Tag Archives: Mayor Jim Ardis

Peoria Mayor

Just because it’s not illegal doesn’t mean you should do it

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In an earlier post I explained why I thought the Mayor was not breaking any laws by using City stationery to write letters of support for another candidate. However, just because something is not illegal, that doesn’t make it a wise or appropriate thing to do. Another letter has surfaced written by Ardis on City stationery — this time a plea to a judge to go easy on a guy facing felony drug charges.

Ardis’ argument (given after he was confronted about the first letter) goes like this:

When first asked by the Journal Star why he sent the fundraising request on city letterhead, Ardis responded, “Because I support (Vespa). I’m the mayor. Why not?”

I’ll buy this logic if Ardis agrees that he could have written the same letter on ELM (his employer’s) stationery and could have made the same argument — i.e., “I support [the candidate]. I’m VP of Regional Operations for ELM. Why not?” Of course, he can’t, as most people recognize that you don’t write personal letters on your employer’s stationery. Most people recognize that when you write something on company letterhead, it communicates that you’re speaking on behalf of the company. The same thing happens when you write on City letterhead — it communicates that you’re speaking in your official capacity on behalf of the City, if you need legal advisory, we invite you to read more about a trustworthy firm over here.
It’s as simple as this: personal letters should be written on one’s personal stationery. City stationery should be used for City business.

City Council, City of Peoria, Peoria Mayor

Mayor’s directive elevates district reps’ power

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It’s no secret that district council representatives are given a lot of deference on “district specific business” already. Most of the council votes in lock step with the district councilman and are happy to defer items for no other reason than the district council person requested it.

Now Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis wants to take it a step further. He sent this e-mail to council members on Thursday, May 6:

In an effort to insure that agenda items are ready for council debate I have asked the Manager to put a sign-off line on council communications for district council-members to approve district specific agenda items before they are placed on the agenda. This will not only insure that the district member is ready for the item to come forward it should also minimize deferrals because they are, in fact, ready for council consideration.

Thanks in advance to District Members for assuring your district specific business is approved by you for placement on the agenda.

That means that an item will not even be put on the agenda unless the district representative approves it. To state it another way, under this system, items can be kept off the agenda by the will of a single city council representative. For instance, if Clyde Gulley didn’t want the Washington Street/Route 24 changes to come before the council, he could decline to sign off on this district-specific item, which would keep it off the agenda in perpetuity — even if all the other council members wanted to move forward on it.

The Mayor’s directive gives a special privilege to district council representatives, allowing them to dictate the will of the council on items impacting their districts. But where does the Mayor get the power to make such a directive? The City’s Municipal Code and Council Rules don’t confer this authority on the Mayor, nor does any ordinance preclude any council member from submitting an item for the agenda.

Section 2-31 of the municipal code states, “All reports, communications, ordinances, resolutions, contract documents or other matters to be submitted to the council shall, not later than 10:00 a.m. on Friday preceding each council meeting, be delivered to the city clerk, whereupon the city clerk shall immediately arrange a list of such matters according to the order of business and furnish each member of the council, the mayor, the city manager and the corporation counsel with a copy of the same prior to the council meeting and as far in advance of the meeting as time for preparation will permit.” Nothing in there requires the proposed agenda item go through the Mayor or the district council representative. It merely has to be delivered to the city clerk.

It would appear that the Mayor cannot make such changes without a majority vote of the council… unless, of course, the council voluntarily consents to the Mayor’s missive, abdicating their responsibility to represent all of Peoria, not just their own fiefdoms.

Peoria Mayor, Peoria Public Schools

Ardis asks Sec. Duncan for help for D150

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Arne DuncanFrom the Journal Star:

Mayor Jim Ardis said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is pledging his department’s assistance to help Peoria turn around its schools…. Ardis, along with Lee Graves, CEO and president of ELM Group, and former state Sen. George Shadid made a whirlwind visit to Washington, D.C., this week, meeting with Duncan, a former CEO of Chicago Public Schools who once served under CEO Paul Vallas….

