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
"Kewanee, Ill. — A tax levy that would bring the city of Kewanee $54,463 more in property taxes next year was approved Monday by the City Council. The levy is up 2.61 percent from last year’s levy, City Manager Kip Spear said, and would produce $2,144,408 for the city. Of that total, nearly $300,000 would go to make payments on a sewer bond issue, for which a specific tax is levied. That leaves $1,844,520 for other city purposes. Spear said more than half of that, 53 percent, will go to meet the city’s obligations to the police and fire pension funds, Social Security, worker compensation and unemployment insurance."
A couple of interesting comments in your post. 1. Kewanee has a city manager. 2. Sewer problems are plaguing all small cities 3. Something has to be done re: pension funding as cities can no longer bear this burden in the current way it is done. 4. Kewanee does not have the ambulance management problems that Peru has. 5. Our subsidy of the ambulance needs to stop but with the current men in control, this will not happen and I am including city council members and management at PVAS as the problem. (you did not bring this up) 6. Adding the right employees can be a money saver and will more than compensate for their salaries.
The City of LaSalle just purchased an ambulance. Its going to say LaSalle Fire Department Paramedic unit on the side. The staffing of the ambulance will be a combination of EMT`s from the LaSalle Fire Department and the paramedics are contracted through a private company. LaSalle has total control and gets all the billing revenue. Their uniforms will say LaSalle Fire Department. Peru can either hire their own medics or go through a contract service like LaSalle. Either way Peru would have way more control then they do now and alot more transparency with everything.
I thought this was the direction that LaSalle would take and it looks like they are making the right decisions about it. From what research I have done most cities in Illinois of any size are going the FD/EMS route and it appears to be working well and possibly even a money saver in the long run. By the way nice website for the LaSalle Fire Dept. Bloggers check it out.
Regarding the need for a city manager. I agree. But unless the charter is changed and we adopt a council-manager / statutory manager form of government, the manager will hamstrung by political considerations.
Perhaps some new faces on the council without past ties to past administrations will be more open minded about the future of Peru. There are many cities who have a Mayor Council governing body but still employ a City Manager for dealing with business on a day to day bases. That is the kind of situation I think would work for Peru. Someone who has been educated and trained for that job.
I disagree. If we simply create the position of manager we would be adding a highly compensated individual to perform the duties that the mayor should be performing. The scope of the manager’s powers would be continually subject to control and change. Unless they have statutory power, it will be hard to attract the type of person we need. With a statutory manager, the powers are clearly defined by the municipal code. The role of the elected officials would be legislative in nature and limited to policy and vision. The manager would be required by law to carry out that policy and vision. The mayor would retain the power to appoint people to boards and commissions, but the day to day management, including hiring and firing of employees, would be handled by the manager. Employment would be based on merit and actual requirements, not nepotism. We would no longer require an elected city clerk or treasurer. The council would retain the power of the purse string.
Brian, then my question would be. Why are most cities that have hired a city manager, still working under a Mayor Council form of governing instead of what you are suggesting?
Please define most. In 2007, more than 3,500 (49 percent) of the 7,171 U.S.cities and towns with populations of 2,500 residents or more operated under the council-manager form. I got these numbers from the Illinois County & City Managment Association. I have not verified them. If you are talking about cities in the local area, I can only suggest that politics and resistance to change play a role. The form of governement is allowed under the Illinois Municipal Code and is clearly spelled out.
For the Mayor of Peru and many small towns being Mayor is strictly a part time position and they have other jobs or occupations in order to earn a living. I believe our mayor makes something around 32,000. My point is that a city manager would be a full time position. I have not done the research you have, but then again I am generalizing when I search information on other Illinois towns and observe that many have a city manager. Maybe I need to be making notes and tie it all together.
I can agree with you on that. All of the elected positions with the exception of the clerk provide a part time wage for a full time job. The mayor's salary can be argued since many people would consider $32K full time pay. There are very few people that have the required education, experience, and time to manage a business the size of Peru while maintaining gainful employment. That is why we need a full time manager hired by the council and mayor. This would allow the council and mayor to concentrate on policy and vision - which is appropriate for elected officials. I've done some more research. It turns out that every city with a city manager that I've looked also use the Council-Manager / Managerial form of government. This includes Princeton and Kewanee. I'm posting list of every city in Illinois that uses this form of governement on my blog.
Brian, nice job on the lineup of cities with the city manager position.
I was thinking of something like this city:
The City of *** has a council/manager form of government where the mayor and city council make policy decisions which the city manager and his staff implement. The mayor and five member council, who are elected for staggered four year terms. This would take less changes in the charter or setup of the city. This was taken from the Sparks AL web site.
