All posts by C. J. Summers

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

And for your breach of contract, have another $187,847

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What do you do when a company exhibits questionable competence, endangers the citizens of Peoria, and breaches their contract with the city? If you’re the city of Peoria, you award them another contract for more work.

Just to recap: Central Illinois Railroad (CIRY) tried to fulfill their contractual obligations. Late last year they tried to take some lumber up the Kellar Branch to Carver Lumber Company. What many people don’t know is that the Kellar Branch includes a pretty steep hill where it climbs the bluff. CIRY was using a vehicle called a Trackmobile to haul the lumber up the hill. Trackmobiles are designed for moving train cars around in a train yard, not for hauling lumber uphill; they don’t have as much power as an engine. As a result, they lost traction and the train barrelled down the hill backwards at 30 mph through several grade crossings. That runaway train could have killed someone, but thankfully didn’t. After that, they never again attempted to use the Kellar Branch — in breach of their contract with the city.

Not only did the city not enforce that contract (to Carver Lumber’s detriment), but now they want to hire the same company — a company with questionable competence — to do some rail crossing work on Allen Road to the tune of $187,847.

There are several things wrong with this picture:

  1. It does not appear that the City got multiple quotes and this was the low bid. For such an expensive project, one would think they would have bid it out. If they did, they didn’t disclose that information to the council in the Request for Council Action.
  2. The experience the City has had with this company is not exemplary. As noted above, they have been in breach of contract and have endangered the lives of Peoria citizens by their gross negligence. Why should we trust them?
  3. The quote submitted is apparently not itemized. There is hardware as well as labor included in that number of $187,847. How much are they charging for labor? How much for parts? Shouldn’t we at least get an itemized quote? It could be that it is itemized on “Exhibit 2B” which is unfortunately not included in the material available online.
  4. Recently, this same company filed a non-itemized quote with the Surface Transportation Board claiming it would cost over $500,000 to bring the Kellar Branch up to operable working condition, yet Pioneer Industrial Railway submitted an itemized work order indicating it would only cost around $10,000. See my previous post on this issue for more details. Doesn’t this indicate to anyone that CIRY’s cost estimates at least have the potential of being inflated?

One other thing: this work is not being paid by the city, but by IDOT. Does IDOT know anything about the history of this company? Did they have any part in this choice? In fact, why isn’t IDOT doing this work themselves? IDOT’s Bureau of Railroads provided an estimate for track repair on the Kellar Branch back in 2000 (which was used by the city to try to prove repairs are too costly). If they can provide estimates and repair work, and if they’re footing the bill anyway, why is CIRY involved at all?

I certainly hope someone takes this off the consent agenda on Tuesday and asks city staff some hard questions about it.

City of Peoria

What’s wrong with Peoria?

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Peoria LogoI’m disturbed by what I see as a trend to de-emphasize the name of our beloved city, Peoria. The museum is only the latest in a long line of the name purging. Remember what CityLink used to be called? That’s right, GP Transit — where “GP” stood for “Greater Peoria.” The Journal Star stopped calling themselves the “Peoria Journal Star” decades ago. The Peoria Civic Center is looking to sell their naming rights, so it will likely lose the Peoria part of its name. Now, the Peoria Regional Airport is floating the idea of changing its name as well.

Why? What’s wrong with “Peoria”? Is it a lack of civic pride? Are people embarrassed to be associated with Peoria?

One argument I hear often is that many of these places want to have more regional appeal, thus they come up with more generic or regional names. Here’s my question: how’s that working out? Does CityLink have a large presence in East Peoria, Pekin, Germantown Hills, Metamora, Washington, Bartonville, etc., now that they’ve adopted a regional name? Has the Journal Star’s circulation risen since they de-emphasized “Peoria” in their nameplate? Has fundraising really taken off in the surrounding cities since the museum started calling themselves (temporarily) the Central Illinois Regional Museum? I’m highly skeptical that these efforts have resulted in any appreciable difference in revenues or attitudes toward the companies who’ve chosen to eschew the Peoria moniker.

Another argument is that Peoria supposedly has a bad reputation for whatever reason, thus making the name a marketing liability. First of all, I don’t believe people are that easily fooled. You still have to tell people where you’re located, so they’re going to find out that you’re in Peoria eventually. You can’t trick them into coming here. Secondly, hiding the Peoria name doesn’t help improve that reputation, if one concedes such a repuation exists. If the Peoria Civic Center is successful, then Peoria’s reputation is helped. If the Peoria History Museum gained national attention, then the Peoria name would shine. But if the AMAZEum prospers, or the ABC Company Civic Center is a popular regional attraction, what does that do for Peoria’s name? Nothing. It’s self-defeating.