There’s no easy answer, Ardis admitted, noting that Duncan believed it will take a combination of Race to the Top, strong emphasis on charter schools and performance-based teaching as well as more municipal involvement to get poorly performing school districts headed in the right direction….

Ardis said he wanted to find out what’s available and what Duncan would recommend for improving school performance.

“We haven’t seen any movement by this board or past boards to go out on their own initiative to speak to with the secretary of education, or anyone else,” he said.

A couple things about this story:

First, kudos to Mayor Ardis for taking initiative and doing what he can to help District 150. It’s unfortunate that his past efforts (to bring in Paul Vallas for some consulting advice) have been rebuffed by District 150 administrators and board members. The district should be welcoming the mayor’s overtures.

Second, Secretary Duncan’s reported response is interesting: “…it will take a combination of Race to the Top [additional federal funds allocated to school districts through state governors], strong emphasis on charter schools and performance-based teaching [emphasis added] as well as more municipal involvement to get poorly performing school districts headed in the right direction….” Doesn’t this sound like the Secretary is implicitly suggesting union-busting? Performance-based teaching is a repudiation of the tenure system, and charter schools can hire teachers who are not union represented.

Well, as it turns out, teachers are catching the same vibe. In a speech to the National Education Association (NEA) in July, Education Week reported that Duncan said “[t]eachers’ unions must be willing to reconsider seniority provisions, rework tenure provisions, and work with districts to create fair ways of incorporating student-achievement growth in teacher evaluation and compensation.” As you might expect, this wasn’t well-received by teachers:

Delegates applauded Mr. Duncan’s calls for continued federal funding for education, better training for administrators, and for improved teacher-mentoring experiences. But in an indication of the challenges that the federal government will face as it pushes for reforms to compensation and evaluation, they booed and hissed through those parts of Mr. Duncan’s address.

Booed and hissed! And here I thought incivility was invented by Rep. Joe Wilson just a few weeks ago. Imagine teachers booing and hissing (the hissing is what really gets me) the Secretary of Education during a speech. One more quote from the Education Week article: “‘Quite frankly, merit pay is union-busting,’ said another delegate, to applause from her peers.”

So, my guess is that District 150 will have a similar reaction. They will likely embrace efforts to capture more federal dollars through the Race to the Top Fund, but efforts to implement performance-based teaching initiatives will be rebuffed in teacher contract negotiations. Realistically, that would mean Peoria would receive no benefit because the Race to the Top dollars are tied to just the kinds of reforms teachers unions find objectionable. As for charter schools, the only one proposed recently — the Math, Science, and Technology Academy — has yet to have its charter authorized by District 150.

However, teachers will be happy to hear that Duncan is no fan of No Child Left Behind. Here’s his assessment, according to a recent report from ABC News:

“It unfairly labeled many schools as failures even when they were making progress,” he said. “It places too much emphasis on raw test scores rather than student growth. And it is overly prescriptive in some ways while it is too blunt an instrument of reform in others.

“But the biggest problem with NCLB,” he added, “is that it doesn’t encourage high learning standards. In fact, it inadvertently encourages states to lower them. The net effect is that we are lying to children and parents by telling kids they are succeeding when they are not.”

That’s certainly been true in District 150, as recent changes to the district’s grading scale can attest.

City of Peoria, Peoria Mayor

Mayor Ardis asks for feedback on budget

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I received this yesterday but haven’t had a chance to post it until today:

September 15, 2009

As many of you know, the City Council has been wrestling with our 2010 budget for several months now. We have been working to balance the City’s budget like you have to balance yours……. Identifying needs vs. wants and being more efficient with the income you have available. During this challenging economic situation, the process has not been easy.

To this point, the City Council has already trimmed over $8.5 million dollars from next years budget. If sales tax revenue continues to come in below our expectations, it may be necessary to trim another $4 to $5 million to balance our budget. We’ve made significant reductions in our operating budget next year and identified over 40 positions that will not be filled throughout all city departments, including police and fire. In the coming weeks, we may find it necessary to lay off 20-30 more employees. This all equates to a drastic cut in service to our constituent taxpayers.

