This blog is maintained for the sole purpose of allowing the people of Peru and those interested in the cities of the Illinois Valley to express their views.
“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
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Rain Rain and More Rain and a Little Wind!
I heard the tree chopper out and around this morning and wondered how much damage happened last night. Seems that some areas of town might have wind damage and wondered if the sewers had any problems handling the deluge of rain water. How are you?
29 comments:
Anonymous
said...
There was a lot of damage in Spring Valley. I heard sirens but they sounded like they might be coming from the Valley because they were not loud. Anyone else hear them and were they loud?
Subject : Peru Veterans Memorial. It is great that the aldermen and Mayor Baker started the fund to put up a memorial to our local Vets.
It is also great that Mayor Harl was able to get donated the crane for erection of the monuments. Did you see the picture in the paper, with the Mayor strapping the monument & His secretary in the background? Why was she there ???? Maybe she was out of work and needed some fresh air, who knows !
The BAD NEWS IS THE WORKMANSHIP OF THE MONUMENT. Has anyone visited the soon to be unvailed site at veterans park. Mayor Harl and the SPW have managed to screw up the construction of the site. There are 7 flagpoles erected behind the monument. The ONE FLAGPOLE IN THE CENTER TO HOLD THE AMERICAN FLAG IS NOT STRAIGHT AND IS LEANING ABOUT 10 DEGREES TO THE SOUTH.
I hope this is not the best foot forward for the city of peru to unvail ? Lois or Steve , Can we call the aldermen or Mayor Baker to get this fixed before dedication ?
It was my understanding that the company that made the monument would be taking care of the installation. Perhaps a call to Ald. Ankiewicz who has been very involved with this project might be your best bet.
Again you missed the point . The flag pole is leaning just like the tower of Pisa . Anyone with a minimum of one eye can see the leaning as far away as from the plank road.
7:38AM The point I was making is that I have not seen any of the structure or surrounding area so I could not comment on whatever is wrong. Therefore I suggested you contact Ald. Ankiewicz as he has been very much involved with the project and as a Veteran he is very much interested in how it looks so he would definitely appreciate your interest and take your comments more seriously than I because I have not been to the Park. Take your comments to the proper person and it will be properly corrected. I do thank you for bringing it to the attention of other readers of this blog.
Someone is always complaining about something they dont know anything about on this blog. The center flag pole is not new. It has been there for at least 10 years, that is when my daughters started playing softball up at Veterans. The other flag poles are new, along with the monument. Perhaps we should blame mother nature for blowing it 10 degrees off plumb, or find out who installed the pole originally, and see if they will stand behind the work they did over a decade ago? please........ bob
10:48 - Are you suggesting that Mayor Harl and Gary Bleck physically installed the flagpoles and monuments? If they did they should straighten it out. But I suspect you are well aware they did not perform the actual work. As for your question about calling Baker and the aldermen.....I think you should, but be advised that crew never had much success when it came to straightening anything out. In fact, my opinion is that Don and at least a couple of those guys were actually quite crooked. I suggest you get some counseling for anger management and stick to commenting on issues that have some actual relevance. Good Luck!
If Mayor Baker and the aldermen were still running the show today for the city of Peru, We all would be better off. Especially this blog , along with the critics, lower taxes, pool open for the summer, more summer help working getting good money, and not stupid decisions being made just to look good. I just can't wait for the next election. We need a mayor for the city not "to have someone trying to get even with anyone whom disagrees with them."
ANON 10:43 June 27th - Are you for real? 1st of all you should be aware that your aldermen (the same aldermen) ARE still running the show. Why is it so important for the select few summer workers to get paid "good money"? What about all the other students who are not friends or family of former city workers and therefore had to find their own summer job? You do know too that the economy is down but our aldermen still keep spending. Mayor Baker has fulfilled his duty as mayor now let's allow Mayor Harl and the city of Peru to move forward. Let it rest once and for all. The past is over. The future is here.
