Here are some agenda items of interest:

• The City is going to try to get a state grant to help pay the lion’s share of road improvement work for Phase I of the Sheridan Triangle project. “The funding request for this $975,000 project would be $748,800 ITEP [Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program] funding, with the city’s local match being $226,200.”
• Also being funded through ITEP: removal and replanting of trees in the downtown business district. I don’t quite understand this one. The background states, “In honor of Earth Day 2007, Governor Blagojevich announced the new Replanting the Prairie State Initiative to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state.” But I fail to see how replacing presumably mature trees with new twig trees is going to accomplish that goal — in fact, it seems like it would do just the opposite. Why would you replace trees? Why not plant additional trees where they don’t already exist? Unless, of course, we’re talking about palm trees that need to be replanted every year.
• Bill Joseph is going to build an 8,066-square-foot “retail and restaurant building” in Bed Bath & Beyond’s parking lot (south side of W. Glen Ave., just east of N. University St.). That’s good, because we all know what a dearth of available retail and restaurant sites there are in Peoria.
• JJ Ryans is moving out of the Metro Centre and into the old Silver Bullet (7719 N. University), so a liquor license has been requested. This isn’t particularly notable except for this statement in the council communication: “One of the three Commissioners who voted to approve [Arndt, Jackson, McCabe] should have abstained due to interest in nearby property.” That’s rather provocative. Was any action taken to educate or reprimand this unnamed Commissioner? Or is conflict-of-interest voting not a big deal?
• Of course, the more volatile liquor license request is the one for Elliott’s (7807 N. University). The Liquor Commission voted 4-0 with one abstention (Jackson) to deny the request. You may recall that Elliott’s is a strip joint. The city has been trying to throw one roadblock after another in front of this place since it was first proposed in 2003. First it said it couldn’t issue an adult use license because it was five feet too close to a residential area. So the owners split the building in two and got their adult-use license. Then the city passed an ordinance prohibiting strip clubs from getting a liquor license (except for Big Al’s, which was grandfathered in). That didn’t stop Elliott’s from opening, though. Evidently nudity is enough to make a profit even without liquor. Then this past November, down around the St. Louis area, an ordinance just like Peoria’s was struck down by a federal court, prompting the council to repeal its ordinance. So now Elliott’s is back asking for a liquor license again. If the council denies it, they’ll have a lawsuit on their hands — one they’ll likely lose, in which case Elliott’s will get a bunch of taxpayer money in damages. The council should save the taxpayers’ money and give up on this one, then focus instead on a way of stopping — or at least containing within a certain geographic area — future nudie bars so this doesn’t happen again.
• T. Y. Lin has been chosen as the engineering firm to look at the economic and physical feasibility of building a trail next to the Kellar Branch rail line. Now the council needs to give the green light to let a contract be negotiated, the cost of which will presumably be shared by the City of Peoria, Village of Peoria Heights, and possibly the Peoria Park District. Pioneer Industrial Railway has said they will not help pay for the study, opting to use their funds instead to pay for an inevitable legal battle with Peoria Heights, which is trying to kick Pioneer off the line.
• Getting back to North University, the council will be making a decision on whether to allow a teen dance hall to open up in the same area. The proposed dance club at 7620 N. University, to be called Adrenaline, has to be more than 500 feet from a residential area according to Peoria’s current ordinance. The request is to change that ordinance — to lower the buffer to 200 feet. This request was first brought up two weeks ago and looked like it would surely go down to defeat. Councilman Montelongo asked for a deferral, and it comes back Tuesday with just one change — it would allow the Council “to impose additional conditions,” including “limiting the hours of operation” among other measures. The city staff and police chief are still against it, so I predict it will be defeated after all.

A special meeting of the Peoria City Council has been called for Tuesday, March 18. Other than a proclamation, there is only one item of business on the agenda: choosing a new search firm to assist the city in selecting a permanent city manager.

Consideration of a MOTION to RESCIND Prior Action Authorizing the HIRING of PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ASSOCIATES LLC and EXECUTIVE SEARCH, INC. AND Consideration of CITY MANAGER SEARCH FIRMS’ PROPOSALS from FRONTIER PARTNERS, INC. and THE MERCER GROUP, with the Possibility of Taking Action to HIRE ONE OF THESE FIRMS, and Authorize the Interim City Manager or Mayor to Execute a CONTRACT with that Firm.