During this process we have focused on being open and transparent. With this in mind I’d like to solicit your input as we move towards making final decisions on next years budget. This will not be a scientific poll by any stretch, but an opportunity to provide me with your thoughts on a few budget related questions. I will share your responses with the rest of the City Council and the City Manager.

These are tough times but I am confident the City Council will make the right decisions to get us through this with the least amount of additional cost to you. And we hope to get this done with the least amount of job losses possible. Thank you for taking the time to respond. Feel free to pass this on to other concerned citizens.

Please click here to take this short, 3-question survey

Jim Ardis

2009 Campaign

Mayor, Treasurer candidates face public questions

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Monday night at Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church, candidates for Mayor of Peoria and City Treasurer gathered to answer questions from the public. Running for mayor are Jim Ardis (incumbent) and General Parker. Several residents — mostly from Peoria’s older neighborhoods — asked questions of the candidates.

A resident of the South Side of Peoria wanted to know what the candidates were going to do about the deterioration of the South Side. She said she was tired of litter, poor schools, gangs, and the way she felt the South Side is generally neglected by the City. Mayor Ardis said that the majority of police and fire resources are focused on that area now, but that more resources can be shifted there “as needs dictate.” General Parker said he advocates going to a system of neighborhood police officers and would require police officers to live in the City. He said the problem with enforcement is that there’s a mutual “us vs. them” mentality between the police and residents of the South Side. By having neighborhood beat officers, officers become part of the neighborhood community and trust can be built between the officers and residents.

Bill Ordaz, a near north side resident, expressed frustration with the City’s code enforcement department. He cited specific instances when he had called to report serious code violations, only to be told that the offender was given a verbal warning or that his complaint was invalid. Mayor Ardis said that he believed over 90% of code enforcement is complaint-driven, so the officers don’t have the time to be proactive. Nevertheless, he said that the council members are working with the Director of Inspections to get as much production out of the code enforcement officers as possible. He suggested citizens talk to their neighbors directly to ask them to take care of violations. General Parker said he agreed that the code enforcement officers were good workers, but that it sounded like someone “dropped the ball somewhere” and he would do an efficiency check of the code enforcement department if elected.

Karrie Alms, another near north side resident, complained that storm brush had still not been picked up on her street. When she called the Public Works dispatch at 484-8867, she was told that the city’s policy was to start brush pickup in the north and work their way south. Mayor Ardis said that wasn’t true — that pickup actually went by garbage pickup route, not north to south. General Parker said it would make more sense for pickup to start at the river and work out from there, since the older neighborhoods have larger trees and thus more debris after major storms.

Diane Vespa, a North Peoria resident, asked if there was any point at which the city could step into the public school issue. General Parker made some general statements about the importance of the school system being strong in order to be able to get people to move into the city, but gave no specific recommendations as to what the city could do. Mayor Ardis said that the City had extended a hand to the school district more than any other council in the last 20 years. He cited the establishment of the Glen Oak Neighborhood Improvement Zone, the Peoria Promise program, and the educational liaison to District 150. He also said they had the opportunity to have education reform expert Paul Vallas come to Peoria, but that the offer was rejected by District 150.

Next came questions for the candidates for Treasurer. The current Treasurer, Reginald Willis, is retiring, so there is no incumbent in that race. The candidates for Treasurer are Patrick Nichting and Gary Shadid.

Gary Shadid started by giving his experience and qualifications: Bachelors in accounting from Arizona State University, CPA, work for various accounting firms including KPMG, the establishment of his own practice (Martin & Shadid). He said his motivation for seeking this office is that he’s (1) qualified, (2) experienced, and (3) loves and cares for this city.

Patrick Nichting then gave his qualifications: City Council member for 12 years, endorsed by two previous treasurers, trustworthy (i.e., he will deliver what he says he will deliver), and 26 years experience owning and operating his own business (Panco).

Both candidates said they would quit their full-time jobs if elected to the office of City Treasurer.

