They gave it the old college try, but holding the National Night Out Against Crime in September this year apparently didn’t go over too well. In an online survey, over half the respondents requested that the event go back to its original date of the first Tuesday in August:
Those in favor of the traditional August date most often wrote that the September date conflicted with after school events, sports, and student homework assignments. Several of those respondents added that the September date brought an early nightfall which caused a premature end to their events. Those in favor of the September date cited favorable weather and more participation by elderly citizens. (NOTE: The National Association of Town Watch (NATW), which sponsors this event, also conducted a pilot date change in Texas this year. NATW has announced that NNO will continue to be held on the first Tuesday in August.) As a result of the majority date preference, City staff is recommending the NNO for the City of Peoria be set for the first Tuesday in August.
There were 94 respondents to the survey, and 53 of them voted for the August date. Since this is a national event, as the name implies, it makes sense to me to hold it on the same date as everyone else. The council will make the final decision at its next meeting on Monday, Nov. 10, at 6:15 p.m.
The City of Peoria’s liquor commission can’t even get information on what’s happening with Big Al’s plans to move, resulting in a “no decision” Monday on whether to grant them a liquor license. Via 1470 WMBD radio:
[A] NO recommendation was forwarded to the City Council concerning a change in liquor class for the former EuroJacks and an application for a liquor license at 414 Hamilton Boulevard by the owner’s of Big Al’s. The Commission cited the owners could not produce enough information at this time on specific plans for the properties.
But apparently some city officials know what’s going on, as evidenced by these quotes from a recent Journal Star article:
“They are basically moving to make way for what could be a wonderful development,” city attorney Randy Ray said, declining to discuss specifics. “At this point, it’s just a tremendous opportunity to develop the Downtown.”
Added 1st District City Councilman Clyde Gulley Jr., who represents the Downtown, “we need to move (Big Al’s) because of another project.”
Others involved at City Hall and Zuccarini remained tight-lipped about what they have planned.
The city attorney, first district councilman, and unspecified “others involved at City Hall” all know what this “tremendous opportunity” and “wonderful development” is all about. The rest of us, however, will just have to wait to find out — probably until after it’s a done deal.
Secrecy fever has found its way into the budget process as well. At a special City Council meeting Monday night, it was announced that staff had cut the budget deficit from $2.2 million to half a million dollars. When Councilman Gary Sandberg asked how they accomplished that, he was told he’d have to come in tomorrow and talk to interim City Manager Holling in private to find out. In other words, they weren’t going to divulge that information on the council floor where citizens might hear.
Of course, the sad truth is that most citizens wouldn’t have heard since the meeting was on a Monday when there’s no radio or television coverage like on Tuesday nights. Interestingly, some council members (Van Auken, Manning, Nichting, Mayor Ardis) seemed to know what was going on, while the rest of the council was in the dark about this budgeting miracle.
And it was only a few months ago that the Journal Star reported, “City officials decided in June that this year, the budget process would be more open to the public, transparent, and easily communicated between city staff members and the council.” So much for that plan.
Mayor Ardis, along with several council members, is demanding answers from the State’s Attorney’s office. I wasn’t able to attend the press conference today due to other commitments, but I received this summary from the City’s Communications Manager:
The Mayor and Council Members discussed the issue surrounding the shooting of Demetric Mobley. They discussed their concerns regarding his release from jail in addition to 4 other individuals. The individuals had guns and a large amount of drugs in their home yet they were released from jail. The individuals harassed and threatened neighbors. Mayor is asking for answers to why there is a lack of communication between the City and the states attorneys office.
Lyons, today, said the city council press conference could interfere with the prosecution of the case. Lyons went on to say this smells of last minute politics.
“Politics has an ugly side to it. Sometimes it shows itself on Sunday,” Lyons said.
In response to demands for more communication, Lyons “said Manning had been given an explanation on Friday afternoon.” Apparently, that explanation wasn’t good enough.
Also pointed out in the article is the fact that those in attendance — Ardis, Councilmen Manning, Turner, Spain, Montelongo, and Nichting, all support Lyons’ challenger Darin LaHood for State’s Attorney in the upcoming election. Ardis denies that politics has anything to do with the press conference that was held today.
