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
Monday, March 21, 2011
Third Ward 3 Candidates & Their Views
This was removed at the request of the LaSalle New Tribune as it is an infringement upon their ownership of the article.
Since the discussion surrounding the swimming pool keeps cropping up you may want to visit the archives of the blog. The list is on the left side and you work your way by first clicking on 2010 and I believe the discussions started in March and Williams Aquatics came to Peru in May. Pictures of the borings done on the pool bottom are still there. If you were not reading this blog last year, it might be informative to check out or to review once again.
lois, people of peru want the pool, i think the candidates should listen to them, and thank you mr waldorf for setting everyone straight about the finances of the city-did you catch that one steve?
This is just my opinion and I'm sure it will be picked apart if it is even posted, but I will be supporting Dave Waldorf in Ward 3. He is not part of the "good old boy network", as you will recall he beat incumbent Joe four years ago. It comes down to the people in the ward, and Mr. Waldorf could not be more responsive or listen better than he does. I'm not saying I agree with him on every topic, but I feel that he is honest and thoughtful in how he makes his decisions. That is more important to me than where he stands on how many meetings they have a month. I feel he has earned another term.
8:51 AM You are definitely entitled to your opinion even if it is based on false information. I know personally that Dave is a part of the "good old boy" network, have seen him with the "group" after each meeting at their favorite watering hole. Niceness unfortunately does not contribute to being an effective alderman and he can be nice I do admit that.
7:21 AM I can assure that our debt was not paid off in one year. At that time it was 43 million and it could be down to about 41 or 40 million at the current time. Why don't you pay a visit to our city treasurer for the real facts.
I'm not going to refute that alderman Waldorf may (at times) be nice but I am going to refute his statement that we are not in debt and that the audit proves it. Maybe he needs to talk to our city treasurer and have him explain the shortage of $40 million cash that we currently have (I did) and that the audit shows. I also don't understand the pool being "a quality of life" (another statement made by Mr. Waldorf). While we all agree a pool would be nice it's not like we don't have access to many other options. The city is collapsing beneath our feet because of a lack of a proper maintenance plan being implemented in the past. This situation is much the same as what happened to the pool (patch and open again and again). I would also like to see a council who would be open to discussions, opinions, and ideas from the public.
This is the problem when people don't fact check. NEVER in that article did Mr. Waldorf say the city is not in debt! He said they are paying their debt obligations on time. There is a huge difference, and the city is in fact doing this the right way. Go ahead and ask the treasurer, and he will tell you the same thing. YOU are the one who is completely incorrect by saying there is a $40 million shortage of cash. That is the same as you owing $100,000 on your house, having $10,000 in your bank account, making your mortgage payment faithfully every month and then having someone tell you that you are $90,000 "short on cash" as 10:22 said. It is completely misleading when people who do not understand public debt obligations and finance start misrepresenting facts with broad statements.
Do they have a lot of debt to pay off? Yes, but what he said is the truth. Of course the city is in debt, as is virtutally every municipality. It is borrowed money for bonds they sold after public meetings. Their debt has never been a secret. Not one person being elected is going to make that debt go away in the short term either.
As for the pool, Mr. Waldorf says he does not want to burden the taxpayer with the bill. In fact, while I don't think we need a pool, many people do agree with him on finding otherways to finance this in the future and think it is important.
8:51 here. Thank you for ackowledging that Mr. Waldorf is a good person, but I did not say I supported him because he is nice. I said he LISTENS! I, and many others, do not persoanlly care what he does after a meeting. When you spend tme with people in any business, board or other orginzation, friendships will be developed. Is that always to the detriment of the city? Or can it be quite the opposite. If Mayor Harl joined them for a beer or whatever after the meeting, I would not see that as a bad thing.
I just find it odd that 4 years ago Dave W. beat a 12 year incumbent on the old council, and now he is "one of the boys." Well, that is who the voters elected. Given the choice again this time around, I will take someone who is aligned with no one, thinks independently, cares about the people in his ward and votes accordingly.
"The perception is Peru is having financial difficulty. Our recent audit refutes that" News Trib. Evidently you interpret debt differently than many of the residents. Debt is debt and never a good place to be in. Without the debt hanging over our heads, yes we could issue bonds to finance a pool, but we cannot add to our debt because it is too high now. The city has eliminated many donation to charity because we don't have the money and on and on. The debt is causing the city to change the way they function and to continue to look for more ways to pay it off. If you have credit card debt that will take many years to pay off you had better change your way of living or you will end up paying only the interest and that is exactly what the city had been doing for many years and you never get it paid off.
