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
Peru's elected officials were regularly in violation of the Open Meetings Act during the Baker era. The great majority of citizens in Peru had no interest anyway, so why should the elected officials be concerned. When I began attending council meetings in 2004 I had no idea what the requirements were for a city to comply with the act. I soon realized that Mayor Baker and the aldermen were even less informed than I was on the subject. And it was very apparent that they were not the least bit concerned about informing the public or providing access to any city business. At that time public attendance at council meetings was sparse at best. You knew the schedule of "regular" and "informal" meetings but committee meetings were seldom announced because there were very few committee meetings ever held. There was never a need to exchange opinions on an issue because they all understood there was only one opinion that ever mattered. The old man's. There were essentially only two committees that ever really met. Finance and Water and Sewer. And neither of those were made accessible to the public. Finance would meet in Judy's little office at the old clerks building and Water and Sewer would meet at TEST's office where a catered lunch was often waiting for Jack O'Beirne and other aldermen after the meeting. Courtesy of TEST, Inc. of course. Also, Recreation did meet at the airport fairly regularly. The great majority of committee meetings or agendas were never properly posted or announced. Oddly enough, O'Beirne was the only alderman who would announce an occasional committee meeting. It clearly made Jack feel pretty important to "take charge" and announce an upcoming meeting. That's why I found it so interesting in December of 2008 when I was talking with Judy about a FOIA request when she informed me that there was as she jokingly put it, "a secret meeting" going on in Don's office this morning. So, I inquired and she told me how the TEST contract was up for renewal soon and they were scrambling to get the deal done. Judy had just "ratted" them out to me and the next morning I called her and requested the agenda and the minutes of that "impromptu" meeting. 30 minutes later she called back to tell me there was no agenda and no minutes, but Chris Perra was going to write some minutes from the meeting a day late and get them to Judy asap. That's when I realized the extent of this good old boy network and the total disregard they all had for the publics "Right to Know". So what do you suppose turned up on the agenda at the next full council meeting. An ordinance to approve the five year extension of the Water and Wastewater contract with TEST,Inc. How bout that! That's when I understood the extent of the unethical character of these guys. Longer story short. The Illinois Attorney General's investigation determined that the committee acted improperly and failed to conduct an open and honest meeting. To this day Jack O'Beirne still denies having violated the law even though I presented him with a copy of the Attorney General's report and a letter from Doug Schweickert admitting the illegal meeting took place. Anyway, TEST got there $2.5 Million contract and that's all that really matters. Right Jack?
Ho Hum, you put me to sleep with your BS and looking AGAIN BACKWARDS. Get off of it, and act like a grown up in the community? What do you have to offer to the city ? anything ?
Like the past you probably won't print this rebuttal to your foolish comments. Lets see !
7:51PM Your comment leads me to believe that you were a part of the past and would like it better if no one ever knew what actually went on. As for me I was not that involved but certainly expected nothing less than what Steve has written. Steve is offering the readers of this blog exactly what they need to know in order to try and understand why we are where we are and how badly and secretly things took place in Peru. Many people were not aware and you might find they do want to know all about the past. You know the saying, You have to know the past to understand the here and now and if those are not the exact words, they are pretty darn close. You call that a rebuttal, sounds more like a coverup to me.
Steve has nothing to offer this city for the future. I wonder if He, when driving his auto that he keeps looking in the rearview mirror to go forward ? That looks like his life. If anyone in this blog thinks that looking backward is a benefit then I guess we are doomed to move ahead . I guess lets just wait for tne next election and elect someone with a futuristic vision, Check out La Salle or Oglesby or even Spring Valley . Heaven knows we do not have that today.
7:51 p.m. - Thank you for asking. Lois and I both offer people like you the opportunity to make the type of "profound" comments that you just made. And we print them. Your welcome! With this particulat post I offer a detailed account of how city business was routinely conducted in the past. Behind closed doors, without checks or balances, without public knowledge and most importantly, without a competitive bidding process. This was not an isolated instance. It was business as usual. This was also how the waste hauling contract was handled for many, many years. Which is another interesting story in itself. If you can't see the value of exposing how your elected officials routinely cut back room deals involving your tax dollars then you are as morally corrupt as they were. And honestly, kind of dumb for defending them. Your comment is not a rebuttal. It's nothing more than a "lame" attempt to minimize the seriousness of the subject matter. Which you failed miserably at again. "You" bring nothing to the discussion. "You" have nothing to offer.
