This blog is maintained for the sole purpose of allowing the people of Peru and those interested in the cities of the Illinois Valley to express their views.
“It doesn’t take a majority to win, just a tireless minority that will keep starting brush fires in the mind and hearts of their fellow men.” Samuel Adams
Does anyone have a clue to what 5:40 PM is referring to in his grouping of phases? 5:40 you forgot to state how many in your house are voting Yes. If you can't count a answer of "all of them is politically correct".
After being "served" by Aldermen Ferrari and Radtke, I regret that we have only two votes in our house to advocate the change. Bring back Sherry and Rodney.
1:35 AM John, this is how I personally look at it. We are mandated by law presently to have 2 aldermen per ward and because some of the wards are very short on people qualified to be making the decisions for our city, we end up with whomever was encouraged to run and they are an automatic shoe in.
Now hopefully each ward will be able come up with one GOOD candidate. Now you have a couple of others wards with many people interested in the well being of the city and they just happen to have a good alderman at present. Now others in that ward who would be good aldermen can run at large and represent the entire city. Honestly there have been so many times through the years when I have contacted another aldermen with my questions rather than my own ward aldermen because I needed real answers. Other ward aldermen are generally not too keen on being involved in the other wards politics because it has the protect your turf mentality at present. This is not an experiment, other cities have done it and it works very well for them.
It's actually rather silly that any city as small as Peru does not have at large alderpersons. The concept of ward representation is more applicable where large cities have defined neighborhoods, usually with different ethnicity or socio economic concerns, culture , and challenges. They feel better with "one of there own" representing them in a large body.
Peru wants think it is a big time city, always has, and loves to have little tribes and groups. You could probably get 6 people to run for mayor besides Harl and get a great hard core following behind each one of them.
The web site explains it very clearly, which of course will mean most will not read it , or trust it. Too foreign for them. They will likely ask their alderman how to vote lol.
To John @1:35 am, My interpretation of the "Pro" side of the referendum is that having eight aldermen not significant. What is significant to me is the fact that the current group does not provide any semblance of "Quality". What is important is the "Quality" of the representation and on that note, the referendum if approved will make all six seats available in a single election come 2015. Having six seats up for grabs will provide the "opportunity" to elect "Quality" aldermen. As far as I'm concerned this is a great chance to get at least a few new people in there. If you're not sure about it just look at it this way. What the hell have we got to lose. If you want to vote the same people in again then you can vote for them. At least this way we will have a much broader field to choose from. I vote YES.
An alderman who has to run city wide will need to spend at least 5 thousand dollars or even more just to be competitive with the union or other special interest group money. Good candidates would not run. This alone is good reason to vote no. Name three other cities our size that has aldermen at large.
11:19 AM In my opinion, you are wrong and simply trying to protect the aldermen that we currently have. All people have their own way of networking and much of it costs little to no money. If we start seeing union influence brought into the next election, it will certainly define this administration and the way it plays absolutely dirty politics and at that time it might be necessary to start getting some real news coverage.
Your monetary number is greatly exaggerated and I am quite familiar with the cost to run political campaigns. Even if what you say were true about money, be it union money or private money, it would have more impact on a ward race. I want to see candidates who are willing to fight hard for my vote. My feeling is that at-large candidates would be have to be extremely committed and willing to work very hard city wide. The at-large candidates, and I believe their will be at least a few if not more, will have to be the cream of the crop in terms of energy and organization in order to mount an at-large campaign. Those are qualities that we need in our elected officials. This referendum is a great idea. Kudos to the group of activists who have undertaken this mission. I and my family will support it.
You may recall the 2011 election. It cost me 1,350.00 for my custom and factory made signs, (which i posted all over town) Business cards, and door hangers. I spent another 450.00 on Paper and Radio advertisements. I would estimate an additional $500.00 to run @large which would be for the extra door hangers, and cards. I could run a city wide election for well under $3,000.00
No doubt the same people who want to change the aldermanic system are the ones who wanted a new mayor...and look what you got. Now, what if in four years, you don't like the aldermen you voted in, are you going to campaign for three aldermen in each ward?