To 7:21 - You failed to mention how the pool will actually be funded. You also thanked Alderman Waldorf for "setting everyone straight about the finances of the city". I will defer to Tresusurer Hylla, a professional who consisitently states in his monthly reports the actual condition of all city funds. And its not healthy. Waldorf's attempts to insinuate that all is well with city finances because "we serviced our debt on time and provided services" speaks volumes. It's no different than individuals and families who currently live pay-check to pay-check. They are paying the bills and the debts as best they can. But, they can't afford anything to do much else. I also thank Alderman Waldorf for providing his understanding of city finances.
I suggest you take the time to go through the city council minutes for the last 4 years and see how many independent members we have on the council. I think the research will give you a different answer than the one you are giving me about "independent"
ALDERMAN WALDORF IS ON THE STREET COMMITTEE, HE VOTED NO TO ANY REPAIRS DONE LAST YEAR. HE FOLLOWED THE WAY OF THE GOOD OLD BOYS VOTE. HE AS HEAD OF THAT COMMITTEE, SHOULD HAVE SEEN HOW BAD THE ROADS WERE AT THAT TIME, AND VOTED TO HAVE SOME OF THEM REPAIRED. BUT I KNOW NONE OF THE ALDERMEN AT THIS TIME, WILL VOTE THEIR OWN MIND. THEY FEAR THE OTHERS WON'T TALK TO THEM IF THEY DON'T FOLLOW SUIT.
I supported Waldorf when he ran 4 years ago. I was anxious to get a "young" guy with an unbiased opinion on the council. But he turned into a "good 'ol boy" so fast, I suffered whiplash. I am truley disappointed in Dave's actions when it comes to representing his ward.
It seems the incumbents are trying to paint a rosier picture of Peru for voters. Perhaps they are trying to distance themselves from the stench of the current affairs. I,for one, am getting tired of holding my nose.
I wouldnt vote for someone that voted "NO" to any road repairs in any situation . Repairs need to be done always , that is why the Infrastructure everywhere is failing . Take the money from somewhere else , there is alot of wastefull spending everywhere you look . Alderman Witczak was voted out because people wanted change , and now we are worse off than before ! Alderman Witczak supported what his citizens wanted in his ward . That is how its suppose to be !!
14 comments:
Since the discussion surrounding the swimming pool keeps cropping up you may want to visit the archives of the blog. The list is on the left side and you work your way by first clicking on 2010 and I believe the discussions started in March and Williams Aquatics came to Peru in May. Pictures of the borings done on the pool bottom are still there. If you were not reading this blog last year, it might be informative to check out or to review once again.
lois, people of peru want the pool, i think the candidates should listen to them, and thank you mr waldorf for setting everyone straight about the finances of the city-did you catch that one steve?
This is just my opinion and I'm sure it will be picked apart if it is even posted, but I will be supporting Dave Waldorf in Ward 3. He is not part of the "good old boy network", as you will recall he beat incumbent Joe four years ago. It comes down to the people in the ward, and Mr. Waldorf could not be more responsive or listen better than he does. I'm not saying I agree with him on every topic, but I feel that he is honest and thoughtful in how he makes his decisions. That is more important to me than where he stands on how many meetings they have a month. I feel he has earned another term.
8:51 AM
You are definitely entitled to your opinion even if it is based on false information. I know personally that Dave is a part of the "good old boy" network, have seen him with the "group" after each meeting at their favorite watering hole. Niceness unfortunately does not contribute to being an effective alderman and he can be nice I do admit that.
7:21 AM
I can assure that our debt was not paid off in one year. At that time it was 43 million and it could be down to about 41 or 40 million at the current time. Why don't you pay a visit to our city treasurer for the real facts.
I'm not going to refute that alderman Waldorf may (at times) be nice but I am going to refute his statement that we are not in debt and that the audit proves it. Maybe he needs to talk to our city treasurer and have him explain the shortage of $40 million cash that we currently have (I did) and that the audit shows. I also don't understand the pool being "a quality of life" (another statement made by Mr. Waldorf). While we all agree a pool would be nice it's not like we don't have access to many other options. The city is collapsing beneath our feet because of a lack of a proper maintenance plan being implemented in the past. This situation is much the same as what happened to the pool (patch and open again and again). I would also like to see a council who would be open to discussions, opinions, and ideas from the public.
