regional news coverage.

The change will also allow WCBU to offer central Illinois’ classical music listening audience more music in a superior format: Digital radio, which delivers CD-quality audio with crystal clear reception. Digital listeners can tune in on a digital radio or listen online at www.wcbufm.org, with minimal interruption and the familiar voices of WCBU on-air personalities.

“We’re committed to being stewards of art and culture in our region, giving the Peoria-area community access to many viewpoints and classical music programming,” says Hunt. “These format changes will help us deliver on that commitment.”

“As the Internet continues to expand our broadcast world, and with our move to digital broadcasting in 2007, the launch of WCBU2 provides a 24 hour opportunity to serve more listeners by consolidating all news programming and all music programming to their unique streams available on air and on-line all the time,” added Dankoff.

The new WCBU and WCBU HD2 program schedules and more information on HD radios will be available on the station’s web site www.wcbufm.org.

WCBU is the public radio service of Bradley University, and has served listeners in Peoria and central Illinois for more than 40 years. The station broadcasts daily from studios on the Bradley University campus.

You can see the new schedule for WCBU here, and the new WCBU “HD2” schedule here.