Ironically, on March 3, Councilman Nichting (5th Dist.) moved to hire City Manager Search Firms, The Mercer Group, Inc., and the motion was seconded by Councilman Spears (4th Dist.), but everyone else on the council wanted to hire the other firm, so Council Member Van Auken (2nd Dist.) made a substitute motion, which was approved 7-2 (Councilman Turner was absent).

Reportedly, upon the first meeting with the search firm, a majority of the council and the search firm felt that the relationship wasn’t going to work out, and so the search firm withdrew their offer. Here’s their letter of withdrawal:

Dear Mayor Ardis:

As you know, we submitted a proposal to assist the City of Peoria in the recruitment of a new City Manager on February 21, 2008.

We were honored and pleased when the City Council selected our firm for this task on March 2, 2008.

We quickly started preparations to fulfill our commitments to the duties as outlined in our proposal.

Yesterday it was a great pleasure to meet personally with you to discuss the fundamental aspects of our recruitment process before entering into binding commitments to fulfill the tasks. Thank you for your hospitality.

During the six-hour drive back to Oshkosh last evening, Denise and I discussed the advisability of proceeding. As you know, we have no employees and the three partners perform all of our work. With the Peoria project, we were hopeful that a local associate could perform much of the on-site tasks.

However, our local associate, while experienced in the private sector is unfamiliar with municipal government. It became clear that as such we would need to commit significantly more time and travel than we had anticipated fulfilling the duties associated with the Peoria project.

Given the commitments we have already made to other Wisconsin municipalities and counties, doing the Peoria project would be a very burdensome task. We therefore respectfully request that our proposal to assist the City of Peoria for the recruitment of a City Manager be withdrawn from further consideration.

We are letting you know of this request as soon as possible to minimize the delay in your proceeding on this vital, local task in the City of Peoria. We Wish you all the best, both in recruiting a new City Manager and all future endeavors in your city.

Sincerely,
William D. Frueh
Partner, Public Administration Associates

It’s interesting that one of the reasons Van Auken stated she liked Public Administration Associates better was because “the representative from Executive Search, Inc. was local,” according to the March 3 minutes. But it turns out, according to this withdrawal letter, that their local representative/associate was “unfamiliar with municipal government.” Anyone else find it odd that someone with the firm of Public Administration Associates is only familiar with the private sector? Sounds like that came as a surprise to the council; I can see why they might have been disappointed.

A special meeting was called instead of waiting until the next regular meeting so that the council won’t lose any more time finding a new city manager.

Last October, Second District Council Member Barbara Van Auken made a motion to spend $183,750 of the $200,000 that was budgeted in the 2007 Capital Improvement Program for use on the Sheridan Triangle project. That motion was defeated 6-5. Why? Well, there were lots of concerns about the fact that starting this project would require money to be spent in subsequent years to complete it, and “the Council needed to recognize their limited resources” and “decide how to execute strategy to complete projects,” according to the Oct. 9 minutes. There was also a desire to “determine what the priorities were for the entire City” before committing to this project. So it had to wait until after the next budget cycle to get passed.

But my, how things are different when we get to the fifth district’s road project that was approved last night:

The $3.3 million project – $1.175 million of it paid by the city [emphasis mine], $1.175 million paid by Peoria County, $1 million from Northwoods Community Church and $150,000 from developers of the area – targets a road improvement of Wilhelm from Northtrail Drive to Allen and also on a stretch of Allen.

It’s not mentioned in the article, but Van Auken and First District Councilman Clyde Gulley asked Public Works Director Dave Barber if this was budgeted in the Capital Improvement Program budget. Answer: some of the cost was, but not all of it. And furthermore, they won’t know the total cost until after the project goes out to bid. Nevertheless, it passed 10-1. By voting for this project, the council committed itself to spending 2009 dollars above and beyond what the council agreed to budget in the last negotiations, even though the city is projecting a deficit in 2009.

