Tag Archives: George Jacob

City Council, City of Peoria

No live blogging tonight

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I’ll be at the council meeting tonight, but will not be live blogging the event. My wife and I were invited to attend tonight’s swearing-in ceremony as guests of newly-elected council member Beth Akeson, so I’ll blog about the event afterwards. If you want live coverage, I recommend WCBU (89.9 FM), Comcast Cable channel 22, or the Peoria Journal Star (pjstar.com) which will be live-streaming the event this evening.

Of course, the big news tonight will be the return of George Jacob to the horseshoe for the first time since his motorcycle accident. This is also his last meeting as a councilman, as his term expires this evening. Godspeed, Councilman Jacob.

2011 Election, City Council, City of Peoria

So far, five people are definitely running, and two definitely aren’t

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City Council hopefuls have six days to file petitions to be placed on the ballot. Today, five candidates filed:

  • Ryan Spain (incumbent)
  • Eric Turner (incumbent)
  • Chuck Grayeb (former councilman)
  • Chuck Weaver (Zoning Board of Appeals chairman)
  • Jim Stowell (District 150 School Board member)

Two incumbents are definitely not running:

Potential candidates have to collect a minimum of 165 signatures to be placed on the ballot, and they have until 5 p.m. next Monday (Nov. 22) to file. Incumbent Gary Sandberg is expected to file at 4:59 p.m. on Nov. 22, as is his usual practice. He likes to be the last name on the ballot. As for who will be first on the ballot — we’ll find out tomorrow. It will be one of three people: Spain, Weaver, or Grayeb. They filed at the same time, so their names will be placed in a lottery to determine their order on the ballot.

If more than 10 people run, there will be a primary on Tuesday, February 22, 2011. The general election will be held Tuesday, April 5, 2011.

General News

Blood Donors to Honor City Councilman George Jacob

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From a City of Peoria press release:

Friends and co-workers of George Jacob encouraged to give blood.

PEORIA, Ill. (June 4, 2010) –George Jacob has served the people in our community as a Peoria City Councilman since 2005. He is known for his dedication to the city, his job, his church and, most importantly, his family and friends. George has been hospitalized since the Memorial Day weekend, receiving treatment for injuries suffered in an accident.

As part of his treatment, George has received blood transfusions. Now his friends, co-workers, city officials/employees and the citizens of Peoria have a chance to give blood in his honor. From Monday, June 7 through Monday, June 14, donors at the Peoria Blood Donation Center can roll up their sleeves to help patients like George. All presenting donors will be able to sign a “get well” card that will be delivered to George and his family.

The Peoria Blood Donation Center is located at 405 W. John H. Gwynn Jr. Ave.

Day Date Hours
Monday June 7 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tuesday June 8 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Wednesday June 9 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Friday June 11 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturday June 12 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Monday June 14 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. *June 14 is World Blood Donor Day

Donors with type O negative blood are especially encouraged to schedule an appointment. Type O negative blood, the universal blood type, is always in high demand because it can be transfused to patients with any blood type, especially in emergency situations.

How to Donate Blood
Simply call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (1-800-448-3543) or visit redcrossblood.org to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver’s license, or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental permission in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.

General News

Councilman Jacob seriously injured in motorcycle accident (Updated)

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I’ve been hearing rumors about this since last night; just received official word from the City:

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According to 1470, Jacob was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, and he’s in intensive care at OSF St. Francis Medical Center and will then be prescribed a CBD tangie strain to help deal with the pain while healing. And that’s all the information I can find online. My prayers and best wishes go out to Councilman Jacob and his family. We’ll be praying for a speedy recovery.


UPDATE: The Journal Star has some additional details. The accident took place on a track at the Espy Motocross Park in Hollis Township. He has a severe head injury and several broken bones including fractured ribs but is now receiving proper treatments at Pain Control Clinic in QC Kinetix (Westover Hills).

