All posts by C. J. Summers

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

2009 Worst Timing Award: Craig Hullinger

May 5, 2009 C. J. Summers 39 Comments

I like Craig, so nothing against him personally. But has he read the paper lately? I have a hard time believing he has when I hear news reports like this one from 1470 WMBD:

Peoria School District 150 is being asked to participate in an Enterprise Zone to allow a developer to construct a combination of retail space and housing units along Main Street. Devonshire Group plans to build Main Street Commons at the site of the former Walgreen’s at Main and Bourland…. If District 150 goes along the developers will pay property taxes on only the current value of the property for five years…. City of Peoria Economic Development Director Craig Hullinger says District 150’s participation is vital to the project moving forward.

Dude! District 150 is LOSING MONEY! They’re in terrible, terrible debt. They’re closing schools. They’re laying off teachers. They’re raising class sizes. They’re getting ready to issue $38 million in 15-year bonds to pay off short term debts and make payroll. And… AND —

I have here the 2008 Tax Computation Report on District 150 that just came out a few weeks ago. Would you like to know how much property tax revenue District 150 is not receiving because of tax increment financing (TIF) districts? $3,027,801.91. And the City has already put the new Marriott Hotel in a TIF, so District 150 won’t see any benefit from that development. And the museum is in a TIF, so the district won’t see any benefit from that development. And now that a developer comes to Main street, the City says, “Hey, District 150, would you mind doing without a little more tax revenue for just a little bit longer?” Five years, that is… unless they extend it.

This couldn’t have been suggested at a worse time. And the really crazy part? Check out the quote from the developer about this project:

Shawn Luesse of the Devonshire Group told the District 150 school board Monday the project is targeting Bradley University students. “Our feasibility study shows there’s a housing need for Bradley students,” Luesse said. “We would virtually be full overnight.”

Wait a minute…. If it’s going to be this successful, explain to me why they need this tax incentive to make it happen. Is it just because everybody else gets incentives, so now we’ve trained our developers to have an entitlement mentality?

Caterpillar

Remember the good old days when we only worried about Cat leaving Peoria?

May 5, 2009 C. J. Summers 85 Comments

Now we have to worry about Caterpillar leaving the country, evidently. Check out Congressman Aaron Schock’s interview on Neil Cavuto’s show:

Or, if you don’t want to watch the whole thing, here are the comments that concern me:

SCHOCK: What this bill will do is only speed up foreign competitors buying U.S. corporations. If the President likes Fiat owning Chrysler, and so many of these other foreign competitors gobbling up their U.S. competition because it makes more sense for them to be foreign companies. For the sake of Caterpillar, they only sell 30% of their goods here in our country. If they’re going to be double-taxed on the other 70%, why fly the American flag? […]

CAVUTO: Do you think Caterpillar’s going to bolt?

SCHOCK: I hope that companies like Caterpillar and their brothers and sisters like them around the country will help educate their members of Congress, will help educate their shareholders, and more importantly their employees of the devastating effect of the President’s tax policy, and that members of Congress will hear their phones ring, and ultimately we can kill it.

In other words, Cat should warn everyone that if the President’s tax policy passes, then Cat may leave the U.S. and become a foreign company. Personally, I’m not worried. Peorians ensured that Cat has “drive[n] deep stakes in this community” by passing that museum tax. Cat wouldn’t leave now that we’ve proven our love for them.

2009 Campaign, City Council, City of Peoria

Akeson concedes, decides against recount

May 4, 2009 C. J. Summers 16 Comments

Beth Akeson ran against Tim Riggenbach for the third district City Council seat, replacing outgoing councilman Bob Manning. Riggenbach won the election by 12 votes, causing many to wonder if Akeson would ask for a recount. Wonder no more — Akeson sent out this release late Monday:

I would like to congratulate Tim Riggenbach on his victory in the recent City Council election. I have spoken to Tim and have wished him my best as he takes his seat Tuesday evening.

To my supporters who urged me to pursue a recount: I would like you to know I deliberated for weeks and concluded a recount would be a formidable and costly exercise, and most likely to no avail. Please accept my thanks and appreciation for the kind emails, notes and words of encouragement. I have offered Tim a helping hand if ever needed and ask you to do the same.

We live in a city with so much potential; let’s join together and do our best to see great things accomplished.

