For 2010, I thought I’d change to a new WordPress theme. This one is called “Atahualpa” and I think it’s more readable than the old theme. Plus, it has a rotating header image, so each time you reload the page, you’ll randomly get one of five different images of Peoria. I’ll probably add more in the future.
Let me know what you think of it, and especially if you have any problems with it. You can e-mail me by clicking here.
Wishing everyone a safe and happy New Year as we usher in 2010.
Here’s what we know for sure: Campustown developer David Joseph already has another tenant lined up to replace Save-a-Lot, and it’s not a grocery store. Other than that, no one will comment for the record. So the question on everyone’s mind is, “who will the new tenant be?”
Over on Billy’s blog, one commenter suggests it will be an Ashley Furniture store. But in WEEK-TV’s news coverage, the manager of the Save-a-Lot tells a different story:
The Save-A-Lot store manager says the building won’t be empty for long, and he is hearing that it could be replaced with a Bradley bookstore.
I have heard Bradley rumored as a possible tenant from several sources — although they don’t all agree on what exactly Bradley will do with it. Possible uses run the gamut from a bookstore, as WEEK suggests, to offices, to an education center. I wrote to Bradley’s public relations rep — former Journal Star editor Shelley Epstein — but my inquiries have not been answered. Read into that what you will he’s out of town and unable to answer me until he gets back Sunday or Monday.
If the rumors are true and Bradley is going to be Campustown’s largest tenant, is that good or bad for the West Bluff? Let’s weigh the pros and cons.
Pros
Cons
From the city’s standpoint, there’s no question that the cons outweigh the pros. They’re going to lose money. Sales tax is the city’s bread and butter. In an effort to keep property taxes low, the city has been piling up sales taxes and fees to cover the rising costs of public works, public safety, and developer incentives.
It’s not as if the city couldn’t absorb the loss of Save-a-Lot’s tax revenue by itself. But this isn’t an isolated incident. There seems to be somewhat of a trend in retail outlets and residential properties being taken over by non-tax-producing entities. For example, the old K’s Merchandise was taken over by OSF. The old Damon’s restaurant in Riverfront Village was taken over by Heartland Partnership. The old Leath Furniture was converted to a church. And huge swaths of land and houses that used to be on the property tax rolls have been taken over by District 150 for various building projects — or, in the case of the Prospect road properties, expensive blunders. In the case of District 150, taxpayers get hit with a double-whammy: we have to pay millions to acquire the properties, plus we lose the revenue they produced. The city can’t sustain such a trend without compensating growth.
From a neighborhood standpoint, the problem with Campustown has always been crime. The place has a reputation for being unsafe, and until that changes, you’ll have a hard time getting tenants to locate there and you’ll have a hard time getting patrons for those tenants. If Bradley’s presence were to reduce crime in Campustown, I think most residents would see it as a net gain for the West Bluff. Conversely, if Save-a-Lot is gone (and, despite its faults, the store was serving the needs of some lower-income West Bluff residents) and there is no increase in safety in return, that will certainly be a net loss for the area.
According to the Journal Star, Save-a-Lot in Campustown on the West Bluff will close its doors January 3. Another tenant is lined up, but the developer won’t disclose who it is — except to say that it won’t be another grocery store. There are some other interesting comments:
“We’re looking for additional sites, and we’re open to other sites in the Peoria area,” [Gerry Kettler, director of consumer affairs for Niemann Foods] said.
I wonder if MidTown Plaza is one of the sites they’re considering. There was a lot of speculation back when Cub Foods closed that it would be replaced with a lower-end grocery store such as Save-a-Lot, since both chains are owned by Niemann Foods.
“From that standpoint we are disappointed Niemann Foods chose not to renew the lease. We’ve had a grocery in that space for almost all of the time Campustown has been there, almost 20 years. Apparently, there isn’t a strong enough need for one now,” [Brad Joseph of D. Joseph & Sons, the Peoria firm that developed and owns Campustown] said.
I couldn’t respond to this any better than frequent commenter Mahkno did in the Journal Star’s comments section:
Considering there has not been a decent well run grocery store there for the last 10 years, it is a bit of leap to conclude there is no need for one. Bradley students do not shop anymore. West Bluff residents of all stripes don’t shop there any more. Mr Joseph has pretty much destroyed the customer base that would support Campustown. The local residents have been sufficiently trained to shop elsewhere. He must not think highly of West Bluff residents by his continued efforts to put low end retailers there.