Vote yes! Sterling Illinois is basically a dump town now. Use to be prosperous. Industry has closed up shop. High unemployment. Only nice thing there is their community/athletic facility.
4:55 PM I wish to correct your bad manners as well as your comment. Sterling is not a dump town but like all cities Peru included industry is not clamoring to build within our borders. They are working on redoing much of their old downtown and schedule events there that Peru could only wish for. They have a very active Market which I believe is all year long and their music and movie program in the bandshell is a wonderful activity during the summer months.
With your mouth you must be speaking from within the confines of our hallowed c. hall.
347 Lasalle county is number 10 in the state with the highest unemployment. Peru's tax rate is low but Tax evaluation is sky High. Who's fault? Sterling is no dump its a typical Illinois town who lost its industrial base! Who's fault? I think you are so blinded by the truth like most of our politicians who control Illinois! I'm sure you believe higher taxes can bail the state out too!
This is a poor excuse for leadership in the city of peru. who knows best the ward if not the people that live in them. When will we have aldermen/women do right by the ward (first) then by the city???????????? This action will NOT fix it. MY VOTE IS NO>>>>>>
True that the people in their own ward know it better than anyone what their problems are but if the aldermen for the past 8 to 10 have not been doing their job, it is time to remove some of them and choose a few at large. You will not lose both of your ward aldermen, only one of them and maybe then the one remaining will finally realize some responsibility to his/her own ward. It is not happening now, so lets reduce their number and hope that one will finally realize that the other guy is gone and it is now my responsibility. No ward has that many problems that one aldermen per ward can not handle. And always remember that if the one sloughs it off you now have 2 more options with the at large individuals. NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED
I don't believe that most of our politicians who control Illinois are blinded by the truth. They know the truth but rather than follow it they are taking care care of themselves and I for one would call it greed. The footprint of longevity has created professional politicians who are patronized by lobbyist who control huge amounts of organizations money to be used for their own self gain. Under the table, back room, behind closed door politics has been on the increase to such a extent that it has become the normal everyday way of doing much of today's government business i.e. the number of closed sessions conducted by the City of Peru's Mayor and members of its City Council in the last 5 years that no minutes have been disclosed to the citizens.
To 10:12 AM, If you are happy with the representation you have gotten and are getting then good for you. I am not happy with mine and I wonder if you are even paying attention to the actions of the aldermen and mayor of Peru. Do you agree with the recent decision by The Gang of 7 that the the city of Peru should be "selective" when deciding which Contracts should go out for bid and which should just be "given" to contractors? Do you agree that this same Gang of 7 did a responsible job of holding Mayor Harl accountable for authorizing fraudulent timesheets involving overtime to city employees that did not actually work for that overtime? If you answered "yes" to either or both of my questions then you are actually part of the problem in this city. If you can't recognize the difference between right and wrong and you support aldermen who can't either, then you are exactly the kind of person that has enabled the Gang of 7 to get elected and to stay in office. Shame on you for that!
I totally disagree with the logic for this aldermatic make up. Remember the gimmicks to vote for Harl or against Baker? and look at the mess that turned out to be. Lets learn our lessons and not play games with important issues facing this city. We cannot afford anymore of these ventured gained proposals. VOTE NO
I would imagine that most voting No have never had an issue that needed an alderman. It depends on who you are as to whether you will get the help you need. Please before you decide to vote No understand that there are citizens out there that could benefit from at large aldermen.
7:06 PM It sounds like you have become a Harl supporter and approve of all that is going on at city hall or more appropriately what is not going on that should be. We all have to face the situation of poor government that is taking place. We have 2 misplaced aldermen on the Public Works committee thanks to Mayor Harl who do not have the capabilities to handle the serious lack of personal to take care of the departments which the city has responsibility for. They keep changing titles in hopes that that is all we need to do. When they were faced with intelligence and great ability they screwed up. So now we changed the title, this is so irresponsible. Maybe you should to go to a temp agency and see what they might have available, it makes as much sense as what we are doing in the PW department.