8:52 PM Looking ahead to the future Mayors, I doubt that very many will be the owner of their own business and set their own working hours. Mayor Baker was unusual in that aspect. If we expect people to be interested in serving in elected positions, we must make adjustments that will make positions available to many people employed in legitimate jobs of employment, working for a corporation or business.
The city of Peru does NOT need a full time person called a city manager when we elected a person called a Mayor who is to do his duty, either part time or full time. We CANNOT afford another do nothing person on staff. What we need is a Mayor who knows what he/she is doing for the city rather then to pump oneself with power and the hell with the citizens of peru. That is what is going on today. We need smart decisions not dumb ones.
We cannot look at this as simply adding a person to the payroll. We need to look at what they would bring to the city. Times have changed and we can't run a city like we did 30 or 40 years ago. All types of businesses have become more complex and we are now dealing with laws and regulations never dreamed of by our previous administrations. When you read the list Brian Foster has put on his blog, you see that there are many small to large cities that have found it beneficial to have a City Manager along with an elected council and Mayor. It is time to take our heads out of the sand. Take a minute and go to perupages.blogspot.com and read through his last postings.
If we want to get our head out of the sand we need to save some money and combine two positions currently in effect and stepping all over each other. We NEED TO COMBINE THE CITY CLERK JOB (WHICH SHOULD BE PART TIME ) WITH THE TREASURER JOB ( WHICH IS ALSO PART TIME) . Frankly why don't we have a graduate/degree'd comptroller instead of a non degree'd city clerk and part time treasurer. This does not make sense .
We don't need to make part time city clerk employees as full time employees and then have a city clerk without anything to do, paying a very high cost to keep him employeed. He should keep his part time resturant and part time city clerk job to add to a total of 40hrs , then he would be full time busy.
I wonder what the city clerk works on all day every day! Anybody Know ?
Considering the mess the city was left with last time when the elected treasurer refused the position and we had just elected a new city clerk and new mayor. The new mayor did the right thing for the interim but you are right we need to make changes in how this government functions. What's the possibility of considering future changes and combining them into a city managers job. While we are at it get a city engineer and combine the building zoning inspectors job with the engineering position.
People who work smart actually save the city money in the process.
The reason the elected treasurer refused the position was that the citizenship elected a new mayor and a new city clerk. Previously the city clerk had been performing the duties of the city treasurer for more than one administration. The city clerk was actually filling the position of controller for the city leaving the treasurer only duties to sign checks completely destroying the check and balance system. Worked well for all- the previous mayor, city clerk, and city treasurer. Who would ever thought that the citizens would upset things and only the unopposed treasurer would achieve the previous administrations goals? Now we have a treasurer who does not have any of the qualifications to perform the position he ran for so he refuses the position and he is allowed, possibility illegally, to remain as a alderman. It has taken a lifetime to create the mess the city is in the only way to shorten the time frame to straighten it out is full citizen participation.
My husband and myself have recently moved to Peru. We do not know the name of the elected treasurer who refused to fulfill his obligation as treasurer but was allowed to remain as alderman. We would like to know because we feel that he wasted a lot of taxpayers money. It also brings a question to our mind as to why the remaining city aldermen did not challenge this placement. We are students of city government and we will not vote for this individual (once we obtain his name).
We also get the feeling that the city council of Peru has a grievance of some significance against the Mayor and that they have made it their mission to defy him rather than to move forward with progress for the city.
I can answer some of your questions. The alderman who ran for Treasurer and was unopposed was Ald. O'Beirne and he has been on the city council for 24 years serving the 2nd ward and he is not running again. He remained in his aldermanic seat because all of the other alderman did not have what it takes to do the right thing and remove him. I guess we would have to include the City Atty in this also as he did not challenge letting him keep his seat. It is very interesting to hear from you as a new resident of Peru and it appears that you are looking at our government without long standing allegiances which is the problem. I am sure others will comment, so check back and read what they say and thanks for your thoughtful comment.
ANON 10:16 Welcome to Peru and welcome to this blog. You will read many interesting thoughts and ideas regarding our government. I must inform you that your assumption that this council defies the mayor on many issues is absolutely correct. If you are interested in our government I encourage you to attend meetings because, it is there, that you will see your aldermen in action. Once again, welcome to Peru and be aware that 4 aldermen are up for re-election in April and are being challenged by some very competent individuals.
22 comments:
From the Kewanee Star Courier
"Kewanee, Ill. — A tax levy that would bring the city of Kewanee $54,463 more in property taxes next year was approved Monday by the City Council.