7:33 a.m. - No one area city is trying any harder than the others. We are all struggling with similar problems and internal political wrangling. It's not a contest. Nobody is more determined and motivated to influence and improve the future of Peru than I am. If my efforts are successful, someday you may have to agree. But at least I am trying to correct what I believe is wrong with Peru. It's all about the quality and integrity of our elected officials. What are you doing?
Steve with your sarcasism about what we bring to the discussion , you forget what I and many others bring is OUR VOTE. We will exercise that right soon in the next election. We don't need your rerun of history, what we need is your idea for the future. We were quite happy with the progress of the city of Peru and where we have traveled under Mr Baker.
Unfortunately for the past 18 months all you have offered, is to be critical of Mr Baker and the past administration BUT have brought nothing but grief to the city in the way of higher taxes, water sewer rates , closed swimming pool, purchase of trucks and equipment, hiring of unneeded people, and a bunch of discussions worthless to the future of Peru.
Sleep Well, the future is NOT yours but ours, the citizens of peru.
I think you're finally catching on. Yes, it's all about the VOTE. But get yourself properly informed on the issues you cite before you comment. Your timeline on when any of those tax increases occurred is all wrong. Those tax increases were "inherited", just like the huge debt service. Just because you were never allowed to know about that sort of thing in the past does not mean it did not exist. The only thing you got right was the pool closing and that was the "right" decision for Peru. You want to twist the facts to suit your argument while giving the Baker era a free pass on the financial condition his administration left behind and you want to pin tax increases and excess spending on the Harl administration. While I don't disagree there can always be a reduction in spending, I know how the previous crew threw money around and there is no comparison. Happy with the progress of Mr. Baker? You, and many others have had your heads stuck so deep in your "sand" during the past few decades "you" are the ones unable to move forward. Yes, get out and vote in the next election as you indicate you will. But since you are apparently just as uninformed about the election rotation, allow me to inform you that you will not be able to vote against Harl until 2013. In April 2011, there will be four aldermanic seats to be determined. That day more than any other in recent memory will determine the "short term" future and success of Peru.
I hardly can wait for the next election. Mayor Harl must go for someone who knows what is going on ! If anyone wants to stay in a downward spiral, then given the above facts from Steve, VOTE for someone, anyone, BUT THE CURRENT MAYOR.
So folks make up your own mind and brush off the intimidations of Steve and his supporters. We know what progress this city made for the past 40 years and we don't need to be lied to about make up stories of the past. Look ahead folks, and Vote for progress not ignorance.
9:43pm The truth is coming out and it sounds like you are a bit nervous. No lies being told by Steve or I, just the God honest truth. It must be a little hard to accept or perhaps it is something you have know all along and just hoped it would stay buried in the past. We are not intimidating anyone just opening the windows so the truth can come in and let all those who were not in the loop can see how business was conducted in Peru City Government!
I have just started reading this very interesting blog. My question is when is the TEST contract up? I gather from what I read it is some time in 2013 ( 5 years and the meeting was 2008). Is that still a binding contract with the meeting being dishonest. Do our neighboring towns have TEST do their water testing etc..? I do not know what TEST actually does. I think the city can hire their own to do what TEST does and save a heck of a lot of money...
