Tag Archives: State of Illinois

City of Peoria, Economic Development, State of Illinois

Enterprise Zones extended, redefined

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The State of Illinois recently extended the Enterprise Zone program (Public Act 097-0905). Peoria’s enterprise zone was due to expire next year (2013), but has now been extended until 2016, at which time the city can apply to have it extended for another 25 years.

In addition, the criteria for awarding Enterprise Zone status has been redefined. Gone is the “requirement” that the zone be in a “depressed area,” defined as “an area in which pervasive
poverty, unemployment and economic distress exist.” That criterion was never followed in the first place, especially in Peoria, as can be seen from the following map showing the location of Peoria’s enterprise zone (in red):

Peoria’s Enterprise Zone

Note the large greenfield areas in far north Peoria that are included. Not exactly a depressed area.

Instead of making cities conform to the law, the State of Illinois has opted to make the law conform to what cities are already doing. I guess that’s one way to resolve the problem. The old requirement is being replaced with ten criteria, three of which have to be met in order to qualify for Enterprise Zone status. The criteria are broad enough that any city in Illinois should easily be able to qualify.

Nevertheless, there are a limited number of Enterprise Zones allowed in Illinois, so a new Enterprise Zone Board is being created. They will assign points to each application based on how closely each criterion is met. The highest scores win.

The bottom line is that Peoria’s enterprise zone, most of which was not in compliance with the law, has now been legitimized. So shopping areas that are full of commercial businesses and don’t need any additional incentives (like Glen Hollow) will continue to reap the benefits of this economic development tool while whole areas of the City with abandoned commercial centers (like the South Side) will not receive any incentives for revitalization. Greenfield sites on Route 91 will continue to get sales tax breaks for new development, putting existing development in the older parts of town at a further disadvantage.

Education, State of Illinois

Question of the Day: How should Illinois fill the NCLB void?

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While the goals behind No Child Left Behind were admirable, experience has taught us that the law has some serious flaws that are hurting our children instead of helping them. Teachers are being forced to teach to a test, while subjects like history and science are being squeezed out. And in order to avoid having their schools labeled as failures, some states lowered their standards in a race to the bottom….

Yesterday, I announced that we’ll be giving states more flexibility to meet high standards for teaching and learning. It’s time for us to let states, schools and teachers come up with innovative ways to give our children the skills they need to compete for the jobs of the future.

— President Obama, Weekly Address, 9/24/2011

States are going to be able to get waivers from the federal standards of “No Child Left Behind,” but in order to get those waivers, they will have to present another plan for improving school performance. Illinois is reportedly looking at applying for a waiver (WJBC, Chicago Tribune). Nearly all educators agree that the federal No Child Left Behind standards were unrealistic. But now that states have a chance to write their own standards, what should they be?

The question of the day is: What standards should Illinois put in place to replace federal NCLB requirements and improve school performance?

City of Peoria, Peoria County, State Legislation, State of Illinois

Smoking prohibited

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This week’s Word on the Street column reports that the City and County have been doing smoking ban stings lately: “The county performed 203 compliance checks and wrote 45 tickets. The city performed 123 checks and wrote eight tickets.” And, “The effort was funded by a [$15,000] grant the Peoria City/County Health Department received from the state Department of Public Health.”

Meanwhile, there’s a new documentary miniseries premiering in October on PBS about Prohibition. Promotional material for the new film by Ken Burns describes the Prohibition era: “The culmination of nearly a century of activism, Prohibition was intended to improve, even to ennoble, the lives of all Americans, to protect individuals, families, and society at large from the devastating effects of alcohol abuse…. Prohibition turned law-abiding citizens into criminals, made a mockery of the justice system … permitted government officials to bend and sometimes even break the law, and fostered cynicism and hypocrisy that corroded the social contract all across the country…. The film raises vital questions that are as relevant today as they were 100 years ago – about means and ends, individual rights and responsibilities, the proper role of government and finally, who is — and who is not — a real American.”

