In honor of all the citizens who waited till the midnight hour to address the council, let’s all sing together this classic Wilson Pickett song:
Tonight made me nostalgic for the councils of yore when Bud Grieves was mayor and the council meetings would go late into the night every week.
Tonight’s council meeting ended officially at 12:15 a.m. Wednesday, October 10. And Jonathan Ahl had to be awakened to sign off.
It may have ended at 12:15, but Insight Cable went to bed at 12:05. That caused us to miss some of Mr. Smart’s criticism of the Council’s inconsistency, and identification of more staff stupidity.
Really? How interesting. They couldn’t stick it out the last ten minutes. Wimps. 🙂
I was listening on the radio, and I couldn’t believe how many people stuck around to address the council. That’s impressive.
Yes, I can see how the Smarts would be upset about that decision. It was rather narrow-minded, in my opinion. I understand the need for rules and consistency, but that was really beyond the pale. They should have made an exception.
Tonight’s meeting was uncharacteristically acrimonious. It really did remind me of the infamous Grieves council.
For those of us already asleep — What happened to the Smarts?
They bought land outside of Peoria, but within the 1 1/2 mile jurisdiction buffer within which they have to abide by Peoria’s land use policies. They want to sell a portion of the land with the original farm house on it. The zoning commission approved it, but city staff recommended denial because they’re on a septic system, and city ordinances require that for a “subdivision,” they have to be connected to the city sewer. Well, that would be outrageously expensive for one house — they’re not putting in a “subdivision.”
The argument was that it didn’t matter. It’s technically a “subdivision” even if it’s just for one house. The city has to be “blind” and treat everyone equally. Otherwise a subdivision developer would want the same treatment. So, inflexible policy won out over common sense. As one of the speakers mentioned, they can’t even vote for the council, but the council can prevent them from selling their own land.
Naturally, also on the agenda was a request approved by city staff to sell a landlocked piece of property to Adams Outdoor Advertising, which is also against city ordinances. There has to be a way for Adams to access the property without traversing over residential property on Linn St. Sandberg raised a stink, so it got deferred.
FYI – I was awake the whole time. But if they keep meeting for six hours at a time, I make no promises about the future. I might bring a cot to catch a nap.
You should order a pizza and have it delivered to council chambers. 😛
You didn’t sound like your usual jovial self at the end of the meeting.
I think Sandberg warned everyone about this midnight stuff, didn’t he?
That’s true. Six hours of city council meeting that starts after I have already put in an eight hour day does tend to take a little out of me.
I have thought about pulling a Jeff Spicoli and have a pizza delivered to city hall. But techinically you aren’t supposed to have food or drink in council chambers. I violate that nearly every week, but its easier to do that with a bag of pretzels than it would be with a pizza.
Anyone get a photo of this “nap”?
I don’t know about Insight shutting down early, but one of the video guys in back had a seizure last night. A fire truck and ambulance showed up during public comment.
Regarding the video guy with the medical emergency: Although the ememrgency itself was not funny, a funny thing happened because of it. Mrs. Smart left the council chambers for whatever reason and on her way back in she found the guy having the problem. She then opened the door and asked the first person she saw, which happend to be Chief Settingsgaard in full uniform, if she could use could use his phone to call 911. The Chief, assistant Fire Chief, and Dr. Smart all went to the aid of the guy.
The Smarts can’t vote for council members? do they have to pay city taxes? I am going for the taxation w/o representation, oh wait that would just make them Peurto Rico.
Regarding the Smart’s they cant vote for council , the property is NOT in the city, Just within the 1.5 mile zone of infuence of the city. so yes they are hostage of the city but can’t do anything about it. They must follow the county and recieve services from the township, county and whatever fire department serves them. They could have I/A water but not sewer from the sanatary district unless they annex to peoria or another ajoining city or village that is incorporated. There only mistake they made is within the 1.5 mile range of the city.
They must have been really stressed because Jacobs, the Mayor, and Bob Manning were all at Johnny Vigs way past 1:00 AM. It is possible however, they were planning an expansion of the 4:00 AM liquor license to include the Metro Center. HA!
Re: Gun Buyback
Although it is a relatively small amount, is nobody else outraged at using tax dollars to fund the program of a PRIVATE RELIGIOUS organization?
Paul, I’m not outraged or even troubled. Please don’t tell me you think it’s tantamount to Peoria establishing a city religion.
I’m outraged instead that my tax dollars are being used to bribe criminals to turn in their illegal firearms. If they want to have an amnesty period where criminals can turn in their arms no questions asked, that’s one thing. But to pay them to do it? Oh brother.
Hey, before I go on my next trip, would the council please pay me $100 to not speed on the expressway?
“that would just make them Puerto Rico.”
Puerto Rico has voted on several occasions on the matter of statehood and independence. They have consistently voted to keep things just as they are.
I think he meant Washington, D.C. They actually have “taxation without representation” on their license plates.
Paul,
if we truly want to be implementing change in this community we either 1. step up to the plate ourselves and partner with a variety of community businesses or organizations or 2. we use tax dollars to pay some type of staff to fix all of our problems. This means our tax bills triple or more. Choose your outrage carefully. I do believe that many initiatives need to be self sustaining with community investment. A kick start or a boost from tax dollars can be appropriate in many cases. Whether or not it is going to work, who knows. We can look at other community’s success or failures, but there are things that play in Peoria and fail elsewhere and vice versa due to differing factors. There are also things that have been tried before and failed, but might be successful now due to a change in circumstances.
Well C.J….any time government (at any level) begins funding religious programs, it embarks down that proverbial slippery slope. Which religions are funded and which are excluded? This is why government should NEVER use tax dollars to fund religion-based projects. I am guessing this is why Ardis and Jacob both stated that while they would contribute individually to the gun buyback, they felt that this was “not the function of government”. I would love nothing more than to see a long line of clergy (priests, rabbis, mullahs, etc.) at the podium at the next council meeting, each asking for $2500 for their daycare, soup kitchen, early childhood program, etc., all of which would benefit the community more than “bribing criminals to turn in their illegal firearms”.