Category Archives: City of Peoria

City Council, City of Peoria

Grayeb seeks to trample private property rights

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From the Journal Star over the weekend:

Calling the city “behind the curve,” Councilman Chuck Grayeb says people in Peoria deserve the right to enjoy dinner without a side order of second-hand smoke.

I can suggest several options for Mr. Grayeb and the “people in Peoria” about whom he’s concerned. Here’s a list of smoke-free restaurants from the Illinois Department of Health. In addition, Mr. Grayeb is free to start his own smoke-free restaurant — he’ll certainly have time for a new venture now that he’s leaving the council.

Of course, neither of those options are Grayeb’s solution. He’d rather trample private property rights:

To that end, he plans to push for a referendum in the next few months banning smoking in Peoria restaurants.

I think this is focusing on the wrong problem. Instead, the council should be doing something to stop the gangs that are tying people up and forcing them to eat in restaurants that allow smoking!

City of Peoria

Haste makes waste

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The snow debate is back. This time the focus is on Street Department Manager David Haste. Despite his abysmal performance in the days (weeks?) following the big Dec. 1 snowstorm, Public Works Director Steve Van Winkle has seen fit to give him a whopping 4.68% merit increase, in addition to approving $5,150 in overtime pay — for a salaried employee — between Nov. 30 and Dec. 10, according to today’s Journal Star.

You really should read Elaine Hopkins entire article and see if you don’t find your blood pressure rising just a little. There’s plenty of controversy surrounding Mr. Haste:

  • “[H]e reported working 129 hours over six days, an average of 21.5 hours daily.”

    I’d like to see the guy’s time sheet to find out exactly when he slept. Are we really supposed to believe that he only slept 15 hours in six days, an average of 2 1/2 hours per day? If true, it’s no wonder the guy was making poor decisions. I’d be willing to buy one or two days with only 3 hours sleep, but 5-10 days after the event? He’s still working over 20 hours a day with no sleep? And why the heck does a salaried employee get overtime pay?

  • “Haste said he and his wife were unable to find an affordable home in the Dunlap school district, though they continue to look. So Haste adopted a rental property he bought in 2000 as his residence….”

    Haste lives in Princeville, but when he was promoted to Street Department Manager, he was required by city residency requirements to become a resident of Peoria within a year (by 2004, in his case), but he wanted his teenage kids to be able to continue attending Dunlap High School.

    So, the guy owns two properties and makes $80,000/year, but he hasn’t been able to find an affordable home in the Dunlap High attendance area of Peoria in the last three years? He’s not looking very hard.

    Furthermore, he’s not convincing anyone (except Van Winkle, apparently) that he’s really living in the rental house in Peoria. It doesn’t have a stove in it, and it’s not listed as owner-occupied on the tax rolls, although there is some evidence that he may sleep there occasionally and Van Winkle claims his residency claims have been investigated. I don’t know the exact wording of the city’s residency ordinance, but if this isn’t breaking the letter of the law (and since it’s clearly not his primary residence, I don’t see how it couldn’t be), it’s certainly breaking the spirit of it.

  • “Haste said […] he has not even taken vacation he is eligible for, [and] added, ‘It’s not easy to do this (job). It’s not fun.'”

    Sounds like instead of looking for a new house in Peoria, Haste should be looking for a new job that he would enjoy. The City Manager should help him along toward that decision.

City of Peoria

Reader poll: What are “essential services”?

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I think a vast majority of Peorians agree with the phrase “essential services first.” The question really is, what services fall under the category of “essential”? Public safety would undoubtedly top the list, and public works wouldn’t be far behind. But if you were going to strip the city’s responsibilities down to the bare essentials, what would they be? Or, alternatively, what are the most non-essential things the city does — what should the city stop doing or cut completely?

Amtrak, City of Galesburg, City of Peoria

How about a Peoria-Quad Cities Amtrak route?

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Amtrak LogoWhile I was on hiatus, there was an interesting editorial in the Galesburg Register-Mail suggesting a Galesburg-Peoria commuter train. John Pulliam is their business writer at the Galesburg paper (the equivalent of the Journal Star’s Paul Gordon), and he makes some good points:

Ever since Maytag and Butler abandoned the Burg, many people have been paying big bucks to commute to Alcoa and John Deere in the Quad Cities and Caterpillar in Peoria. Driving that far every day is expensive, tiring and causes you to need a new car about twice a month. Why not take the train? (Because there isn’t one.) […]

Not only could a commuter line take Galesburg workers to Peoria, but Peoria’s nearest Amtrak service is Galesburg and Normal. Not good for a metro area of about 350,000 people. I know Peorians would rather have a direct route to Chicago, but the commuter train could bring them to Galesburg, where they could catch Amtrak to Chicago and many other destinations.

I agree. But why stop there? Let’s extend it on to Normal, or even Champaign. We need a good east-west train route in Illinois.

Pulliam suggests using the BNSF rail line between Galesburg and Peoria. I wonder how amenable BNSF would be to letting Amtrak use their line and how much it would cost to upgrade it to passenger rail standards. Maybe one of my rail-enthusiast friends can give me the low-down on whether any of this wishful thinking would really be feasible.

