Airport give-away a "crash and burn" deal for citizens of Peru.

In the long sordid history of sweet-heart deals in Peru, the unveiling Wednesday night of the "Airport Operations Agreement" has to rate as one of the sweetest. Alderman Mikyska has used his influence and position as airport committee chairman to essentially give away the Illinois Valley Regional Airport to Chuck Studer and Midwest Av-Tech. No strings attached and no real benefit to the city. Chuck Studer and Brian Hartman have put a lot of time and effort into this little scam. Back-slapping and ass-kissing has always been the shortest distance to easy money for connected insiders in Peru and this deal is no different. Here are the facts. Peru gives Midwest Av-Tech complete control of airport operations, including corporate hangar rent. But actually the only thing Studer is really interested in is the "very profitable" fuel concession. In order to sell the deal to the council Alderman Mikyska did a stellar job of "Cherry-Picking" the fuel sale numbers for us. He provided limited 2009 and 2010 totals which are not even close to historic averages due to recent construction at the airport and limited air traffic during that period. Mikyska stated the profit per gallon as only 32 to 36 cents. That was designed to show us fools in the audience that "poor" Chuck would only make a tiny profit from fuel sales and we should be grateful to him for taking this burden from us. In reality, the fuel sale numbers for 2003 thru 2008 show a very different profit picture. Those numbers show an average total gallons sold of right around 100,000 gallons per year. In addition, total profit per gallon, (which has previously been split between the city and Midwest Av-Tech) was about $1.00 per gallon. Sometimes a bit more. That is profit after costs and taxes of around $100,000 per year. Alderman Mikyska's logic is that we will save money as a result of lower insurance premiums, no city employee on site and Chuck will absorb the cleaning person who is about to retire anyway. Total savings said to be approximately $36,000. Midwest Av-Tech takes the corporate hangar rent of about $5,000 per year and Peru will continue to collect the T-Hangar rent at about $50,000 per year. Thanks Chuck. Here's how I see it. With a profitable fuel concession and steady hangar rent why should we give it away? I understand we will have operating costs and the need for an employee up there. But I see a neglected revenue source here. Why are our elected officials so inclined to give away the management of so many of our taxpayer owned assets. By doing so they are sending the worst possible signal to the citizens of Peru. The message is clear. We have no idea how to manage our own resources. They see the airport as a liability, not an asset. This is not as Chuck Studer said Wednesday, "a good deal for the city". This is a good deal for Chuck Studer and Midwest Av-Tech. I understand very well how businesses lobby and entertain elected officials in an effort to advance their own interests. I can accept that Chuck Studer and Brian Hartman have invested a great deal in order to cultivate personal relationships with aldermen and I know the reality of why they attend council meetings. That's just politics. What is so upsetting for me is that so many of our elected officials make such easy prey for these guys. This agreement could be approved by the council as soon as Monday. At some point in the near future I see vigorous hand shaking, lots of back slapping and numerous "atta boys" from Chuck and Brian to those aldermen who have made it all possible. SWEEEEEEEET!

The Challenge of Keeping the Peru Swimming Pool Open This Summer

Our municipal pool was built in the mid 1930's and renovation was done in 1986. Along with the continued loss of up to 60,000 gallons of water per day, the bathhouse is in need of a new roof as well as some ADA compliance issues throughout the bathhouse.

Average water loss due to evaporation and splash  over is approximately 4.500 and more. Over the 92 days the pool is open the water loss equals 4,600.000 gallons which equals a monetary loss of 11,316.36.  The original piping from 1930's is still under the pool and decking.

Breakdown of expenses
Labor (Drennan)                                 8,578.71
Water Loss                                                  11,316.36
Recreation Pool Employees                       44,645.02
Ameren Gas (pool heater)                            8,390.27
Halogen Pool Supply (chemicals)            15,737.06
Misc Expenses                                              6,004.55
Electric Bill (written off)                              1.157.48

Total                                                            95,829.45

Cost to keep the pool open on a daily basis 1,041.62
 

The issue was brought up at the informal city council meeting last night and I did not see any consensus of opinion.  Some thought we should have a professional analysis of the pool to discover the source of he water loss. Others said we should use city employees to find the problem. If the city employees are capable of finding the location of the water loss, why haven't they found it already and fixed the problem.since this has been an ongoing problem for years.
But as Ald. Potthoff stated we have no money to build a new pool and the possibility of a grant is only a possiblilty considering that the entire country is in economic crisis. I believe all the 50 states are having trouble meeting expenses.
Your real estate taxes are going up, city taxes are going up and how are we going to pay for a new pool or even extensive repairs to the existing pool?