To 10:43 a.m. June 27 - So for you, "Ignorance is Bliss"? If Don and Judy were still there, your Library would still be severely under-funded and struggling to provide quality services and the city would be defending itself from a lawsuit by the Library which it could not possibly win and would also end up paying the Library attorneys fees as well. Your Water and Sewer rates would have gone up, as they did while Baker was still in office, without you even having a clue why. Your Municipal Pool would continue to crumble beneath it's own weight and leak 100,000 gallons per day after another "half-assed" patch job with the risk of millions of dollars of "uninsured liability" to the people of Peru because of a willful and wanton neglect of city officils to properly correct the deficiencies. We would have the standard over-staffed and under-worked summer help program of patronage under the control of Don Kowalczyk with no plan or supervision of the kids and you would be paying more of them even more money for much less work. Finally, you and most of Peru would have absolutely no idea whatsoever that your city is deeply and dangerously in debt and struggling to pay its bills. You would have an even more bloated payroll which would not have been down-sized at all you would still have the dead weight of Joe Prazen at ($130,000/year) and Ken Drennan as Public Works Superintendant, who the aldermen would have rewarded with a starting salary where Don Kowalczyk was at retirement. That's another ($94,000/year). And if you think employee morale is bad now. But because you and the majority of the citizens of Peru would never have been allowed to know any of the reality of this, we would all be better off? Ignorance is not Bliss. It's just Ignorance.
Thanks to Steve 11:12AM With citizens making these kind of statements is why the future is very gloomy. You are right Ignorance is bliss, and if mayor does not know which road to take to make progress for the city , then I guess any road may take us to the abyss.. Happy future..
Per the 175th celebration, Lois stated that it is hardly recognized in the city, Why am I not suprised. The mayor again has no plan, no excitement for this city, so therefore a very dull celebration... That's the future , enjoy..
I would be very careful Steve who you attack on your blog. Public officials are protected but employees and other residents such as previous public officials aka. Joe Witzcak are not. When you make such comments you are crossing the lines of libel.
With respect Steve you are not a City employee, you have never worked for the City/contracted by the City, and all information you obtain is from a third/fourth/fifth party. There is no way you can confirm Ken Drennan was going to be appointed as Superintendant and unless you were on a trip to Canada with Chamlin (which you already admitted you were not) you can not claim what the trips were in regard to other than fishing.
Steve you were the Mayors campaign manager and it appears to be a conflict of interest for you to be spewing statements with the intention of misleading the reader into believing they indeed are facts. You and Lois are misleading the residents of Peru.
Kristy - Everything I write are my thoughts and opinions based on research and information obtained from a number of sources. Of course some of it comes second-hand via city employees, Peru residents and others. That's the nature of seeking information. You are well aware that blogging is freedom to express your thoughts and opinions. I do not take the possibility of libel lightly. Any libel attorney will tell you straight up. Let the truth be your guide. So, if I believe something to be true I will have no trouble writing about it. I'm going to continue to report what I believe to be accurate and I encourage you to do the same. Let's not make any distinctions about where either of us gets their information. You have your sources and I have mine. It's up to us to decide who is credible and who is not. If you can tell me who you think was going to be the Superintendant of Public Works if Baker had been re-elected I would like to hear about it. I still believe it would have been Drennan and I also believe Jack O'Beirne and some other aldermen would have attempted to give him the same salary as Don Kowalczyk. I don't have to confirm it. It's my opinion. As far as gifts accepted by current or former elected officials...What did I report that you know to be false? Thanks for the legal advice Kristy, but I will continue to "Spew" what I believe to be true. Hey, that would make a good T-shirt.
Steve, I am glad that the readers of your forum now understand that what you "spew" is what you BELIEVE to have occurred and is YOUR OPINION. It would be another tragedy if you or the Mayor (the person you were campaign manager for) were indeed trying to mislead the residents of this great City in to believing something different. BTW anything new on the pool?
I guess based on your last two entries , I now have a better understanding of why Mr. Drennen is being picked on by the current adminstration. It really does not matter about the past but to hold such a grudge for the future against a person that has saved this city tons of money and treat him like this is nothing but an outrage. I guess the current admin believe it is better to tear down the work force so as too apppoint there own folks who would not know what to do but to show favoritism.
