All posts by C. J. Summers

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

Take wrong ticket? Fired. Kill someone while boating drunk? Reinstated.

8 Comments

I just about fell out of my chair this morning when I read that Troy Parker has been put back on the police force by an arbitrator, albeit on unpaid administrative leave. Parker, you’ll recall, was fired for driving a boat while intoxicated, crashing the boat, and killing Damon Teverbaugh.

So, let me see if I understand how things work here. If you get drunk and kill your best friend in a boating accident, you should be allowed to stay on the force until convicted in a court of law — internal investigations are insufficient to fire you read more about the DWI Criminal Law Center who can help you get representation. But if you take a winning ticket at the Par-a-dice by accident because you thought it was your own, then make restitution immediately upon finding out you were mistaken, and no charges are filed — you’re fired anyway. Case closed.

Something is not right here. I don’t know if it’s racism or just that Dunnigan was disliked by the wrong people, but you can’t tell me there isn’t an inequity in punishment here. Why is Troy Parker still on the force and Marshall Dunnigan isn’t?

City of Peoria

City evidently looking to outsource code enforcement

14 Comments

The City of Peoria has been looking for ways to save money, and one of those ways is to consider outsourcing certain functions currently done in-house. When City Manager Randy Oliver looked at outsourcing the mechanics that work on the city’s fleet of vehicles, he met with a tremendous amount of push-back. Now it looks like another department is on the list for outsourcing: code enforcement.

Take a look at this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) on the International Code Council website:

Job ID: 2331984
Position Title: Property Maintenance Code Enforcement and Administration
Company Name: City of Peoria
Job Function: Code Compliance/Enforcement Officer
Entry Level: No
Location(s): City of Peoria, Illinois, United States
Posted: August 8, 2007
Job Type: Contract
Job Duration: 1-2 Years
Min Education: None
Min Experience: 1-2 Years
Required Travel: None

Request for Qualifications
City of Peoria, IL invites experienced companies interested in administering and enforcing property maintenance codes to respond to this RFQ. Peoria, IL currently enforces the 2003 International Property Maintenance Code, with adopted amendments. Peoria has a diverse population of 112,000, which includes many older neighborhoods, as well as continuous growth with numerous new subdivisions under construction. Interested companies would be expected to provide housing and environmental enforcement, to include, but not limited to, tagging vehicles for towing, posting abate notices, issuing work orders, issuing housing violation notices for admittance to Housing Court, issuance of citations and follow up appearances in Housing Court, as well as Peoria County Circuit Court. If you would like more information, please call the Inspections Office at (309) 494-8626. Interested organizations should submit information no later than 4:00 p.m. Friday, August 31, 2007.

Please submit your response to:

City of Peoria
John Kunski
456 Fulton St., Suite 401
Peoria, IL 61602

Peoria currently has 21 employees according to the City’s website (2 managers, 13 inspectors, and 6 support staff members). So outsourcing this department could conceivably save considerable money. Other cities have done it, to mixed reviews. At least one blogger has suggested it.

I think most people would agree that we need more code enforcement officers because of the huge work load out there (right now, it’s my understanding that code enforcement is complaint-based), but the city simply doesn’t have the money to hire more and more people with salaries and benefits. So maybe this is the solution to both problems. On the other hand, if they do outsource it, we’d better not have to report our complaints to a call center in India.

Peoria Public Schools

D150 dreaming up still more ways to throw our money away

9 Comments

Money in the trashThe Journal Star reports that District 150 is “considering spending between $7,000 and $18,000 to hire a search firm to help it find a new principal for Richwoods High School.”

First of all, I don’t see how this can be interpreted as anything less than a no-confidence vote against D150 teachers. No one internally is qualified? No one has the necessary leadership skills? What is the leadership of D150 trying to say here? Maybe Associate Superintendent Hannah can shed some light on this:

“We want a pool, I think, that we can really be proud of … I think that’s where the drive is coming from,” Associate Superintendent Herschel Hannah said tonight at a School Board committee meeting.

Ah. Translation: We’re not proud of our internal pool of candidates. (Although, just reading his remarks, he doesn’t sound very sure of himself. He thinks that’s why they’re considering spending thousands of dollars. He doesn’t know?)