Sincerely,
Beth Akeson

Peoria Public Schools, Television

Latest D150 happenings; Hinton on “At Issue”

May 4, 2009 C. J. Summers 68 Comments

Parents, teachers, and other concerned citizens will be protesting at 5:30 tonight in front of the District 150 administration building on Wisconsin. They’ll be protesting against plans to close schools — especially a high school yet to be named — in order to plug the district’s budget gap. Also scheduled tonight is a public hearing on the district’s plans to issue $38 million in bonds. A revised estimate by the district indicates that this bond issuance will raise property taxes 23 cents (down from 25 cents in an earlier estimate) per $100 equalized assessed valuation.

District 150 Superintendent Ken Hinton was on WTVP’s “At Issue” Thursday night (replayed Sunday afternoon) along with the superintendent of Normal District 5. A few comments I found most interesting:

Hinton stated that he’s been looking at reducing administrative staff “all along,” and that he’s planning to eliminate vice principals. Then he made some equivocal comment that he might not be able to do that this year because of school closures increasing the enrollment at remaining schools.

Hinton said that, contrary to popular belief, the district is not top-heavy with administrators, and that he hopes that any administrative positions eliminated now will just be temporary — i.e., that they’ll be able to add those positions back eventually.

While he declined to get more specific, Hinton said that “the two schools will be combined.” So, as predicted, it sounds like Manual is safe from closure, and that the district is still looking to combine Central and Woodruff. It’s just a question of which building will house them.

Hinton also said they are looking at establishing an alternative school, but didn’t give any specifics other than this one would be bigger than ones they’ve had in the past.

Hinton said the new Glen Oak campus is “on the small side” — only 12 acres, whereas the Harrison school campus is 22 acres. When H Wayne Wilson asked him if that was kind of big, Hinton responded, “that’s what they all should be.” He said the research shows that “the outdoors” is important to education — that it increases test scores and makes kids less aggressive. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth repeating: Sterling Middle School has a 26-acre campus — larger than even the new Harrison School campus — yet their test scores are abysmal, and the school was the site of a brutal beating of a boy on the basketball court in 2006. There is no evidence that increased acreage improves student achievement; that theory has been debunked many times, yet Hinton still clings to it, citing district consultant Dr. Judy Helm as his only source.

On a side note, I wish WTVP would put the latest “At Issue” programs up on its website. The last one they have up is from February. I’d like to watch the show again, since I missed the beginning of it both times it aired.

Uncategorized

All is well… I think

May 3, 2009 C. J. Summers 14 Comments

Several readers have informed me that my site has been infected with some sort of malware. I think (and hope!) that I’ve finally found and eradicated the problem.

I opened up a support ticket with my hosting company, but they told me they couldn’t do anything and suggested I download my subfolder and run a virus scan on it. I did that (and let me tell you, it takes a long time to download everything!) using the latest virus scanning software/definitions from McAfee; it found no viruses. Then I got a plug-in that helps you search your files for malicious code, and it did find one post that had malicious code inserted into it (without my knowledge, of course); that code has been deleted. Furthermore, there was an extra directory on my site that I didn’t create; I’ve deleted that. And I’ve upgraded to the latest version of WordPress and changed my password.

I believe the security issue has been resolved as a result of these actions. I’ll continue to monitor the site. Thanks to everyone who notified me; if you get any more security warnings about my site, please let me know and I’ll take further action to root it out.

City of Peoria, Museum Block

Museum vote spurs more downtown-killing development

April 30, 2009 C. J. Summers 50 Comments

Gee, I can hardly contain my excitement over news that downtown Peoria is going to get a new skywalk.

“We decided to move ahead with a skywalk project connecting 401 Water Street with buildings being renovated on Commercial Street,” said developer Kert Huber.

“It’s a $5 million to $6 million project. We’re doing this because the museum went forward. If the citizens of the area hadn’t got behind it, I would have walked away,” he said.

And then where would Peoria be? Imagine what would have happened had we lost this skywalk project: All those high-end condominium residents would have to walk outside to visit renovated buildings across Commercial Street. Oh, the indignity! Thank heavens the museum referendum passed so we didn’t miss this exciting development. [end sarcasm]

The real shame is that these skywalks, which are becoming more and more common in Peoria regrettably, will only hurt downtown commerce, not help it. Studies I’ve quoted in a previous post tell the story. Here’s a quote from Kathleen Hill:

Skywalk design in North America has frequently been critiqued for the barriers it has created between different levels of pedestrian circulation. (Cornell University, Transport and Society May 10, 2007) Skywalks are pedestrian bridges linking buildings at the second floor level creating a second-level city….