I’ve been to Save-a-Lot and found it disgusting. It was dirty and unkempt. It had very little inventory given the size of the store. And it had very little variety. I went in there once just to get some soda. They offered one brand: Pepsi. That’s it. The gas station across the parking lot had more variety than that.
I shudder to think what will take its place. We can only hope it won’t be a 20,000-square-foot cash store.
I heard about this Bradley Scout article from Mazr via Billy’s blog. The article is mainly about how Joanne Glasser is one of the highest-paid college presidents in Illinois, but both Mazr and Billy picked up on Bradley Basketball coach Jim Les’s jaw-dropping salary of $419,414 (including benefits) for the 2007-08 school year. That’s just $1,586 shy of the college president’s salary.
What really floored me, though, was this: “Two years earlier, Les earned $262,905.” That means Les’s salary increased $156,509, or nearly 60%, in just two years. This raise coincides with Bradley’s NCAA appearance in 2006, when they made it to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1955. I presume the NCAA berth and his salary bump are connected.
It sounds like a lot of money to me, and I find it strange that the basketball coach would be on equal salary terms with the college president. It gives the impression that athletics and academics are of equal value. However, Les’s salary was actually quite low compared to other NCAA Division I coaches, according to this USA Today report from 2006. Before his salary bump, Les was one of the 20 lowest-paid coaches. At that time, 17 coaches made over $1 million, and 33 made over a half million.
I can’t find a recent salary comparison, but I would assume Les is making a respectable average salary among coaches in his division now. Is he worth it? I’ll let those who follow basketball more than I answer that question.
I’m not doing a Top 10. Rather, I’m just going through each month and pulling out the two or three most significant events that happened, as reported on the Chronicle. No doubt there are bigger stories missing here and there because I didn’t write about everything, but you can read about those in the mainstream media or other blog sites.
Here are the 2009 Top Stories on Peoria Chronicle, as I see them:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
And that’s your 2009 Year in Review.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
(Luke 2:8-20)
The Journal Star is reporting that an agreement has been made between Peoria County and the Museum Collaboration Group on who will run will the proposed Peoria Riverfront Museum.
The agreement reached Monday – after the two sides appeared stalemated on Friday – calls for a governing board of between 17 and 22 people, according to [County Administrator Patrick] Urich. A minority of the members – eight, nine or 10, depending on the final size of the board – would be representatives of one of the five agencies that constitute the museum collaborative group. […] A majority of the board would be residents of the county unaffiliated with any group in the museum collaborative group. There would be no representative from county government.
Also:
Urich said the exact relationship between the museum board of directors and the county will be spelled out in the by-laws. The county would own the building, but the board would operate the museum.
And:
“We would be looking for the best and the brightest from the community for a seat on the board,” Urich said.
Here’s how this will work in practice: A bunch of people who are politically connected (the main requirement for being considered “best and brightest” in Peoria), but know nothing about how to operate a museum, will be appointed to the museum board. They will all look to the Lakeview appointees as the “experts” on museums, and vote in accordance with their recommendations. Eventually, they’ll get busy with other things and stop coming to a majority of the meetings — just enough will show up to maintain a quorum. At that point, the majority of those who actually attend will be Museum Collaboration Group members. Their meetings will not be open to the public. Poor decisions will continue to be made, leading to chronic underfunding problems, requiring tax revenue for operations. The project will be determined to be “too big to fail,” given its huge initial cost and prominent placement on the riverfront, so tax money will be diverted to keeping it afloat in perpetuity. It will draw the same number of annual visitors as the current Lakeview Museum by year three, at which point plans will be drawn up to expand the museum (at taxpayer expense, of course) so it can draw more visitors. Peoria County voters will approve more funding.
The city council can be so schizophrenic sometimes.
At Tuesday’s meeting, they first decided to keep taxing residents of the East Bluff Special Service District 18 cents per $100 equalized assessed value for another ten years to continue funding the East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Service, a controversial organization residents feel is ineffective and secretive. The vote was 9-1.
Then, just a couple of agenda items later, fourth district councilman Bill Spears made a motion “to begin discussions [with state legislators] on innovative ways to bring back the core of the inner city by giving incentives, such as tax breaks to homeowners and owned businesses.” After some discussion, that passed 9-1 also.
So they’re for talking about tax breaks with state reps, but not actually giving tax breaks to a distressed part of town when given the opportunity. Tell me that isn’t dysfunctional.
And now, here is some advice from our third U. S. President that we would be wise to follow here in Peoria — and, for that matter, all other levels of government:
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government.
Delay is preferable to error.
It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
Never spend your money before you have earned it.