Secondly, even if a school needed extra-special expert leadership skills — someone from outside the system that would come in and really turn a school around — is Richwoods the D150 school that needs it? Is Richwoods really more in need of a (for lack of a better term) “top-tier principal” than Manual, Woodruff, or Central?

I have an idea: Why don’t we put Herschel Hannah or Cindy Fischer in as principal at Richwoods and then eliminate one of those completely unnecessary, money-wasting “associate superintendent” positions? We’d save the 7-18 thousand dollars on a search firm and a full-time salary/benefits position — a win-win for a school district that’s supposedly trying to save money.

2008 Campaign

Primary positioning preposterous

4 Comments

Calendar PagesIllinois isn’t the only state moving its primary earlier in the year. South Carolina is moving its date up to mid-January according to The State (a S. C. newspaper):

S.C. Republican Party chairman Katon Dawson is expected to announce Thursday that the 2008 S.C. presidential primary will be Jan. 19, sources close to the party and campaigns told The State.

And that means that other states will be forced to have their votes even earlier. The New York Times explains:

New Hampshire has a law requiring that its primaries be held at least seven days ahead of a “a similar election” in any other state. … New Hampshire typically holds its primaries on a Tuesday, and if South Carolina moves up to Jan. 19, the latest Tuesday at least seven days earlier will be Jan. 8. And Iowa has a law requiring it to hold its caucuses at least eight days before the nominating contest of any other state. That would push the caucuses ahead to December.

I’m just waiting for the first state to declare that their primary is tomorrow. I was all set to write a post about how we need a national primary instituted by Congress, but it appears that can’t be done constitutionally. But maybe it’s time to consider amending the constitution. I mean, at this rate, some states will be having the 2012 Presidential Primary the Tuesday following next year’s election.

There’s got to be some way to stop this insanity.

Completely Useless Information

And now from the Completely Useless Information File….

7 Comments

Beer glassThe Associated Press (via the Pantagraph) reports that adult binge drinkers prefer beer, while teen binge drinkers prefer liquor.

The stereotype-shattering findings are reported in two studies by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And just what, may I ask, are we supposed to do with this information? What difference does it make what kind of alcohol each binge-drinking demographic unit prefers — from a medical standpoint, that is? Does it make a difference in how they’re treated for alcoholism? Does it shed any new light on how to help people overcome alcohol addiction? Why was money spent on this study?

Did they perchance discover other fascinating tidbits of knowledge, such as whether more adults than teens prefer limes in their Coronas? Or whether a majority of British adults with the last name of Bond prefer their martinis shaken rather than stirred? Inquiring minds want to know!

Energy Issues

Midwest Generation cited by EPA for releasing too much soot

5 Comments

CNN reports that Illinois power plants are creating too much air pollution:

In documents released Monday, the EPA cites Midwest Generation for releasing too much microscopic air pollution. And the agency alleges that the company has continued to operate its aging power plants without adding pollution controls required by the Clean Air Act.

Midwest Generation, a unit of Edison International (EIX), owns two coal plants in Chicago, two in Will County, one outside Peoria and one in Waukegan. All of the plants were once owned by ComEd, which also has been cited by the EPA.

Hmmm… I predict energy prices are going to go up again, this time to fix aging infrastructure.

Bradley University

Bradley’s presidential candidate: Joanne Glasser

16 Comments

Joanne GlasserWe don’t have to speculate any longer. The secret Bradley candidate for president is Joanne K. Glasser. The Journal Star and WEEK are making a big deal out of the fact that Bradley’s presidential candidate is a woman, as if we were living in 1957 when that would be really shocking.

She’s currently the president of Eastern Kentucky University. Here’s a little bit about her from her bio page on EKU’s website:

President Glasser, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from George Washington University; a Juris Doctorate Degree from The University of Maryland School of Law; and a Certificate from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education’s Institute of Higher Education Management.

In 2004, Glasser was a finalist for president of Illinois State University, but pulled out of the search before a decision was made.

