At the Moss-Bradley candidates forum last night, current park board member and candidate for board president Robert Johnson said that if the City Council approves the Historic Preservation Commission’s recommendation to landmark elements of Glen Oak Park, it’s the unanimous desire of the park board to sue the City for violating the Park Board’s sovereignty.
He went on to say that preservation of the parks and its historic artifacts is the responsibility of the Park Board, and if the people don’t think the board is doing an adequate job, they can vote out the current board members.
All Park Board members are running unopposed.
Johnson also stated that the Peoria Playhouse children’s museum planned for the park would not happen if that structure were to be given historic landmark status. However, a member of the Historic Preservation Commission who was present at the meeting countered that claim, explaining that the Junior League only wanted to make minor changes to the exterior of the building, and thus landmark status would not scuttle their plans for a museum.
I love the way this dude can draw a line in the sand when there is nobody else on the beach.
What Johnson said about the Museum is bull. That’s nothing but using scare tactics on a baseless claim. He will not be getting my vote.
The Journal Star didn’t mention that he was corrected by a member of the Preservation Commission- thanks for clarifying. The Junior League met with the Preservation Commission before all the hoopla began to discuss the proposed changes, and by all accounts it was an amicable meeting.
Two more posts and Ryan’ comments move off the board so I can read the articles.
One more
Cap’n, what browser & platform are you using?
Johnson pretty much avoided questions about whether he would support future votes on the school in Glen Oak park. he kept referring to what the park board did already. This despite being asked twice. He kept speaking faster and faster. Have learned “the faster one speaks, the more bull**it one spews” He was not the only candidate not responding to the questions which were asked last night. There were stronger attacks on Sandberg and Turner for the lack of ability to get a consensus and not responding to constituent needs. Sometimes two part questions were not answered. I stand by the three I strong support. The Bradley vote came back to haunt them. A couple of candidates suggested Bradley grow to the east along the main street cooridor unstead of going into the older neighborhoods. There were opposing views on the progress of Ren. park. One felt it was thriving, one felt it was stalled. An interesting comment was made by an east bluff resident about why the city keeps developing plans yet doesn’t follow them. It was a good forum. Some older shining stars showed a little tarnished.
Others did well.
Write in candidates?
Jr. League (and my wife) have been working with the project for too long not to see it through.Johnson doesn’t get it. The museum will open but part of it will need to be eliminated so the porch doesn’t change. They will find a way. Too much work and money is going into this project not to make it work. People who designed it won’t be happy but they will survive.
PPD Sovereignty — ah yes, King Louis and Marie Antoinette Style – let the peasants eat cake — the PPD is not a fiefdom or some other royal state — the PPD has done a miserable job at protecting the history of Glen Oak Park and other parks as well as maintenance of their facilities. Tax and build new edifaces. The PPD continued tolerance and acceptance to badger and marginalize any opposition and to attack people’s character is well —- reprehensible and should not be tolerated by the voters.
PPD voters had best beware of who and what the candidate’s platform is all about prior to voting.
And Mr. Johnson, because the Illinois constitution does not provide for any recall provision — that is why some elected officials remain in office even though their performance is downright mediocre. Think Gray Davis in California….. enough said.
Karrie, why didn’t you run? As for recall, your right, but if no one is running against these clowns, a recall would not be much better.
Just Some Guy: I do not have enough time to invest in my family and church responsibilities and be an elected official at this time of my life journey.
Elected officials are supposed to represent those voters who elected them, to stay in touch with their constituency after they are elected and to follow the policies and procedures of the land (think US and State Constitutions and statutes) — those are all reasonable expectations nevertheless, it is increasingly difficult to find those qualities in elected officials (IMO.)
CJ – I suddenly had trouble viewing the PC last night. The gray shaded area on the right side was overlapping about one-third of the post text. By mid-afternoon, it suddenly righted itself. I wasn’t experiencing this problem with any other blog sites or web pages. Weird.
