All posts by C. J. Summers

I am a fourth-generation Peorian, married with three children.
General News

Oil imports pop quiz

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Can you name the top countries from which the U.S. imports crude oil? Here’s the answer from the Energy Information Administration’s website, along with the average number of barrels that were imported per day in Nov 2007 (in thousands):

  1. Canada (1,919)
  2. Saudi Arabia (1,530)
  3. Mexico (1,484)
  4. Venezuela (1,227)
  5. Nigeria (1,215)
  6. Iraq (508)
  7. Angola (408)
  8. Colombia (197)
  9. Algeria (184)
  10. Ecuador (154)
  11. Kuwait (154)
  12. Chad (107)
  13. Argentina (86)
  14. Russia (81)
  15. Brazil (78)

It’s interesting to me that Iraq only accounts for a little over 5% of our oil imports, and that over 75% of our imports don’t come from the Middle East at all.

Just a Monday morning fun fact for you.

Kellar Branch

Kellar train service back on track

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Pioneer Industrial Railroad ran an engine up the Kellar Branch line without incident today. Pioneer has been fixing up the tracks, and they proved to be in sufficiently good shape for the 10 mph test run. David Jordan has a photo essay of the run on his transportation blog.

I had to laugh as David described the train giving “a friendly toot” as it passed the Journal Star.

Meanwhile, there’s an event planned for 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23, at Vonachen’s for trail supporters. Apparently, there are going to be several city, park district, and village officials taking part, along with the usual small, but organized, contingent of trail advocates, led by Morton resident George Burrier. The 18th Congressional District candidates (or their representatives) will be on hand to read statements presumably in support of the trail. Now if we can just get these folks to pour all this energy into something really important (like addressing crime and poverty issues), this would indeed be a better city.

City of Peoria

Proposals are in for Visitor’s Bureau retail shops

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Remember this story? The City would like there to be retail businesses sharing space in the Riverfront Visitor’s Center (which is housed in Peoria’s oldest commercial building), and issued a request for proposals.

Well, the proposals are in — all three of them:

The City of Peoria and Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau received three proposals for the RiverFront Visitors Center. Mr. Kurt Huber of the Peoria RiverFront Association proposed the establishment of a retail gift shop. The PRA would offer local cultural offerings and items made by the Peoria area industry. They would relocate their office to the RiverFront Visitor Center and also be a ticket outlet for RiverFront and Peoria area events. Ms. Renada Allen of The Giant Cookie would offer fresh baked homemade cookies and hand-dipped ice cream, as well as ice cream novelties and drinks year round. Ms. Lynnette Lee of World On Wheels would offer Segway rentals and tours throughout the city, regular tandem bicycles, and also operate a snack and souvenir shop. The business or businesses selected will be located in the same building with the Peoria Convention and Visitors Bureau.

If you could only pick one, which would you like to see on the riverfront?

Abortion

Sanctity of Human Life Walk and Rally

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About 200 people marched from the Peoria County Courthouse to Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Fulton Thursday night. It’s an annual event protesting the 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion-on-demand legal in all 50 states. The keynote speaker was Pastor Luke Robinson, an African American minister from Quinn Chapel A. M. E. Church in Frederick, Maryland.

In a sermon that decried abortion-on-demand in general, Robinson pointed out that abortions are disproportionately high among African Americans. He distributed literature that included this information:

  • “Abortion services have been deliberately and systematically targeted towards African Americans. A disproportionate number of the nation’s abortion clinics are located in minority neighborhoods.” (The Destiny o fhte Black Race, Carlisle Peterson, Planned Parenthood 1992 Service Report)
  • “35% of abortions in the United States are performed on African American women, while they represent only 12% of the female population of the country.” (US Center for Disease Control, Abortion Surveillance Report 7/30/99, US Census Bureau)
  • “The abortion rate among married African American women is 4.4 times greater than it is among married white women.” (Center for Disease Control, National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 47, No. 29)
  • “According to the 2000 Census, Hispanics have replaced African Americans as the largest minority group in the US. The loss of 14 million African American children through abortion has played a significant part in this population decline.” (US Census Bureau, 2000 Census)

The literature also compares the “approximate number of African American deaths since 1973” by various causes, “based on cumulative statistics provided by the U.S. Center for Disease Control National Vital Statistics Reports.” They are: Abortion (14,000,000), heart disease (2,503,789), cancer (1,824,350), accidents (409,723), violent crimes (329,313), and AIDS (227,695).

Robinson compared the fight against abortion to Nehemiah’s fight to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. There were those who opposed the rebuilding who plotted to kill the workers and stop the construction. Nehemiah 4:18ff says, “As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me [Nehemiah]. I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, ‘The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there.'”

Robinson said this was not a racial issue, and that he believes abortion-on-demand should be stopped regardless of what color one’s skin is. The fight against abortion-on-demand is like the fight to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. But he argued that the abortion battle right now is highest in the African American community. Thus, he’s “sounding the trumpet,” and calling everyone to rally to that front at this time, while not ignoring the larger goal.