Other than claiming to be the victim of “politics,” it doesn’t appear that Lyons gave the press any answers to the questions raised at today’s press conference. Whether it’s politics or not, those questions deserve answers. Neighbors aren’t being threatened by council members supporting Lyons’ opponent — they’re being threatened by thugs let back out on the street by the State’s Attorney’s office. What’s the explanation for that?
UPDATE: DeWayne says that Lyons did in fact give an answer to Ardis’s questions, but he hasn’t had a chance to finish writing his story yet. However, the Journal Star has one answer Lyons gave:
Ardis said his office has received hundreds of calls since 22-year-old Justin Rodgers was released from jail on Wednesday. Rodgers was arrested at an East Bluff home and booked on charges of felony possession of weapons, possession of a controlled substance and possession and delivery of marijuana. […]
In response to Ardis’ questions, Lyons said Rodgers was released from jail because he planned to use Rodgers’ arrest this week against him at his Dec. 4 hearing to revoke his probation for previous Tazewell County drug charges. Lyons said his decision is Rodgers’ “quickest and most direct way to the prison door.”
The quickest way to the prison door is to let the guy out of jail for over a month without posting bond? Really? Perhaps this makes sense to a prosecutor, but to people like the neighbors of this guy who was arrested, it makes absolutely no sense at all. Maybe he explained more and the full story just hasn’t been written yet.
UPDATE 2: Okay, here’s some more explanation from Mr. Lyons, as reported in today’s paper:
About two pounds of marijuana, 45 grams of cocaine, eight rocks of crack cocaine, body armor and five guns were seized from 1123 E. Elmhurst Ave. Rodgers had previously posted $30,000 bond in Tazewell County, and Lyons said he feared he would do the same in this case.
“If we had charged Rodgers with an offense, he would have posted bond again,” Lyons said. “We’d have to charge this case first and that would trump the petition to revoke his probation on Dec. 4.”
I have a dumb question: couldn’t the fact that he violated his probation in Tazewell County have been used as justification for having him held without bond in Peoria County?
Also, what kind of a stupid statement is this: “Ardis and Manning went to Spalding High School with LaHood, Lyons said, so it’s no surprise the two were promoting his agenda.” Uh-huh. Because it couldn’t have anything to do with Lyons releasing felons into the neighborhood without posting bond, or blowing off and insulting the mayor’s crime task force, or anything like that. It must be because they all went to high school together.
I have no idea what this is about. I’ve checked all the usual news sources, but found nothing, so if you have any details, please share. From a press release:
Mayor Jim Ardis and Members of the Peoria City Council, will hold a news conference on Sunday, November 2, 2008, at 12:00 Noon. The news conference will be held in front of the Peoria Police Department, 600 S. W. Adams Street.
The news conference will address serious concerns relating to crime issues in Peoria, specifically addressing the Friday night shooting directed at our police officers and a recent drug bust in a central Peoria neighborhood.
UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who explained the situation in the comments section. As someone pointed out, the Journal Star has the story up on their site now:
Peoria police shot a man to death early this morning after the man allegedly opened fire at officers with a semi-automatic assault rifle.
The 27-year-old Peoria man, whose name has not been released, reportedly shot a patrol car near the intersection of Idaho and Montana streets about 12:45 a.m.
If you’re wondering where Idaho and Montana streets are, they’re on the south side, near Harrison Homes.
UPDATE 2: The press release also says they’re going to discuss “a recent drug bust in a central Peoria neighborhood.” That would probably be this one, reported by HOI News:
HOI 19 news has learned that three people arrested during a drug and weapons raid this week are out of jail without posting bond [emphasis mine] and neighbors say they are outraged…. Peoria city councilman Bob Manning, who represents that area, says many concerned neighbors have contacted him. He says city leaders are planning on sitting down with the police department tomorrow to discuss this situation further.
Possibly the biggest news from Tuesday’s Peoria City Council meeting is that the council decided not to pursue purchasing the Peoria District waterworks. So, the clock starts ticking — the city has the option of buying back the waterworks every five years, so mark your calendars for 2013 when this will come up again. The vote, by the way, was 4-7. Voting in favor were councilpersons Manning, Sandberg, Montelongo, and Van Auken.
