“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

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Video Coverage of Peru City Council Meeting

The video recording of the Peru City Council is available for viewing for the January 12, 2015 meeting.

I watched last night and believe it should be watched by all Peru residents. You will find many spots in the video where you hear "nothing" and this needs to be corrected as it is very annoying to those of you watching. Personally I would place the podium back to the side as it is not in a good position and again the audio from this location fades out at times. The council needs to be aware that the speaker is also speaking to those watching a video and it previously served that purpose at the side.

The Mayor states that he received questions through the Ask the Mayor on the city web site where we are supposed to be able to send emails to selected elected and appointed individuals. I personally know this has been unavailable for most of the past month. This is about Ald. Perez and he said that the mayor had had 2 questions come to him between Jan. 10 the Saturday on which the "Fun Day" hosted by Ald. Perez and Monday Jan. 12. which is over a weekend, that came thru the email system. How could they send emails when it doesn't work for the rest of us. ????  Why was the council so quiet until prodded further by the Mayor?

Second listen closely to the city council conversation about the Administrator or City Manager.

Think seriously about what we need to manage this city.  He or she needs to be able to operate in cooperation with all elected officials but to be given the authority to run this city.  In this day and age we can no longer depend upon whomever is elected by the public because the qualifications are not always present in those individuals to run the cities in the modern world.  I believe the video was only enforce this.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

I watched the video too. None of the alderman were in favor of spending $175k on a city administrator. Not even yes man Waldorf. So Harl is putting together a committee of 7 people to mull this idea over, knowing full well that it will not pass. Harl is essentially wasting those people's time. I hope those he is considering for this committee watch the meeting video before they agree to be on the committee. Sappy was the only alderman in favor of it. Maybe the vote will be 7 to 1 again, this time with a different 1 for a change! Ha. How long before Sappy gets voted out??

Anonymous said...

Foia those emails ! Should be interesting when we find out they came from Camp Boss Hurl !

Peru Town Forum said...

Went to Finance today and the atmosphere was like many of them had just come back from a Polar Bear Plunge.

Anonymous said...

got an interesting letter in my city bill. They got about a half million back from the IMEA and have decided to give everyone a few dollars off their bill. I would have used this money for maintenance and upkeep on the electric department equipment.

Anonymous said...

On the council meeting video, Alderman Potthoff said he thought the city was running smoothly with Bernabei and King in charge. Funny, he voted no for the appointments because he thought it was too much responsibility for those two in addition to their regular jobs.

Anonymous said...

The Recreation Board minutes from their December meeting are posted on the city website. A whopping 30-40 people showed up for the tree lighting ceremony. Good job Sappy!

Anonymous said...

Lois are you saying that the finance committee has finally put a freeze and resposibility clause on all city spending and hiring of new employees.
Has the city council really passed a vote to carry all medical insurance over for retired employees for the time between the day they retire until the day they are eligible to participate in Medicare.
This present council does not realize that fringe benefits are going through a age of reductions do they?

Anonymous said...

I was talking with Perez about these investigations and asked him if he thought it was retaliation from that FBI investigation. Rodney said Sapienza said the city should have swept the payroll investigation under the rug. I'm wondering why he never felt the same about the Perez family day investigation? Sapienza is a crook for thinking the FBI investigation on Harl should've been swept away. Who do these council egg heads think they are?

Anonymous said...

Egg heads they are not. Egg head refers to the extremely bright. Adli Stevenson who ran for President against Ike and became the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. was considered a egg head. Henry Kisinger would also fit the description.

Anonymous said...

We don't have eggheads in government anymore. They are mostly illiterate movie star wannabes.
Locally, our politicians are friends of friends of baby boomers that have a name that sounds something like they guy they knew in high school back in the 70's - not that they can remember much because of all the haze in the air at that time.
We need somebody under 40 to run this City!

Anonymous said...

Anon 8:25 AM To restrict by age, gender, race etc. would hinder rather than enable better people being involved in government.
Sadly I do not mention economic class because we have already reached a stage in which money appears to be the judge and jury of what level of government importance you can reach. If not your own the amount which those supporting the candidate have.
I would not support anyone on their demographics but would support them on their values and how deep they are - such as integrity, heart, intelligence, knowledge, judgement, desire, leadership, transparency and above all that they have the gumption and loyality to respect those who have helped them to reach the position they have obtained and a determination to stick to the program by which they presented to be elected. AMEN.