From everything I’ve read about her, she appears to be a perfect match for Bradley. She has the education and the fund-raising skills, and students seem to like her. According to an article in the Lexington Herald-Leader, each year she invites all freshman to her house for a backyard cookout. In 2005, that was 1,800 freshman. “She estimated 75 percent attend,” the paper reported. That certainly sets her apart from Broski, who as I understand it couldn’t be visually identified by Bradley students his entire tenure.

Hopefully, if selected, she’ll come up with a creative way to help the university grow without harming surrounding neighborhoods in the process. That would also set her apart from Broski.

City of Peoria, Southern Gateway

City ready to issue license once Abud meets conditions

3 Comments

Chicago developer Ahmad Abud complained to the media last week that the city wasn’t moving fast enough in getting him a liquor license for his new south side grocery store, Adams Supermarket.

Abud said, “I never expected to spend one-point-two-million and then having all these problems going through all these hard times. I was expecting that we, investors would be welcomed here. The city’s gonna help us, I mean no headache.”

But the City says he will get his liquor license and Certificate of Occupancy once he meets the conditions the City Council required and to which he agreed. City Manager Randy Oliver says that as of the last inspection, which was July 30, the following conditions have not been met:

  • Parking lot lighting does not work (no power to the lights).
  • Landscaping not complete.
  • Misc. construction items (emergency lighting, exit signs, GFI and open electrical).
  • We have also not verified operation of the security cameras.

Oliver added that the City is “prepared to reinspect and if the items are completed issue the Certificate of Occupancy and Liquor License upon completion of these items.” So it would appear that the ball is decidedly in Mr. Abud’s court.

Frankly, I don’t know what Abud is complaining about; these don’t appear to be unreasonable conditions for getting a permit; are we to believe that the requirements were any lower in Ohio or California (where Abud has other stores)? I think not.

Update: Mayor Ardis, who is also the City’s liquor commissioner, informed me that businesses “can’t get a city liquor license until they have a health department license,” and Abud doesn’t have a health department license yet.

City of Peoria, New Urbanism

How the other Peoria does things

10 Comments

Peoria Arizona LogoIn Peoria, Arizona, it appears they have a new Wal-Mart opening in their town (two of them, actually), but it won’t look anything like the ones here:

The façade of the Oldtown Wal-Mart at Peoria and 79th avenues will make it appear as if it is broken into small shops, said James Mason, assistant to the city manager.

With such features as upper-story windows with awnings and shutters, changes in elevation and materials, the store will give the impression of a variety of stores that developed over time.

“It has that . . . old Main Street kind of look, even though it’s a large, big-box store,” said Mason. “That’s one of the best things you can do with a large, contiguous space. It breaks it up, it makes it more pedestrian-friendly, it makes it more pleasant to look at.”

I hate Wal-Mart, but I quote this article to make a couple points: First, even big box stores (and there’s no bigger box than Wal-Mart) can adapt their cookie-cutter templates to conform to a community’s design standards, in this case making their store façades attractive and consistent with existing architecture.

And second, this didn’t happen by accident. Although the newspaper article made it sound like it was Wal-Mart’s idea, in fact Wal-Mart was simply complying with Peoria, Arizona’s Non-Residential Design Manual. Some of the requirements of that manual can be seen here in this excerpt from their Planning and Zoning Commission’s minutes regarding another Wal-Mart that is being built on the north side of town:

Section 20-70-4 of the Non-Residential Design Review Manual requires rooflines to be varied in height, form, and materials. Building mass is to be broken into small components through the use of recesses and projections, wall plane off-sets and changes in texture and color. The elevation plans for the Wal-Mart structure demonstrate conformance with Design Guidelines. The elevation plans provide ample horizontal and vertical articulation to break up the mass of the buildings. The buildings also incorporate a diverse color and material palette. Decorative cornices along the roof parapet, fenestration and wainscoting have been included in the design. Upon completion of this building and supporting landscaping, the development will provide a significant aesthetic enhancement to the existing commercial node at the intersection of Thunderbird and 75th Avenue.

See, if Peoria, Arizona, can dictate to Wal-Mart what form their big box store should take, surely Peoria, Illinois, can do the same for big and small developments within the Heart of Peoria Plan area… such as on the old Sears block… or along Knoxville between Downtown and McClure. All it takes is a little willpower.