Naturally, the council approved a temporary change to the Form District portion of the Land Development Code (which I discussed in a previous post). The vote was 9-2, with councilmen Sandberg and Jacob voting against it.
A new Tax Increment Finance (TIF) district was created downtown. Sandberg was the lone “no” vote. This TIF is part of the new “Hospitality Improvement Zone Tax Increment Redevelopment Plan and Project” (HIZTIRPAP?), which, if I understand it correctly, is designed to help existing downtown hotels improve and encourage the development of new hotels downtown — especially a hotel near the Civic Center. I’ve heard unconfirmed rumors that the Pere Marquette is going to be one of the first hotels to take advantage of these incentives by planning an expansion.
The council made no decision on whether to raise elected officials’ salaries, deferring the item until next Monday’s special meeting. However, there was a last-minute attempt by councilperson Van Auken to tie any future raises to the Consumer Price Index instead of a flat percentage. This led to a six-and-a-half-minute sermon from councilman Nichting on the value of public service and the sacrifices of public servants.
The other two newsworthy items were that (a) they denied a liquor license to Target in the Glen Hollow shopping center, and (b) they appointed F. Eugene Rebholz to the Peoria Public Library Board of Trustees, replacing Frank Gold, chairman of the library’s building committee.
Included in the council communication are (1) the March 1, 2005, letter of appraisal that set the value/purchase price of the Illinois American Water Peoria District at $220,000,000, and (2) the City’s Water Company Acquisition Financial Analysis. The financial analysis estimated that 2006 revenues would have been $29,360,000, based on actual revenue information acquired through the due-diligence process at that time. It also estimated that an operations contract to manage the water company would cost about $11,000,000 in 2006, increasing 3% each subsequent year.
The analysis showed that the water company would pay for itself — i.e., taxes would not have to be raised to cover the debt service — and water rate increases would only be 3% per year. Under this scenario, sufficient funds would be set aside for capital improvements as well.
Of course, things have changed since 2005. A new analysis would have to be done, as well as a new appraisal. According to the council communication, due diligence could cost as much as $2 million, and the city could find that it now can’t afford the water company when all is said and done.
Mayor Ardis is quoted in the paper today as saying, “To me, it will be very difficult to justify spending $2 million to do due diligence on this under the current budget constraints…. I don’t think that is a priority.” Ardis voted against the buyout last time, also.
Also of interest in the Journal Star’s article are some preliminary numbers from Illinois American Water Company’s telephone poll:
Company spokeswoman Karen Cotton said the research shows that of 400 registered voters in Peoria who were polled, 55 percent strongly opposed a city-backed buyout of the waterworks, while 89 percent believe City Hall has higher priorities.
In a 2005 referendum, 82% of voters were opposed to the water company buyout. Depending on how many were “somewhat opposed,” we may find that opposition is softening.
The council next Tuesday will consider raising the salaries of the mayor, district and at-large council members, city clerk, and city treasurer positions. I can’t actually say “raising their own salaries,” because the new salaries won’t take effect until after the next election. In other words, if they pass this increase, they’ll only get the raise if they get reelected.
Here are the proposed salaries and car allowances:
Position
Salary
Car Allowance
Mayor
$32,400
$475/month
District Councilman
$14,000
$400/month
At-Large Councilman
$14,000
$400/month
The City Clerk and City Treasurer salaries are the same, and would increase by 5% each year as follows:
Period
Annual Salary
May 5, 2009 to May 4, 2010
$94,264.80
May 5, 2010 to May 4, 2011
$98,978.04
May 5, 2011 to May 4, 2012
$103,926.94
May 5, 2012 to May 4, 2013
$109,123.29
It’s funny — in a private company, salaries are something that is kept secret among the staff. And generally, most people don’t disclose their salary to others. But if you work for the city or some other public body, your salary is public knowledge. Everybody knows. Your co-workers, your friends, your neighbors. They all know what you make. That has to feel a bit awkward at times.
After the Chicago White Sox were eliminated, the City Council decided to put a hold on renaming Peoria “Thome Town” after slugger and hometown boy Jim Thome.
