From my inbox, this notification from the City Clerk’s office:
WE HAVE JUST BEEN ADVISED AND YOU ARE HEREBY NOTICED THAT A MAJORITY OF A QUORUM OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS, HAVE BEEN INVITED AND MAY ATTEND TO WITNESS ILLINOIS [GOVERNOR] PAT QUINN SIGN THE HISTORIC TAX CREDIT FOR THE PROPOSED HOTEL PROJECT ON MAIN STREET ON SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 2010, AT 9:15 A.M., AT THE PEORIA MARQUETTE, CHEMINEE BALLROOM, 501 MAIN STREET, PEORIA, ILLINOIS.
Please note this is not a meeting and no official action will be taken.
Tax credits for a guy making $9 million on this Wonderful Development, after he’s already received a $37 million gift from the city. That’s capitalism?
Thanks, State of Illinois. At least you can afford it. Oh, wait….
Cant make it. I have to work so that I can pay rent (a portion of which goes to property taxes) so that we can pay for all those new polie officers we hired because of the rising gun violence. Oh, wait …
WOW Ok For those keeping track We have between $37 or $ 41 Million from the City for a project that from multiple independent companies hired to evaluate this project never really said this was a good project their opinions were pushed aside whenever they didn’t go with the majority of the council. A Tax Gift From the State of 25% of the Total Cost of the Project which by the way was twisted from Multiple Historic sites to accomadate this only one project. Then Lets not foreget The Illinois Finance authority still is going to vote on that $7 million for this project. Which by the way that same authority has extended whatever loan with the PNC bank for the Pere. Well since we cant count on the state to go over this can anyone say Federal Investigation HHHMMM. Good Luck to All of us
Does anyone remember how the city dealt with the developement and construction of the Holiday Inn City Center at Madison and Hamilton? Construction began around 1973. I was a student at Spalding who walked past that project daily but I don’t recall the politics around it and dad and mom aren’t around to recall. Just curious how it went down back then.
Simply another day with the lunatics in charge of the asylum…
After interest the public’s cost for the project will be $67 million.
No, CJ, that is not Capitalism (at least the way Adam Smith describes it), it is Capitalism (the way Marx describes it). It is Corporate Fascism. Welcome to America.
Okay we have two down and how many more to go? Holiday Inn City Centre has gone by the way. The Grand Hotel is going to convert to Senior Housing for the most part because of low attendance and they are not making any money. But we are investing huge amounts because we need a bigger, better hotel to bring on all those visitors that are running around the country side looking for a hotel room. Isn’t it interesting that these two stories about these hotels broke right after the Pere Marquette deal passed? Sounds and smells awfully nasty.
Original hotel at location of current Holiday Inn City Center was started by an out of town develeloper from Champaign/Urbana area who went bankrupt during construction here as well as on a project I believe in Springfield. Project set for a while and then Ray Becker modified the plans and took over the development. I was working for Peacock and Steen at the time and they were the Architects along with Gordon Burns I am 99.44% , Ivory Soap sure, that ZERO DOLLARS of TAX PAYER SUBSIDY went for the construction or furnishing of the hotel, the parking deck, and/or the 2 story office building on top of the parking deck. It was totally financed and funded thru the private sector. Subsequent remodeling and alterations/additions to date by later owners has been completed with 100% private investment and private financing.
To my knowledge, no owner including Ray Becker ever asked for public subsidy or support until recently when Kenseth Group requested money after the City Council approved the initial $39 million dollars for EM Properties, ie Pere Marquette Block. The City did not approve the Kenseth request
If we keep electing the same people we will keep getting the same bad results. The people bragging about this rotten deal are up for election soon. Quinn and Jehan Gordon are up in November. Koehler, Risinger and Leitch are unopposed THIS TIME. Ardis and the at-large city council members who voted for this bad deal are up next winter.
They get financial priorites wrong, indeed way off track, then we vote them OUT.
It will take only a few years to realize how bad this deal is-when it goes bankrupt like Firefly Energy and MidTown Plaza and costs taxpayers millions. By then this cozy deal for the developer will have given him $9 million free and clear.
Well as free and clear as you can be after you default on 50 mil in loans. I could take my paycheck this week default on my house payment and let the bank take my car do I have it made? I dont know if I would consider bankruptcy free and clear by any stretch of the imgination.
Yup, Steven, “free and clear” has some strange definitions here. 🙂
Gary Sandberg,
Your memory serves you right – the original developer of that site as well as his controversial high rise in Springfield was a guy named Wally Rogers. Not only did he go belly up he also did prison time. The local institution holding the bag was First Federal Savings and Loan of Peoria and no public money was ever used nor asked for.
Difficult to make changes on the local political scene. First, you need someone to run who a majority believe will do a better job. Then this person has to WORK to get elected like the candidate and supporters going door to door. Then comes financing, then get out the vote, (22%) won’t do it,, then the candidate needs favorable publicity from the media; all not necessarily in this order.
Then you need someone who will not bow to special interests but the bad new here is that the special interests provide the funding. Think Leitch and Schock. But it can be done as I won 7 County Board elections, count them, accepting less than $1000 total. $100 from a Democrat and the balance from a retired friend who insisted his daughter design and print my hand-out platform at no cost to me.
Unfortuantely, I was 75 years old when I won my seat on the County Board and 85 when I retire?? in December, 2010.
Throw the big spenders out? Easier said than done. And not least, one parties members slightly more than the other, will vote for someone who is of the same party they are no matter what the candidates record. Think Blago and Obama and Jim Ryan.
Happy Fathers Day CJ. Hope you had an awesome time with your Kids today!
Black Swan, slight correction on 2011 City Elections: only the At-Large seats are up for election; the Mayor’s seat is up when the 5 District Council seats are up. Mayor Ardis’s term expires in 2013.
Merle hit the nail on the head on why most folks can’t/won’t run for office against an incumbent. But then, if you put your mind to it, who knows what could happen?