Category Archives: City of Peoria

City of Peoria, Crime

2007 Homicide #2: Virginia K. Mallow

A mere 13 days into the new year, and 12 days after the first homicide of 2007, a 72-year-old woman was found dead in her West Bluff home, and police have determined it was a homicide. WEEK also has this story on their website, and they’re reporting that an autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

The Journal Star identifies the victim as Virginia K. Mallow of 438 W. Doubet Ct. in Peoria. Today would have been her 73rd birthday.

This is just so unbelievably sad. What is our city coming to? What can we do to stop the violence? It must be stopped.

City of Peoria, Peoria Public Schools

Whither the Peoria Promise?

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On January 25, 2006, Mayor Jim Ardis proclaimed during his “State of the City” address:

Another plan I will pursue this year is one we may call the “Peoria Promise.” It is based on a similar successful program in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The premise is this: Any student graduating from Peoria’s Public Schools will be eligible for a scholarship to any Public University or College in Illinois.

The Kalamazoo Promise has been a stunning success so far. The South Bend (IN) Tribune reported recently:

In addition to the uptick in that city’s public school enrollment — 985 new students this school year, which translates to an additional $7.5 million in state aid — The Promise has led to the hiring of 50 new teachers. And as reported in a Nov. 27 story in The Tribune, the promise has upped the level of school involvement among students and parents.

In short, this innovation is creating a strong and growing sense of hope in a city where more than one in five of all families live in poverty.

Wow! With proven success like that, I’m sure even District 150 would agree with city efforts to implement such a program here. So how has it been going the past year? I e-mailed Mayor Ardis to ask him.

The mayor pointed out that fundraising for this effort has been especially difficult in a year that saw so many capital campaigns, from the zoo to the museum to the Children’s Playhouse and a host of other causes. Plus, as I pointed out in a previous post, the Peoria Promise is more costly than the Kalamazoo Promise because Peoria’s public school enrollment is 40% larger than Kalamazoo’s (14,700 vs. 10,500). Nevertheless, Ardis said he’s “hoping to announce significant progress on the Peoria Promise at this year’s State of the City.”

Of all the causes and fundraisers going on right now, I think this one holds the most promise (no pun intended) for making a true difference in our city. I hope the mayor is successful.

City of Peoria

Reader poll: Historical Preservation Commission

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Historic PreservationMany thoughtful commenters, upon hearing of the unequal treatment given the Peoria Park District by the City of Peoria, have led me to ask this question: Should there be an Historical Preservation Commission (HPC) at all? Is it fair for the City to limit property owners’ rights when their property is deemed historic?

The City of Peoria’s municipal code gives the following rationale for their historic preservation policy (§16-1):

It is hereby found and declared by the city council that it is required in the interest of the public’s health, safety and general welfare and is necessary to sound urban planning that those properties and improvements having special historical, architectural, community or aesthetic significance be preserved, enhanced and continued in or restored to use; it being further found and declared that the city’s economic vitality and tax base cannot be maintained and enhanced without regard for the city’s heritage and older neighborhoods.

On the other hand, Libertarians decry such preservation as nothing more than government encroachment on private property rights. “Essentially, preservationists are taking an extremist position, demanding control over other people’s land without having to buy it themselves,” explains Lawrence Samuels, vice chairman of the Libertarian Party of Monterey County, California. Samuels doesn’t have much use for zoning or land-use laws either.

What do you think? Should the HPC be abolished? Is it okay as is? Is it okay, but should be more limited? What is the proper role and limit of an HPC?

City of Peoria, East Bluff, Peoria Park District, Peoria Public Schools

East Bluff businesses want nothing to do with petition signing

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Clare Jellick reports tonight:

The Boys and Girls Club has pulled out of letting a group of people use its space for a petition drive in support of a school at Glen Oak Park. […]

“We went to several places, and they said it was kind of controversial. They did not want to allow us to rent a space because of the subject matter,” said Bruce Morgan, who lives just south of the park on Frye Avenue.

I have the solution for our luckless “silent majority.” They can have their petition signing party on one of the properties the school district recently purchased on the corner of Frye and Prospect. I’m sure the school board wouldn’t mind. Plus, it would have these added benefits:

  • Reduction of depression and aggression in petition signers
  • Environment-based petition signing develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making
  • Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that signing petitions in natural surroundings stimulates creativity and activism
  • Ability to draw a better picture of a bee next to their names on the petition

The people behind this petition drive need to ask themselves, don’t their petition signers deserve the best environment for signing a petition? Can they really even consider anyplace else? It’s easy to get there — just one moderately busy street to cross. It will increase park attendance, and while they’re there, they can visit the zoo and botanical gardens.

City of Peoria, East Bluff, Peoria Park District

Petition drive underway to reconsider Park Board decision

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The heretofore “silent majority” wants the Park District to know that, although they never said anything all last year while the controversy was going on, they really want a school in Glen Oak Park. Now, after the decision has already been made, they are mobilizing their forces — all 30 of them so far.

They have such nice things to say about their neighbors, too:

Lance Sperry, who has joined [Teresa] Larson in the cause, said the people that attended meeting after meeting to oppose the site aren’t the majority.

