“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.”

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Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Peru may revamp unusual administrative structure - LaSalle News Tribune - LaSalle, IL

Peru may revamp unusual administrative structure - LaSalle News Tribune - LaSalle, IL


So the question is how long is the life span of this organization? Will the mayor run for re election?  How will we know when one of the wheels falls off of this non replaceable structure? If it is sudden, will it run on auto pilot?

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would like a report to say that everything is great and we do a great job. We created an odd way of doing our job and we hope someone else does the same thing so we can say we are trendsetters and not idiots. "back slap, back slap, Congratulation, Congratulation."

Anonymous said...

I'm just curious as to what will happen if either the ASM or PSM decide to leave. Remember they took over those positions when Mr. Bleck and Mr. Potthoff retired and according to our council no one in the United States was qualified to fill those vacancies. And, what will happen if during the next election we get a new mayor and he doesn't approve of this situation? Where will we be then? If everything is running smoothly wasn't there recently some question as to whether or not proper procedure was being followed with regards to certain established ordinances? My take on the Task Force recommendation is that they prefer just an administrator and not an administrator/police chief/fire chief. And let's not forget that that was the only option they were able to recommend or deny. A city manager was not put on the table.

Anonymous said...

The first two comments raise very fair and important questions. Questions of importance only important to those who live in a area without any known guidelines or planning. Without recorded guidelines or planning a one sided monopoly of power is created. That one sided monopoly is the present organization in power.
Always being bipartisan and weighing each sides presentation to gain a fair judgement of what I think would work best for all I mistakenly believed I had a decent evaluation of Illinois State Government. This is until I made a recent phone call to a state government office to question certain practices which I felt if not illegal where in a the questionable gray matter.
I asked my questions in a courteous manner and in turn was led down the middle of the horse barn and back and forth so many times that I knew the names of each by its back side. The people I spoke to made excuses and could not see any wrong doings. From now on the only positive approach I know of is to present yourself as a long term member of the party in power and forget to identify yourself. This is the only way you will be heard.
Chicago has Churchill Downs, Kentucky has the Kentucky Derby, New York has the Belmont Stakes and Illinois has Springfield and Chicago all of which are populated with horses as*'**.



Anonymous said...

To me this article is buttering the citizens of Peru to think that all is well in Peru government, and the best thing Peru could do is hire a city administrator, even though Harl doesn't think the council will go for it because it will cost. So they present this pretty picture of how things are running so smoothly now, but if King or Bernie were to leave, Peru would come crashing down. And Potts had plenty of recognition in the paper to make all so called conservatives agree with the master plan. Well written to make all the minions urge their councilmen that Peru needs a city administrator no matter what the cost. Sickening! If King or Bernie were to leave, somebody else would step up and do their jobs, just like when Mikos and Bleck left. They are not irreplaceable and Peru will not crumble if they leave.

Anonymous said...

With any organization you utilize personnel that makes it work. The question on what to do in the future are irrelevant. It matters on what the future brings, there is no set formula that works in every situation. If a key manager leaves, you look at the task at hand and skills that are needed to replace that position.

Anonymous said...

The title of the article is misleading. The read is that Peru is working fine and they have no immediate plans to change the administrative structure. The committee worked months and came to the conclusion that it works fine?

Anonymous said...

It is my understanding that the Task Force came to their conclusions solely on the interviews they conducted with certain department heads. Do you know of any worker, who values and needs their job, that would say anything other than everything is just fine? Especially since minutes were taken and would be made available to everyone!

8:54 We did look for a replacement to a position (throughout the U.S.) and found no one qualified. It has even been stated that we're having a hard time finding good, qualified apprentice linemen. I find these things hard to believe because of all the people out of jobs but maybe Peru is just to fussy?

Anonymous said...

This task force and its report should win the gold medal for presenting a report that essentially says "nothing". What are we to take from this newspaper story and this task force report? It says "uh well, we guess things are going ok according to the city employees we interviewed who by the way could not answer honestly. So, well uh, we guess it's all good, so um, we guess the city should continue doing it, that is um, whatever "it" is. Oh, and by the way, the city will implode and fall off the face of the earth if anything changes. So um, just keep it going as is. I have never seen a city leadership that wanders so frickin aimlessly as the city officials of Peru. It absolutely reeks of pure, unadulterated politics. Of course the political players, Harl Bernie, and Potts hail the report as total verification that they are "cutting edge" in their approach to city "administration". Could these people possibly be more full of themselves? I read the story over and over and it just makes no sense whatsoever. ????? Was there an actual assessment and recommendation in there anywhere. You get the impression the task force is saying, well, we really don't have much to say but thanks for letting us hang around at city hall for a while. We guess things are going ok down there. See ya!

Anonymous said...

Propaganda plain and simple

Anonymous said...

I don't want a Policeman running the city. If he want to become a City Manager or City Administrator, he should resign his position as Police Chief and we should hire a new one. We need an elected civilian authority over the police force.

Lois said...

8:23 A.M.

You are wrong and the Task Force came to the conclusion that if either of them left they are not replaceable because their job as currently set up includes being PPD chief and PFD chief and they both pretty much said that it would be difficult to replace this arrangement. And the Asst. Police Chief came right out and said he was not interested should Bernabei give up all of his positions (Chief, ASM, Twp. Trustee, Co ESDA head) Did I miss anything?

Anonymous said...

it sounds to me that Bernie and King are doing nothing more then positioning themselves for a lifetime position at city hall!!!

Anonymous said...

11:35 AM I believe that is the plan. Bernie will be appointed city administrator, and another person, presumably the assistant police chief will be appointed police chief. When that happens, I wonder how long King will stay around.

Anonymous said...

11:03 your summary is that. Things must be going good. I think the local conservative Potthoff would consider saving 1 dollar progress. What about the feelings of the city workers?

Anonymous said...

Boss Harl will be departing for Springfield soon.

Anonymous said...

3:52 No. He won't.

Anonymous said...

To anyone in question of giving a honest evaluation of their job, their supervisors and if you would change anything if they were in their supers position I have openly answered many similar questions. I also am a firm believer in the power of the truth.
Normally in my introductory stages of employment I receive very high grades but as time goes on I decrease at a rapid pace and eventually am demoted until I lose the job. My thoughts are that I would have been the ideal interview for Peru's Task Force but not for long.
Oh! If anyone has knowledge of a job opening please write it in to the Peru Town Forum.

Anonymous said...

1:20 Sept. 24th - Alderman Potthoff is no longer the conservative he used to be. Recently he seems to be just as easy spending our money as the rest of the council. Don't forget the mayor's favorite comment (we've got the money so write a check).

Anonymous said...

Alderman P. doesn't care how much money is spent. He cares about keeping the residential property tax low, the residential power bill low, and the residential water virtually free.

If the revenue from sales tax keeps increasing, he is happy to spend more.