All posts by C. J. Summers

I am a fourth-generation Peorian, married with three children.
City of Peoria

I met Mr. Barber

I got to meet and briefly talk to the new Public Works Director tonight after the city council meeting. He was very cordial and didn’t hold my previous post about him against me. Although he doesn’t call it “new urbanism,” he does espouse the same beliefs, including pedestrian-friendliness, mixed-use, context-sensitive solutions, bringing more residential options downtown, etc. I’m much more optimistic about him now that I’ve met him.

I was also told that Planning & Growth Director Pat Landes and Second District Councilwoman Barbara Van Auken did question the candidates extensively about their experience with older neighborhoods and new urbanism principles. So I have a greater comfort level with the process.

Even though at 57 years old he’s probably not going to be a long-term employee (he’ll likely stay fewer than 10 years), he will be responsible for hiring some key positions in the next few years, and the selection committee would like him to fill those positions with an eye toward succession planning — in other words, put someone second in command who can take over for Barber when he leaves. So keep an eye on whoever emerges as the No. 2 person in Public Works.

Nation/World

Where were you on September 11, 2001?

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9-11 Firemen Raise FlagI was sleeping on the couch with a terrible head cold. My wife woke me up and said that the news was reporting that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I didn’t think much of it because I had heard of planes hitting tall buildings before, like the Empire State Building, and while there had been some casualties, it wasn’t a catastrophe. I got up and called in sick to work, then I lay down on the bed.

Our clock radio is set to NPR, so I was sort of half-listening to the news as I tried to go back to sleep. They were broadcasting some personal interest story when all of a sudden the audio just stopped — very unusual. I’ll never forget the sound of Bob Edwards, who was the host of Morning Edition on NPR at that time, breaking in and reporting that another plane had hit the second World Trade Center tower.

Despite my cold, I was awake now. Something was desperately wrong. I got up and turned on the television and watched the tragedy continue to unfold right before my eyes. I remember distinctly the sense of honest-to-goodness fear I felt when they announced that another plane had hit the Pentagon and that the FAA was grounding all flights nation-wide. There was some time there that I just stood by the couch watching the TV and saying to my wife, “How many more are there? What are they going to hit next? How widespread is this attack on the U.S.? When will it stop?”

I also remember how thankful I was that my daughter, who was our only child at the time, was not old enough to know what was going on. I don’t know why I thought that, exactly — I guess I was just relieved that she wouldn’t be afraid because she was only a year old and oblivious to anything outside of her crib.

I know this has been said a million times before, but it’s true — watching the towers collapse was like watching a movie. It wasn’t until later that it really hit me that I had literally watched thousands of people die when those buildings came down. I can’t even imagine — I don’t want to imagine — how horrifying that must have been.

Amid all the tragedy, though, I remember one positive thing. In the days immediately following the attacks, I witnessed a unity and honest, non-jingoistic patriotism absolutely everywhere: at work, on the news, on the radio, on the streets, in Washington…. Everyone put their differences aside (race, religion, political party affiliation, etc.) and stood together, proud to be fellow Americans. I thought to myself, this must be what it was like in this country during World War II.

Alas, it was short-lived. But it was inspiring and reassuring while it lasted. It’s too bad that it takes a tragedy of that magnitude to make us realize how petty many of our differences really are, and how easy it can be to live with those differences when we put them into perspective.

2008 Campaign, Peoria County

Cold Case

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Cold Case Kevin

Kevin Lyons announced recently that he’s going to run for reelection as Peoria County State’s Attorney. I found this interesting:

Among the items he said he wanted to focus on in the coming years were efforts to protect police officers from vicious dogs who might be housed by criminals, the possible hiring of a “cold-case” prosecutor to try to solve unsolved cases [emphasis mine] and a continued effort to protect the elderly.

One of those goals sounds familiar…. Oh, here it is, from November 3, 2004 — the last time Lyons was reelected:

Lyons, 48, of Peoria has served as Peoria County’s top prosecutor for nearly 16 years. Among his goals for his next term are to create a cold case unit for unsolved crimes [emphasis mine] and to bring criminal cases to conclusion faster.

He has a good reason why he hasn’t reached his 2004 goal yet. He’s holding out for Det. Lilly Rush (pictured above, with Lyons) to join his team. She always solves her cases, and that kind of slam-dunk record is just what Lyons is looking for.

Arts Partners, City Council, City of Peoria

ArtsPartners: Should they keep getting city subsidies?

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ArtsPartners LogoThe city council will be considering whether or not to approve giving ArtsPartners a 2.5% share of the restaurant portion of Peoria’s HRA tax for four more years. Here’s a little background from the council communication:

In 2000, the City and Civic Center amended their Intergovernmental Agreement to provide that ArtsPartners of Central Illinois receive 2.5% of the collected Restaurant Tax revenue collected commencing with the September 2000 Restaurant Tax receipts and continuing through August 2002. In August 2002, that Agreement was extended through August of 2004, and again from 2004 to 2006. In 2006, the City approved an Amendment through August 2007. The Civic Center Authority Board unanimously voted on August 23,2007 to continue funding and approve a four (4) year Intergovernmental Agreement with ArtsPartners capped at $75,000 per year and continuing to receive the 2.5% of Restaurant Tax through August 31, 2011.