File the modern, popular smoking bans under the heading, “History Repeating Itself.”

Education, State of Illinois

Public education ain’t what it used to be

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Readin’, writin’, and ‘rithmetic. Two out of three ain’t bad for us Illinoisans:

Illinois high school juniors no longer will be tested on writing skills during the state’s standardized tests every spring, eliminating the last Illinois writing exam and shaving about $2.4 million amid budgetary shortfalls…. “Good teachers, good schools, good principals don’t need a test,” said Barbara Kato, director of the Chicago Area Writing Project. “But the problem is, without the test, the focus on writing as a whole ends up taking a back seat.” [Source: Chicago Tribune]

R U thinking wht Im thinking?

Redistricting, State of Illinois

Q: What do Peoria and Rockford have in common?

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A: They’re both largely in the 17th Congressional District, according to the latest gerrymander:


View Larger Map

Generally speaking, Peoria south of War Memorial Drive will be in the 17th, and North Peoria will be in the 18th. The 17th covers tremendous territory, extending to Illinois’ borders with Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Rockford is carved up similar to Peoria. Talk about your legislators choosing their voters….

Here’s some good coverage from Capitol Fax, the Bloomington Pantagraph, Peoria Pundit, and the Chicago Tribune.

Peoria Public Schools, State of Illinois

What will district consolidation mean for Peoria?

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Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced recently his intention to eliminate over half of Illinois’ school districts through mandatory consolidation. There are already bills introduced in the state legislature toward that end:

State Senator Jeffrey M. Schoenberg (D-Evanston) recently introduced a bill, SB1324, which proposes to amend the Illinois School Code to require the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to conduct a feasibility and cost-saving benefits study on the prospect of consolidating school districts in the same geographic area. The ISBE would be required to recommend specific school districts for consolidation in a report due to the general assembly and the governor on or before January 1, 2013. […]

State Representative Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora), Chair of the Illinois House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, has introduced HB1216 to create an 18-member School District Realignment and Consolidation Commission to report the “optimal enrollment for a school district and where consolidation would be beneficial.” The Commission would make recommendations to reduce duplication of efforts, eliminate obstacles between qualified teachers and students, lower property tax burdens, calculate the net costs savings of realignment, and advise school districts on reorganization.

So what will this mean for Peoria? The City of Peoria includes three school districts: Peoria, Limestone, and Dunlap. Peoria Heights’ district is completely surrounded by Peoria. Analysts say, “Anticipated targets of the legislation are small school districts with low staff-to-student ratios.” But, they add, “A less obvious aim of the bill is the opportunity to merge small, well-financed school districts with disadvantaged ones to balance economic inequities.”

At first glance, it would appear that Peoria would be a prime candidate for merging school districts. This would mitigate one of the major factors leading to population migration to the north by putting the whole city under one school district with a unified tax rate to support it.

But there’s always been a complication to reforming District 150. The makeup and election of its Board of Education is set by court order, not legislation, as the result of a civil rights lawsuit back in the 1980s. Will this be able to keep the State from consolidating this board with other districts in the region? Or can the State get around the court order by dissolving the various school charters and creating a new district from scratch? Will the State have the political will to make such a move?

The process as currently defined boils down to recommendations from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). It will be interesting to see what they recommend … if the process gets that far.

City Council, City of Peoria, State of Illinois

Risinger resignation could start musical chairs on council

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Sen. Dale Risinger is resigning, and Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis wants to be appointed to fill the senate term. If that happens, the council would have to appoint a new mayor. If they appoint a sitting city council member, then someone else will have to be appointed to take that council member’s place. If they appoint an at-large city council member — for instance, Eric Turner has indicated he would like the job — it will impact the at-large city council race.

Whew! It certainly will be interesting to see who gets chosen and the impact it will have.

State of Illinois

Death penalty ban

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George Ryan put a moratorium on the death penalty. Now the State of Illinois is looking at banning it outright. A bill to abolish the death penalty passed the Illinois House and moves on to the Senate.