And also I want to add that we have in office a mayor with the inability to face up to the illegal activity he approved of in fact encouraged by saying it was ok. It's not ok and since the judge gave him some leniency because he was a new mayor. Why didn't the new mayor find out what his legal choices were because as far as I know we continue to have a city attorney on staff who was very sure of Mayor Harl's love of Peru. He surely would have told him nice try but NO you can not do this.
Lois, do you think that the extra money was promised before the election in 09? To have a new mayor make that decision and then keep it quiet is quite disturbing. Increase in wages for votes?
Donate to my campaign fund and I will take care of you. The bottom line. Don't trust anyone who you know lies and cheats. On all levels once a liar always a liar. Once a cheater always a cheater.
I know that we have all heard previously that a liar is also a thief and a thief also lies. But you honestly do not think that this holds true for any occupants of city hall do you? I hope not.
Most people involved in the operation of the City of Peru are in it for the money. I can only think of two people care about Peru - every other one just wants to suck off the government (.)(.)
One month from today, March 18, 2014 , the Referendum vote for a change in the number of aldermen in Peru will take place. Hopefully Peru will take a step forward with a YES vote.
To 3:32 AM - What's your point? Do you mean that Peru residents should only be patronizing "exclusively" with Peru businesses. Really? That sounds like the fiscally irresponsible position of the Gang of 7. Is that we accept No-Bid deals with TEST? So your position is we should all practice "Protectionism" when we buy mgoods and services, regardless of cost? That sounds like the CSO / Good ol' Boy way of thinking as well as the Peru city council mindset. That's just great for Peru businesses but no so great for Peru taxpayers who have to pay the bill regardless of the cost. If you don't comparison shop with your own money because you think that way you are entitled to do so. My opinion is that if my aldermen practice protectionism by wasting my tax dollars without shoping around for a better bargain then they need to be replaced. I will vote yes to the At-Large referendum for an opportunity to replace some if not all of the Gang of 7.
Replace the whole gang of 7. If need be to keep one, it would be Potthoff, The dirty sheets need to be cleaned. Anybody who can't think for themselves should not be a part of our gov. In many instances people stick together on issues is because they don't really know the issues at hand, therefore they go with the flow.
Yah! Like the $1600 printing and $400 delivery fee for the "I paved these streets" signs purchased by Boss Harl (with our money) from a Peru printer. Oh.... and the PW overtime, Lumber from a Peru lumber company, and PW overtime to set up. I think the signs ended up costing $2000 each! Corruption!
Anon 11:07 Answer what is stated not what you want to make up yourself? Nothing was mentioned about ownership of a business , what was mentioned was business expertise. Whether you know it or not there is a big difference between expertise and ownership.
Who specifically is financing the referendum campaign? Someone is paying for the signs and I would like to know if this is being disclosed. Don't you have to file paperwork?
11:16 you are correct. I know a person who is actually married to a person who owns a business. The business owner was clueless and negligent in their portion of running the business. Pure laziness. And it caught up with them. Costing the business several thousands of dollars which should have never happened. I saw the paperwork and the person I'm referring to most everybody would know. One of Harls buddies!
57 comments:
The four votes in my house will be a yes.
when sport coat sizes are larger than the IQ peru is going down the crapper thank you the mental midgets
The 10 votes in our block will be a yes also.
Lois,can you tell us who to contact for a yard sign?
if you contact me at mypointofviewlc@gmail.com, I can get you one. If you prefer you can contact Travis Nelson.
5 votes in my family will be "YES". Bring on the change!
Does anyone have a clue to what 5:40 PM is referring to in his grouping of phases? 5:40 you forgot to state how many in your house are voting Yes. If you can't count a answer of "all of them is politically correct".
Can you explain why or how less alderman means more quality actions ?
After being "served" by Aldermen Ferrari and Radtke, I regret that we have only two votes in our house to advocate the change. Bring back Sherry and Rodney.
I think that we should keep 2 and get rid of the rest.
