The city council delayed the vote on the grass cutting contract because they were one alderman short of the "Super Majority" and it will be taken up at the next council meeting after Christmas. How can savings be calculated when you don't have the figures from past years? He did put a lot of work into it so please find this information in the Alderman's packet on the city web site and let us know what you think.
****Peru city atty according to N.T isn't sure whether there will be a Planning and Zoning Committee meeting on Wednesday as origiinally scheduled because not enough members possibly might not show up and in that case the meeting will be held on Thursday. This is kind of like saying there is a city council meeting Monday and if not enough members show up we will meet on Tuesday. Since an agenda has to be posted 48 hours in advance with an exact time and date of meeting, it does sound like we have a legal issue involved here.
Please this is a governmental commitee, they need not play games, either set a meeting date and time and live with it or cancel it until next week. Do they not want a room full of people in attendance like last week?
BELOW IS MY ORIGINAL POSTING
Also the meeting by the Planning and Zoning Committee was delayed until this Thursday December 18 @ 6 PM, they were said to be short members available for Wednesday night, December 17 the date scheduled at last weeks mtg. This will again be about the Northern White Sands probable approval of annexation etc. If you know someone who should be aware of this change, please contact them and let them know of the change.
ELECTION PETITIONS for ALDERMAN
As of this morning these are the petitions turned into the clerks office. Fourth -Dave Potthoff, Third Ward - Dave Waldorf, Travis Nelson. Second Ward - Rodney Perez, Tom Payton.
29 comments:
Bernabei pushing for us own political gain
Super Majority = a way to avoid the proper and fair bidding practices. Peru city officials know how to get around the law.
When and why would a government body want to utilize a super majority vote rather than letting out a contract for bids?
To advertise for bids is fairer to all involved and a mandatory process in conducting good business.
The only reason that competitive businesses to D&M&B don't confront the present ineffective business procedure must be that they don't want to deal with the representation of that city.
"Favored Isolation" for one reason or another will and always does stiffle those who for various reasons utilize it and most times is conducted in the gray matter of legal practices. The creation of monopoly practices are in most cases illegal in government, private and public businesses. This is a area which Peru already has a overload amount of and surely does not want representation of those who are strong supporters of it.
Lois, I do not have to refer to the aldermens packet to immediately know that a city administration which recently had a lengthy FBI investigation would never prevent competitive bidding which would avoid their own ordinance and touch the concept of "Super Majority".
What was the problem 7-1 is a super majority and so is 6-2?
The super majority rule is written into the ordinance. If all of them collude to select a service without bidding it out, then it is legal. Our Boss has learned how to word the rules from our own statehouse.
It is a Progressive tactic to give an "out" so to speak when they put the rules in place. In this case, everything must be bid out - "unless we all get together and say otherwise." There is no black and white in Progressive Democrat politics.
I am also very concerned that this Adventure Drive fiasco is going to turn into a money pit. They are estimating $500K right now. When an Progressive Democrat does this without serious studies being conducted they are grossly lowballing this to get it through the council. I'm willing to bet that the final price will be closer to $1.5 Million before all is said and done. And.... it wont fix the problem. Ha! If it didn't hurt so bad it would be funny.
If this grass cutting contract passes with a super majority, no other company will ever have a chance at that contract. Look at TEST for example. Plus, if you remember back a couple of years, it was time to renew the engineering contract for the airport. Only 1 other company even sent in an RFQ because they already knew Chamlin's was going to get it and the RFQ process was just a pre-determined formality. This council and the super majority vote is disgraceful.
Does anyone know if any of the aldermen asked Mr. Bernabei how he justified or calculated the proposed amount that the city saved by hiring the grass cutting out? Were the properties that were not included in the hiring of D&M taken into consideration (i.e. Baker Lake, cemetery, airport, landfill)?
Will this meeting be held Wednesday or Thursday? Read the article in the paper with regards to it and see what our attorney has to say. It sounds as though it depends on how many committee members show up on Wednesday. Is this legal?
Anon 9:27, Waldorf (yes man) was absent. Potthoff and Perez would have voted no. Once that was made clear, they knew they didn't have enough votes. No super majority for now, but wait til next meeting when all the yes duckies will fall in line.
I am embarrassed....that is all I have to say.
Getting a quorum to show up to the ZBA / Planning Commission meetings seems to be a chronic problem. There are one or two members that just don't have the time to show up to the meeting on a regular basis. So I ask you, why do they get reappointed?
If it is not a time management problem with the members of the board - then the other reason is quite obvious. Here is how it plays out:
1. Schedule the meeting.
2. Some of the members show up. But not a quorum.
3. One or two members wait in their car.
4. If they notice angry villagers with pitchforks, send a text message to the members in hiding so they can high tail it out of the parking lot. Call the meeting to order, call the roll, no quorum, meeting over.
5. If the room is empty - text the others that are waiting. Pass whatever it is per the direction of whoever needs it.
Well - the people can play that game also. Have one person show up and watch the door from the lobby. If the meeting starts - send out a tweet for everyone else to show up - sort of like a flash mob. But only to ask questions - not sing and dance :)
Ok, just checked the city web site and it states the meeting is the 18th which is Thursday.