Blogosphere, City of Peoria

There’s a new portal in town: Peoria.com

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Screenshot of Peoria.com

If you’re looking for a good Peoria portal, check out the new Peoria.com. Their site has a good, clean look and no broken links that I can find. The pages load quickly and have attractive graphics. The whole thing looks very professional.

They link to news stories equally from traditional media outlets and blogs, and they are actively seeking bloggers to provide original news and opinion for their site. There’s a forum (more like a traditional computer bulletin board than a blog), a listing of upcoming Peoria events, classified ads and job listings and a community guide. It’s pretty well-rounded.

The key is going to be keeping everything fresh and updated. How many portals have you visited that have information woefully out of date or missing completely? If they’re vigilant in keeping things relentlessly updated and complete, I think they’ll be very successful. And I wish them the best of luck.

City of Peoria, Crime, Peoria Police

First day of the new year yields first murder

This isn’t a good omen. DeAndre Allen of Peoria was shot to death at 9:10 p.m. on New Year’s Day at 3229 N. Gale Ave. And Peoria’s homicide rate continues unabated.

But Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard is looking on the bright side. Noting that another person standing near Allen was also grazed by a bullet, the Journal Star quotes the Chief as saying:

“It’s very difficult,” Settingsgaard said of the new year’s first homicide. “We’re lucky we don’t have two people dead.”

With every dark cloud, there’s a silver lining, eh? It’s good to be positive, but something has to be done to curb the homicide rate in this city before we get a reputation like Gary, Indiana.

City of Peoria, Peoria Park District

Does allowing zoo construction portend designation denial?

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Clare Jellick (who has a good blog of her own) reports in today’s Journal Star that plans to expand Glen Oak Zoo will be unhindered by the request to designate Glen Oak Park an historic site.

Section 16-86(d) of Peoria’s municipal code states (emphasis mine):

(d) Regulation during consideration period. From the date of filing an application until the date of a final decision by the commission, or if the commission recommends the designation, until the date of a final decision by the city council, the provisions of section 16-61 shall apply as if the subject property were designated as requested; provided, however, that this interim control shall in no case apply for more than 210 days after the application is filed. Once the area is designated as a historic district or a landmark, it shall comply with all the regulations set forth in articles I through IV of this chapter.

So, the next question is, what does section 16-61 say? Here it is:

Work on property and improvements shall be regulated as follows:

(1) Landmarks. No alterations, interior construction which affects structural members, exterior construction, removal of significant landscaping (for a shrub mass, more than 25 percent) or exterior demolition may be performed on property and improvements which have been designated under articles I through IV of this chapter as landmarks except as shall be approved by a certificate of appropriateness.

(2) Historic districts. No alterations, exterior construction, removal of significant landscaping (for a shrub mass, more than 25 percent) or exterior demolition may be performed on property and improvements located within an area which has been designated under articles I through IV of this chapter as a historical district except as shall be approved by a certificate of appropriateness.

However, Pat Landes, the city’s Director of Planning and Growth Management, tells Jellick that since the City Council approved a special use permit for the zoo expansion in June 2006, the city is going to allow construction to continue unhindered. She was pretty emphatic and definitive, reportedly saying, “The city has no plans to stop the construction of the zoo.”

Yet, according to section 16-4(c) of the municipal code (emphasis mine), “Whenever there is a conflict between the provisions of articles I through IV of [the Historic Preservation] chapter or a regulation adopted hereunder and the provisions of any other code or ordinance of the city, the more restrictive shall apply.”

It seems to me the City is breaking its own code in deference to the Park District. A plain reading of the code would indicate that the zoo expansion should be halted until the Historic Preservation Commission either approves or denies making Glen Oak Park an historic site. That the City is reluctant to enforce this temporary delay indicates, I believe, the City is unlikely to approve declaring the park an historic site either. Just a prediction.

Why? Because getting into a turf battle of this magnitude with the Park District would be expensive, acrimonious, and arguably disadvantageous for the city. Also, since the Park Board made the right final decision (from the City’s viewpoint at least) regarding the school siting issue, the City is likely to be more cooperative than they would have been otherwise.

City of Peoria, Peoria Journal Star, Radio

“Outside the Horseshoe” reviews top stories of 2006

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Jonathan Ahl had WMBD-AM’s Dave Dahl and the Journal Star’s Jennifer Davis on WCBU’s “Outside the Horseshoe” program (listen to an .mp3 of the show) this past Tuesday to review 2006. The six top stories they identified and discussed:

  1. At-large Council Elections — Morris and Grayeb are not seeking reelection, so there is a lot of speculation on who might be filling those positions, and if the other three incumbents will remain.
  2. City Budget — No significant changes from last year, despite having a new council that was supposed to fully staff Fire Station 11 and eliminate the $6/month garbage fee.
  3. Snow — The city wasn’t prepared for the big December 1 snowstorm and did a poor job clearing the city streets. Ahl’s panel decided that it wasn’t any one thing that was to blame (it was a combination of factors), but the council, et. al., are looking for one scapegoat.
  4. Crime — 18 murders in 2006, “Target Peoria” crime forum, surveillance cameras, saturation patrols, and whatever happened to the parental-responsibility ordinance idea?
  5. East Bluff Replacement School — District 150 was, and still is, trying to find a 15-acre site in the East Bluff on which to build a new school to replace/consolidate Glen Oak and White schools.
  6. Civic Center Hotel Controversy — I have to admit, I had almost forgotten about this one. It’s been so “underground,” as Jennifer Davis said, that one wonders whether some back-room deals are being made, or if the idea is being abandoned.