Critics of skywalks maintain that their proliferation has reduced street level activity. Kent Robertson (Pedestrianization Strategies for Downtown Planners, Journal of the American Planning Association, Summer 1993) states that businesses located on the street level have closed due to lack of pedestrian traffic and property values have declined. Kurt Anderson (Fast Life Along the Skywalks, Time Magazine, August 1988)
reports this lack of street level pedestrians and activities creates the perception of an inactive and dull downtown, stating that skywalks negatively impact street level retail and social activities.

Some city planners feel that street level retail shops are the key to a vital and multi-use downtown. Critics are also concerned with the privatization of these public spaces and a separation of people based on class. Many of the skywalks link upscale hotels, shops and professional offices signaling to many low and moderate income people that they are not welcome.

So in addition to a museum block that will be devoid of street life because of its defective design, it’s spurring more development that will likewise keep pedestrians off the street. But since Peoria’s mantra is “all development is good development,” the project is promoted as an exciting, positive change for Peoria.

Aaron Schock

Schock comes in second

April 30, 2009 C. J. Summers 2 Comments

Freshman Congressman Aaron Schock is the second-fastest runner in Congress. The 27-year-old Schock was bested by 60-year-old Bart Gordon, a Democrat from Tennessee. Via the Murfreesboro Post:

Congressman Bart Gordon won the “Fastest Member of Congress” award in the Capitol Challenge Charity race, running the 3-mile course in under 19 minutes despite high winds and rain Wednesday…. Gordon retained the “Fastest Member of Congress” title by finishing the race in 18 minutes and 49 seconds, off from his record-setting best of 16:59 in 1995. The second fastest runner from the U.S. House was Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL) who finished in 20 minutes and 2 seconds.

It’s good for Schock to come in second for a change. Since he can’t run for President for at least 8 years, this will give him a challenge to work on in the mean time. I imagine he’s already started training for next year’s race.

Peoria Public Schools

District 150 releases audit report, statement on McArdle

April 29, 2009 C. J. Summers 131 Comments

District 150 has just released a statement (reprinted below) and a copy of the audit by Clifton Gunderson of the District’s Grade School Activity Funds.

DISTRICT STATEMENT – For Immediate Release – Wednesday, April 29, 2009

First, we need to clarify that Julie McArdle was not fired. Her contract was terminated without cause, pursuant to her employment contract.

The Board of Education and Administration stand behind their decision to terminate Principal Julie McArdle’s contract without cause. As an employer, we are bound to personnel laws that prohibit us from discussing or outlining reasons behind the decision to terminate her contract.

Regarding financial reviews – as part of routine procedures, our district used an outside accounting firm to conduct random, routine financial reviews of school activity funds. These reviews occur on a rotating basis every three-to-four years at all of our schools. We also request a review of these funds each time a new principal is named at a school or a building is closed.

On April 24, 2009 – (last Friday) – a police report was filed because 2007-2008 Lindbergh MS financial records are missing. These documents were reviewed in the summer of 2008 by the accounting firm during a routine review of the fund, which found no misuse of the school’s funds.

District staff members are diligently working with multiple sources to find documentation, receipts and statements that will assist in the reconstruction of the missing Lindbergh 2007-2008 financial documents. We are also hoping for a rapid conclusion of the Peoria Police Department’s investigation into our two filed reports.

Regarding the use of personal credit cards and District issued credit cards:

It is routine practice for school or District personnel to use a personal credit card to purchase items for our students, classrooms or other needed supplies, so long as appropriate and detailed documentation is kept.

There are currently nine different district-issued credit card accounts. The statements for these accounts are reviewed by the Business Manager and payments are processed by the District.

A decision had been made to recommend the termination of Mrs. McArdle’s contract prior to receiving any allegations of misconduct under the Illinois whistleblowers act.

My take: The report from Clifton Gunderson is not exactly a clean bill of health. Notice this statement near the end:

The above procedures were performed at the request of the Controller/Treasurer of the District. We make no representation regarding the sufficiency of the procedures for any purpose. We were not engaged to and did not conduct an examination, the objective of which would be the expression of an opinion of the financial statements of the Student Activity Funds of Lindbergh Middle School. Had we performed additional procedures, matters might have come to our attention that would be reported to the District.

So, if I’m reading this right, they’re not offering an opinion of the financial statements. In fact, given the parameters of what they were asked to do, it’s unlikely that they could have detected any fraud that might have been perpetrated, unless someone had actually written “stolen funds” in the ledger or on the memo line of the check. They pulled 20 disbursements at random and found two that had no supporting documentation. That’s ten percent of a random sampling that were defective. Shouldn’t that have been a tip off to the Controller/Treasurer that the controls in place were deficient?