1:35 AM
John, this is how I personally look at it. We are mandated by law presently to have 2 aldermen per ward and because some of the wards are very short on people qualified to be making the decisions for our city, we end up with whomever was encouraged to run and they are an automatic shoe in.
Now hopefully each ward will be able come up with one GOOD candidate. Now you have a couple of others wards with many people interested in the well being of the city and they just happen to have a good alderman at present. Now others in that ward who would be good aldermen can run at large and represent the entire city.
Honestly there have been so many times through the years when I have contacted another aldermen with my questions rather than my own ward aldermen because I needed real answers. Other ward aldermen are generally not too keen on being involved in the other wards politics because it has the protect your turf mentality at present.
This is not an experiment, other cities have done it and it works very well for them.
It's actually rather silly that any city as small as Peru does not have at large alderpersons. The concept of ward representation is more applicable where large cities have defined neighborhoods, usually with different ethnicity or socio economic concerns, culture , and challenges. They feel better with "one of there own" representing them in a large body.
Peru wants think it is a big time city, always has, and loves to have little tribes and groups. You could probably get 6 people to run for mayor besides Harl and get a great hard core following behind each one of them.
The web site explains it very clearly, which of course will mean most will not read it , or trust it. Too foreign for them. They will likely ask their alderman how to vote lol.
To John @1:35 am, My interpretation of the "Pro" side of the referendum is that having eight aldermen not significant. What is significant to me is the fact that the current group does not provide any semblance of "Quality". What is important is the "Quality" of the representation and on that note, the referendum if approved will make all six seats available in a single election come 2015.
Having six seats up for grabs will provide the "opportunity" to elect "Quality" aldermen.
As far as I'm concerned this is a great chance to get at least a few new people in there.
If you're not sure about it just look at it this way. What the hell have we got to lose. If you want to vote the same people in again then you can vote for them. At least this way we will have a much broader field to choose from. I vote YES.
An alderman who has to run city wide will need to spend at least 5 thousand dollars or even more just to be competitive with the union or other special interest group money. Good candidates would not run. This alone is good reason to vote no. Name three other cities our size that has aldermen at large.
11:19 AM
In my opinion, you are wrong and simply trying to protect the aldermen that we currently have.
All people have their own way of networking and much of it costs little to no money.
If we start seeing union influence brought into the next election, it will certainly define this administration and the way it plays absolutely dirty politics and at that time it might be necessary to start getting some real news coverage.
Your monetary number is greatly exaggerated and I am quite familiar with the cost to run political campaigns. Even if what you say were true about money, be it union money or private money, it would have more impact on a ward race. I want to see candidates who are willing to fight hard for my vote. My feeling is that at-large candidates would be have to be extremely committed and willing to work very hard city wide. The at-large candidates, and I believe their will be at least a few if not more, will have to be the cream of the crop in terms of energy and organization in order to mount an at-large campaign. Those are qualities that we need in our elected officials.
This referendum is a great idea. Kudos to the group of activists who have undertaken this mission.
I and my family will support it.
To: 11:19
From Alderman Perez
You may recall the 2011 election. It cost me 1,350.00 for my custom and factory made signs, (which i posted all over town) Business cards, and door hangers. I spent another 450.00 on Paper and Radio advertisements.
I would estimate an additional $500.00 to run @large which would be for the extra door hangers, and cards.
I could run a city wide election for well under $3,000.00
No doubt the same people who want to change the aldermanic system are the ones who wanted a new mayor...and look what you got. Now, what if in four years, you don't like the aldermen you voted in, are you going to campaign for three aldermen in each ward?
Sterling, IL and Rochelle, IL both have alderman at large government.
Freeport, IL has 7 wards with one alderman per ward and one alderman at large. Galena, IL has two alderman at large and one alderman per ward.
3:47 PM
I know that Sterling also has a City Manager who has been very effective in running their city. Hint! Hint!
Vote yes! Sterling Illinois is basically a dump town now. Use to be prosperous. Industry has closed up shop. High unemployment. Only nice thing there is their community/athletic facility.