The Mayor just got a new car, does that mean he received KICK BACKS already,18 months on the job? I wonder if he purchased the car from a Peru Dealer ?
What is this obsession that seems to evolve around Mr. Drennan? Who is he and what has he done that makes him such a hot topic of conversation in Peru? I too would be very interested in learning how and when he saved the city tons of money. I heard quite the opposite. I heard that he let our money leak out of the pool by the gallons full. If there is something or someone opposed to him or questioning his work ethics why doesn't he speak for himself? Why does he have to have people like Kristy speak for him?
The Mayors new car? Delivered to the City Building? Kick-Backs to the Mayor? You haters really should thank Lois for allowing you to post your laughable fantasies. You are definately pushing the boundaries and dragging this blog down a bit. You should not assume you will be allowed to continue to make comments with no substance, value or credibility to the conversation we are trying to encourage here.
I have removed several posts on this topic simply because it was going nowhere. I will be monitoring incoming posts more closely to avoid anymore of the vicious name calling
Lois 7:20PM This comment disturbs me because there was no ,as you say , vicious name calling but only the truth, Not like Steve has been speaking the bashing and untruths . So I guess you won't publish this note as well because it addresses the other truthful side.
I was asked by the poster to remove one of the comments written about them with some misgivings but then I decided that I would also remove comments made BY them so it was more of a give and take situation.
I was wondering if any of you have an opinion on the recent article in the News Tribune about the allegations made by the former Administrator of the LaSalle County Nursing Home Dr Amjad ( Hussein ?) who was forced to resign ? Who is looking out for the elderly ?
29 comments:
There was a lot of damage in Spring Valley. I heard sirens but they sounded like they might be coming from the Valley because they were not loud. Anyone else hear them and were they loud?
The sirens sounded in Peru approx. one minute BEFORE the storm hit. Great system.. No code red alert.
Subject : Peru Veterans Memorial.
It is great that the aldermen and Mayor Baker started the fund to put up a memorial to our local Vets.
It is also great that Mayor Harl was able to get donated the crane for erection of the monuments. Did you see the picture in the paper, with the Mayor strapping the monument & His secretary in the background? Why was she there ???? Maybe she was out of work and needed some fresh air, who knows !
The BAD NEWS IS THE WORKMANSHIP OF THE MONUMENT.
Has anyone visited the soon to be unvailed site at veterans park. Mayor Harl and the SPW have managed to screw up the construction of the site.
There are 7 flagpoles erected behind the monument. The ONE FLAGPOLE IN THE CENTER TO HOLD THE AMERICAN FLAG IS NOT STRAIGHT AND IS LEANING ABOUT 10 DEGREES TO THE SOUTH.
I hope this is not the best foot forward for the city of peru to unvail ?
Lois or Steve , Can we call the aldermen or Mayor Baker to get this fixed before dedication ?
It was my understanding that the company that made the monument would be taking care of the installation. Perhaps a call to Ald. Ankiewicz who has been very involved with this project might be your best bet.
To Lois 4:35PM
Again you missed the point . The flag pole is leaning just like the tower of Pisa . Anyone with a minimum of one eye can see the leaning as far away as from the plank road.
It is not the monument. It is the flag pole.
Come on ANON 10:48 WHAT COULD MAYOR BAKER POSSIBLY DO TO FIX THE PROBLEM AND YOUR ALDERMEN ARE ALREADY INVOLVED. GET SERIOUS AND GET REAL!
7:38AM
The point I was making is that I have not seen any of the structure or surrounding area so I could not comment on whatever is wrong. Therefore I suggested you contact Ald. Ankiewicz as he has been very much involved with the project and as a Veteran he is very much interested in how it looks so he would definitely appreciate your interest and take your comments more seriously than I because I have not been to the Park. Take your comments to the proper person and it will be properly corrected.
I do thank you for bringing it to the attention of other readers of this blog.
Someone is always complaining about something they dont know anything about on this blog.
The center flag pole is not new. It has been there for at least 10 years, that is when my daughters started playing softball up at Veterans.