Would you pay to watch the Peru City Council on TV?

A Comcast representative recently gave a presentation to the Mayor and City Council, in fact she was there at the informal meeting on Feb. 10 and again on Feb. 15 about the need to renew our contract with them. Evidently our current contract includes what is called the PEG (public education and government) channel option and it is not being used. This idea has been tossed around for years about again televising Council meetings to allow the residents who do not find it convenient to personally come to the meetings to watch the proceedings on a public channel. According to the Comcast rep., the city is allowed to add .35 per subscriber fee to be used for the expense of this venture. This might not be one of the most interesting things to watch on TV for the residents but it could be an eye opener for them and the aldermen could watch themselves in reruns and see how they present themselves to us. We could then eliminate the doubt about what was really said or what was transcribed into the minutes. I think we would have the choice of real time or replay. Or would this drive them further into hiding after hours for discussions? I think they are taking way to much time in putting this into practice and I say DO IT! and stop procrastinating.

City of Peru Bus Service

I have found it rather curious that the Peru Shopper Bus has no city mandated regulations. Maybe something like an ordinance that established the service and set up not necessarily routes which can be subject to change but rather who shall drive it and who shall be able to ride it and a monitoring of the route and the driver. I have found out that there is no ordinance establishing the service and no regulations even though the driver is paid by the City of Peru as an employee. Going back to 1984 it was the LaSalle Peru City Lines that drove the seniors on their buses and then for a time it was done by Green River Lines. Somewhere at some unknown date the city took over the route, leased a bus and hired a driver. The fee for riding the bus in 1984 was twenty five cents and 26 years later the fee for riding the bus is 25 cents. I wonder if we (the city) keeps track of income versus expenditures for this service. Maybe this might be the time for our Aldermen, to take a second look at the service and set up some guide lines, fees and hiring practices. Can we be assured the driver will be hired in an appropriate manner and not like it was done years ago when the SPW simply asked his friend to drive for a while and ended up driving for 3 years. Our present City Clerk, Dave Bartley did ride on the bus this week and has plans to do it again to make sure all is going well with the new driver and try to set up routes that are good for all the riders and understanding that sometimes the bus service can and will do a little extra for the riders if need be.

News From the Formal City Council Meeting

Tonight Mayor Harl chose to reappoint the two Library Board members whose terms had expired by merely extending their terms after consulting rules concerning appointments of board members. This eliminated the need for any of the aldermen to make a motion or to second it. I think he did the correct thing and avoided any unpleasant or vindictive comments toward the members who have simply been doing their job to the best of their abilities by voluntering their time to the library. The Home Town Bank has offered Peru a 4% rate for 5 years on the unpaid remainder of the loan taken out when the City Hall was built, in the amount of 772,627.95. At the time of bulding City Hall, they thought they had the Mirror Building sold and the purchase price would have paid off the loan. When that sale fell apart we were left holding much of the cost of building City Hall and still are. The Mirror bldg is waiting on an appraisal and at this time, we don't yet know whether both buildings will be security for the loan. That would happen if the appraisal of the Mirror bldg is less than the loan.

Fourth of July Celebration and The 175th Celebration of Peru

So far I have heard very little planning of events for the Celebration of 175 years since the founding of Peru. We have been told that the CSO is in charge. Does anyone know that might mean? It seems too me that this should be a community event in which ALL citizens who wish to be involved with the Celebration can assist with events and planning. There were comments made on an earlier posting by residents concerning the use of the city parks, and someone said that they would like to see more Community involvement. Sounds like a perfect opportunity. For sure there will be a ceremony at Veterans Park on July 3 and a Parade to Centennial Park for events and an all day picnic and the Fireworks on the riverfront as usual. More information to follow. Also verified that On June 27 there will be a History Day at Washington School inside and outside (weather permitting) with displays pertaining to the history of Peru.

