All posts by C. J. Summers

I am a fourth-generation Peorian, married with three children.
Museum Block, State Legislation

Museum may get state grant: $12 million grant passes first hurdle

4 Comments

A House appropriations committee has recommended approval of a bill that would give $12 million to the Peoria Regional Museum. The bill would have to pass the full House, Senate, and get the Governor’s okay before the museum would actually get the money.

Here’s the most interesting part of the Journal Star’s article on this effort:

[Lakeview Museum CEO Jim] Richerson said the proposed Peoria project consists of two pieces: a museum with an estimated price tag of $65 million to $75 million and a Caterpillar Inc. visitors center.

$75 million? Are they expecting that construction costs are going to rise by potentially $10 million in the next year, raising the total cost of the project by more than 15%? If so, then that $12 million in state money, if it actually comes to fruition, would mostly cover the increase in costs, still leaving a potential $22 million shortfall.

The contract with the city expires, I believe, at the end of the year (I’ll have to double-check that). So the question is, will the city extend their contract again or pull the plug?

And here’s another question. “The House Appropriations Committee on Public Safety voted 13-0 for House Bill 4664, sponsored by Rep. David Leitch, R-Peoria,” the Journal Star reports. What does capital funding for a proposed museum have to do with public safety? Do these committee names have any meaning whatsoever?

City of Peoria

City of Peoria responds to accidental personal data release

1 Comment

Here’s the press release in response to this story that the Journal Star broke yesterday:

Date: February 21, 2008
Released by: Alma Brown, Communications Manager, 494-8554
Subject: RELEASE OF PERSONAL DATA

The City of Peoria sincerely regrets the release of some employees’ personal information. Once this error was discovered, our Human Resources Department took immediate steps to retrieve the information released pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request. Despite several attempts, and the recopying of the response with all personal information deleted, the documents have not been returned to the City. We continue to explore every constructive approach possible for the return of the information released in error.

The ransomware definition says that is a type of malware(malicious software that involves holding the victim’s information at ransom.

Employees who have been impacted by the release have been notified by the City of Peoria Legal Department. This notification permits employees to take any steps they believe appropriate with regard to their personal information.

Additional safeguards have been instituted to ensure that this situation does not repeat itself. The City of Peoria values all of its employees and their dedication to public service. We will remain conscientious in our efforts to provide a safe and secure working environment.

Any questions should be directed to Kimberly King, Senior Staff Attorney/Acting Human Resources Director at (309) 494-8590.

Here’s the “he-said-she-said” part of the press release: “Despite several attempts, and the recopying of the response with all personal information deleted, the documents have not been returned to the City.” The person who has the information simply filed a Freedom of Information Act request to support her claim that she should get her tuition reimbursed. The city messed up by giving her too much information. In the Journal Star article today, she says:

“I took out student loans that I expected I would be paying back with my tuition reimbursement (from the city). Now, here I am, a single mom with two kids and thousands of dollars in unpaid student loans,” she said Wednesday.

Though she never asked for the personal information, doesn’t want it and even took pains to let the city know they mistakenly released it, she hasn’t returned it yet because some of it is on the same pages with the information she needs to defend her case. That case, she adds, is stalled for some reason.

Once it’s resolved, she said she will happily return everything.

So the city says they gave her the info with all the confidential personal info redacted, but she says she doesn’t have all the info needed to defend her case. So… looks like the city is in a pickle, and they’re trying to redirect anger from their screw-up to this woman who wants to get her tuition reimbursed.

I don’t know who’s right, but I do know that it wouldn’t be an issue if the city hadn’t messed up and given out personal data. They have no one to blame but themselves.

State of Illinois

State of the State of Illinois 2008

2 Comments

What did you think of Gov. Blagojevich’s State of the State address? In case you missed it, here is the text as provided by the Governor’s office:

State of the State and Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Address
Governor Rod R. Blagojevich

In a time of economic challenge, it is our challenge to offer a way forward. Times are tough. People are worried. But there are solutions. I am here to talk about the state of the state and to present a budget. But how do you talk about the state of Illinois without first talking about the state of the nation?

Today, we are a country at war. Leading economists warn of a recession, unemployment is up, more and more Americans find themselves without health care, and many families face the very real possibility of losing their homes.

In America the promise of the American Dream is a promise that is getting harder to keep. In Illinois we are guiding a ship in the midst of a storm. But, our ship of state is on the right course to navigate through that storm.

In spite of national trends, here in Illinois, we have made real progress for people. Over the last four years, we led the Midwest in job creation; we raised the minimum wage twice, more than three quarters of a million people have gotten health care, including All Kids. We are the first state in the nation to create a fund to help families keep their homes. We put a record amount of money in our public schools without raising taxes on people and, most recently, Illinois became the only state in the nation where a senior citizen can ride the bus for free.

We have made a lot of progress for people. But make no mistake about it these are tough times. And when times are tough, I believe the best way to fight for families and fight for people is to focus on strengthening the economy.

Continue reading State of the State of Illinois 2008 →

Kellar Branch, Peoria Streets

Street/bike lane compromise should be model

5 Comments

According to the Journal Star, no one is calling for Howett and/or Lincoln streets to be torn out and turned into dedicated hiking/biking trails. Instead, a tinted bike lane will share the street with automobiles. No one is upset about this compromise, political candidates are not being asked to make statements about it, and no one is threatening to do a “Meigs Field operation” on the south side streets.

So the question is, why isn’t that compromise good enough for the Kellar Branch issue? It should be the model for how to share and share alike. There should be a way to share the rail corridor where feasible, and utilize tinted on-street bike lanes around whichever areas of the corridor cannot be shared due to topographical or other complications.