The levy is up 2.61 percent from last year’s levy, City Manager Kip Spear said, and would produce $2,144,408 for the city. Of that total, nearly $300,000 would go to make payments on a sewer bond issue, for which a specific tax is levied.
That leaves $1,844,520 for other city purposes. Spear said more than half of that, 53 percent, will go to meet the city’s obligations to the police and fire pension funds, Social Security, worker compensation and unemployment insurance."
Peru can't afford more employees.
A couple of interesting comments in your post.
1. Kewanee has a city manager.
2. Sewer problems are plaguing all small cities
3. Something has to be done re: pension funding as cities can no longer bear this burden in the current way it is done.
4. Kewanee does not have the ambulance management problems that Peru has.
5. Our subsidy of the ambulance needs to stop but with the current men in control, this will not happen and I am including city council members and management at PVAS as the problem. (you did not bring this up)
6. Adding the right employees can be a money saver and will more than compensate for their salaries.
The City of LaSalle just purchased an ambulance. Its going to say LaSalle Fire Department Paramedic unit on the side. The staffing of the ambulance will be a combination of EMT`s from the LaSalle Fire Department and the paramedics are contracted through a private company. LaSalle has total control and gets all the billing revenue. Their uniforms will say LaSalle Fire Department. Peru can either hire their own medics or go through a contract service like LaSalle. Either way Peru would have way more control then they do now and alot more transparency with everything.
I thought this was the direction that LaSalle would take and it looks like they are making the right decisions about it. From what research I have done most cities in Illinois of any size are going the FD/EMS route and it appears to be working well and possibly even a money saver in the long run.
By the way nice website for the LaSalle Fire Dept. Bloggers check it out.
Regarding the need for a city manager. I agree. But unless the charter is changed and we adopt a council-manager / statutory manager form of government, the manager will hamstrung by political considerations.
Perhaps some new faces on the council without past ties to past administrations will be more open minded about the future of Peru. There are many cities who have a Mayor Council governing body but still employ a City Manager for dealing with business on a day to day bases. That is the kind of situation I think would work for Peru. Someone who has been educated and trained for that job.
I disagree. If we simply create the position of manager we would be adding a highly compensated individual to perform the duties that the mayor should be performing. The scope of the manager’s powers would be continually subject to control and change. Unless they have statutory power, it will be hard to attract the type of person we need. With a statutory manager, the powers are clearly defined by the municipal code. The role of the elected officials would be legislative in nature and limited to policy and vision. The manager would be required by law to carry out that policy and vision. The mayor would retain the power to appoint people to boards and commissions, but the day to day management, including hiring and firing of employees, would be handled by the manager. Employment would be based on merit and actual requirements, not nepotism.
We would no longer require an elected city clerk or treasurer. The council would retain the power of the purse string.
Brian, then my question would be. Why are most cities that have hired a city manager, still working under a Mayor Council form of governing instead of what you are suggesting?
Please define most. In 2007, more than 3,500 (49 percent) of the 7,171 U.S.cities and towns with populations of 2,500 residents or more operated under the council-manager form.
I got these numbers from the Illinois County & City Managment Association. I have not verified them.
If you are talking about cities in the local area, I can only suggest that politics and resistance to change play a role.
The form of governement is allowed under the Illinois Municipal Code and is clearly spelled out.
For the Mayor of Peru and many small towns being Mayor is strictly a part time position and they have other jobs or occupations in order to earn a living. I believe our mayor makes something around 32,000.
My point is that a city manager would be a full time position. I have not done the research you have, but then again I am generalizing when I search information on other Illinois towns and observe that many have a city manager. Maybe I need to be making notes and tie it all together.
I can agree with you on that. All of the elected positions with the exception of the clerk provide a part time wage for a full time job. The mayor's salary can be argued since many people would consider $32K full time pay. There are very few people that have the required education, experience, and time to manage a business the size of Peru while maintaining gainful employment.
That is why we need a full time manager hired by the council and mayor. This would allow the council and mayor to concentrate on policy and vision - which is appropriate for elected officials.
I've done some more research. It turns out that every city with a city manager that I've looked also use the Council-Manager / Managerial form of government. This includes Princeton and Kewanee. I'm posting list of every city in Illinois that uses this form of governement on my blog.
Brian, nice job on the lineup of cities with the city manager position.
I was thinking of something like this city:
The City of *** has a council/manager form of government where the mayor and city council make policy decisions which the city manager and his staff implement. The mayor and five member council, who are elected for staggered four year terms.