The other flag poles are new, along with the monument.
Perhaps we should blame mother nature for blowing it 10 degrees off plumb, or find out who installed the pole originally, and see if they will stand behind the work they did over a decade ago?
please........
bob
10:48 - Are you suggesting that Mayor Harl and Gary Bleck physically installed the flagpoles and monuments? If they did they should straighten it out. But I suspect you are well aware they did not perform the actual work.
As for your question about calling Baker and the aldermen.....I think you should, but be advised that crew never had much success when it came to straightening anything out. In fact, my opinion is that Don and at least a couple of those guys were actually quite crooked.
I suggest you get some counseling for anger management and stick to commenting on issues that have some actual relevance. Good Luck!
To 10:43am
If Mayor Baker and the aldermen were still running the show today for the city of Peru, We all would be better off. Especially this blog , along with the critics, lower taxes, pool open for the summer, more summer help working getting good money, and not stupid decisions being made just to look good. I just can't wait for the next election. We need a mayor for the city not "to have someone trying to get even with anyone whom disagrees with them."
ANON 10:43 June 27th - Are you for real? 1st of all you should be aware that your aldermen (the same aldermen) ARE still running the show. Why is it so important for the select few summer workers to get paid "good money"? What about all the other students who are not friends or family of former city workers and therefore had to find their own summer job? You do know too that the economy is down but our aldermen still keep spending. Mayor Baker has fulfilled his duty as mayor now let's allow Mayor Harl and the city of Peru to move forward. Let it rest once and for all. The past is over. The future is here.
To 10:43 a.m. June 27 -
So for you, "Ignorance is Bliss"? If Don and Judy were still there, your Library would still be severely under-funded and struggling to provide quality services and the city would be defending itself from a lawsuit by the Library which it could not possibly win and would also end up paying the Library attorneys fees as well. Your Water and Sewer rates would have gone up, as they did while Baker was still in office, without you even having a clue why. Your Municipal Pool would continue to crumble beneath it's own weight and leak 100,000 gallons per day after another "half-assed" patch job with the risk of millions of dollars of "uninsured liability" to the people of Peru because of a willful and wanton neglect of city officils to properly correct the deficiencies. We would have the standard over-staffed and under-worked summer help program of patronage under the control of Don Kowalczyk with no plan or supervision of the kids and you would be paying more of them even more money for much less work. Finally, you and most of Peru would have absolutely no idea whatsoever that your city is deeply and dangerously in debt and struggling to pay its bills. You would have an even more bloated payroll which would not have been down-sized at all you would still have the dead weight of Joe Prazen at ($130,000/year) and Ken Drennan as Public Works Superintendant, who the aldermen would have rewarded with a starting salary where Don Kowalczyk was at retirement. That's another ($94,000/year). And if you think employee morale is bad now.
But because you and the majority of the citizens of Peru would never have been allowed to know any of the reality of this, we would all be better off?
Ignorance is not Bliss. It's just Ignorance.
Thanks to Steve 11:12AM
With citizens making these kind of statements is why the future is very gloomy. You are right Ignorance is bliss, and if mayor does not know which road to take to make progress for the city , then I guess any road may take us to the abyss.. Happy future..
Per the 175th celebration, Lois stated that it is hardly recognized in the city, Why am I not suprised. The mayor again has no plan, no excitement for this city, so therefore a very dull celebration... That's the future , enjoy..
Isn't the CSO (Ankiewicz, Perra, Mikyska) in charge of the celebration? Anon 2:44 maybe you should address your concerns to them.
I would be very careful Steve who you attack on your blog. Public officials are protected but employees and other residents such as previous public officials aka. Joe Witzcak are not. When you make such comments you are crossing the lines of libel.
With respect Steve you are not a City employee, you have never worked for the City/contracted by the City, and all information you obtain is from a third/fourth/fifth party. There is no way you can confirm Ken Drennan was going to be appointed as Superintendant and unless you were on a trip to Canada with Chamlin (which you already admitted you were not) you can not claim what the trips were in regard to other than fishing.