A recent Chronicle commentator argues that ArtsPartners duplicates the efforts of other organizations. Since arts groups do their own local advertising/promotion, and since the publicly-funded Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau promotes the Peoria area (which would presumably include promotion of the arts offerings) to tourists and those relocating, why do we need yet another publicly-funded agency to focus on the arts?

I think the commentator has a point. Furthermore, while the arts are important, so are other things. What about sports? Should we start a publicly-funded “SportsPartners” organization to market and promote all the sporting events in Peoria? Schools are important — how about a publicly-funded “SchoolPartners” to promote all the great public and private schools we have in Peoria?

Here’s a better idea: If the Civic Center doesn’t need all that HRA money, how about reducing the tax instead of trying to find other ways to spend it? Lower taxes have wide appeal — I’ll bet they would help tourism and relocation at least as much as ArtsPartners.

Uncategorized

Aboard the LST

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Jackie on the LST with helmetMy family took a tour of the LST on Tuesday, the last day it was here in Peoria. We took tons of pictures, but this one is my favorite.

That’s my oldest daughter Jackie (7), who just started second grade this fall. She’s wearing a helmet that was on display (she had permission from the tour guide to try it on). Her only observation about it: “It’s heavy!”

I hope she never has to wear one of those things for real….

City of Pekin, City of Peoria, Illinois American Water

How high’s the water (rate), Mama?

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Illinois American Water has petitioned the Illinois Commerce Commission to raise their rates in Peoria and Pekin by 20 and 26.7 percent, respectively.

Water company officials say the increases are necessary to cover rising operating costs and infrastructure improvements….

And now, let’s compare this with what Illinois American Water said two years ago according to an April 4, 2005, Journal Star article:

The current business plan of Illinois American Water does not call for a general rate case before 2009, and that means customers will not see the impact of a general rate increase before 2010. Barring an extraordinary event like Sept. 11, the average residential bill will still be $34.74 [average bill in 2005] in 2010.

It is also important to note that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that municipal water systems need to spend $18 billion in order to bring their existing systems up to government standards for water quality. Peorians don’t have this problem because the necessary and timely investments have been made in their water system by Illinois American Water.

So, in 2005, everything was hunky-dory: no rate increases until 2009/2010, infrastructure all up to date. That was when the city was on the brink of buying out the water company. Now, just two years later, and without “an extraordinary event like Sept. 11,” they’re back to the ICC again asking for a 20% rate increase to cover operating expenses and infrastructure improvements. What changed? Why did they have to accelerate their business plan by two years and ask for such a massive increase all of a sudden?

For a company that doesn’t want the city to buy back its water works, they couldn’t have picked a worse time to ask for a rate increase. If it goes through, it will likely take effect next year, just in time for the city to consider buying them out again. Only public pressure has stopped the buyout before; if the public feels like Illinois American Water is screwing them, nothing will get in the way of the city buying them out.

City of Peoria

Who is David Barber?

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David Barber will be taking over as Public Works Director when Steve Van Winkle retires October 1. According to WMBD Radio:

Barber has over 20 years experience as a Public Works Director in four communities in Illinois and Ohio including Downers Grove, Naperville and Evanston, Illinois and Bowling Green, Ohio. Barber’s first day in Peoria will be September 6th working closely with current Public Works Director Steve Van Winkle before he retires October first. Barber, who is 57, will be paid $116,000 a year.

As far as I can put together from searching the Internet, Barber worked in Naperville from 1996 to 2001. He was the Public Works Director there from 1996 to September 1999, at which time the city spun off a new Department of Traffic and Engineering to focus specifically on traffic issues (Chicago Tribune, 9/23/1999). Barber became the director of that new department and Naperville hired a new Public Works Director. On Jan. 31, 2001, Barber left the city of Naperville to take a job at Harza Engineering of Chicago (Chicago Tribune, 1/24/2001).

In January 2004, Barber went to work for Downers Grove as Public Works Director, and he worked there until June 5, 2007. According to DGreport.com, a local Downers Grove blog, Barber was asked to resign by the Village Manager:

Barber and Village Manager Cara Pavlicek reached the decision together, according to a Village Hall staffer. Barber, who has also been working as a continuing education instructor at the University of Wisconsin has decided to focus his interests in academia. He came to Downers Grove in January 2004 after more than 30 years experience in civil engineering and public works.

Some of the complaints during his short tenure included “residents of Oakwood Avenue challeng[ing] the department’s computations on the cost of repairing their brick street,” “complaints about the sidewalk matrix, the tool by which new sidewalks are prioritized for construction,” and “storm water drainage problems,” according to the site.

