I read each and every comment before it is posted and almost always have the courtesy of posting even though I may not agree. It is important that everyone have an opportunity to express their thoughts within reason.
If you ask your aldermen and even Mayor if they read this blog, you are likely to get the answers such as I don't have time or someone reads it for me as it upsets me. I would like them to know that they are all missing a great opportunity to listen to their constituents and their well thought out opinions that they took the time to post here.
Some don't have computers for various reasons. Computers used wisely open the world for you and information is boundless and I can't understand any elected official not having access to one in this day and age.
What I am basically saying is that your elected officials here in town don't know what you think and maybe don't even care, so how can you express your views to them. Many phone calls will get you an answering machine and you certainly don't want to knock on their door to tell them what you think. Not sure if they respond to emails or not.
I am bringing this up because the pool at present is an important and much talked about item in the grocery store,at the bank or even the Malls, among friends and at meetings of various kinds. And yet your aldermen and maybe even your Mayor may not know what their constituents think or want them to do. Remember they are your representatives and should not vote on what they want but on what YOU want done.
You may not use the pool but your money will pay for it no matter what their decision this next week is.
Maybe we need to start including the ward we live in to add credibility to our posts. Any other ideas?.
And if outside maybe that word would indicate you live elsewhere.
15 comments:
An excellent post Lois but, what can we do to get our aldermen's attention? They refuse to listen to the experts (Williams Aquatics), their insurance rep (Mr. Martuzzo), and their legal representative (Mr. Schweickert), and they resent any questions we pose to them. I don't know how you feel on this issue but I do know that some of us are very uncomfortable speaking up or asking a question during a meeting. In my opinion they show no respect to our Mayor and no common courtesy to the citizens they are supposed to represent. What I'm really having a hard time understanding is how anyone would even consider putting their child (or any child) in possible danger just to satisfy someone's ego.
Forgot to start this by saying I live in Ward I, so if Ferrari or Mertel are reading this, stop playing games and vote to close the Peru swimming pool for the safety of the children in this community. We are counting on you to do the right thing.
I’ve never had trouble calling Alderman Wren. He will answer the phone and carry on a good conversation. Alderman Potthoff will also answer the phone and he responds to every e-mail I send him in great detail. I’ve only had to contact an Alderman outside my Ward once and that was last year. It was Alderman Mykiska (sp?) and he did answer the telephone and we had a good conversation.
I do believe they all are good people and truly care about the city. But the fact is we live in a republic with a representative democracy, as defined by the constitution, as the basis for the government. Therefore, after they are elected, our representatives are under no obligation to hold the opinion of the people they represent. In theory, this prevents emotional decisions from being made. After all, the representative is supposed to have access to more information and the time to research this information. They also have their own agendas and opinions as to what is needed to be done. The check and balance is that the citizens being represented get to choose their representative based on past or expected future performance. Notice that I use the word theory. The theory falls apart when the people don’t care, are emotionally attached to a specific issue, or think that the government is required to give them something beyond the protection of life, liberty, and safety.
That being said, I believe that the pool is being played out as a grand political game. Get the people up in arms about a relatively non-important issue in order to avoid public scrutiny of more important issues. More important issues like crime and decaying infrastructure. I know progress is being made with the sewers and flooding, but that was only after they became an emotional issue. In the past couple of years the people of Peru seem to be fixated on recreational activities supported by the city. I’m not talking about people in the blogs. I’m talking about the disconnected majority. Try to talk to somebody at your local bar about weather or not the city should be looking at Smart Grid Initiatives and you will see what I mean.
A long winded way of saying you get what you vote for.
On the specific issue of the swimming pool: I believe that the current facility should be demolished. The construction of a new facility should not even be debated. For the immediate future, this is financially impossible without an increase in taxes. There should be no referendum unless the question is: should we start a fund to save for a new pool? When we eventually do construct a new pool, it should have a retractable cover to allow operation 12 months a year and be designed in such a way as to allow a use for physical fitness and recreational swimming.