Lawmakers approved Senate Bill 3539 with the required 60 votes after waging an earlier emotional, hour-long debate. But it was the $20 million annual cost of death penalty cases that convinced state Rep. Pat Verschoore, D-Milan, to change his previous “no” vote to “yes.”

“I was on both sides of this issue. But then you think of the potential cost savings of this bill, and the state needs all of the savings we can get,” Verschoore said. “Besides, my wife was on me to vote for it.”

Tazewell County State’s Attorney Stewart Umholtz doesn’t buy it. The bill failed the first time it was brought forward; normally that would be the end of the matter. But then Verschoore changed his mind and House leaders allowed a new vote to be taken. Umholtz tells the Journal Star, “Anyone that’s watched the Legislature today should be sickened…. I’m sure deals were made in order to flip those votes.”

In reality, this ban is going to make absolutely no difference. Only 12 people have been executed in Illinois in the last 50 years anyway. And it does nothing to make the justice system fairer or guard against wrongful convictions. But it’s a good diversion from the issue lawmakers really should be facing: Illinois’ fiscal crisis.

Hat tip to Peoria Pundit for the Illinois Statehouse News link.

City Council, City of Peoria, Museum Block, Peoria County

County told State it already owns land for museum

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In April, Peoria County applied for a $5 million grant through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). A copy of the grant application was acquired from the County:

DCEO Grant Survey – Peoria Riverfront Museum

The County listed itself as the “grantee” on page 2, and 203 SW Water St. (which is the City-owned Sears block) as the “project location” on page 4. Then, in answer to question 2d — “If the property is being improved, is the property owned by the grantee?” — the County checked the “Yes” box.

Question 10c asked, “If grant funds are to be utilized to make capital improvements to real property (structures/land) that your organization does not own [emphasis in original], provide a copy of the lease or other agreement (i.e., easements, rights-of-way. etc.) between your organization and the property owner that will allow your organization to continue to use the improved premises for an appropriate length of time, consistent with applicable state law and rules.” The County’s answer: “N/A.”

Question 10d asked, “Does your organization have an executed contract for the purchase/acquisition of the land/building in question?” The County’s answer: “N/A.”

Question 10g asked, “Provide the name, address, phone number and email address (if applicable) of the entity from which the land/building(s) is/are being purchased.” The County’s answer: “N/A.”

As you can see, the County consistently represented itself to the State as the owner of the land. When asked why, Peoria County Administrator Patrick Urich said:

By April when the grant survey was submitted, we had already negotiated the title transfer issue with the City of Peoria. As I said before, the redevelopment agreement has included language regarding title transfer since at least February, and by April, this issue had been to the County’s understanding, resolved. There were several other issues (paying permit fees, the commercial space approvals, the assurance that the funds would be there to build the museum, and what happens to the property if PRM no longer operates the museum) but the negotiating teams had moved on from the title issue.

That still doesn’t explain why this information wasn’t included on the grant application. The proper way to complete the application would have been to answer “No” to question 2d, and explain these negotiations in question 10d, at minimum. The questions couldn’t be any more specific; they clearly expect even anticipated ownership to be disclosed. The County misrepresented its ownership status no matter how one looks at it. No response was received from Urich to follow-up questions on this issue.

Other Questions

Urich’s answer raises another question: is it true that the title transfer issue with the City of Peoria had been resolved by April of this year? That was surprising, considering it has appeared as such a contentious issue here in August. I asked City attorney Randy Ray for some clarification. He replied:

There is no contract in place that requires the City to convey title to the Museum Site to the County.
It is true that there were negotiations, and draft agreements which contemplated such a conveyance. That was a major topic of a series of meetings with 3 or fewer council people that took place the first week of March, 2010. Obviously, those meetings did not convey the property, nor did anything else the City has done up to this point. If Council does not approve a Redevelopment Agreement, no conveyance will occur.