After listening to the show, I have to say the panelists did a good job of covering the big stories of the past year. But there were a couple of stories I was surprised they didn’t cover: the PDC landfill controversy (granted, that was a Peoria County issue, not a city issue, but it was still a big story affecting the city) and the proposed Land Development Code for the Heart of Peoria area (which I think is significant because it’s a huge step forward for the Heart of Peoria Plan, which was adopted by the council in principle, and now will have the chance to be adopted in practice).

And I think they should have had a blogger or two at the table just to round things out. Not necessarily me, although I always have fun on the show, but at least Billy Dennis who has been covering Peoria politics for the blogosphere for a number of years now. After all, it’s people like Billy and me who were named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year this year, right? 😉

City of Peoria, Peoria Park District

Historic designation not the way to save Glen Oak Park

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The Journal Star has an editorial in today’s print edition (I haven’t been able to find it online to link to it), headlined “Historic or not, parks are province of Park Board,” that criticizes citizens’ attempts to declare Glen Oak Park an historic site, thus making it subject to oversight by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission. They state:

Any move by Peoria’s Historic Preservation Commission to landmark Glen Oak Park as a historic site worthy of city-enforced restrictions on its use should be considered as an assault on the sovereignty of the Peoria Park District.

This may surprise (and dismay) some readers, but I actually agree with them on that. It would set a dangerous precedent if one municipal body (the city) — whether through elected (council) or unelected (commission) representatives — tried to exert authority over another municipal body.

If the city agreed to make Glen Oak Park an historic site, that means that any and all changes to the park would have to be approved by a city commission. That would make the city the de facto governing body over Glen Oak Park. I think that would be a huge overstepping of bounds.

I have to admit that I have somewhat reluctantly come to that conclusion, because I agree with the sentiment behind the effort, which is to preserve the remaining historic structures in Glen Oak Park (e.g., the parapet) and to keep the park land itself from being reduced by encroachments by the zoo and currently-defunct school siting projects. But the proper place for redress of those grievances is the Park Board, not a city commission. If the Park Board is unresponsive, then those trustees should be replaced at the earliest opportunity.

After all, what if the tables were turned? Should the Park Board be allowed to exert its control unilaterally over all greenspace in the city, not just park land it owns? Should they claim to have jurisdiction over what you plant in your backyard or whether you cover part of your backyard to put in a deck? Sounds silly, doesn’t it?

However, I disagree with the editorial writers when they say this:

The petition has everything to do with District 150’s attempt to partner with the Park District in building a new school on a corner of upper Glen Oak Park.

I think that’s an oversimplification at best. Certainly the school siting attempt lit the fire, but I don’t believe the historic designation attempt is based solely on trying to stop the school. Rather, as a result of the spotlight placed on Glen Oak Park because of the school issue, many people are gaining a new appreciation for the value of the park and realizing the extent of its poor repair. That the parapet and foot bridge have been allowed to deteriorate so badly through neglect is reprehensible. But again, these are things for which the Park Board and its staff — specifically Bonnie Noble — should be held accountable, not usurped by the City.

We need to preserve Glen Oak Park, but we also need to preserve the separation of powers between the City and Park District.

City of Peoria

Rumors abound in Peoria

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Lots of interesting rumors flying around these days:

  • The Word on the Street column reported yesterday that the rumor is that former mayor Dave Ransburg is trying to buy the Journal Star. When asked if there was “a nugget of truth in all the speculation,” Ransburg replied, “I have no idea,” which means “yes, I’m definitely trying to buy the Journal Star” in Ransburgese. I just hope he doesn’t outsource it to China.
  • Several people have told me that the worst-kept secret at District 150 headquarters is that Superintendent Ken Hinton is planning to retire (again) in February 2007. Speculation is that Herschel Hannah would be the next Superintendent. If that’s true, and as long as they don’t fill the Associate Superintendent vacancy left by Hannah, then I say that’s a good thing. In fact, why wait until February?
  • The aforementioned Word on the Street column also said that City Manager Randy Oliver wants Public Works Director Steve Van Winkle fired for leaving town during the big snowstorm and approving a ridiculous amount of overtime pay for a salaried employee. That seems like a bit of an overreaction at first blush, and it appears the council feels the same way. According to the paper, “a majority of the council seems to be more open to allowing Van Winkle to retire — something he was, we hear, likely to do this year anyway.”

I heard one other rumor (tongue-in-cheek here): that Ray LaHood was planning to run for an at-large seat on the City Council. Seems he’s more interested in local politics than national issues these days….