So, I ask again, what’s wrong with Peoria? What’s wrong with showing a little pride in our city? Yes, I do my fair share of criticism of the city, but I consider around 99% of it constructive criticism, and frankly, I love Peoria. That’s why I live here. That’s why I’ve chosen to live right in the heart of the city. That’s why I call my blog “The PEORIA Chronicle.”

I’m tired of seeing “Peoria” get short shrift. Despite its challenges, Peoria has a lot going for it. We all know it. We can all quote chapter and verse about Peoria’s storied past and our progressive vision for the future. Why not flaunt it? We should be proud to put the name “Peoria” on our museums, civic centers, airport, buses, newspapers, etc. And we should be proud to be known as Peorians.

City of Peoria, Insight Communications, Television

TV ads promote national cable franchise agreement

Have you seen a commercial like this one lately?

In this ad, which I got online, it lists Tennessee senators, but I’ve seen this same ad locally (frequently) with Illinois senators listed. It leaves you with the impression that some nefarious “special interests” are sabotaging a chance to lower our cable bills and allow something called “cable choice.” But these ads are totally misleading.

What the ads don’t tell you is that they’re advocating a bill in Congress known as the Advanced Telecommunication and Opportunity Reform Act. The House version of the bill (HR5252) passed 321 to 101, and is due to come up in the Senate. If passed and signed into law, this bill would allow the federal government to award cable franchise agreements.

I first brought this up back in April when Peoria’s franchise agreement with Insight expired. Right now, companies who want to offer cable television to a community must negotiate a franchise agreement with the local municipality. Peoria is still trying to negotiate a renewed franchise agreement with Insight Communications; according to city attorney Randy Ray, Insight and the City will be meeting again September 11 to hopefully hammer something out.

By law, cable franchise agreements are non-exclusive. That means no one is keeping “cable choice” from happening. Any company who wants to offer cable TV to Peoria can come in and negotiate their own franchise agreement with the city. But big telecom congomerates like AT&T don’t want to have to negotiate with every municipality, hence the push for a national franchise agreement.

The telecom-backed www.WeWantChoice.com, which sponsored the above commercial and others like it, call the current franchise system “a lengthy, expensive process that just doesn’t make sense.” By having a national franchise agreement, it will make it easier for them to compete, they claim, and that competition will lead to lower cable bills.

The Illinois Municipal League (IML) sees it differently. Local governments and their advocates like the IML are undoubtedly the “special interests” to which the commercials refer. The IML believes this legislation “would harm consumers, cities and counties in many ways, including:”

  1. It fails to keep local govemment financially whole because it strips state and local governments of tax authority over broadband and wireless telecommunications services.
  2. It would permit local telephone companies to pick and choose the neighborhoods in which they want to provide video and broadband services, while allowing them to bypass other
    neighborhoods completely.
  3. It would replace strong state and local consumer protection and customer service standards with federal standards drafted by federal bureaucrats not accountable to state and local communities and consumers.
  4. It would unilaterally preempt other carefully crafted state and local laws that encourage competition and protect the public interest.

If this process is so expensive and burdensome, how is it that cable companies have figured out a way to do it profitably? Why should telecom companies be allowed a shortcut — an end-run around local control? This is not about leveling the playing field — it’s about very large telecom companies wanting an advantage over cable companies. This is not a process that needs to be nationalized. Cable franchises should not be a federal issue; they are a local issue, and they should stay local.

Incidentally, Randy Ray mentioned that the city has been lobbying our representatives in Washington concerning this, and “the Mayor has written several letters.”

No one has admitted it, but I’m guessing this legislation is one of the sticking points that’s delaying the new franchise agreement between the City and Insight. I’ll bet Insight wants language in the agreement that will allow them an “out” if national franchise agreements are permitted in the future. Otherwise, they would be at a competitive disadvantage.

City of Peoria, Kellar Branch

Carver Lumber pleads for Kellar access

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Carver Lumber recently wrote the Surface Transportation Board (STB) and pleaded with them to let Pioneer Industrial Railway provide them service over the Kellar Branch. It’s technically called a petition for “Alternative Rail Service.” The idea is that everyone is kind of in limbo waiting for the STB to rule on whether service over the Kellar Branch should be discontinued or not, but in the meantime Central Illinois Railroad (CIRY), the city’s current carrier, refuses to run on the old Kellar Branch, even though they have an obligation to do so until the STB gives them approval to stop.

So, during this “limbo” period that CIRY is refusing to carry out their common carrier obligation, Pioneer is offering to provide that service instead. Clear as mud? Carver writes:

Several weeks ago Carver Lumber Company requested that the board restore our rail service over the Kellar Branch in Peoria County, Illinois. On July 27, 2006, Pioneer Industrial Railway Co. filed an Alternative Rail Service Request, which we support. To date, Central Illinois Railroad Company continues to refuse to provide service over the Kellar Branch, despite its common carrier obligation to do so.