Thanks for the explanation !
4:55 PM
I wish to correct your bad manners as well as your comment. Sterling is not a dump town but like all cities Peru included industry is not clamoring to build within our borders. They are working on redoing much of their old downtown and schedule events there that Peru could only wish for. They have a very active Market which I believe is all year long and their music and movie program in the bandshell is a wonderful activity during the summer months.
With your mouth you must be speaking from within the confines of our hallowed c. hall.
347 Lasalle county is number 10 in the state with the highest unemployment. Peru's tax rate is low but Tax evaluation is sky High. Who's fault? Sterling is no dump its a typical Illinois town who lost its industrial base! Who's fault? I think you are so blinded by the truth like most of our politicians who control Illinois! I'm sure you believe higher taxes can bail the state out too!
It would be a big improvement to get rid of some dead weight "aldermen", I think 1 per ward and 2 at large would be wonderful. Thank You
This is a poor excuse for leadership in the city of peru. who knows best the ward if not the people that live in them. When will we have aldermen/women do right by the ward (first) then by the city????????????
This action will NOT fix it. MY VOTE IS NO>>>>>>
10:12 PM
True that the people in their own ward know it better than anyone what their problems are but if the aldermen for the past 8 to 10 have not been doing their job, it is time to remove some of them and choose a few at large. You will not lose both of your ward aldermen, only one of them and maybe then the one remaining will finally realize some responsibility to his/her own ward. It is not happening now, so lets reduce their number and hope that one will finally realize that the other guy is gone and it is now my responsibility. No ward has that many problems that one aldermen per ward can not handle. And always remember that if the one sloughs it off you now have 2 more options with the at large individuals.
NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED
I don't believe that most of our politicians who control Illinois are blinded by the truth. They know the truth but rather than follow it they are taking care care of themselves and I for one would call it greed. The footprint of longevity has created professional politicians who are patronized by lobbyist who control huge amounts of organizations money to be used for their own self gain.
Under the table, back room, behind closed door politics has been on the increase to such a extent that it has become the normal everyday way of doing much of today's government business i.e. the number of closed sessions conducted by the City of Peru's Mayor and members of its City Council in the last 5 years that no minutes have been disclosed to the citizens.
To 10:12 AM, If you are happy with the representation you have gotten and are getting then good for you.
I am not happy with mine and I wonder if you are even paying attention to the actions of the aldermen and mayor of Peru. Do you agree with the recent decision by The Gang of 7 that the the city of Peru should be "selective" when deciding which Contracts should go out for bid and which should just be "given" to contractors? Do you agree that this same Gang of 7 did a responsible job of holding Mayor Harl accountable for authorizing fraudulent timesheets involving overtime to city employees that did not actually work for that overtime?
If you answered "yes" to either or both of my questions then you are actually part of the problem in this city.
If you can't recognize the difference between right and wrong and you support aldermen who can't either, then you are exactly the kind of person that has enabled the Gang of 7 to get elected and to stay in office. Shame on you for that!
I totally disagree with the logic for this aldermatic make up. Remember the gimmicks to vote for Harl or against Baker? and look at the mess that turned out to be.
Lets learn our lessons and not play games with important issues facing this city. We cannot afford anymore of these ventured gained proposals. VOTE NO
I would imagine that most voting No have never had an issue that needed an alderman. It depends on who you are as to whether you will get the help you need. Please before you decide to vote No understand that there are citizens out there that could benefit from at large aldermen.
7:06 PM
It sounds like you have become a Harl supporter and approve of all that is going on at city hall or more appropriately what is not going on that should be. We all have to face the situation of poor government that is taking place. We have 2 misplaced aldermen on the Public Works committee thanks to Mayor Harl who do not have the capabilities to handle the serious lack of personal to take care of the departments which the city has responsibility for. They keep changing titles in hopes that that is all we need to do. When they were faced with intelligence and great ability they screwed up. So now we changed the title, this is so irresponsible. Maybe you should to go to a temp agency and see what they might have available, it makes as much sense as what we are doing in the PW department.