I constantly read here about the city council and mayor working relationship. As usually stated here "they don't get along" !
As a voter in the city, My belief is that respect is EARNED not given. The aldermen have been around for a lot of years but the mayor is new. The mayor needs to act to earn the respect , making the first step, then the aldermen will come to the party.
(Human nature, Unfortunately his input does not have the city in mind but as so many times indicate, He wants to be greater then thou. That won't fly. It appears that the Mayor is trying to fulfill his campaign promises to supporters but is getting resistance)
Instead the Mayor is acting like; "He has the title and all should bow down before him". Fat chance! Friction will continue , the city will go down further.
7:26PM Brian
I agree that Ald. Wren is in a class all by himself. If you remember some months ago Ald. Wren found a company to purchase the gen sets at a good price and the rest of the council refused to go along with it and caused an additional expense to the city retesting them when most people in the know knew we were getting a good price and then we got less after spending more.
Again Ald. Wren is the stand alone guy making the motion to rescind the vote to open the pool after a patch and paint and again the rest sat tongue tied. He gets it and I commend him for being on the right side of another issue.
I do agree that almost all of the council members are polite and considerate on a one to one basis but something happens when they get together on meeting night. We have 8 to 0 and 7 to 1 votes and rarely 6 to 2 in this past year but it never gets any closer than that. I would like to think everyone thinks for himself and is not unduly influenced by fellow members but I do have doubts.
I also know that when serving together for extended periods of time
everyone gets to know each other well and for some on a personal basis. The rest I leave up to you.
As a mother I would never even think of sending my children to a pool or any other vacility that could possibly pose danger to them. If you will recall our city engineering consultant indicated that the pool had 3 bases. Well, apparently 2 of those bases have crumbled and in many places the 3rd base is 2 inches or less (and in some places has water beneath it). Parents, consider the future of your children and ask your aldermen to reconsider their position on this pool and close it!
To all of the Contributors thru 11:02am May27th
I am very impressed with all of your letters and feel like this Peru Forum could really have an impact in the City.
I am in Ward 1 and hope all of you continue contributing. Thanks!
I live in Ward 1. I hope my aldermen have the intelligence to vote to close this pool. It just isn't worth takeing a chance on anyones life.
Is Ward 1 the only ward that has citizens who care about our children or have an opinion on the deteriorating condition of our pool?
Ward ! is the largest ward and maybe because of all the northward growth it may have the greatest number of families with young children. I don't know that for sure but it is an interesting pattern.
Lois I am hoping you can answer this question for me. Did we fill the pool once already this year? Where did all that water go, was it pumped out or did it just drain out. Also do you have any idea how many gallons of water is needed to fill the pool?
I went back through previous postings and on one I found the figure of 391,000 gallons of water to fill the swimming pool.
It has been filled several times and I don't have the exact figures of water loss. Early on the SPW filled the pool over a long weekend and it went down something like 18 or 19 inches. I believe that was repeated with similar results. Hope that answers your questions.
But, do we know where all the water went and did the pool completely drain by itself?
After they saw that the pool could not retain water, they felt there was no point in keeping a day to day measuring of water loss.
Williams Aquatics has found water loss is occurring through the pool structure, visual inspection reveals that the pool is severely cracked and spalling and it is unknown whether water loss is occurring through leaks in the existing underground pipes. The core samples confirm that the pool structure is severely compromised and in a state of structural failure.
So briefly when they stopped measuring the drain was opened and the pool finished emptying. Water was being pumped from under the pool for the last several weeks through a hose put down in the drain in the deep part of the pool and then flowing out into Washington Park (see pictures posted in earlier postings). Water has also been known to drain to the ravine to the north and chlorine has been found in water as far south as 7th st. If water was found to be accumulating beneath the pool, that means the drainage pipes are evidently not in good condition.
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