Women’s Pregnancy Center director Myfanwy Sanders gave an update on the center’s work to help women. She stressed that we should not ask a woman who’s considering abortion to carry her baby to term unless we’re willing to help and support her in that decision. She gave an example of a woman whose husband was in jail and the baby she was carrying was not her husband’s. Through the work of the Women’s Pregnancy Center, she kept the babies (she had twins), and the family ended up staying together once her husband got out of jail.

Sondra McEnroe gave an update on Central Illinois Right to Life. They’re taking a couple of buses to Washington, D. C., to attend the 35th Annual March for Life. (Incidentally, Robinson was the keynote speaker at last year’s March for Life in Washington.) She said some seats were still available, but to call her soon because the buses leave on Monday. The march is Jan. 22. Central Illinois Right to Life also has a 24-hour help line. The number is 645-8000.

Rev. A. J. Guyton of Trinity Missionary Baptist Church said the opening prayer, and Rev. Mark Henninger of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) said the closing prayer. Refreshments were served after the event. The Journal Star has pictures of the walk and rally on its website here.

2008 Campaign

Gordon gets caught in familiar trap

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If I were a betting man, I would bet that Jehan Gordon doesn’t read the paper, or at least never read the paper or watched the news during the last school board election. Why?

Jehan Gordon, Democratic candidate for the 92nd District, claims in a radio spot and a mailing that she “graduated” from the University of Illinois but actually is three hours shy of an official degree, she confirmed to the Journal Star on Thursday.

Gee, didn’t someone just, like nine months ago, lose an election for doing the same thing; i.e., claiming she graduated when she hadn’t? Ms. Gordon, what were you thinking?

Because she participated in the graduation ceremony in 2004, she said she felt it was fair to say she in fact graduated even though her degree has not been officially conferred.

She went through the ceremony in 2004, and is picking up her final three hours in 2008, the same time she’s running for state office and is airing an ad saying she graduated? This kind of judgment does not instill me with a great deal of confidence in this candidate.

General News

McCarron: Guilty on all counts

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My wife just heard on the radio that Karen McCarron was found guilty on all counts: first-degree murder, obstruction of justice, and concealment of a homicide. It took the jury 11 nine hours to deliberate.

UPDATE: The Journal Star has an article up on it now. They say it was only nine hours of deliberation. 1470 WMBD also has the story — I believe this is where my wife first heard it. From WMBD:

McCarron could receive up to 100 years as a result of the conviction due to the crime being committed to a person under 12 years of age. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled.

Here’s WEEK’s coverage. And WHOI’s coverage.

City Council, City of Peoria

Council preview: 1/22/08

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Notable agenda items for the Jan. 22 meeting:

  • A new traffic light is being requested for the intersection of Carriage Lane and Allen Road. Carriage Lane is halfway between Northmoor Road and Willow Knolls Drive on Allen.

  • A new strip mall is being proposed for the corner of Knoxville and Alta roads. “No specific site plans or users are specified at this time,” but they’re going to build a 152,400 ft.2 multi-tenant building with a drive-thru. Part of land to be used will need to be annexed to the city. The neighbors don’t like it, of course. They are against the added lights, noise, garbage, drainage, and tree removal, and are concerned that this will lower their property values and quality of life.

  • The owner of Tequila’s in Chillicothe, Javier Munoz, wants to open a Mexican restaurant on Pioneer Parkway in the old Cinco de Mayo’s building. The previous owner of the building did not pay his HRA taxes, and Munoz said he had no affiliation with that owner. This is coming before the council because he’s applying for a liquor license.

  • You’ll be able to drink a glass of local wine from the Mackinaw Valley Winery while dining alfresco on the corner of State and Water if this liquor license is approved.

  • City staff wants to explore possible incentive programs to improve hospitality (i.e., hotel accommodations) downtown. Possible programs include the usual suspects (enterprise zone status, TIF, special service assessment) plus a few new ideas (“historic tax credits for buildings older than 1936,” “Civic Center supported capital expenditures,” “voluntary HRA tax to be used for capital improvements”). This should make for an interesting discussion. What was somewhat amusing was reading the litany of consultants/specialists who have told us we need better hotel accommodations downtown (Johnson Consulting, HVS consultants, PACVB, and a Six Sigma Black Belt team!). It reminds me of how many consultants said the Sears block should have urban density and mixed use.

  • The Zoning Board of Appeals and City Staff want to change the fee structure for variance requests. The board felt that the fees were too high for small, residential requests and was actually discouraging residents from applying for variances and building permits for things like decks, sheds, and fences. The staff did a survey of other communities and based on their findings, have come up with a new fee structure. The proposed fee structure would charge a lower fee for residential variances than non-residential. It would also charge a lower fee if the variance is applied for before construction begins. Sign variances would have to pay a higher fee because “Staff and Board are of the opinion that improper signage pose traffic safety and aesthetics problems.”