News Tribune - News - Local - Dancers, musicians mourn Johnnie Kaye

News Tribune - News - Local - Dancers, musicians mourn Johnnie Kaye

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We in the Illinois Valley have lost a friend and someone who added such wonderful music to our lives. Bob and I will miss Johnny and his music, his humor and his friendliness as I know many of you will also.

Annual Rural Community Development Conference Set for March 5-6 in Peoria

Annual Rural Community Development Conference Set for March 5-6 in Peoria

More information can be obtained at Peru City Hall from Heidi Heuser if interested. I understand that the economic director of Spring Valley will be attending and as far as I can tell our elected officials will not be attending. Heidi did express an interest in going but paying her own way.

Is It Important for Peru to Have an Outdoor Swimming Pool

It is generally agreed that the Peru Swimming Pool will probably be closed due to the tremendous loss of water on a daily basis. 60,000 gal. per day. It is true they will do a feasibility study and apply for grants for construction of a new pool. The question a lot of people are askingis "Does Peru need an outdoor swimming pool?" We do have a local YMCA and would it be better to pay the Y a fee for allowing our residents to swim in their pool? All of the surrounding communities of similar size as far as the eye can see have an outdoor swimming pool, would Peru look less than desirable if they chose not to spend the millions it will require? After all we still owe a quarter of a million on the mortgage of the Mirror Building so that the town could have a City Hall. Is it worth it to spend so much money for something that can only be used 3 months of the year? The Rec committee stated that on the busiest days at the pool over 400 people were there. So we are at the point of trying to figure out what our priorities should be and where should we put our limited funds. Does the city need to add to their debt with the construction of a new pool?

General Comments on Parks (3)

General Comments on Parks(4)

Results of Recreation Survey and Comments from Residents

I received several handouts at the Recreation Committee Meeting on Wednesday and I would like to share them with you. The first 2 pages are the survey questionaire answers given in percentages and most requested items. The second set is what what compiled from the comments residents left about what they would like or prefer our parks to be like.

Click to Enlarge pages

Animosity Towards the Peru Public Library Remains

Yesterday was a very full day of information and news in the city of Peru and through the week we hope to cover many of the stories. Last night at the informal meeting, Mayor Harl brought up the subject of the 2 seats on the Peru Library that would be up in February. He stated it has been his policy to retain the same people if they wished to continue in that position which is a volunteer position with no reimbursement. He then said both of those people had indicated they wished to retain their seats on the Library Board. At this point Ald. Ankiewicz spoke up and expressed his extreme opposition to the reappointment of these two individuals and went on to state that in his opinion they were a part of the problem at the Library that resulted in the library pressing for the money they were entitled to by State Law from the City of Peru. Of course I don't believe he used the words entitled to. At this point, Ald. Ferrari reminded him that if the city had been paying the library what they were entitled to through the years this would not have happened. Ald. O'Beirne said he also had 2 people who wanted to serve on that same board. Mayor Harl said that he had had 6 applications for the positions. On Mondays formal meeting there will need to be one alderman making the motion to retain and they will need one second for the 2 to be retained on the Library Board. Suddenly positions for which there had been little enthusiasm to participate in has a line of people that want to be sitting on the Library Board. Perhaps this might be the time for those who don't get either of the 2 seats to become visitors to the meetings and see how the new found money is spent. And it would also be an asset to our community if those in opposition to the increased funding also spent some time seeing how the money will be spent.

Who should hire summer help?