Strangely, on this fifth-district road project, there was no concern raised about the city’s limited resources, or about setting priorities or executing strategies. There was no delay. There was no CIP budget amendment. There was no discussion on where that extra money is going to come from in 2009, whose funding was going to get cut to make up the shortfall.

This all begs the question: Why the double standard?

From the Journal Star:

Peoria County Judge Rebecca Steenrod sentenced [Henry] Holling to one year of court supervision, 100 hours of public service and a three month suspension of his driver’s license starting March 9. He must also pay $2,200 courts fees and fines before Wednesday. It is Holling’s first DUI.

Holling was just hired as the interim city manager for the City of Peoria last night.

The Peoria City Council met in special session tonight to name former Caterpillar executive Henry Holling the interim city manager. He is scheduled to start work Feb. 3, but will not assume the duties of interim city manager until the close of business on Feb. 15, which is Randy Oliver’s last day. He will be paid $10,860 per month for an anticipated four to six months while the council looks for a new permanent city manager. Per Holling’s contract, he is not a candidate for the permanent city manager position.

Holling’s appointment passed the council on a 9-2 vote. Councilmen Spain and Montelongo were the only “nay” votes.

Councilman Bob Manning (3rd District) made the motion to hire Holling, seconded by Councilman Eric Turner (At-Large). Manning explained that department heads Craig Hullinger and Pat Landes were not considered for the job because they “have too much on their plates at this time” and to have either one of them serve as the interim city manager would “paralyze that department” while they were away.

Councilman Gary Sandberg (At-Large) was perhaps the most surprising “yea” vote. Holling has said some pretty unflattering things about Sandberg in the past and has actively raised money for candidates to defeat Sandberg at the polls. Sandberg’s response was that “we shouldn’t be afraid of people we might not always agree with.” He said that Holling loves the community and is “the right person for the next four to six months.”

Council Member Barbara Van Auken (2nd District) echoed Manning and Sandberg’s sentiments, saying that the council was looking for someone with executive experience, community involvement, and “if we’re lucky,” government experience.

Mayor Jim Ardis said that if everyone were to look at Holling’s resume without a name on it, and without the rumor and innuendo that has been spread in the community, everyone would have jumped at the chance to hire him.

Montelongo did not speak during the meeting, but afterwards told the press when asked that the reason he didn’t vote for Holling was because he didn’t feel Holling had enough experience with municipal management. Spain left very quickly, so no one was able to catch him for his comments.

Anonymous commentators rebuked

I’ve left something out of the comments I’ve reported so far. That is that almost all of them had something to say about the anonymous commentators that have been writing on this and other blogs and forums. Manning mentioned that there was no truth to the rumors that have been bandied about in the blogs he talked to several people he trusts “who have had the opportunity to work with Mr. Holling on a number of different levels and in different environments” and they all said that “he has the experience and skills to do an outstanding job as interim City Manager.” He added, “I give a lot of weight and credence to the opinions of those I contacted and absolutely none to whisper campaigns, anonymous bloggers and phantom letter writers.”

Sandberg likened the rumors about Holling to the weapons of mass destruction that were supposed to be in Iraq. “There’s no meat on the bone,” he said, referring to the allegations. If they were true, “Cat would have dealt with it long ago.”

Mayor Ardis said that it’s hard to get people who are willing to serve in a public capacity because of the kind of treatment they get in the “electronic media.” Whisper campaigns discourage good candidates from applying or being willing to serve.

Councilman George Jacob (At-Large) asked City Attorney Randy Ray if the code of conduct for commissioners extends to any comments they may make on “electronic media,” like blogs, anonymous or otherwise. Mr. Ray said that it does, assuming their identity can be ascertained. I asked Jacob afterwards why he asked that question. Apparently there is some concern that there may be a commissioner or commissioners who are making defamatory allegations on blogs under a pseudonym.