PrairieCelt — I’ve gotten complaints from others about this. I’m not sure what the problem was, but it apparently stemmed from a comment with a hyperlink in it. I use Windows XP at work and Windows Vista at home with Firefox 2 and IE 7, and I didn’t have any trouble viewing my blog. I’m not sure what kind of setup you, Cap’n Jack, and others are using, but if you’ll let me know, I’ll see if I can’t test my site on those to make sure it’s displaying correctly.
had the same problem at work that Praire Celt ran at work, not at home. Windows XP professional with I.E 7 i believe. Might be something with the server at work? NO problems at home, but better puter and software.
As I’ve said many times, Peorians are gluttons for punishment. But, I seem to recall that Metamora almost voted to abolish their Park District. Some brave soul should start that process here. And it can’t happen soon enough.
Once this District is dissolved, and these clowns are disposed of, then the County could step in and run the parks, which would be as it should be.
mr catlover77, two things that bugged me about your comment:
“part of it will need to be eliminated.”
That is a premature assumption. Nothing is written in stone at this point and the historic designation is not necessarily a bad thing.
“People who designed it won’t be happy but they will survive”
I suggest you do a little more research into the feelings of those who actually designed it before making such a broad statement.
Get out And VOTE!
Sadly many people will not vote. Mr. Johnson said to me after the forum, if people have a problem with the way the park district is managed they can vote out the board members. True, but the Spanish Cannon will still fall into the lagoon, Lovers Bridge will still fall down, and other parts of the park will slowly dissolve away. If Glen Oak Park is a reflection of how the district maintains there facilities it is sad. People for years have complained about the park’s conditions , now that someone has found a way to help preserve what is left the, answers by the PPD is litigation and fight to let things fall apart and not to find a way to preserve and maintain there assets. VOTE and let your ballot be your voice.
Martin… perhaps you missed the little detail of them running UNOPPOSED. Sure would be nice to vote them out. Too bad no one else is running.
I think Randy Stufflebean got proportionally more votes in Peoria when compared to the rest of the state. I am convinced that The Chronicle’s endorsement played a part. If CJ could just give a name to write in, there might be a tiny chance for an upset.
Hey! Are you making fun of me? 🙂
Karrie, in all due respect, I would gather that you spend more time as a community activist (filing FOIA requests, stopping this, supporting that) than you would ever spend as a PPD Trustee. I don’t doubt your effectiveness as a community leader, but at some point, playing the part of the squeaky wheel will only get you so far. Instead of running, why don’t you go out and find someone to run in whom you believe. Things will never change if things never change.
Talk about an arrogant in your face slam, if you don’t like what we are doing vote against us, by the way nobody else is running. (little finger in mouth and an evil laugh) The park board controls a huge pile of our tax dollars and operates like a private company. This body of government has got to be the prize winner in underscrutinized rampant spending in our area. Every project gets bigger and more expensive, no accountability and virtually no turnover in staff regardless of failure to deliver on past promises. Bonnie has created a dynasty that will leave a legacy of debt unheard of for a park district in a community this size. The riverplex is failing and falling apart already and the zoo will lose money at a rate that you cannot imagine. If you think that the older facilities that the ppd runs are in disrepair now just wait until they turn on the new zoo cash vacuum.
No I am very serious. It isn’t like the Journal Star gave Stufflebeam coverage. People got his name from somewhere. Statistically speaking, Peoria voted for him more than you would have guessed based on numbers from the rest of the state. Same with the Green canidate in Rockford. Their paper endorsed him and he recieved 25% of the vote there. So how about it, a write in suggestion to take to the polls for the Park District?
Just Some Guy:
(1) I have a lot of committments with my family that take a lot of time.
(2) I live in the Southern District — not up for election vs. the Central District up for election.
(3) I have a church commitment on Wednesday nights —- hum so how would I be able to attend PPD meetings on Wednesdays?