City of Peoria, Peoria Mayor

Words most used in Ardis’s speech

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I saw the Chicago Tribune use this feature called TagCrowd on Blagojevich’s speech, so I thought I’d use it for Mayor Ardis’s State of the City speech. It’s not a particularly meaningful feature, but it’s a fun novelty:

created at TagCrowd.com

City of Peoria, Peoria Mayor

Ardis to run for second term

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From a press release:

Mayor Jim Ardis announced today that he intends to file nominating petitions for another term as Mayor. With solid support from his family, Mayor Ardis is committed to continuing his focus on providing a strong environment for business, maintaining an intense focus on crime and supporting strong neighborhoods with an emphasis on education.

Mayor Ardis will hold a press conference in the coming weeks to outline his re-election platform.

City Council, City of Peoria

Secrecy the order of the day at City Hall

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The City of Peoria’s liquor commission can’t even get information on what’s happening with Big Al’s plans to move, resulting in a “no decision” Monday on whether to grant them a liquor license. Via 1470 WMBD radio:

[A] NO recommendation was forwarded to the City Council concerning a change in liquor class for the former EuroJacks and an application for a liquor license at 414 Hamilton Boulevard by the owner’s of Big Al’s. The Commission cited the owners could not produce enough information at this time on specific plans for the properties.

But apparently some city officials know what’s going on, as evidenced by these quotes from a recent Journal Star article:

“They are basically moving to make way for what could be a wonderful development,” city attorney Randy Ray said, declining to discuss specifics. “At this point, it’s just a tremendous opportunity to develop the Downtown.”

Added 1st District City Councilman Clyde Gulley Jr., who represents the Downtown, “we need to move (Big Al’s) because of another project.”

Others involved at City Hall and Zuccarini remained tight-lipped about what they have planned.

The city attorney, first district councilman, and unspecified “others involved at City Hall” all know what this “tremendous opportunity” and “wonderful development” is all about. The rest of us, however, will just have to wait to find out — probably until after it’s a done deal.

Secrecy fever has found its way into the budget process as well. At a special City Council meeting Monday night, it was announced that staff had cut the budget deficit from $2.2 million to half a million dollars. When Councilman Gary Sandberg asked how they accomplished that, he was told he’d have to come in tomorrow and talk to interim City Manager Holling in private to find out. In other words, they weren’t going to divulge that information on the council floor where citizens might hear.

Of course, the sad truth is that most citizens wouldn’t have heard since the meeting was on a Monday when there’s no radio or television coverage like on Tuesday nights. Interestingly, some council members (Van Auken, Manning, Nichting, Mayor Ardis) seemed to know what was going on, while the rest of the council was in the dark about this budgeting miracle.

And it was only a few months ago that the Journal Star reported, “City officials decided in June that this year, the budget process would be more open to the public, transparent, and easily communicated between city staff members and the council.” So much for that plan.

City Council, City of Peoria

Press conference tomorrow regarding “serious” crime issues

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I have no idea what this is about. I’ve checked all the usual news sources, but found nothing, so if you have any details, please share. From a press release:

Mayor Jim Ardis and Members of the Peoria City Council, will hold a news conference on Sunday, November 2, 2008, at 12:00 Noon. The news conference will be held in front of the Peoria Police Department, 600 S. W. Adams Street.

The news conference will address serious concerns relating to crime issues in Peoria, specifically addressing the Friday night shooting directed at our police officers and a recent drug bust in a central Peoria neighborhood.

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who explained the situation in the comments section. As someone pointed out, the Journal Star has the story up on their site now:

Peoria police shot a man to death early this morning after the man allegedly opened fire at officers with a semi-automatic assault rifle.

The 27-year-old Peoria man, whose name has not been released, reportedly shot a patrol car near the intersection of Idaho and Montana streets about 12:45 a.m.

If you’re wondering where Idaho and Montana streets are, they’re on the south side, near Harrison Homes.

UPDATE 2: The press release also says they’re going to discuss “a recent drug bust in a central Peoria neighborhood.” That would probably be this one, reported by HOI News:

HOI 19 news has learned that three people arrested during a drug and weapons raid this week are out of jail without posting bond [emphasis mine] and neighbors say they are outraged…. Peoria city councilman Bob Manning, who represents that area, says many concerned neighbors have contacted him. He says city leaders are planning on sitting down with the police department tomorrow to discuss this situation further.