8:44 a.m. - Those are some pretty "soft-toss" questions 8:44. You might be a TEST "operative" fishing for something tasty. But, if you are or if you're not, it makes no difference to me. TEST, Inc. is an independent contractor whose job it is to operate the Water Treatment and Wastewater Treatment plants for Peru. They also provide lab services. The contract between the city and TEST currently runs five years as you stated. From, I believe January 2009. TEST thought they were hedging their bets by convincing the aldermen a five year deal was good for the city. It's not. They did not believe that Mayor Baker could possibly lose his re-election bid, but they were taking no chances. They were wrong. Baker backed the deal and the aldermen fell in line. Potthoff was the only "no" vote saying he was "happy" with TEST but he did not want a long term agreement. Now that's Peru politics. The meeting that violated the Open Meetings Act was a Water/Sewer Committee meeting where the deal was brokered in secret by Baker, O'Beirne, Mikyska, Ankiewicz, and TEST officials Chris Perra and Dave Lourie. The contract was approved at a later date by the full council in regular meeting. The contract is not fully binding. The city or the contractor can terminate or re-negotiate the contract at any time. TEST performs similar services for a few small system communities in Illinois like Bureau, DePue, Bushnell etc., but Peru has alwyas been their "meal ticket". Our neighboring communities do not hire out these services. They understand the benefit of keeping these operations "in-house". You are correct in your thinking that Peru can save a lot of money by doing the work themselves. Or, at the very least allowing for competitive bidding on what is a multi-million dollar contract. That's right. Since the mid 1980's Baker and O'Beirne have never prevented the contract from being competitively bid. TEST has essentailly been allowed to right their own check and not a single alderman has ever tried to correct the situation. I will be posting many more details regarding the TEST situation in the near future. So welcome, stay tuned and spread the word.
That is quite true if you are counting the "Open Meetings Act" violations that are taking place at Ankiewicz's Deli during the day and Mike's Tap after every council meeting. I agree!
The truth is finally coming out. How refreshing. Citizens of Peru I hope you're storing this knowledge and keeping it in mind for the election in 2011 of 4 aldermen.
21 comments:
Peru's elected officials were regularly in violation of the Open Meetings Act during the Baker era. The great majority of citizens in Peru had no interest anyway, so why should the elected officials be concerned. When I began attending council meetings in 2004 I had no idea what the requirements were for a city to comply with the act. I soon realized that Mayor Baker and the aldermen were even less informed than I was on the subject. And it was very apparent that they were not the least bit concerned about informing the public or providing access to any city business. At that time public attendance at council meetings was sparse at best. You knew the schedule of "regular" and "informal" meetings but committee meetings were seldom announced because there were very few committee meetings ever held. There was never a need to exchange opinions on an issue because they all understood there was only one opinion that ever mattered. The old man's. There were essentially only two committees that ever really met. Finance and Water and Sewer. And neither of those were made accessible to the public. Finance would meet in Judy's little office at the old clerks building and Water and Sewer would meet at TEST's office where a catered lunch was often waiting for Jack O'Beirne and other aldermen after the meeting. Courtesy of TEST, Inc. of course.
Also, Recreation did meet at the airport fairly regularly. The great majority of committee meetings or agendas were never properly posted or announced. Oddly enough, O'Beirne was the only alderman who would announce an occasional committee meeting. It clearly made Jack feel pretty important to "take charge" and announce an upcoming meeting.
That's why I found it so interesting in December of 2008 when I was talking with Judy about a FOIA request when she informed me that there was as she jokingly put it, "a secret meeting" going on in Don's office this morning. So, I inquired and she told me how the TEST contract was up for renewal soon and they were scrambling to get the deal done. Judy had just "ratted" them out to me and the next morning I called her and requested the agenda and the minutes of that "impromptu" meeting. 30 minutes later she called back to tell me there was no agenda and no minutes, but Chris Perra was going to write some minutes from the meeting a day late and get them to Judy asap. That's when I realized the extent of this good old boy network and the total disregard they all had for the publics "Right to Know". So what do you suppose turned up on the agenda at the next full council meeting. An ordinance to approve the five year extension of the Water and Wastewater contract with TEST,Inc.
How bout that!
That's when I understood the extent of the unethical character of these guys.
Longer story short. The Illinois Attorney General's investigation determined that the committee acted improperly and failed to conduct an open and honest meeting. To this day Jack O'Beirne still denies having violated the law even though I presented him with a copy of the Attorney General's report and a letter from Doug Schweickert admitting the illegal meeting took place.
Anyway, TEST got there $2.5 Million contract and that's all that really matters.