Anonymous said...

9:03, sorry. I've been burned way to many times in the past. It is human nature to make judgments based on a groups performance. And the Illinois Valley Baby Boomers don't have a good track record in my judgment. So for me, if a candidate is born between 1946 and 1964 and has lived locally ALL OF THEIR LIFE - they would be hard pressed to get my vote.
If they went away and came back after a successful career - they might get some points. But if all they did is work "in the valley" or take over Daddy's successful business, they get dumped in the unqualified pile with the rest. Unless of course they prove themselves in some other way - but the bar is much higher for them.

Anonymous said...

We need some smart, intelligent, honest females as alderpersons. To break up the boys club.

Anonymous said...

We need some smart, intelligent, honest females as alderpersons. To break up the boys club.

Anonymous said...

11:31, I agree. As long as they where born AFTER 1964. Depending on health - before 1946.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Sick comments.

Anonymous said...

Good point 11:31. I agree, but women are just as susceptible to the Rubber Stamp mentality as men as has been proven by Mueller's falling in line with the the boys and showing no independence on anything. By the way I want to tell you 1st Ward residents you should be ashamed of yourselves that you can't even come up withy a legitimate challenge to Becky Mueller. That is shameful and embarrassing. What is wrong with you people in that ward? Ferrari and Mueller are your reps and they sit there with nothing to say or do and offer "nothing". C'mon 1st Ward. Snap out of it.

Anonymous said...

Shouldn't a person who is a alderman have several credentials of sorts to bring to the table? Years ago I would have supported Alderman Pothoff if he were campaigning for mayor. Now, not so much. One side of the pancake isn't burnt yet. It can be flipped. One can redeem themselves. Just say'in.

Anonymous said...

We must acknowledge that fact that it is impossible to pull a person out of our limited pool of citizens that have the qualifications to run a city. That is precisely why we need to force the change in government to Council - Manager. They will be forced to hire a certified City Manager. Then the council can concentrate on the future vision and plans. The council will not be tied down with day to day operational and personnel issues - that will be the job of the Manager.
Another thing to think about - if we change to a Council-Manager form of government, it might be possible to get some more motivated people to run for office. The thing that stops me is that an Alderman in Peru has become a position that faces internal - concentrating on everything from management of the employees to when the next oil change on the old F150 is needed. An Alderman should face outward toward the people and develop a vision for the future and pressure city management to fix problems.
That is NOT what we have in Peru right now.

Peru Town Forum said...

There are hundreds of people wanting to see this take place but it requires a dedicated few with the ability to pull it together. Many now are waiting to put their name on a petition to get this ready for a referendum. How ready are the people in Peru for actual change and not just a change in the present council.

Anonymous said...

Within recent history of Peru the council had a outstanding alderman, Sherry M. When Sherry accepted the appointment of Mayor Harl putting 1 1/2 to 2 strikes on her I thought she'd shortly stike out. In compliment to her I admit that she did a great job and proved to all that both genders are capable of performing successful city leadership. The trick is to get the proper person to be a candidate, female or male.

(Shery I hope I commented exactly to what you wanted, please put the $25 check in the mail. I need the money. Thank You _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ .

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:59 PM
Also to be taken in consideration is the influence of those who have been "Politicians of the Past and Present" and their view of any change proposed. Their recent disagreement with a decrease in ward aldermen and creation of 2 at large along with strong financial backing proved that Peru has more than politics to overcome to create any change and a improved government.

Sherry Mayszak said...

lol, 5:26 pm. Thanks for the compliment. I didn't realize how close I came to striking out! I don't know who you are so I can't put that check in the mail. I'm actually enjoying being an interested observer of the city council now.

Anonymous said...

Nice to be a fly in the wall.

Anonymous said...

Would 10:53 PM explain the comment they submitted and what it is referring to. Lois without explanations meaningless comments would be a excellent reason to get the old censure stick and start swapping before summer comes and the blog is full of them.
I've never heard of the fly IN the wall, it has always been the fly ON the wall or the toliet seat and that is one _ _ _ _ _ _ off fly!