I hope compromises like this are being considered by the new Peoria/Peoria Heights committee.

Annexation, General News

Trending toward urban living

6 Comments

Many scoff at the idea people would want to abandon suburban life for a more urban setting, but researchers are noticing a trend in just that direction. If these forecasts are true, what will the ramifications be for all those low-density developments on the fringe of town? Here’s an article from Atlantic Monthly that should give city planners and developers something to think about:

Arthur C. Nelson, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech, has looked carefully at trends in American demographics, construction, house prices, and consumer preferences. In 2006, using recent consumer research, housing supply data, and population growth rates, he modeled future demand for various types of housing. The results were bracing: Nelson forecasts a likely surplus of 22 million large-lot homes (houses built on a sixth of an acre or more) by 2025—that’s roughly 40 percent of the large-lot homes in existence today.

For 60 years, Americans have pushed steadily into the suburbs, transforming the landscape and (until recently) leaving cities behind. But today the pendulum is swinging back toward urban living, and there are many reasons to believe this swing will continue. As it does, many low-density suburbs and McMansion subdivisions, including some that are lovely and affluent today, may become what inner cities became in the 1960s and ’70s—slums characterized by poverty, crime, and decay.

Hat tip: Chris Setti

General News

In brief

18 Comments

Just a few brief comments on things from when I was gone:

  • It looks like somebody got a new theme for his blog while I was gone over the weekend. Unlike just about every other theme change Billy has gone through, I actually like the look and feel of this one … which means it will inevitably change sometime in the next week and a half.

  • The day I left, there was a shooting at Northern Illinois University. Maybe you heard about it. The shooter, Steven Kazmierczak, did not fit the profile of the type of person who would go on a rampage, except for one thing: he did go off his SSRI medication (Prozac, in this case) just a few weeks before the incident. While I see a trend, others don’t, but maybe this year’s coming lawsuits will shed more light on the issue.

  • District 150 is looking into charter schools as if they’ve never heard of the concept before. But the fact is that the very first charter school in Illinois opened in August 1996 in Peoria. It was called Peoria Alternative Charter School and was located at 919 NE Jefferson St., in the old Greeley School building. It was a school which expelled and other troubled students could attend. According to a June 3, 1999, Journal Star article, “The charter school was managed by Youth Farm, which had Fred McAfree serve as the manager/principal.” It dissolved in 1999 after its three-year charter was allowed to lapse and it became a “Regional Safe School.” The type of charter school being considered now is different — instead of being a school for troubled students, Superintendent Ken Hinton has indicated that “a proposed math, science and technology academy could be a potential charter school candidate.”

  • The Kellar Branch is still in the news — the new Peoria-Peoria Heights committee is looking at hiring a consulting firm to determine the feasibility of a side-by-side rail-trail solution. The results need to be back by April 1. I’m not going to prejudge the outcome; ever the optimist, I still hope a win-win option will emerge.

  • The Journal Star ran an article on anonymous commenting on blogs and newspaper sites, along with a companion article that reassures us that venomous anonymous bloggers are only acting human. The answer is simple — it’s up to the owner of the site, whether that’s a blog owner or a newspaper, to monitor the comments and maintain a minimum level of civil discourse. That’s in fact what reputable blogs and newspapers already do. Problem solved.

  • Joan Krupa is running as a Republican for the 92nd Legislative District seat being vacated by Rep. Aaron Schock. I wish her luck. I sure hope she’s been convicted of shoplifting at some point in her life — it appears that increases your chances of winning these days. Speaking of which, here are two more potential Democratic candidates for the state legislature.

  • District 150 decided Monday night to let teachers and principals, not board members, decide grading appeals. Good. Although it doesn’t change the outcome of the situation that sparked this controversy, at least it will keep it from happening again. It also vindicates the teachers and administrators.
Nation/World

Durbin and the 40-year-old reform proposal

6 Comments

I heard on WCBU this morning (and read here in the Journal Star) that Dick Durbin was here, touting legislation that would help people who are facing foreclosure on their homes. It’s cleverly titled The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act.

It’s not mentioned in the article in the paper, but on the radio news, they had a sound bite of Durbin explaining one of the “reforms” he thinks is needed. He said there needed to be a cover sheet whenever you take out a mortgage that clearly identifies the amount you’re borrowing, the interest rate, your payment amount, and other critical pieces of info.

I’ve got news for Mr. Durbin: we already have that “cover sheet.” It’s called a “Truth in Lending” form, and it’s been a federal requirement since the passage of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) of 1968. That “cover sheet” has been around for 40 years. I’ve purchased two houses in my lifetime (1994 and 2005), and both times I received this form that showed in a very easy-to-read way how much I was borrowing, what the interest rate was, how many payments I was going to have to make and how much each payment was, and how much money I was going to be paying back to the financial institution in total.

Perhaps Durbin meant that his bill will step up enforcement of TILA; some lawsuits have already been filed over violations of the Act. But the way it came across on the radio was that there was currently no requirement to disclose these basic pieces of information to borrowers, but that Durbin’s proposed legislation was going to correct that oversight.

Amtrak, Traffic

I’m back

1 Comment

My train was late getting into Chicago on Sunday — so late that I missed the last train of the day headed back to Bloomington. So I got to stay overnight in the Windy City at Amtrak’s expense.

Some may scoff, but I still think it’s the best way to travel. Yes, it needs to be improved, but it sure beat driving, even with the delays. I was sitting in the dining car, relaxing comfortably, eating salmon and a baked potato while looking out the window, watching motorists slip and slide down the road in near-blizzard-like conditions while we traveled through Wisconsin.

I was happy to see we didn’t get hit with a blizzard here in Peoria. It made it easy to drive home from Bloomington on Monday. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.