There’s no indication that Barber has any experience with the principles of New Urbanism. If that’s so, it’s a real disappointment. It will indicate that familiarity with and advocacy for those principles was not a high priority for the selection committee collectively, which included council members Van Auken, Jacob, and Turner. I’ve written to Van Auken and City Manager Oliver asking what experience Barber has with the principles of New Urbanism; I’ll update this post when I receive any information.

Given Barber’s age and recent job history, I will be surprised if he stays in Peoria more than five years, if that long.

City of Peoria

Peoria making good use of river

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The NiñaIt’s exciting to see Peoria utilizing its riverfront by bringing in floating museums. First they brought in the LST 325 that has been here the past several days (today’s the last day to take a tour), and now we find out that a replica of The Niña is coming on September 21. It goes without saying, but you have to have a river to bring in these exhibits, so you won’t see them coming to, say, Bloomington or Galesburg. We’ve got quite an asset in that river.

The Niña is actually a nickname; the formal name of Columbus’s ship was the Santa Clara. The ship was a caravel and reportedly Columbus’s favorite ship. According to Wikipedia:

On Columbus’ first expedition, the Niña carried 24 men, captained by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón. They left Palos de la Frontera on August 3, 1492, stopping at the Canary Islands on August 12, 1492, and continued westward. Landfall was made in the Bahamas at dawn on October 12, 1492. After running the Santa Maria aground, Columbus returned on the Niña in early 1493, arriving in Palos de la Frontera on March 15.

The replica that’s coming to Peoria was built “in Valenca, Brazil, using only adzes, axes, hand saws, and chisels, in addition to naturally-shaped timbers from the local forest,” according to the exhibit’s website. “In December 1991, the Niña left Brazil and sailed to Costa Rica on a 4000 mile unescorted maiden voyage to take part in the filming of 1492. Since then, the ship has visited over 300 ports in the U.S.”

The Niña will be on display in Peoria from September 21 to October 2.

Woodford County

Route 26 residents protest gravel pit

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Stop the Gravel Pit signI was taking a Sunday drive with my family up along the river yesterday, and we drove up Route 26 (we took it to the bridge in Lacon and came back down Route 29 on the west side of the river). All along Route 26 from Route 116 to Spring Bay were signs saying “Stop the Gravel Pit.”

Well, of course I had to find out what that was all about. There’s a website dedicated to the issue called stopthepit.info. Here’s their explanation:

The proposed site is bordered by Route 26, Spring Beach Road, Sunset Drive and the Illinois River, located 2 miles north of the Thornton’s gas station. This site directly borders numerous neighborhoods where heavy residential investment has occurred over the past 10 years, and this location is already burdened with truck and commercial traffic….

The proposed gravel pit would be operated by East Peoria Materials, LLC (Carrie Scharf Materials), on approximately 200 acres of agricultural land leased from the Dubois family. East Peoria Materials, LLC has applied for rezoning of the property by the Woodford County Zoning Board of Appeals and the Woodford County Board. The rezoning would change the property from Agricultural to Conservation use, and then grant an exception for use of the property to operate a gravel pit. This matter is under consideration by Woodford County, with public hearings scheduled in early September.

The residents are concerned about lower property values and decreased quality of life resulting from increased truck traffic traffic, noise, and dust along Route 26. They’re also concerned that this gravel pit could cause damage to well water and the Illinois River. One of their frequently asked questions is, “One of the land parcels adjoins the river. Can they put in a barge terminal?” Answer:

The adjacency to the river does indeed make a barge terminal possible. Should that develop, Peoria Lake would no longer be an attractive scenic Peoria feature. The fish and wildlife population would also be affected. Barge terminals do not attract waterfowl, and the Lake is a major stop on the flyway.

Peoria has a barge terminal down by Darst Street on the south end, and they can handle gravel. If the gravel pit is approved, one would think that if they utilized Peoria’s barge terminal, it would result in more trucks, dust, and noise along Route 26, whereas putting in a barge terminal at the gravel pit would reduce those problems. It makes me wonder why they’re opposed to the terminal. On the other hand, I suppose we really don’t want to see barge terminals all up and down the river either.

An unrelated gravel pit in the northwestern Chicago suburb of Cary, Illinois, prompted concerned citizens to put together this protest video I found on Google Video:

While it’s a different company in a different community, it is the same kind of operation that would result in the same kind of noise, dust, and proximity to residential land use. The residents south of Spring Bay haven’t made any videos yet, but they do have a plan to fight the gravel pit:

Our approach is to pursue denial of the rezoning, to ensure we do not suffer the negative consequences of a gravel pit installation adjacent to our properties and high traffic areas. We are organized into volunteer committees consisting of Executive, Communications, Real Estate Tax, Environmental, Gravel Pit, Fundraising and several other committees. To ensure the effectiveness of our efforts, we have also retained the firm of Hasselberg, Rock, Bell and Kuppler, LLP.

More power to them. If they’re anywhere near as effective as Peoria Families Against Toxic Waste, I think they have a good chance of succeeding.