This is the problem when people don't fact check. NEVER in that article did Mr. Waldorf say the city is not in debt! He said they are paying their debt obligations on time. There is a huge difference, and the city is in fact doing this the right way. Go ahead and ask the treasurer, and he will tell you the same thing. YOU are the one who is completely incorrect by saying there is a $40 million shortage of cash. That is the same as you owing $100,000 on your house, having $10,000 in your bank account, making your mortgage payment faithfully every month and then having someone tell you that you are $90,000 "short on cash" as 10:22 said. It is completely misleading when people who do not understand public debt obligations and finance start misrepresenting facts with broad statements.
Do they have a lot of debt to pay off? Yes, but what he said is the truth. Of course the city is in debt, as is virtutally every municipality. It is borrowed money for bonds they sold after public meetings. Their debt has never been a secret. Not one person being elected is going to make that debt go away in the short term either.
As for the pool, Mr. Waldorf says he does not want to burden the taxpayer with the bill. In fact, while I don't think we need a pool, many people do agree with him on finding otherways to finance this in the future and think it is important.
Lois,
8:51 here. Thank you for ackowledging that Mr. Waldorf is a good person, but I did not say I supported him because he is nice. I said he LISTENS! I, and many others, do not persoanlly care what he does after a meeting. When you spend tme with people in any business, board or other orginzation, friendships will be developed. Is that always to the detriment of the city? Or can it be quite the opposite. If Mayor Harl joined them for a beer or whatever after the meeting, I would not see that as a bad thing.
I just find it odd that 4 years ago Dave W. beat a 12 year incumbent on the old council, and now he is "one of the boys." Well, that is who the voters elected. Given the choice again this time around, I will take someone who is aligned with no one, thinks independently, cares about the people in his ward and votes accordingly.
"The perception is Peru is having financial difficulty. Our recent audit refutes that" News Trib.
Evidently you interpret debt differently than many of the residents.
Debt is debt and never a good place to be in. Without the debt hanging over our heads, yes we could issue bonds to finance a pool, but we cannot add to our debt because it is too high now. The city has eliminated many donation to charity because we don't have the money and on and on. The debt is causing the city to change the way they function and to continue to look for more ways to pay it off.
If you have credit card debt that will take many years to pay off you had better change your way of living or you will end up paying only the interest and that is exactly what the city had been doing for many years and you never get it paid off.
To 7:21 - You failed to mention how the pool will actually be funded. You also thanked Alderman Waldorf for "setting everyone straight about the finances of the city".
I will defer to Tresusurer Hylla, a professional who consisitently states in his monthly reports the actual condition of all city funds. And its not healthy.
Waldorf's attempts to insinuate that all is well with city finances because "we serviced our debt on time and provided services" speaks volumes.
It's no different than individuals and families who currently live pay-check to pay-check. They are paying the bills and the debts as best they can. But, they can't afford anything to do much else.
I also thank Alderman Waldorf for providing his understanding of city finances.
11:29am
I suggest you take the time to go through the city council minutes for the last 4 years and see how many independent members we have on the council. I think the research will give you a different answer than the one you are giving me about "independent"
ALDERMAN WALDORF IS ON THE STREET COMMITTEE, HE VOTED NO TO ANY REPAIRS DONE LAST YEAR. HE FOLLOWED THE WAY OF THE GOOD OLD BOYS VOTE. HE AS HEAD OF THAT COMMITTEE, SHOULD HAVE SEEN HOW BAD THE ROADS WERE AT THAT TIME, AND VOTED TO HAVE SOME OF THEM REPAIRED. BUT I KNOW NONE OF THE ALDERMEN AT THIS TIME, WILL VOTE THEIR OWN MIND. THEY FEAR THE OTHERS WON'T TALK TO THEM IF THEY DON'T FOLLOW SUIT.
I supported Waldorf when he ran 4 years ago. I was anxious to get a "young" guy with an unbiased opinion on the council. But he turned into a "good 'ol boy" so fast, I suffered whiplash. I am truley disappointed in Dave's actions when it comes to representing his ward.
It seems the incumbents are trying to paint a rosier picture of Peru for voters. Perhaps they are trying to distance themselves from the stench of the current affairs. I,for one, am getting tired of holding my nose.
I wouldnt vote for someone that voted "NO" to any road repairs in any situation . Repairs need to be done always , that is why the Infrastructure everywhere is failing . Take the money from somewhere else , there is alot of wastefull spending everywhere you look . Alderman Witczak was voted out because people wanted change , and now we are worse off than before ! Alderman Witczak supported what his citizens wanted in his ward . That is how its suppose to be !!
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