  • Once again, the Zoning Commission and City Staff are at odds. The first item is about a request to add an access point for 901 W. Glen Ave. It’s in what’s called an “overlay district” that restricts the number of access points purposely in order to prevent too much traffic congestion. The building owners/tenants share access points with other property owners. The staff isn’t necessarily against putting in another access point, but the petitioner (Michael Landwirth) did not submit a complete application, thus staff could not adequately review the request. Nevertheless, the Zoning Commission approved it on a 5-1 vote (Klise voted no), even though they have no idea what use is being proposed for the subject property. So now the council will have to sort it out.

  • The second split decision is the Missouri Ave. project requested by Floyd Rashid. He wants to have a parcel that contains a vacant house on the corner of Missouri and War Memorial rezoned from residential to neighborhood commercial, or “CN,” under the Land Development Code. The residents on Missouri are opposed, and the Zoning Commission voted 6-0 to deny the rezoning. But City staff points out that it’s consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, is adjacent to existing CN zoning to the east, and under the Land Development Code would be a small-scale development that would be compatible with the residential neighborhood. This should also be an interesting discussion.

Although not on the agenda, no doubt there will be some discussion under new business about what the process will be to replace outgoing City Manager Randy Oliver.

City of Peoria

Oliver resigns

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More later. But for now, here’s the letter of resignation.

UPDATE 9:24 p.m.: Randy Oliver held a press conference today to announce his resignation as Peoria City Manager effective February 15. No council members nor the Mayor were in attendance. When asked why he’s leaving, he responded by saying, “I have other things I want to do.” When asked “what other things,” he said “consulting.” Later in the conference he elaborated, saying that he used to do consulting work and enjoyed it, but it required him to travel a lot. Since he had young children at the time, all the traveling wasn’t so good. Now that his kids are grown, his wife can travel with him when he does consulting work.

He had a lot of very nice things to say about Peoria, about the City’s staff, and even about the Council and Mayor. He said “the power of Peoria is in the people,” and emphasized how much he likes Peoria and will miss the people and neighborhood groups here. He also gave a lot of credit to his staff for his accomplishments, repeating several times that the good things they’ve done have been a “team effort.”

When asked if he was resigning because he would have been fired anyway or because he was being bullied to leave, he said, “the Council and I have a wonderful working relationship,” and, “I never get bullied.” He did allow that you can’t please everyone, certainly not eleven people. He considers an 8-3 vote a landslide. Interestingly, though, he also said during the press conference that it’s his policy to not disagree publicly with the Council.

I asked him about recent reports that he interviewed for a job in McKinney, Texas. I said that often when you’re looking for another job, you don’t want your current employer to know, but then asked, now that he’s tendering his resignation and secrecy is no longer necessary, does he still stand by his story that he has not been seeking employment elsewhere? He’s usually pretty smooth at answering questions, but this one seemed to make him stammer a bit. He said that he’ll have to work with recruiters in the future, and thus, “I don’t want to get into what I may or may not have done and what they may or may not have done.” He said he didn’t think the issue was germane to his resignation announcement.

He’s giving 30 days notice in order to provide time to train an interim and/or permanent replacement, resulting in a “smooth, orderly transition.” He was asked what he felt his biggest accomplishments were. He listed off a few things: the “new doctors’ building on the med school campus,” “annexations that have increased our tax base,” the Southtown property sale, the “noise impounds and boots” (referring to the City’s policy of impounding cars that violate the noise ordinance and booting cars that have unpaid parking tickets), the Museum Square deal (even though it’s not built yet, he pointed to his efforts to get Caterpillar to agree to demolish the Sears block instead of the city), and the special assessment along Radnor and Wilhelm roads.

The question now is, what happens next? Some people think Planning and Growth Director Pat Landes would be a good choice for an interim or possibly permanent City Manager, while others are saying that retired Caterpillar executive Henry Holling is likely to get the nod for the interim. Mayor Ardis said, “We [the council] will meet next week to try and select an interim [City Manager]. I imagine we’ll do a national search similar to what we did when we hired Randy,” for a permanent replacement.

City of Peoria

Oliver to hold news conference today

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I received this e-mail from the city today:

City Manager Randy Oliver will be holding a news conference today (1/16) at 3:00 p.m. in his office.

What do you think this is about? I got an anonymous tip last night that Randy resigned yesterday effective immediately. However, when I e-mailed Randy about it, he told me he is still with the City of Peoria. And, of course, there has been a lot of speculation surrounding him selling his house and a report in the Dallas newspaper that he was a finalist for a city manager job in McKinney, Texas. Throughout it all, he’s steadfastly denied that he’s looking for another job, interviewing anywhere else, or making any plans to leave Peoria.

Maybe this press conference isn’t about any of that. But I can’t imagine what else it would be.

UPDATE: Jonathan Ahl reports that Oliver is in fact resigning.

UPDATE 2: I got another e-mail from the city: “The News Conference has been moved to Council Chambers at 3:00 today instead of the City Manager’s Office.”