Tonight is one night I would have liked to have video taped so that each and every citizen of Peru could have seen not only their City Council perform but also how the presently employed Pool Manager filled the room with 16 year old teenagers in an attempt to influence the Aldermen by their mere presence to get ready to paint and patch the pool in readiness for an opening soon. It appeared that Linda Kasik was trying to use the kids for her own personal gain. If the pool remains open she can continue to operate the concession stand and manage the pool. One of the teenagers asked why we didn't start working on this 6 months ago and another complained about the high unemployment rate for teens in this area. It is true about unemployment but I don't think any of the teens are old enough to thoroughly understand all the implications of code violations and safety issues currently at play at the Peru pool. I understand that a job at the pool is their prime and most important focus. But I also know that it is the responsibility of the adults in this city and primarily those directing policy as elected and appointed officials to only open the pool if they are 100% in compliance with all safety codes.
It was also apparent to me that many of the Aldermen are very politically motivated with regard to the pool, afraid that the people they represent will hold it against them if they do not open the pool. I think that every parent needs to know that there will be no question as to safety when the pool opens. The pool needs a clean bill of health not only from the Williams Aquatics Co but also the State of Illinois Dept. of Public Health and any other governmental department that my have rules concerning operation of a public pool.
I would like to remind the Council members that you did not hesitate to repair a baseball field in the name of safety, you installed a fence in the name of safety and now you are faced with a situation more serious than any put before you and you seem to say "So what", we need to open the pool.
Thank you Ald. Wren for your No vote, we understand and applaud your sensibilities.
16 comments:
Looks like it was the kids who are acting like adults instead of the adults acting like kids..
Great for the kids , someone has some mature sense.
Maybe they should be running the city instead of the spectators who attend the meetings trying to influence the city council.
Sorry I did not hear any adults trying to influence the council last night. Only one person asked a legitimate question about insurance liability. And the only other adult mentioned he wanted to start painting the pool tomorrow regardless of the findings of the apparent problems.
ANON 8:12 I resent your implication that if someone attends a meeting they are trying to influence the city council. First of all, if you attended any meetings, other than the ones which interest you, you would know that this council doesn't listen to anyone other than themselves. Maybe some citizens are interested in how their government works and seek answers as to why the city of Peru is in such disrepair (i.e. streets, sewers, pool, etc.) and is carrying such a huge debt.
The council does not listen to any of their, constituents. If you give your opinion, then you are a trouble maker. They never listen to reason from the audience. They aren't smart enough. Only one has some sense.
Excellent post Lois. The pool issue will drag on for a while yet. Using the kids as props was not at all unexpected. It was not really necessary because the minds of the "gang of seven" was made up well in advance of last nights meeting. As usual O'Beirne was ranting his disdain for "some residents of Peru who are calling the IL. Dept. of Public Health" with concerns about the safety of the pool. Think about that for a minute. O'Beirne is outraged that citizens would notify a state agency with safety and code violations at a "publicly owned facility". How dare someone think they have any right to do such an awful and disgusting thing. We should all blindly trust our aldermen to determine for us what is safe and what is not. What is right and what is wrong. And apparently who we can call and who we can't. This is an elcted official who is completely out of touch with the basic ideals of good government and the rights of people to disagree with and question government decisions. Some people choose to ignore the fact that our government was founded in large part on "DISSENT". There should never be an elected official who refuses to recognize the right of people to speak out and disagree. Although there are many reasons why Jack O'Beirne is derelict in his duties as an alderman, his ignorance of basic citizens rights is inexcusable.
To Steve 10:01
If you live in O'Beirne's ward are you speaking on behalf of those citizens of his ward ? If not , maybe you should let the people of Jack's ward, who have duly elected him for many years speak. It seems to me that Jack's ward citizens are WELL STATISFIED with his performance on there behalf and the city.
Keep it up Jack !!!!!
Actually Lois, I did not see any 16 year olds there. Those 'kids' were not there for Linda Kasik's personal gain either. They were there because they are NOT 16 and they are young adults who are the future of our city. Being that they are all over 16 they attend college, this means that they have bills, books, rent and tuition to pay. These adults have counted on the opening of the pool as their source of income while home from college for the summer, THAT is why they were there. So, those of you who are so in favor of putting approx. 25 college students out of employment, feel free to point them in the right direction to finding alternate jobs for the summer this late into May. Props to the young adults for taking such a great and mature step in standing up for what they believe and showing that they are more than just another face in the city.
10:13AM,
I don't live in the second ward but in the first but have close and frequent contact with many in the second and I tell you in all honesty that they are not happy with O'Beirnes representation of them.
Jack ran for city treasurer, not alderman.
Why did the aldermen vote for the pool inspection if they are not willing to listen to what they have to say? That was money wasted.
Are we saying that despite the mayors saying no, despite the city attorney's warning, and despite the professionals report of code violations and safety issues they are still going to open the pool?
10:21AM
You are overlooking my concern about the pool not opening. When the people that set and monitor safety standards for the people of Illinois are satisfied and we are in compliance, I will be all for the pool to open.
I applaud the young people at the meeting whether they are 16 or older for taking the time to come to a governmental meeting, it is a great start in being a concerned citizen and wherever they may live in the future, lets hope they always take that attitude to become involved with their town where they live.
You have to realize this is NOT about depriving young people of job to help pay for their education. Again I am all in favor of that, our 4 children all went to college and all helped pay their own way because we could not afford it without their help.
How would you feel if something disastrous did happen and that you had encouraged these wonderful young people to work in an unsafe environment.
Look past the money, the young people themselves are whats important.
Has anybody given any thought to the original reason we hired Williams Aquatics - the LEAK and the loss of 50,000 gallons per day? The code violations that are being addressed now are not a fix for the loss of water. Are we still going to open the pool and continue to loose that much water? When is that issue going to be SOLVED?
Lois - move my 10:41 post to your new heading.
A new comer to the blog with a question, where is the 50,000 gallons of water going? And does the pool manager replacing the 50,000 gallons everyday?
That was the reason the city hired Williams Aquatics to find out why the pool was leaking. It looks like water was accumulating beneath the floor of the pool and some was migrating to the edge of the ravine to the north and then going down into the "ditch" and then to the river. Yes it was constantly necessary to keep adding water to the pool to keep it at the proper level for swimmers.
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