Right Jack?
Ho Hum, you put me to sleep with your BS and looking AGAIN BACKWARDS. Get off of it, and act like a grown up in the community? What do you have to offer to the city ? anything ?
Like the past you probably won't print this rebuttal to your foolish comments. Lets see !
7:51PM
Your comment leads me to believe that you were a part of the past and would like it better if no one ever knew what actually went on. As for me I was not that involved but certainly expected nothing less than what Steve has written. Steve is offering the readers of this blog exactly what they need to know in order to try and understand why we are where we are and how badly and secretly things took place in Peru. Many people were not aware and you might find they do want to know all about the past. You know the saying, You have to know the past to understand the here and now and if those are not the exact words, they are pretty darn close.
You call that a rebuttal, sounds more like a coverup to me.
Steve has nothing to offer this city for the future. I wonder if He, when driving his auto that he keeps looking in the rearview mirror to go forward ? That looks like his life. If anyone in this blog thinks that looking backward is a benefit then I guess we are doomed to move ahead .
I guess lets just wait for tne next election and elect someone with a futuristic vision, Check out La Salle or Oglesby or even Spring Valley .
Heaven knows we do not have that today.
7:51 p.m. - Thank you for asking. Lois and I both offer people like you the opportunity to make the type of "profound" comments that you just made. And we print them. Your welcome! With this particulat post I offer a detailed account of how city business was routinely conducted in the past. Behind closed doors, without checks or balances, without public knowledge and most importantly, without a competitive bidding process. This was not an isolated instance. It was business as usual. This was also how the waste hauling contract was handled for many, many years. Which is another interesting story in itself.
If you can't see the value of exposing how your elected officials routinely cut back room deals involving your tax dollars then you are as morally corrupt as they were. And honestly, kind of dumb for defending them.
Your comment is not a rebuttal. It's nothing more than a "lame" attempt to minimize the seriousness of the subject matter. Which you failed miserably at again.
"You" bring nothing to the discussion.
"You" have nothing to offer.
7:33 a.m. - No one area city is trying any harder than the others. We are all struggling with similar problems and internal political wrangling. It's not a contest.
Nobody is more determined and motivated to influence and improve the future of Peru than I am. If my efforts are successful, someday you may have to agree. But at least I am trying to correct what I believe is wrong with Peru. It's all about the quality and integrity of our elected officials.
What are you doing?
Steve with your sarcasism about what we bring to the discussion , you forget what I and many others bring is OUR VOTE. We will exercise that right soon in the next election.
We don't need your rerun of history, what we need is your idea for the future. We were quite happy with the progress of the city of Peru and where we have traveled under Mr Baker.
Unfortunately for the past 18 months all you have offered, is to be critical of Mr Baker and the past administration BUT have brought nothing but grief to the city in the way of higher taxes, water sewer rates , closed swimming pool, purchase of trucks and equipment, hiring of unneeded people, and a bunch of discussions worthless to the future of Peru.
Sleep Well, the future is NOT yours but ours, the citizens of peru.
I think you're finally catching on. Yes, it's all about the VOTE. But get yourself properly informed on the issues you cite before you comment. Your timeline on when any of those tax increases occurred is all wrong. Those tax increases were "inherited", just like the huge debt service. Just because you were never allowed to know about that sort of thing in the past does not mean it did not exist. The only thing you got right was the pool closing and that was the "right" decision for Peru. You want to twist the facts to suit your argument while giving the Baker era a free pass on the financial condition his administration left behind and you want to pin tax increases and excess spending on the Harl administration.
While I don't disagree there can always be a reduction in spending, I know how the previous crew threw money around and there is no comparison.
Happy with the progress of Mr. Baker? You, and many others have had your heads stuck so deep in your "sand" during the past few decades "you" are the ones unable to move forward.
Yes, get out and vote in the next election as you indicate you will. But since you are apparently just as uninformed about the election rotation, allow me to inform you that you will not be able to vote against Harl until 2013. In April 2011, there will be four aldermanic seats to be determined. That day more than any other in recent memory will determine the "short term" future and success of Peru.
