What did the museum group promise the local labor force before the April 2009 referendum?

Mike Everett, West Central Illinois Building & Construction Trades Council: “The Build the Block project offers our local construction workforce a tremendous opportunity. Over a 25-month construction schedule, this project will create over 250 jobs and put $1.8 million back into our community. Plus, through an unprecedented agreement, this project’s going to be built with 100% local union labor. Building the Block is more than just building a museum. It’s a chance to strengthen our economy and help our local families.”

From today’s Journal Star:

Though there is no guarantee a local firm will be awarded the construction bid for the Peoria Riverfront Museum, county officials say they will do what they can to promote the use of local resources….

County Board member and museum committee member Mike Phelan said though the total museum project likely won’t be built exclusively by local union laborers, they will build a majority of the project….

Turner Construction – the same Chicago firm that worked on the Peoria Civic Center and also is managing construction of the new terminal at Gen. Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport – will serve as the county’s project manager through March 2013. Turner will be paid about $1 million to oversee the estimated $36 to $40 million project.

Another broken promise to add to the list. I’m sure Mike Everett won’t mind. He told the City Council he just doesn’t want to see a big hole when he drives into Peoria from his home in Tazewell County. Well, it looks like he won’t see 100% local union labor filling that hole, either.

What I find amusing is the attempt to make it sound like this hasn’t been a problem from the beginning. The news article states without attribution:

The game changed earlier this year when Peoria County decided to oversee construction of the museum to ensure what is done with public money on a public building on public property is the public’s business.

That responsibility previously fell under the direction of the Peoria Riverfront Museum board of directors, a not-for-profit organization not subject to the Open Meetings Act. As a public entity, Peoria County is bound to accept the lowest responsible bid and that firm may or may not be local, officials acknowledge.

Au contraire: Citizens for Responsible Spending asked about the promise of local union labor before the referendum vote. Here’s the County’s official response back then:

[Q:] If all labor for construction is going to be sourced locally, does this mean no bids?
[A:] If the referendum passes and public dollars are used, the museum portion of the project would have to be bid and construction workers paid at least prevailing wages.

So there never really was a guarantee that it would be 100% local union labor unless all the bids just happened to be won by local contractors.