Our business desperately needs reliable rail service. We urge the board to act as quickly as possible to grant Pioneer Industrial’s Alternative Service request.

It’s kind of sad that Carver has to appeal to the STB to get any relief. You’d think that Peoria, that’s supposedly trying to become more business-friendly, would be on Carver’s side, trying to get them the rail service they need. You’d think that Steve Van Winkle, who promised Carver in writing that “the City stands ready and willing to enforce all aspects of its contract with [CIRY]” would stand by his word and actually seek relief for Carver’s unnecessary expenses due to CIRY’s breach of contract.

But no. The city lied. The city wants Carver to go away. The city wants to throw away those 50 jobs, sales taxes, property taxes, and of course the $565,000 rail asset. All for a hiking/biking trail.

UPDATE: CIRY and the City have written the STB in response to Carver Lumber’s request. They point out that once a car is placed on the new western spur by Union Pacific, CIRY promptly delivers the car to Carver Lumber. Thus, they claim CIRY is fulfilling its common carrier service. Completely ignored is the fact that Carver could have gotten that shipment sooner had CIRY (or Pioneer) picked up the car downtown and taken it up the Kellar Branch instead of waiting for UP to place it on the western spur. It would be cheaper, too. Just one more example of how the City has no interest in dealing fairly with Carver Lumber Company.

Museum Block

Museum should allow “write-in” votes

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To follow up my earlier post, remember when they wanted to rename the Peoria Chiefs? They had all kinds of ridiculous-sounding names, and everyone wrote in “Chiefs.” Guess what? They stuck with “Chiefs.” I wish we could do that with the Peoria museum. As a recent commenter pointed out, that’s what everyone is going to call it anyway — why not formalize it?

I have some other ideas for write-in votes, too. Remember, this is all in fun, okay? My intentions are not nearly as mean-spirited as the names may sound:

  • CATastrophe Museum
  • SNOOZEum
  • Midwest Ambiguous Museum of Miscellany
  • Museum on the Old Sears Block

Incidentally, I’ve noticed on the “Name the Museum” website that they don’t use radio buttons — the kind that allow you to choose only one item in a list — but rather the little checkboxes so you can choose as many options as you like. Interesting choice of coding; I’ll have to assume it was intentional, but I don’t know why. Until they add a “Peoria Museum” or at least a “None of the Above” choice, I’m not voting.

Peoria Public Schools

District 150 responds to Royster suit

Kay RoysterThe Journal Star reports this morning that District 150 has filed their response to Kay Royster’s allegation that she was terminated as Superintendent due to racial discrimination. You can read the full reply by clicking here (PDF file).

Of most interest to me was that they denied the most damaging claim (in my opinion) — that a meeting took place among only the white board members where the black board members were specifically not invited. They didn’t give any details of their defense, just a flat denial. Of course, how does one prove a negative? It will be up to Royster to prove such a meeting took place.

Not metioned in the Journal Star article are the “Affirmative Defenses” at the end of the 25-page reply. Among the more interesting ones to me: the defendants claim that most of the allegations have been brought forward too late — that they’re past the statute of limitations time period, that the specific defendants (Aaron Schock, Sean Matheson, Vince Wieland, and Mary Spangler) have immunity from suit because they’re local legislators, and Royster “lacks standing to bring some or all of her claims as she was fully compensated under the terms and conditions of her expired contract.”

City of Peoria, Museum Block

“Peoria” not a museum name choice

21 Comments

WMBD 1470 has the scoop on proposed names for the new museum. Here they are:

  • ExploraSphere Museum
  • AMAZeum
  • Port of Exporation Museum
  • Museum on the Square

Noticeably absent: “Peoria” and “history.” These names illustrate my main criticism of the museum. From any of those names, do you know what this museum is supposed to be? What kind of museum it is? What kind of exhibits it has? Every one of them is nondescript.

The museum’s website has this description:

A new museum of art, history, science and achievement is coming to downtown Peoria. Its galleries will be full of fine art and Illinois folk art, Illinois High School achievements and replays, African American histories, plus oral and interactive history exhibits that tell the story of the entire region. There will be an Illinois River Encounter – from the Ice Age to today, a digital planetarium, and a giant screen theatre, all in a beautiful and environmentally cutting-edge new building on Museum Square.

Again, no mention of Peoria, other than its address. Perhaps the ambiguity of the museum is part of what’s hampering fundraising efforts. I have a suggestion regarding fundraising, though: If it’s going to be a place that “tell[s] the story of the entire region,” then they should ask for donations from the “entire region,” whatever that is, instead of just Peorians, who apparently aren’t worth mentioning in the museum’s name or description.

You can vote for your favorite name at www.namethemuseum.org.