Steve you were the Mayors campaign manager and it appears to be a conflict of interest for you to be spewing statements with the intention of misleading the reader into believing they indeed are facts. You and Lois are misleading the residents of Peru.
Kristy - Everything I write are my thoughts and opinions based on research and information obtained from a number of sources. Of course some of it comes second-hand via city employees, Peru residents and others. That's the nature of seeking information. You are well aware that blogging is freedom to express your thoughts and opinions. I do not take the possibility of libel lightly. Any libel attorney will tell you straight up. Let the truth be your guide. So, if I believe something to be true I will have no trouble writing about it. I'm going to continue to report what I believe to be accurate and I encourage you to do the same. Let's not make any distinctions about where either of us gets their information. You have your sources and I have mine. It's up to us to decide who is credible and who is not. If you can tell me who you think was going to be the Superintendant of Public Works if Baker had been re-elected I would like to hear about it. I still believe it would have been Drennan and I also believe Jack O'Beirne and some other aldermen would have attempted to give him the same salary as Don Kowalczyk. I don't have to confirm it. It's my opinion. As far as gifts accepted by current or former elected officials...What did I report that you know to be false?
Thanks for the legal advice Kristy, but I will continue to "Spew" what I believe to be true. Hey, that would make a good T-shirt.
Steve, I am glad that the readers of your forum now understand that what you "spew" is what you BELIEVE to have occurred and is YOUR OPINION. It would be another tragedy if you or the Mayor (the person you were campaign manager for) were indeed trying to mislead the residents of this great City in to believing something different. BTW anything new on the pool?
Wow to Steve / Kristy 9:31 & 9:55
I guess based on your last two entries , I now have a better understanding of why Mr. Drennen is being picked on by the current adminstration. It really does not matter about the past but to hold such a grudge for the future against a person that has saved this city tons of money and treat him like this is nothing but an outrage.
I guess the current admin believe it is better to tear down the work force so as too apppoint there own folks who would not know what to do but to show favoritism.
The Mayor just got a new car, does that mean he received KICK BACKS already,18 months on the job?
I wonder if he purchased the car from a Peru Dealer ?
You do know that old adage.
There are 2 sides to every story and it really does apply here. Make your judgments after hearing both.
I would like to hear your side about how Drennan has saved the city tons of money. I don't believe I have ever heard that story.
What is this obsession that seems to evolve around Mr. Drennan? Who is he and what has he done that makes him such a hot topic of conversation in Peru? I too would be very interested in learning how and when he saved the city tons of money. I heard quite the opposite. I heard that he let our money leak out of the pool by the gallons full. If there is something or someone opposed to him or questioning his work ethics why doesn't he speak for himself? Why does he have to have people like Kristy speak for him?
He has another job beside being Mayor and is entitled to spend his money however he chooses and does not need to ask for permission to do so.
Kristy - why are you so concerned about HIS EMPLOYEES? They're adults - let them fight their own battles.
The Mayors new car? Delivered to the City Building? Kick-Backs to the Mayor?
You haters really should thank Lois for allowing you to post your laughable fantasies. You are definately pushing the boundaries and dragging this blog down a bit. You should not assume you will be allowed to continue to make comments with no substance, value or credibility to the conversation we are trying to encourage here.
I have removed several posts on this topic simply because it was going nowhere. I will be monitoring incoming posts more closely to avoid anymore of the vicious name calling
Lois 7:20PM
This comment disturbs me because there was no ,as you say , vicious name calling but only the truth, Not like Steve has been speaking the bashing and untruths .
So I guess you won't publish this note as well because it addresses the other truthful side.
8:45PM
I was asked by the poster to remove one of the comments written about them with some misgivings but then I decided that I would also remove comments made BY them so it was more of a give and take situation.
Correction on the previous comment I was asked that it be removed by the person who was commented upon, not the poster themselves.
I was wondering if any of you have an opinion on the recent article in the News Tribune about the allegations made by the former Administrator of the LaSalle County Nursing Home
Dr Amjad ( Hussein ?) who was forced to resign ?
Who is looking out for the elderly ?
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