Ray acknowledges that negotiations did in fact take place, and we know from Urich’s statement that the County believed the issue of land conveyance was “resolved.” These negotiations were not just with City staff, mind you. There were “a series of meetings with 3 or fewer council people” at a time. Unfortunately, we’ll never know the real story because the City took great pains to completely skirt the Open Meetings Act (OMA).

The funny thing is that negotiation of the sale or lease of property can take place in closed session according to OMA, so why not just discuss it in executive session instead of these little meetings? Did they not want the negotiations on the record? (Minutes are taken during executive sessions.) Were they not giving the same information to each of the council members? Somewhere there seems to be a breakdown in communication because the City now appears reluctant to convey the land, but the County thought the issue was “resolved” way back in April.

Of course, there’s no legitimate reason not to conduct these negotiations in public, in open session. The reason property transactions are allowed to be conducted in secret is to protect taxpayers from market reaction. In this case, since the land is owned by one government body and being conveyed to another government body, there are no market forces and those concerns are moot.

During the 2005 mayoral campaign, then-candidate Ardis promised, “My leadership, a new generation of leadership, will be open, not closed; inclusive, not reserved for the select few; and bottom-up, not top-down.” Yet from the hotel deal to the museum, right up to the recent secret meeting with Ransburg — against whom Ardis ran in 2005 and, ironically, whom Ardis criticized for doing the public’s business in secret — he has not shown us this so-called “new generation of leadership.”

City of Peoria, State of Illinois, Streets

Orange Prairie Road extension: State-funded sprawl

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On Thursday night (7/15), the City of Peoria hosted an open house for the Orange Prairie Road Extension project. They distributed a handout which you can see by clicking here (PDF).

The first question to ask is: Why are we building a new road in the middle of a cornfield on the northwest end of town? The handout states that the “primary purpose of this project is to facilitate … development along the Orange Prairie Road corridor….” In other words, they want to incentivize the conversion of more farmland to primarily residential subdivisions, plus a little commercial development.

The next question is: How can Peoria afford this given our current budget woes? The answer is that it’s being funded by the State of Illinois to the tune of $17.5 million. Once the road is complete, the plan is to move the Route 91 designation from its current alignment to the new road. The old Route 91 would become the responsibility of the City. Thus, even though the state is picking up the capital outlay of building a new road, the City picks up the ongoing maintenance expense of the old road. We’re not getting a new road for free.

The conventional wisdom is that Peoria will come out ahead because the land will be developed, which will lead to property and sales tax increases. But the City hasn’t done a cost-benefit analysis to substantiate that belief. The City’s future use plan calls for this area to be primarily residential. Modern residential development means low-density development. That is, houses are pretty far away from each other, connected by meandering streets that all terminate in cul-de-sacs. This increases the costs of maintaining the streets while not raising enough in property taxes to cover the costs of increased services. And land that is developed by non-profit organizations will mean no additional property taxes to the City.

This extension has been touted as sustainable in at least one local magazine. An article in InterBusiness Issues said:

When complete and operational, [the Orange Prairie Roadway extension project] will encourage and support further development in the Greater Grand Prairie area, but in a carefully and thoughtfully planned manner. And, it may serve as a model for how such suburban and exurban developments can be greener and more sustainable. Using the State of Illinois’s new I-LAST (Livable and Sustainable Transportation) rating system, Orange Prairie designers are currently considering such items as protected bicycle and pedestrian pathways along the route, sustainable stormwater detention and wetland creation, introduction of street trees and landscape buffer zones, and energy-efficient street lighting. In addition, efforts will be made to maximize the use of local and recycled materials while minimizing the earthmoving operations in the entire project area.

It will provide a bike lane and sidewalk, which is good. So you can now purchase your Trek road bike online to save gas. Given the low density of development, the area will be unable to sustain public transportation. But these and any other critical issues get little or no discussion in City Council meetings, especially when the State is waving $17.5 million under their noses. We’ll just build it and pay the consequences later.