This would take less changes in the charter or setup of the city. This was taken from the Sparks AL web site.
the former mayor ran the city for many many years while keeping a full time positon-what is the big deal
8:52 PM
Looking ahead to the future Mayors, I doubt that very many will be the owner of their own business and set their own working hours. Mayor Baker was unusual in that aspect. If we expect people to be interested in serving in elected positions, we must make adjustments that will make positions available to many people employed in legitimate jobs of employment, working for a corporation or business.
The city of Peru does NOT need a full time person called a city manager when we elected a person called a Mayor who is to do his duty, either part time or full time.
We CANNOT afford another do nothing person on staff. What we need is a Mayor who knows what he/she is doing for the city rather then to pump oneself with power and the hell with the citizens of peru.
That is what is going on today. We need smart decisions not dumb ones.
8:41PM
We cannot look at this as simply adding a person to the payroll. We need to look at what they would bring to the city. Times have changed and we can't run a city like we did 30 or 40 years ago. All types of businesses have become more complex and we are now dealing with laws and regulations never dreamed of by our previous administrations. When you read the list Brian Foster has put on his blog, you see that there are many small to large cities that have found it beneficial to have a City Manager along with an elected council and Mayor. It is time to take our heads out of the sand. Take a minute and go to perupages.blogspot.com and read through his last postings.
If we want to get our head out of the sand we need to save some money and combine two positions currently in effect and stepping all over each other.
We NEED TO COMBINE THE CITY CLERK JOB (WHICH SHOULD BE PART TIME ) WITH THE TREASURER JOB ( WHICH IS ALSO PART TIME) .
Frankly why don't we have a graduate/degree'd comptroller instead of a non degree'd city clerk and part time treasurer. This does not make sense .
We don't need to make part time city clerk employees as full time employees and then have a city clerk without anything to do, paying a very high cost to keep him employeed.
He should keep his part time resturant and part time city clerk job to add to a total of 40hrs , then he would be full time busy.
I wonder what the city clerk works on all day every day! Anybody Know ?
Thanks for the thoughtful posting.
Considering the mess the city was left with last time when the elected treasurer refused the position and we had just elected a new city clerk and new mayor. The new mayor did the right thing for the interim but you are right we need to make changes in how this government functions.
What's the possibility of considering future changes and combining them into a city managers job. While we are at it get a city engineer and combine the building zoning inspectors job with the engineering position.
People who work smart actually save the city money in the process.
The reason the elected treasurer refused the position was that the citizenship elected a new mayor and a new city clerk. Previously the city clerk had been performing the duties of the city treasurer for more than one administration. The city clerk was actually filling the position of controller for the city leaving the treasurer only duties to sign checks completely destroying the check and balance system. Worked well for all- the previous mayor, city clerk, and city treasurer. Who would ever thought that the citizens would upset things and only the unopposed treasurer would achieve the previous administrations goals? Now we have a treasurer who does not have any of the qualifications to perform the position he ran for so he refuses the position and he is allowed, possibility illegally, to remain as a alderman. It has taken a lifetime to create the mess the city is in the only way to shorten the time frame to straighten it out is full citizen participation.
My husband and myself have recently moved to Peru. We do not know the name of the elected treasurer who refused to fulfill his obligation as treasurer but was allowed to remain as alderman. We would like to know because we feel that he wasted a lot of taxpayers money. It also brings a question to our mind as to why the remaining city aldermen did not challenge this placement. We are students of city government and we will not vote for this individual (once we obtain his name).
We also get the feeling that the city council of Peru has a grievance of some significance against the Mayor and that they have made it their mission to defy him rather than to move forward with progress for the city.
10:16AM
I can answer some of your questions. The alderman who ran for Treasurer and was unopposed was Ald. O'Beirne and he has been on the city council for 24 years serving the 2nd ward and he is not running again.
He remained in his aldermanic seat because all of the other alderman did not have what it takes to do the right thing and remove him. I guess we would have to include the City Atty in this also as he did not challenge letting him keep his seat.
It is very interesting to hear from you as a new resident of Peru and it appears that you are looking at our government without long standing allegiances which is the problem.
I am sure others will comment, so check back and read what they say and thanks for your thoughtful comment.
ANON 10:16 Welcome to Peru and welcome to this blog. You will read many interesting thoughts and ideas regarding our government. I must inform you that your assumption that this council defies the mayor on many issues is absolutely correct. If you are interested in our government I encourage you to attend meetings because, it is there, that you will see your aldermen in action. Once again, welcome to Peru and be aware that 4 aldermen are up for re-election in April and are being challenged by some very competent individuals.
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