Steve great to se the the truth start coming out! That is just the tip of the iceburg as far s backroon deals go!
I hardly can wait for the next election. Mayor Harl must go for someone who knows what is going on ! If anyone wants to stay in a downward spiral, then given the above facts from Steve, VOTE for someone, anyone, BUT THE CURRENT MAYOR.
So folks make up your own mind and brush off the intimidations of Steve and his supporters. We know what progress this city made for the past 40 years and we don't need to be lied to about make up stories of the past. Look ahead folks, and Vote for progress not ignorance.
That is FINAL.. Thank God for Democracy !
9:43pm
The truth is coming out and it sounds like you are a bit nervous. No lies being told by Steve or I, just the God honest truth. It must be a little hard to accept or perhaps it is something you have know all along and just hoped it would stay buried in the past. We are not intimidating anyone just opening the windows so the truth can come in and let all those who were not in the loop can see how business was conducted in Peru City Government!
We are not nervous but excited to vote in the next election. Bye Bye, Mayor..
ANON 6:32 You just don't get it do you? The next election is not a mayoral election. It's only an aldermanic one. Get with the program!!
Anon 7:42 how shortsighted are you. What the next ELECTIONS & then the Mayor election will put you on the edge of your chair.
All of the aldermen will be re-elected and in two years later we will have a new Mayor.
GREAT GREAT GREAT !!!!!! C'mon election.
I have just started reading this very interesting blog. My question is when is the TEST contract up? I gather from what I read it is some time in 2013 ( 5 years and the meeting was 2008). Is that still a binding contract with the meeting being dishonest. Do our neighboring towns have TEST do their water testing etc..? I do not know what TEST actually does. I think the city can hire their own to do what TEST does and save a heck of a lot of money...
8:44 a.m. - Those are some pretty "soft-toss" questions 8:44. You might be a TEST "operative" fishing for something tasty. But, if you are or if you're not, it makes no difference to me. TEST, Inc. is an independent contractor whose job it is to operate the Water Treatment and Wastewater Treatment plants for Peru. They also provide lab services. The contract between the city and TEST currently runs five years as you stated. From, I believe January 2009. TEST thought they were hedging their bets by convincing the aldermen a five year deal was good for the city. It's not. They did not believe that Mayor Baker could possibly lose his re-election bid, but they were taking no chances. They were wrong. Baker backed the deal and the aldermen fell in line. Potthoff was the only "no" vote saying he was "happy" with TEST but he did not want a long term agreement. Now that's Peru politics. The meeting that violated the Open Meetings Act was a Water/Sewer Committee meeting where the deal was brokered in secret by Baker, O'Beirne, Mikyska, Ankiewicz, and TEST officials Chris Perra and Dave Lourie. The contract was approved at a later date by the full council in regular meeting. The contract is not fully binding. The city or the contractor can terminate or re-negotiate the contract at any time. TEST performs similar services for a few small system communities in Illinois like Bureau, DePue, Bushnell etc., but Peru has alwyas been their "meal ticket".
Our neighboring communities do not hire out these services. They understand the benefit of keeping these operations "in-house". You are correct in your thinking that Peru can save a lot of money by doing the work themselves. Or, at the very least allowing for competitive bidding on what is a multi-million dollar contract. That's right. Since the mid 1980's Baker and O'Beirne have never prevented the contract from being competitively bid. TEST has essentailly been allowed to right their own check and not a single alderman has ever tried to correct the situation.
I will be posting many more details regarding the TEST situation in the near future.
So welcome, stay tuned and spread the word.
Please note: The previous comment should have read.......
"Since the mid 1980's Baker and O'Beirne have never "allowed" the contract to be competitively bid". Big difference!
More illegal meetings in the past 18 months than the previous 18 years.
the truth
That is quite true if you are counting the "Open Meetings Act" violations that are taking place at Ankiewicz's Deli during the day and Mike's Tap after every council meeting.
I agree!
The truth is finally coming out. How refreshing. Citizens of Peru I hope you're storing this knowledge and keeping it in mind for the election in 2011 of 4 aldermen.
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