Now that the Tampa Bay Rays are going to the World Series, will the council consider renaming the city “Zobrist Town” after shortstop and hometown boy Ben Zobrist? Don’t let the fact that he’s actually from Eureka bother you, Thome isn’t actually from Peoria either, and that didn’t seem to bother anyone.
Regardless, congrats to the Tampa Bay Rays on beating the wildcard Boston Red Sox. They’ll be going on to play the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series.
I got a letter from Illinois American Water today (as I’m sure many of you did, too). I thought it was going to be a report on water quality, but to my surprise, it’s the first volley in the quinquennial fight over the City’s attempt to take over the water company! The pertinent portion of the letter reads (underlining in original):
One other matter I would like to inform you of is that the Peoria City Council is expected this month to consider whether to pursue a buyout of Illinois American Water’s Peoria District water system. An 1889 franchise agreement gives the City the right every five years to pursue a buyout of the water system. As you may recall, in 2005 residents of Peoria voted against a buyout by a margin of 82-18. At that time, an independent panel determined the purchase price would be $220 million in addition to new capital investments made by the company.
If the City Council decides to again pursue the takeover of the water system, the study alone may cost taxpayers $1 million or more. In addition, the company has made significant capital improvements since 2005, which have increased the value of the water system. Some buyout proponents suggest that the takeover of Illinois American Water’s business in Peoria will provide new revenue for City projects not related to the water system. That would be a mistake. Revenue from water bills should be used to operate and invest in the water system, as we do, rather than to fund other City projects. We have encouraged members of Council not to pursue a buyout because there is no reason to do so. A buyout process will be very long, costly and divisive while distracting the City and the company from more important priorities.
I could be wrong, but if I were a betting man, I’d bet that this time we’re going to hear the biggest push ever to buy the water company. Why? Three letters: CSO. The city really, really wants to find a way to pay for the Combined Sewer Overflow project without raising taxes. Being able to take water company revenues and put them toward that effort may prove too hard for the council to resist.
I’ve always been against the water buyout in the past, chiefly because I fear the city will use water rates to raise revenue for other things — essentially a hidden tax that could be used for questionable things like Gateway Buildings and subsidized parking decks. And that’s the argument the water company is making as well in this letter.
But on the other hand, it’s not like Illinois American Water is a non-profit cooperative, putting all their revenue back into the company. They make over $6 million a year in profit for their shareholders. Why shouldn’t the City make that profit and be able to use it toward, say, the CSO project? Or to get rid of the so-called garbage fee?
I’m starting to change my mind. It’s not that I don’t still have the same concerns about a potential water company buyout. It’s just that desperate times call for desperate measures. Buying the water company might be a way for the City to mitigate potential tax increases and still have the money to take care of the CSO project and other basic services.
On July 22, the council approved a huge addition to the city’s Enterprise Zone (EZ). Click on the thumbnail to the right for a map of the parcels added then. You’ll notice that those parcels include, among other things, Westlake Shopping Center, all of the “convenience loan” establishments along University, Wal-Mart, Auto Zone, Comcast Cable, and Best Buy.
But that apparently wasn’t enough. It’s back on the agenda this week with eight more parcels added. What poor, blighted businesses are getting the benefit of EZ status this time, you ask? The entire Glen Hollow shopping center. You know, blighted stores like Target, Petsmart, Cub Foods, Lowe’s, Wendy’s, Barnes & Noble, Hometown Buffet. Slums, all of them. And how were they added? According to the council communication, “At the request of one of the City’s Planning Commissioner’s [sic]….” Not all of them; not even a majority of them. One of them. I guess that’s all it takes.
Once again, the city communication makes this comical statement:
These areas are located within the core of our City and property owners have encountered challenges in attracting investment since many businesses are choosing to move to the northern parameters of the City.
And I’ll point out again that one of the reasons they’re choosing to move there is because the City is incentivizing it through annexation and, yes, even EZ status. So now they’re using the Enterprise Zone in the 2nd and 4th districts to compete against the Enterprise Zone in the 5th district. What other self-defeating strategies will the City dream up?
As my 
After the Chicago White Sox were eliminated, the City Council decided to put a hold on renaming Peoria “Thome Town” after slugger and hometown boy Jim Thome. 