“It’s just a few that have the time to go to every (City) Council meeting, shake their fists at every Park Board meeting. A lot of us just don’t have the time to do this,” Sperry said.

Oh, sure. Five neighborhood associations, the Heart of Peoria Commission, Councilman Bob Manning, et. al., are just a few lazy bums with all kinds of time on their hands and nothing better to do than to go to every council and park board meeting. They don’t have job commitments or families or social lives like the vaunted “silent majority” who “just don’t have the time” to participate in civic affairs.

That means this “majority,” if we are to believe Mr. Sperry, is too busy to make a call, write a letter, or attend a meeting; no, political action is evidently at the very bottom of their priority list, and they consider that a virtue. Teresa Larson (the apparent leader of this petition drive) says she “just assumed that the Park Board would make the ‘right’ decision.” Well I guess she and her johnny-come-lately petition signers have learned a valuable civics lesson.

City Council, City of Peoria, TIF

Council roundup: TIFs don’t expand, one-year Riverfront agreement approved

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With surprisingly little discussion, the City Council quietly rejected almost all suggestions to add more land to the proposed Warehouse and Eagle View Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts.

Lately — especially since the most recent budget was passed — people have been asking, “is this council any different than the one they replaced?” I think this is an example where they are indeed different. This council showed restraint when presented with suggestions to expand a TIF, and I thought their performance tonight was commendable.

Another area where they’re different: the council approved only a one-year intergovernmental agreement with the Park District to do programming for Riverfront events instead of rubber-stamping another five-year agreement. They’re trying to wean the Park District off of city funds and push them toward making Riverfront events self-supporting. This is practically a paradigm-shift from the previous council.

It was a good, fiscally-responsible council meeting.

City Council, City of Peoria

Let’s get r-r-ready to RUMBLE!!!

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Wrestling picTonight, at the same time the City Council was meeting, the Civic Center was hosting WWE wrestling. Not a big deal, except for one little problem: both events were using wireless microphones and there was a bit of “interference.”

Specifically, we in Peoria could hear the wrestling event in the background during the meeting on TV and radio and, better yet, millions of people got to hear our city council meeting in the background of the nationally-televised Smackdown! All over America tonight, confused wrestling fans are Googling Lori “Blackbelt” David….

I have to say, the wrestling underscore really made the council meeting more entertaining. I wonder if they can work that in every week? Maybe they could get Michael Buffer to read the consent agenda….

City of Peoria, Peoria Park District, Peoria Public Schools

“Silent majority” count so far: 30

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The Journal Star’s “breaking news” department has a story on the rumored petition drive to reverse the Park Board’s decision on siting a new school in Glen Oak Park:

A group of neighbors across the street from Glen Oak Park are circulating a petition to get the Peoria Park Board to reconsider its rejection of a school there.

Teresa Larson, who feels “ashamed” she didn’t speak out sooner, said she and several of her neighbors have collected about 30 signatures this week.

So, there you go. The “silent majority” is finally speaking — a whopping 30 people! Of course, they live “across the street from Glen Oak Park,” so they’re some of the only people in the East Bluff who would be unaffected by putting the school in the park. It will be interesting to see how many residents from the rest of the Glen Oak attendance area sign the petition.

Considering this is the so-called “silent majority,” people should be lining up around the block to sign.

City of Peoria, Peoria Journal Star

No bluffing, the JS got it wrong

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In today’s Journal Star I read this headline: “Peoria woman has purse stolen in West Bluff.”

Well, that’s my neck of the woods, so I wanted to know what happened and where. Imagine my surprise when I next read this (emphasis mine):

The 34-year-old victim told police shortly before 11 p.m. that while she was headed west on Nebraska Avenue approaching Peoria Avenue, the men came up on her from behind.

That would be the East Bluff. You know, it’s this kind of sloppy reporting that will get some reporters/editors fired when Dave Ransburg buys the paper.

City Council, City of Peoria, Peoria Police

Reader poll: What is adequate police protection?

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In my last reader poll, I asked the question, “What are essential services?” and the answers were terrific — very enlightening. Certainly there was a lot more disagreement than I thought there would be, but there was one thing, and one thing only, on which everyone agreed: police protection is an essential service.

But how do we assess whether this essential service is adequately provided by the City? What would the City have to do for us each to say, “yes, they’ve adequately provided for police protection in Peoria”?

Is it as simple as staffing x-number of cops on the beat? Is it solely punitive, or is there a prevention or early-intervention component to having adequate police protection (e.g., could some funding for education be considered an investment in crime prevention, and in that sense be considered part of providing adequate police protection)? Is it a funding issue — having enough money for all the communications and other equipment needed?

I think a distinction needs to be made here for the purposes of this question not becoming too large. I’m talking about what the City Council can do to adequately provide police protection. I’m not looking for a critique of the police department’s or the state’s attorney’s effectiveness or what they can do better at this point. Just from a Council perspective, at what point are you/we satisfied that they (the Council) are doing enough, and any problems or shortcomings are someone else’s fault other than the Council’s?