(4) I am one of two current plaintiffs vs. the PPD for the OMA violations from May 2006 lawsuit which remains in the legal system — conflict of interest?
(5) Presumptuous to think that I would be qualified for the PPD President position with no prior PPD nor outdoor experience.
(6) At this point, only option would be as a write-in candidate for the PPD President — it would be a mute point with only eleven (11) days til the election on April 17th to now declare my candidacy.
Just some Guy:
It’s not about being a squeaky wheel, it’s about leadership in the community. Sometimes community leaders are able to get things done that elected officials cannot get done, because of laws, rules, procedures, etc that must be abided by as an elected official. Example, I can meet with five other neighborhood leaders to talk about items, or just hang out, without being in violation of the open meetings act. If we need something done, we can call whomever we wish to get it done, w/o going out for multiple bids and can chose the best bid vs. the just least expensive. We can seek price breaks ask for discounts, donations etc, working in partnerships to get things done. We abide by ethical standards, have membership votes on expenses etc, but it is much a less restrictive environment to accomplish items. We are extremely cautious when entrusted with public monies for particular projects, moreso than officials or staff. Some from a lack of experience, some from the realization that it’s “our money too” and we want to get the most out of each dollar.
Additionally, if more folks would step up the plate, more things would be done better with government. Karrie’s greatest strengths are tenacity, intelligence, and intergrity. When she bowed out of the Alliance to meet her family committments it was a great loss, but we agreed that her family comes first. She must function within her own boundaries to remain effective in all she does as must all of us. We would love to have numerous other leaders and invested individuals to participate in the huge amount of tasks before us. I would ask that you also step forward and serve your community in whatever form your skills and abilities allow. (if you’re not already) (PS. I would vote for her w/o reservation for any office she would chose to run!)
I understand who and how manny is running for the park board, I thought about running but I also have several commitments. The current president of the PPD may not be the greatest person for that job but at least we know where he stands on some issues. (G.O. school) as for the person running un-opposed I guess he will give everyone a groop hug as he stated at the last forum. Mr. Jonhnson is for Mr. Johnson and has a ax to grind as to the vote that was taken on G.O. School.I attended the last park board meeting and you could cut the tension with a knife that is brewing among the board members. (the president was absent)
Well let’s pick someone to write in, then.
EM — Can’t do that. You can’t just write in whomever you want (well, you can, but it spoils your ballot and you get recorded as an “undervote”). Even write-in candidates have to be registered to be official. So you need to find someone to run as a write-in candidate, make sure that person gets registered by the deadline (I don’t know when the deadline is; it may have passed already), and then get the word out to vote for that person. It can be done, though. Schock did it.
They have to file A Declaration of Intent before 5:00pm of the Tuesday before the election according to the county’s website. Any name yet to Stufflebeam ’em?
The idea of a write-in candidacy has merit. But who? Mr. Wilkinson – you are very informed about local issues. Would you be willing to file a declaration of intent and run a short-lead time candidacy?
PrarieCelt,
thank you for the vote of confidence. I received a call from Karrie Alms as we were finishing our kid’s litter clean up on Saturday. I wasn’t sure I had heard her correctly as I was partially frozen.
When I had a chance to thaw and actually slept on the matter, I realize that I run into the same problem that Karrie has. That is time. I am not thoroughly educated on Park issues, but know people who are. I am not afraid of hard work. The problem is that I am president of my neighborhood association at least until October, we try to remain active with projects. I am president of the Neighborhood Alliance until September. I serve on the Mayor’s Litter Committee, I co-chair the educational services committee for the Family Violence Coordinating Council (10th judical District), I am on the steering committee for children with sexual behavior problems for Catholic Chairities, I work full time and am a Guardian Angel, I am quite certain I am missing a thing or two, Oh yeah I am on the Citizens Emergency Response Team, if that thing ever gets going. I like to take my dog to particpate in the therapy dog program which visits nursing homes and children/patients in the hospital. I seldom have time to do that even. The point is in order to be an elected official, I would need to quit several of my committments in order to have the time to do the necesary research to make to good decisions. Unfortunately I am NOT a kept man (although am not opposed to receiving any offers–lol.) I am now helping out a few candidates in my own way. With so much going on I already feel I am cheating some organizations of my time. There are so many things I see that need to be accomplished. I wish there would and could be a good way to develop new blood and would not be opposed to backing a write in candidate for a couple of the offices. I agree what happens is that once you’re in you’re in. This works out fantastic if the person works for the people, is inclusive, and listens. It’s a nightmare otherwise.