As for the statement from the District, the last point is the most interesting. According to their statement, the decision had been made to terminate McArdle’s contract “prior to receiving any allegations of misconduct under the Illinois whistleblowers act.” This is pretty shaky. Obviously it’s designed to try to absolve the board of any impropriety; it says, “hey, we didn’t know anything about the charges against Mary Davis before we decided to terminate McArdle, so we should be held harmless.” But they did know about the charges before they voted to terminate the contract. The police reports were made on Friday, and the termination took place on Monday. Once they heard the charges against Davis, they could have held off and investigated the matter first. Instead, they went ahead and terminated the contract for reasons they cannot publicly by law disclose.

Why should they have held off? Because Davis is McArdle’s superior, and it’s most likely that the information on which the board based their termination decision was evaluative information received from Mary Davis and her supporters. If Davis were involved in wrongdoing as alleged, it stands to reason that she would have tried to keep that information from coming to light. One way would be to undermine the potential whistleblower (McArdle) and try to get her discharged. Caution should have been the order of the day.

Crime, Peoria Public Schools

McArdle sues D150 (UPDATED)

April 29, 2009 C. J. Summers 85 Comments

As promised, Lindbergh Middle School Principal Julie McArdle filed suit against District 150 ( click here to read it) after being fired Monday — and it covers a lot more than just misappropriation of funds. The suit is filed against District 150, Superintendent Ken Hinton, Human Resources Director Tom Broderick, and Academic Officer Mary Davis.

Six incidents are alleged:

“Misappropriation of School Funds for Teacher’s Aide to Pay an Unpaid Student Teacher and Refusal to Spend Funds Authorized for Teacher’s Aid”
The story here is that teacher’s aides get paid, but student teachers do not. In this case, there was a woman who had worked as a teacher’s aide at Lindbergh who was also taking classes at Eureka College to become a teacher. When it came time to do her student teaching, she wanted to do so at Lindbergh. Mary Davis allegedly instructed McArdle to continue paying her as if she were still a teacher’s aide, even though she was actually student teaching. There were two problems with this: (1) it was an unauthorized expenditure of funds on District 150’s part, and (2) it violated the student teacher’s contract with Eureka College.
Falsification of Student Addresses to Deny Poorer Students Their Right to Opt Into Lindbergh Middle School Under the No Child Left Behind Act

Three children who did not live within Lindbergh School’s boundaries were allowed to attend without getting the proper boundary waivers. Instead, McArdle was instructed by Davis to list a false address for these students. “The result of the falsification of the three out of boundary students addresses in the District 150 records denied three poorer children the right to opt out of their school to attend the non-failing Lindbergh Middle School – which had the wealthiest residence and was the best Middle school in District 150 under the No Child Left Behind Act.”

Weekly Attendance at Lindbergh School by Private Counselor for Fees Paid by the Parents of the Students Contrary to District 150’s Obligation to Provide a Free Education
Mary Davis was allowing a private counselor to provide services for a fee. Parents of students were expected to pay the counselor directly.
Report to Superintendent and Peoria Police of Theft of District 150 Funds and Authority
The claim is that Mary Davis got a credit card in the name of Lindbergh Middle School without the knowledge of or approval from the district. Purchases and cash advances were made, and a $4,000+ payment was made on the card from the student activity fund for “miscellaneous items.” The itemized activity fund report for those “miscellaneous items” is missing.
McArdle’s Report of Mary Davis’ Misconduct and Theft of District Funds to Superintendent Hinton and Board Vice President Deb [Wolfmeyer]
It was reported via e-mail and had specific names and amounts listed. Nevertheless, when Hinton reported the apparent theft to the police, he said the person responsible was “unknown” and that it was for less than $300.
Policy Making Agents of District 150
This section says that Davis, Hinton, Broderick, and the D150 Board interfered with McArdle’s employment, resulting in her wrongful termination.

The suit alleges violation of McArdle’s rights to free speech, violation of the Illinois Whistleblower Act, and breach of contract. She’s asking for $550,000 in damages, plus attorney’s fees, and reinstatement to her job.

UPDATE: Here are the exhibits that go with the complaint that was filed:

Exhibits to Complaint court document
Exhibit 1
Exhibit 2
Exhibit 3
Exhibit 4

The Peoria Chronicle