Students were ticketed for walking in the middle of the street near Manual High School again. And once again, Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard is tossing out the tickets. But I was intrigued by this statement at the end of the article in the Journal Star:

Settingsgaard said he is looking for better long-term solutions than issuing tickets. He has asked City Manager Scott Moore to investigate possibilities, particularly along Wiswall, that would provide a safe place for students to walk.

“One possibility might be to create a pedestrian/bicycle lane on one side of the street. This could potentially alleviate the problem without the tremendous expense or installing sidewalks/curbs/gutters.”

Some thoughts:

• How many sidewalks/curbs/gutters could we install for $39.3 million — the amount the council is desperately trying to put in Gary Matthews’ pocket? I guess a skywalk between the Pere and the Civic Center is more important than the safety of our city’s children. We keep spending money hand over fist to lure the ever-elusive tourist while our basic services disintegrate. You’d think the big push for the census would remind City Hall that residents are important, at least in terms it can understand — money. The more population we have actually living in Peoria, the more revenue we get from property taxes and federal/state appropriations. But if we keep treating our residents as second-class citizens and catering to the Almighty Tourist, it should come as no shock that people will choose to live in surrounding communities where they are more valued.
• While the city has a responsibility to provide for the safety of children, these students nevertheless also must bear some personal responsibility. In the absence of sidewalks, they should be walking next to the shoulder, not walking down the middle of the road obstructing traffic. The last time students were ticketed, they got their tickets thrown out only if they attended mandatory school assemblies where police officers and school officials tried to give students a “better understanding of the rules.” Furthermore, Settingsgaard said at the time — and this is a quote from the 2007 press conference announcing the jaywalking tickets would be expunged — “there will be enforcement in the future.” Now we learn there will be no enforcement, no assemblies — no accountability or consequences of any kind. What message does that send?
• I wonder how the police officers feel who gave out the citations. Having their Chief throw nearly all the citations out after he had said there would be enforcement in the future certainly sends a mixed message at best. It also might make me wonder what other laws the Chief would like not to see enforced, and for which people.