I think my Bradley Diploma is in the filing cabinet, but do have a mini in my wallet. Not all of us, need to put everything on display.
With this in mind, I respectfully decline. I would be willing, but just have no idea how I could serve the public properly at this time, and maintain the committments I am already pledged to.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul Wilkinson.
Paul, you are welcome. Sorry you are unable to consider this right now. Any suggestions for an alternative candidate?
Paul – new subject. Are you by any chance part of the Wilkinson family that settled in Radnor Twp. in the mid-19th century?
Write-in candidates are huge underdogs, and yes I know Schock won his school board seat as a write-in. This time the difference is, and write-in candidate would start with a 200 or more vote deficit because early voting has already started.
Brad,
Aaron also wanted the seat from the beginning. He had been campaigning and worked even harder to get the write in slot. He still works hard. I support him and call him friend.
Prairiecelt, am from Princeton orginally. plain ole farm stock, and am not sure if the Wilkinson side of the family was part of the same bunch to whom you refer. I do know the geneology on my mom’s side and going back far enough, we were a pretty impressive bunch lol.
RE: an alternative candidate. Hummm, most of the neighborhood folk are simply too busy. Brad won’t do it, although we could get him ed u ma cated with the issues. I’ll think on it and see if I can come up with anyone….
Schock had a couple of things going for him – first, Rhonda Hunt took action to have his name removed from the ballot, and that gave his candidacy impetus; second, he ran on an anti-Edison platform and there was a lot of anti-Edison sentiment in his district.
There are similarities with the current situation with the Park Board – a candidate could tap into the anti-Glen Oak School/Glen Oak Park site, and the support for historic landmark designation for specific GOP structures.
It could be done – especially with some support going in. Just my opinion.
Talked to Brad tonight…keep your fingers crossed….but if he sticks his neck out, then the rest of us need to pull every resource to make it happen.
Paul
Respectfully disagree. I have my likes and dislikes regarding the city council candidates. But they are the ones going to forum after forum after forum and door to door etc. They all deserve our respect for standing up and offering themselves to serve us. Though there are a few I dislike personally, they are a fine bunch of candidates. All have something to offer. At least 6 make/would make a fine council member, and contribute to a balanced city council.
The voters have spoken on Brad Carter. He ran, he gained a couple hundred (cumulative) votes and now he has the ego to issue endorsments like he is the leader of a cult. You disrespect democracy when you run, you lose in a primary and then you try to end run that defeat to get back in the game. The people have spoken about Brad in this election process. Take the hint.
Sentinel,
If you would have read the previous comments you would see people want Brad Carter to run for either school board or park board as a write in.
They are talking about a write in canidate for the park district where there was no primary because they are all running unopposed. I don’t think participating in the process is a disrespect to to democracy. While I would love to see the Stufflebeaming happen, it does seem like there is a big difference between Cassidy and Johnson with the school issue. I am not sure if the risk/award is worth a potential Johnson win if the write in canidate would take Cassidy votes. It would be great if Peoria dumped cummulative voting for instant run off voting.
Yep — only seven write-in candidates for Glasford School District!
http://www.pjstar.com/php/index.php?/news/glasford_seven_write_in_candidates_jump_into_school_board_race/