To have an understanding of the proper (and ethical) way to hire summer workers, or any workers for that matter in Peru, the best thing to do is to look back and learn how it has been done in the past. This is going to be a Hot Button issue for a lot of folks this summer and I can feel it warming up already. At the Recreation Board / Recreation Committee meeting last evening the topic was touched upon as well as some discussion of starting wages. Superintendant Bleck indicated that applications will be directed to the office of Human Resources. If you were not aware, it's true, we have an HR person on staff. Up until fairly recently the HR person in Peru was not exactly in great demand. That does not mean there were not hirings and firings or other HR duties to do. What I am saying is those hirings and firings were rarely if ever done correctly and or with any real integrity. This was not the fault of the Human Resources person on staff. During the Baker era employment in Peru can best be described as nothing short of a "free for all" or "who's the guy or gal (Judy) with enough stroke to get this person hired". In fact, the most interesting thing about our HR person, Kim Reese, is how she herself became employed by Peru. Long story short, she was hired by Don Baker at the urging of Joe Prazen during the nasty organizing battle between the city and the Electric Dept. employees back around the late 80's or early 90's. Prazen and Baker needed to insulate themselves from wrongful termination lawsuits by the employees they planned on firing for union organizing activities. Basically, they hired Kim to fire some people and it all worked out for Don and Joe and one very special electric department employee. But that's a story for another day. Anyway, Kim has been on the payroll ever since. That is not to say that HR has had much of a role in the actual hiring process of employees. After all, you only use HR if you have ethical standards and these guys don't qualify. Under Baker, if Don Kowalczyk wanted to hire his son, grandson, or whoever, he might mention it to Don and the next thing you know the kid shows up at the shop. After all, that's how Dima started with the city before indoor plumbing. Life is good for the chosen ones. If Joe Prazen wanted to hire a kid with no qualifications and no skills for a job that really requires both, it didn't matter. He got the nod from Don and it was a done deal because the kid was connected. HR probably had no clue who these people were until she met them at the Christmas party. That's just the way it was. So, we have come a long way if the process of hiring for city jobs has become professionalized. Lets see if HR is allowed to do the job with integrity and with no outside influence from those people who have had influence in the past regarding who is hired and who is not. Although some of the people who used to pull the strings are gone, some remain. This much I know for certain. If the "Don and Don and Judy and Joe Show" was still playing at 4th and Fulton Street in Peru, HR could take a long vacation.

Peru Parks & Recreation

Peru residents have been sent a form to fill out regarding the use of our city parks. We have the opportunity to tell our elected officials what we would like our parks to be like. It is evident that our swimming pool HAS to be either repaired or replaced. The question of where is not even a point of discussion in my opinion, it needs to stay within walking distance of many residents especially children and Washington Park is the ideal location. What other activities should be a part of the park system beside the baseball activities which are so prominent in all the parks?. How important is the landscaping such as planting trees, bushes and flowers? And who should be allowed to help with this? Many communities solicit volunteer help in maintaining beautiful park systems. We have: Sunset Park Rotary Park Washington Park Centennial Park McKinley Park Veterans Park Do you use any of these parks or live near them? How can the city improve or better utilize each one of them? We also have the Maud Powell plaza, how should we use it? What about the area where the Peru Hotel once stood and I believe the city owns, how can we improve that area? As you drive through other cities and towns near and far, do you see things that maybe Peru could somehow incorporate here? I know every time we drive through Metamora and I see their beautiful park right along Rte 89, I admire their lovely gazebo bandstand and they are a town of only about 5.000. In the summer I have seen a park full of people listening to the concerts. Definitely an asset to their community. Where or what is your favorite park and why? Here or elsewhere..

Putting Events Into Perspective

Last week an individual was removed from his job as part time bus driver for the city of Peru and La Salle and the event has become more than it should be like having a elephant in the room. It doesn't matter who he is related to or if they worked in the election of Scott Harl.
The problem is the manner in which it was done.

The way in which Peru and most cities are governed is that decisions are made at the top which is the Mayor and then approved by the City Council. The City Clerk does not have any part in the process. In the case of removal from a job, the council does not need to give the OK, it is the Mayor's prerogative.
It remains to be seen if the following questions are answered at the informal meeting on Wednesday. When were complaints received about the bus driver and who made them and who received them and when? Should the aldermen have been called on the complaints as they had just authorized on January 18, the continuance of the same driver? Should the position have been posted and the job advertised? Should LaSalle have any input into the problem, since they pay for half of the cost? If you have any further questions before the informal meeting, please post them here on the Peru Town Forum.