City of Peoria, Peoria Public Schools

It’s time for Peoria schools to be reborn

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The Journal Star reports this morning that Dunlap schools (District 323) have added 167 new students this year. More students means more federal dollars; it also means more people are moving into the Dunlap School District, bringing more property tax revenue into the system. Dunlap School Superintendant Jeanne Williamson is quoted as saying, “I welcome our growth, it says to us the school district is attracting families to Dunlap … and we’ll continue to serve them.”

But when she says they’re attracting families “to Dunlap,” she doesn’t mean more people are moving into the village, just the school district. Williamson was interviewed in a recent issue of Peoria Woman and had these interesting statistics to share (emphasis mine):

For the past two school years, we’ve tracked where our new Dunlap students come from. Only about 15 percent of our growth is a shift from District 150. The majority of our new students are from families moving into the Peoria area from other locations. There’s been extensive new construction and development of subdivisions in the City of Peoria that are located in the Dunlap School District; this enhances the decision for families to buy these homes. Since approximately 70 percent of our students live in the City of Peoria, it’s been a great marriage between the city and the Dunlap School District.

I would argue that it hasn’t been a “great marriage” for the city. It’s more like a divorce because it divides the city and damages our sense of community (and by “community,” I mean, “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals”). We now have a situation where the northern part of the city has an economically-advantaged student base with a growing school district budget, and the southern part of the city has an economically-disadvantaged student base with a growing school district deficit. District 150 is trying to educate the neediest, most at-risk children with dwindling resources while all the tax revenue from Peoria’s growth area is going to the least needy.

It’s the age-old story of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. And something needs to be done about it.

As readers of my site know, I’m a proponent of the Heart of Peoria Plan and related initiatives to revitalize our older neighborhoods in the core of the city. But everyone acknowledges that the biggest things we need to be working on in Peoria are crime and schools. We’ll leave crime for a later discussion; right now, let’s talk about what can be done to improve the schools.

I propose (and this is not original with me) that we consolidate school districts 150 and 323. Since 70 percent of the students in District 323 are from Peoria anyway, I don’t see any reason to have separate school districts that divide our city and cause an ever-increasing economic disparity that hurts the neediest of our city’s children. Our civic leaders should begin a campaign now to lobby for consolidation. I realize it will be an uphill battle and may take years to succeed, but someone needs to get the ball rolling.

I think it should start with the District 150 school board working directly with the District 323 school board. If those two boards vote to consolidate, a referendum can be put on the ballot. Otherwise, it would take petitions with 50 signatures from District 150 residents and 50 signatures from District 323 residents to get a referendum on the ballot. However, if the school boards were for it, I think that would carry more weight with the public.

Under a new law for school consolidation, the way it could work is that both District 150 and 323 would be dissolved and a new district formed with a new school board elected at the same time. Thus, it wouldn’t be like one district joining the other, but a new district with new leadership formed all at once. This could be the renaissance that Peoria needs to improve education for all the children of our city.

The last time Peoria experienced massive growth — back in the ’60s when Richwoods township was annexed — civic leaders (and the media, including the Journal Star) campaigned tirelessly and passionately about the importance of having a united school district, and they succeeded. I’m confident that it can be done again.

Blogosphere

Bash was fun

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The Blogger Bash last night was fun. It occurred to me, as I was telling my wife who all was there, that I was the only non-pseudonymous blogger present. Those attending: PeoriaIllinoisan, Mapgirl, Emtronics, Eyebrows McGee, and me. It was like going to a secret superhero party where everyone has their masks off. “Hey! You’re Bruce Wayne!”

We talked about everything from Peoria politics to religion — I think we hit on every taboo subject, yet still left as friends. I was told the place was a Cardinals bar, but the TV where we were sitting had the Cubs game on. It’s just as well. Mulder was, um, pitching? — Is that what he was doing? — for the Cardinals last night. So, it was more fun to watch the Cubs implode in the background instead.

Emtronics regaled us with stories about his chicken-farming neighbor. Eyebrows and I had a good Catholic-Protestant debate/discussion about theology. I can’t tell you anything about the mysterious Mapgirl (I’m sworn to secrecy), except that she knows a lot about Peoria and was fun to talk to. And PeoriaIllinoisan disclosed that his blog entries are short because he doesn’t like to write much. That’s why his other blogs are just pictures or videos.

For another recap, take a look at Eyebrows’ blog and Midwest Confidential. And next time, come on out for the Blogger Bash yourself! You don’t have to be a blogger to attend. We love meeting readers as well as bloggers. The more, the merrier.

Blogosphere

Blogger Bash

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It’s a month with five Tuesdays, so you know what that means: Blogger Bash!

Yes, my sources tell me that the Bash will be at Castle’s Patio Inn on Loucks tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. This is a little earlier than usual, so all you wise early-to-bed people should be able to make it this time.

I was happy to hear from PeoriaIllinoisan that it’s a Cardinals bar. After that dramatic walk-off grand slam last night, it will be a good night to watch some Cardinals baseball!