The contract

I will post a copy of the contract soon. In the meantime, here are the salient provisions:

• Interim assignment shall be for four to six months, but that may be extended by mutual agreement if necessary.
• He will get 15 days of paid leave to use during his interim assignment, with three additional days added for each month he is asked to serve past August (in other words, if they haven’t found a permanent city manager and his interim assignment is extended).
• Holling won’t participate in the city’s health insurance program, nor will he be eligible for any city benefits other than those outlined in the agreement.
• He has to continue residing in the City of Peoria during his interim assignment.
• I’ll quote this verbatim and without comment: “The CITY shall pay to HENRY HOLLING a car allowance of $300.00 per month, for all periods during which he has a valid driver’s license.”
• The city may terminate Holling at any time (for instance, if a permanent city manager is hired before his four to six months is up).
• The agreement is subject to Holling’s “successful completion and passage of a pre-employment physical, including drug and alcohol testing, prior to the initial start date.”
• He can’t engage in outside consulting without council approval.
• As mentioned before, it is stipulated that he will not be considered for the permanent city manager job.

After I got home, there was this message waiting for me in my in-box: “Interim City Manager Henry Holling will be holding a news conference on February 1, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. The news conference will be held in City Council Chambers.”

I don’t know Henry Holling. All I know is what I read in the papers. And there’s a doozy of an article in the paper today.

It’s been previously reported that Holling is being considered for interim city manager after Randy Oliver leaves on February 15. It has also been reported that Holling was convicted of a DUI just recently — so recent, we find out today, that he hasn’t even been sentenced yet. That will happen this Friday. The city council has called a special meeting to possibly appoint him interim city manager this Thursday, Jan. 31.

On top of that, the paper says he’s given money to three council members’ campaigns: Eric Turner ($700), George Jacob ($750), and Bill Spears ($250). The Illinois City/County Management Association (ILCMA), as mentioned in a sidebar to the article, has a tenet against this in their ethics code. It reads:

Tenet 7. Refrain from all political activities which undermine public confidence in professional administrators. Refrain from participation in the election of the members of the employing legislative body.

What was not in the paper was any discussion of rumors regarding why he retired from Caterpillar when he did. Every journalist I’ve talked to has been unable to substantiate those rumors, which is why you don’t hear them on the radio or read them in the paper, and it’s why I don’t allow them on my blog.

So, what are we to make of all this?

First of all, I don’t think decisions can be made based on rumors. So in the same way rumors won’t be published, I don’t think rumors can be used as a basis for hiring or not hiring someone. I know that it happens sometimes, but that doesn’t make it right. It’s not good policy to make decisions on anything but verifiable facts.

Secondly, it is a fact that Holling contributed to some council members’ campaigns. But ask yourself honestly, do you really think that $250-$750 is enough to say to a council member, “you owe me”? Does anyone think that George Jacob is wowed by a contributor who gave him all of $750 of the $55,000+ in funds he had available for his campaign? I’m not buying the “payback” angle. If any of these council members are supporting Holling, it’s not because of his campaign contributions.

I also don’t think Holling is violating any ILCMA tenets. He gave this money long before anyone knew that Randy Oliver was leaving or that there would be a need for an interim city manager. I don’t think you can retroactively hold someone to an ethical standard like that.

Finally, there’s the DUI. That’s a matter of public record. He will likely have his license suspended on Friday. And it’s on this point that I have a problem with Holling being selected.

To be a good manager, you have to have respect. You need the respect of your employees and your bosses. A city manager — even an interim one — also needs the respect of the citizens he’s hired to serve and the outside agencies, both public and private, with which he needs to interact. Holling is not going to have that respect precisely because he’s currently under the cloud of this DUI. Since it’s an interim position, he has no time to (re)build respect before he’ll be replaced with a permanent city manager.

Furthermore, his mobility will be limited. City Attorney Randy Ray is quoted in the paper as saying that a drivers license is not required for this job position. But Randy Oliver was provided a car allowance of $500 per month per his contract. One would assume that means he needed to do no small amount of driving as part of his job. How will Holling get to and from work? The bus? How will he get around the city to do his job? Is the city going to assign him a driver?

Perhaps when one looks at Holling’s entire career, the DUI is just a single bad judgment, and we all make bad judgments at times. But the timing of this is most significant. How are the citizens of Peoria supposed to have any confidence in this choice, especially when a better candidate is waiting in the wings?

The city should reject Holling and instead appoint Economic Development Director Craig Hullinger as the interim city manager.