11:14 Are you saying we have a bunch of lemmings that will back down from a fight on the planning/zoning boards?
there was no request to over-compensate king/bernabei more money? are we trying to find someone for the public works or is that the reason why we will never find anyone? did it ever come up that we hired a new office person and as usual she is from lasalle not peru.
11:56, yes - they do as they are told.
I also find it interesting that almost every new construction project needs a variance of some sort. These variances require an ordinance. They never change the zoning ordinance - they just write hundreds of new ordinances. Guess who gets that money.
11:14 embarrassed by that it wasn't unanimous?
Anyone with half a brain can figure out that if one company does the job for $32,000 a year and agrees to do it for same amount for 3 more years , that they are making a pretty penny in profit . The next company will come along and say I can do it for $30,000 then . and another will come along and do it for $28,000 . This is how legal bid process benefits the city going out for bids . No one in their right mind is going to bid higher like Bernie is trying to get everyone to believe . And if D&M doesn't like it and refuses to rebid , good for them .
5:26, I for one would NOT tie myself into a contract for 3 years. Costs will not remain stagnant for that long. What happens if the DEMS raise the minimum wage? What happens when gas goes back up again? What happens when inflation kicks in again - can't remain this low forever. No, I'd factor in an increase of about 5 to 8% per year.
Anon 7:10 PM
Would you tie yourself into a contract for 3 years if your bid was high enough the 1st year, the 2nd year and the 3rd year to already cover increaseed costs whether they come or don't come into existence?
How can you be assured that DM&B have not already done this? Without bidding from other competitive firms on the same job you have no way of telling what a good bid is or isn't. This may be a very good bid for the 3rd year and a exoberent bid for the first two years. Until several competitive bids are entered you have no way of telling and neither do those who want to award contracts without bidding. DM&B have not been harmed as their bid has not been revealed and they still have the privledge of bidding. The city has not been harmed because it will cost them nothing financially to put the contract out for competitive bidding and it will most likely save a vast amount of money plus it will gain goodwill for fair play from those competitors. The competitors who now can enter a bid will gain the opportunity to exercise "Democracy" because they can bid for the job.
Do a certain one or two have to be hit over the head with a ballbat to realize this, or do they already realize it and have other additional motives?
Many experienced individuals involved in police departments will claim that politics and politicians do not belong in this line of professional work. What greatly concerns many is how much longer before we possibly are wearing black tee shirts with "I can't breathe" printed on them?
8:46 - get real. If a felon with 41 convictions was selling untaxed products in front of your store in direct competition to you, you would also call the police. If that individual resisted arrest, I hope our police would use the force that is necessary. If that person was so fat that he suffocated - so be it.
However - I would be in favor of putting ALL of our LOCAL police forces under the control of the ELECTED County Sheriff. Even if it is the largest county (land wise) in Illinois, LaSalle County in not so large that this can't be done efficiently. It would cost less, be more uniform, and allow smaller towns more coverage.
Long term contracts generally have provisions for price increases - usually on an annual basis. I would not sign a contract without the ability to review the price every year.
If minimum wages go up it wouldn't effect the price for a mowing company anyway . They would just hire kids under 18 . Everyone will do it. Most landscaping companies are seasonal anyway so they're exempt . High school kids do most of the lawn care in business anyway .
3 year contracts for a lawnmowing service is not unheard of, it's called job and business security. As a matter of fact, there is one lawnmower company in the area that does this quite often, this company is also known for submitting very low bids to get the job due to the fact several workers show up and bing bang it's done. Wonder if all employees have the correct work permits aka: cards to work in the United States? Drive around and put your glasses on. I've noticed a lot of adults working for lawnmower businesses not high school students. In my high school and college days I mowed yards.
Adults are now cutting grass because our local officials and townspeople do not want industrial development. That is what we all have to look forward to - selling corn dogs and cutting grass. Its either that, or move away. Once the taxes start skyrocketing, I think most will move away.
The government owes its citizens a healthy envirnoment and enforcement of the laws created to ensure such. If I have to work harder to find work and to maintain a healthy envirnoment I'll do so which is what is being conducted presently.
To be acceptable the industry in question will have to prove to me that they are a healthy, positive and good neighbor rather than me proving the same to them. Why, you ask. Because I am already here for many years without them, I answer no other reason needed.
I've seen this contract and it says 5% increase each year after first year . Its all in how its presented to the council . Little technicalities in the wording that can add extra over the years. Its like a couple kids playing board games trying to cheat the others. Everything isn't specifically spelled out to stop this DM from gouging the city and its done this way cuz they are buddies with Bernie from his Valley Days .
@5:13, just like the $12,000 bonus money approved a couple month back for the temporary positions of SPW. WAS THERE A PAY CUT FOR WORK PERFORMANCE FOR THE OTHER POSITIONS APPOINTED? HAVE NOT SEEN ANY PUBLICATIONS THAT WE ARE SEARCHING FOR A SUPERINTENDANT OF PUBLIC WORKS, ETC.
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