And also I want to add that we have in office a mayor with the inability to face up to the illegal activity he approved of in fact encouraged by saying it was ok. It's not ok and since the judge gave him some leniency because he was a new mayor. Why didn't the new mayor find out what his legal choices were because as far as I know we continue to have a city attorney on staff who was very sure of Mayor Harl's love of Peru. He surely would have told him nice try but NO you can not do this.
Lois, do you think that the extra money was promised before the election in 09? To have a new mayor make that decision and then keep it quiet is quite disturbing. Increase in wages for votes?
7:32
BINGO!
Anon 7:32 What extra money? What increase in wages for votes?
BINGO, No! CORRUPTION, Yes!
Donate to my campaign fund and I will take care of you. The bottom line. Don't trust anyone who you know lies and cheats. On all levels once a liar always a liar. Once a cheater always a cheater.
I know that we have all heard previously that a liar is also a thief and a thief also lies. But you honestly do not think that this holds true for any occupants of city hall do you? I hope not.
9:07- are you being sarcastic? Answer: of course I believe. Do you? Lol
hope signs were made in peru
Most people involved in the operation of the City of Peru are in it for the money. I can only think of two people care about Peru - every other one just wants to suck off the government (.)(.)
6:23 PM
Doesn't matter and in fact there is one publisher that I would hope did not get the business even though he does much business with the city.
One month from today, March 18, 2014 , the Referendum vote for a change in the number of aldermen in Peru will take place. Hopefully Peru will take a step forward with a YES vote.
Wow. Didnt even give business to our city. Shameful
Vote "yes"
To 3:32 AM - What's your point? Do you mean that Peru residents should only be patronizing "exclusively" with Peru businesses. Really? That sounds like the fiscally irresponsible position of the Gang of 7. Is that we accept No-Bid deals with TEST? So your position is we should all practice "Protectionism" when we buy mgoods and services, regardless of cost?
That sounds like the CSO / Good ol' Boy way of thinking as well as the Peru city council mindset. That's just great for Peru businesses but no so great for Peru taxpayers who have to pay the bill regardless of the cost.
If you don't comparison shop with your own money because you think that way you are entitled to do so. My opinion is that if my aldermen practice protectionism by wasting my tax dollars without shoping around for a better bargain then they need to be replaced. I will vote yes to the At-Large referendum for an opportunity to replace some if not all of the Gang of 7.
Replace the whole gang of 7. If need be to keep one, it would be Potthoff, The dirty sheets need to be cleaned. Anybody who can't think for themselves should not be a part of our gov. In many instances people stick together on issues is because they don't really know the issues at hand, therefore they go with the flow.
I agree. Should of made signs in peru to help peru's economy
Yah! Like the $1600 printing and $400 delivery fee for the "I paved these streets" signs purchased by Boss Harl (with our money) from a Peru printer. Oh.... and the PW overtime, Lumber from a Peru lumber company, and PW overtime to set up. I think the signs ended up costing $2000 each! Corruption!
It is becoming a fact that Peru has city officials with no business expertise. The city officials themselves are proving this fact.
Vote YES March 18.
7:44 Your comments have no facts attached. You have a number that have their own businesses.
Anon 11:07 Answer what is stated not what you want to make up yourself? Nothing was mentioned about ownership of a business , what was mentioned was business expertise. Whether you know it or not there is a big difference between expertise and ownership.
Very nice signage. Easy to read. What is the cost of each of these signs in comparison to the 14 signs that city hall group had put by the roads.
Who specifically is financing the referendum campaign? Someone is paying for the signs and I would like to know if this is being disclosed. Don't you have to file paperwork?
11:16 you are correct. I know a person who is actually married to a person who owns a business. The business owner was clueless and negligent in their portion of running the business. Pure laziness. And it caught up with them. Costing the business several thousands of dollars which should have never happened. I saw the paperwork and the person I'm referring to most everybody would know. One of Harls buddies!
Will Harl put a sign in his yard?
Post a Comment