City of Peoria, Peoria Public Schools

Glen Oak School Neighborhood Impact Zone adopted

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For those who think the City isn’t doing enough to support District 150 schools, take a look at the Neighborhood Impact Zone that was adopted as part of the Comprehensive Plan Tuesday night. This was a collaborative effort of the City, School District, neighbors surrounding Glen Oak School, and Tri-County Regional Planning, led by Third District Councilman Bob Manning and At-Large Councilman George Jacob. You can download a PDF of the zone/plan from the city’s website.

Here’s what I found most impressive: it includes measurement and follow-up. They’ve set incremental four-year goals for homeownership, crime reduction, neighborhood satisfaction, business retention, infrastructure improvement, community involvement, and education. They measured all these before the plan was adopted so they had a baseline from which to evaluate changes from year to year.

I hope that this type of planning effort is next applied to the area surrounding the new Harrison school, as it could certainly benefit from a focused effort to improve all the items on the measurement list.

Kudos to the City, which has really gone the extra mile to improve this area. Although I’m still disappointed that the school district felt it necessary to purchase (for $3.2 million) and tear down three blocks of housing stock, an historic school building, and local business structures in order to build a suburban-style mega-campus, I applaud the fact that at least they stayed centrally-located in the neighborhood and are willing to open up the campus and building as a community center.

City Council, City of Peoria

First steps toward Big Al’s move approved

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As expected, the adult use ordinance change was approved by the council 8-2 (Jacob abstaining, Sandberg and Nichting voting against) and the Class A liquor licenses for 500 Main St. (former Euro Jack’s) and 414 Hamilton were approved 9-1 (Jacob abstaining, Sandberg voting against).

But what’s really interesting to me is some of the rhetoric that is reported from last night. Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend the meeting, and of course it wasn’t broadcast since it was held on a Monday this week. But according to the Journal Star, WEEK.com, and 1470 WMBD, the council members said this:

Ardis said the potential of Big Al’s moving opens up the possibility of “one of the biggest projects that could happen Downtown since the Civic Center.”

At-large Councilman Eric Turner, however, said the votes were based on an issue of what is best for Downtown Peoria, saying that it was “dying” and losing out in economic development to East Peoria.

“The issue is not about Big Al’s, but it’s about economic development,” Turner said. “We stand to lose if we don’t make changes and start looking out for the economic development future of this city.”

Ardis says the reason the public doesn’t know more about the proposed development is because the plan has not been brought before the council yet.

“Nothing is what it appears to be until it appears to be what it is. We really don’t have all the details about this project and as time passes they’ll no more about it and they’ll be more comfortable with what were proposing to do,” says Clyde Gulley Jr.

Mayor Ardis made it a point to remind citizens that Big Al’s is doing the city a huge favor by agreeing to change locations.

In other words, even though we the citizens know nothing officially about this new development, we need to change ordinances and okay liquor licenses to make it happen based on blind faith in the city council. Even though this hotel project “has not been brought before the council yet,” according to Mayor Ardis, all the council people know about it because they’ve been skirting around the Open Meetings Act by meeting with the developer two at a time. That engenders a lot of trust, doesn’t it?

It’s clear from the comments above that the justification for approving the liquor licenses and the change to the adult use ordinance was to make way for a development project that is still being kept a secret from the public. Without the hotel project connected to it, these requests never would have passed the council. Thus, I think the citizens have a right to know what this project is that is influencing the council. I mean, if this isn’t a back-room deal, I don’t know what is.

Don’t get me wrong. This hotel may indeed be a “wonderful development,” as Randy Ray described it. I’m not prejudging the project. I’m just saying that the council is not acting with transparency on public policy issues, and that’s not good governance.

One other thing that I can’t resist commenting on: Downtown Peoria is “dying,” according to Councilman Turner. Dying? You mean the original Civic Center, Civic Center expansion, Riverfront Village, ballpark, Riverplex, etc., etc., have all been abject failures? So noted.