Peru Bus Route & Policies

This is part of the information listed on the Peru City Web Site:

Peru City Bus

The Peru City available to Peru residents every Tuesday and Friday and to LaSalle residents on Monday and Thursday. To ride the bus there is a 0.25 cent fee per boarding and there are bus stops throughout the City of Peru to better assist the residents. You may be dropped off at various stores, doctor offices, and banks in the City of Peru to accomodate your shopping needs. The bus has seating for 12 passengers and is handicapped accessible with the availability to hold 2 wheelchairs. For pickup contact driver Richard at 815-326-9168

This is an exact quote.

For further information on routes read more information on the city web site for Peru and La Salle routes.

Where were the Feds when we needed them?

Very interesting news out of East Chicago, Ind. Mayor George Pabey and a city engineering department supervisor Jose Angel Comacho, have been indicted in Hammond federal court on criminal charges they conspired to use city property and services to renovate a home that the mayor purchased in a Gary, IN neighborhood. Apparently the mayor had four city employees doing work at the property and he also used funds from the city engineering department to purchase appliances and other items from a local Home Depot for the home. Go to http://nwitimes.com for stories and details. When I heard about this all I could think was where were the feds back in the early 90's when Peru city employees were doing demolition and renovation work in the Westclox building after it was purchased by former mayor Don Baker, former electrical consultant Joe Prazen and others. The apathy and lack of integrity on the part of those who knew what was going on back then is stunning. There is no way elected officials and law enforcement officials in Peru at the time could not have noticed the activities, city vehicles and equipment in and around Westclox. A sad chapter in Peru history.

Where have we come from and where do we go from here?

This is the question many of us are asking. If you were part of the movement to bring new leadership to Peru you are probably paying attention to some degree. Maybe you're reading the council reports in the News Tribune and trying to read between the lines. That can be very difficult to do. The reason being, there is always so much more to the issues that come before the city council. If there is one thing I have learned from years of council-watching in Peru it's this. The great majority of business that makes it's way through council is seldom if ever discussed or explained in any great detail during open meetings. This was especially true during the final years of the Baker dynasty that I observed first hand. It's better now, but there is room for improvement. Baker did not tolerate dissent or encourage discussion. I started "watching" in 2004 in the back row of the Penthouse Suite council chamber of Turne Hall II, aka The Mirror Building. Back then there were very few "outsiders" attending council meetings. It became apparent to me immediately that I was about as welcome there as the proverbial "turd in the punch-bowl". Today, I know I am no more welcome by most of the aldermen than I was then. Attendance at the meetings was embarrassing. Worse than the voter turnout yesterday for the primary election. I thought then and I believe now very few people give a damn. I say very few because I do know some great people who do care. The fact they look at us as "outsiders" speaks volumes. So the question remains. Where do we go from here? Too many possible answers to mention I think. How about pay attention, get informed, inform others, attend meetings, research the issues, learn about the people who are driving the issues, who is on the payroll and for what. The information is out there. Let's look for answers together. We'll find a way. Believe me when I tell you it's actually very nice "outside".

Peru Shuttle Bus Hits a Snag

On January 18 of this year the Peru City Council authorized a 2 year lease agreement with Midwest Transit Equipment to lease a 2009 shuttle bus for a monthly payment of 841.00. This is the same company that has been providing the service for the past year and possibly years. The same driver was also agreed upon. Evidently there was a behind the scenes change and today the bus did not pick up some of the residents who used the service weekly. As they waited for the bus that never came some called the city and they were given a number to call. When the call was made, they were told that the bus did not travel that route and they would have to walk to a main route where they would be picked up. We are talking about people in their 80's and 90's who had been provided transportation until today. It is my understanding that the person whom they were told to call was rude and said something like "thats too bad" about the lack of a bus closer to their homes and that they should call a taxi. A lot of people are asking tonight, "How could something like this happen" without a public notice of change of services. We will be waiting for the answers.

Formal Peru City Council Meeting February 1

Meeting tonight at 7:30 PM. Agenda is listed on the city web site. http://www.peru.il.us/index.php/Council_Meeting/View_category.html