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
Personally I thought the presentation should have been given by the director of the service, Mark Roberson. He has the knowledge of the inner workings of the department. The structure could have been explained and while he was at it, he could have told the people about the Board of Directors in an open and honest manner. Who currently sits on the board and why, how long are their terms, what does the Board of Directors control, are they compensated in any way? Also what are the plans for the future and also a willingness to accept that a legal contract is necessary between them and the city of Peru. So much was lost because of unneeded emotionalism. Does anyone realize that La Salle left because of the structure of the Board of Directors and the structure of it? Open the windows and let the sun in.
Did you know that according to the by-laws of PVAS that originally all board members had to be elected Peru city officials and supposedly when a vacancy occurred the Peru City Council needed to give their consent? Does anyone remember any of this ever being discussed at full council and why would it be if the ambulance service is not-for-profit volunteer and not affiliated with Peru?
Another conspiracy theory, Baker does not own the building, the property or anything affiliated with PVAS. He does not serve on the Board or has any input at PVAS. His only interest is Peru and keeping the ambulance service alive and maintaining low tax rates for the residents of Peru. For most of us that own property in Peru, he has a excellent point.
I distinctly remember when the mayoral election was being held and the debate was held at the Peru Library and although I don't remember the question, Mayor Baker answered with "Peru is my life"
I guess that explains why he can't let go and enjoy his retirement as he should. The faces are changing at City Hall and this is what we can expect more of in the future because that is life and change is always inevitable. We may not like it or approve it but it happens. The cities of Ottawa, Princeton and Mendota already have fire department/ems services and at some time in the future, Peru may join those cities. EMT's will always have jobs but it may not always be with the same service they are with now.
Lois, The question is as a resident of Peru are you willing to pay xxx amount of dollars to have your own ambulance service? And why if you already have one with a supplement of $48,000 a year, that is not taxed on you real estate bills? Maybe, a few would agree to tax the residents. I think we heard a few elected officials say its inevitable that taxes will go up. Most of us would want to avoid higher taxes. And from most points of view this discussion is not about service quality. Its about money and who gets the money. The choice is a private service without tax dollars or a public service supported by tax dollars. We have seen the public side work with the benefits, long term pensions, capital costs that never end. Once we get on board with that roller coaster of costs, we can't get off. Its forever. Peru is fortunate that it has a private service that has been able to provide quality care for residents. Other cities don't have that option. Yes, times change and past priorities are no longer current priorities. Is that what we want as residents? Before your time my grandmother used to say "Beware of the medicine man selling you health in a bottle". The value of the phrase was don't trust the wagon or the horse carrying the medicine. Make your own judgements!
PVAS has no owners and the Board has no compensation. Former Mayor Don Baker has no ownership with PVAS. No individuals have any ownership with PVAS. The only compensation is that of the paid staff. You can make your own judgements on the qualifications of each individual that serves on the Board. Same with the local hospital boards, library board, recreation commission, Easter Seals, United Way, Horizon House, on and on. No compensation and all are volunteers. The ambulance Board is no different than those many volunteer organizations. All organizations have a different mission, however no compensation exists.
No compensation may be given but you people have to know that for many, many years only Peru elected officials were allowed on the board. Are there the same restrictions on the other boards you named 2:41? Why would they have to be Peru city officials if the service is not Peru owned or operated?
There is no such thing that PVAS has no owners. They have assets and if there are no owners, to whom do the assets belong? If the service ever dissolved and I can't even imagine who would be in charge of that decision, what happens to the equipment, the building and supplies. If there are no owners, will it be free to the first to take them. Even a not for profit agency, has something for which somebody paid money. I have said before and I will say again, you could search high and low and I don't think you will find another not for profit running a city ambulance that is supposedly self sustaining but being supported some by the city and yet claims to be private. Those are things that should have been presented on Tuesday instead it turned into an angry and loud and nasty event. I was told by one member of the ambulance board that I was too political. In other words keep your nose out of the ambulance business.
Lois, I would say if any board member or employee of pvas wants you or any other citizen of Peru to keep their nose out of it, or, not be so political then I would recommend they boot the aldermen off the board and not take 50,000.00 of the tax payers dollars,until then....It's your/ our business to stick our noses into. I had a conversation with Alderman Rod Perez regarding the aldermen on the board. Rod told me that they do not represent the city while on that board. Rod said If the board would like city representation on their board then the mayor and full council would have to approve that. Rod also stated the city would handle it like any other board through the city with the mayor making the recommendation for the board with council's approval and all meetings, minutes, etc would be legally posted for the public. That made perfect sense to me. I would have to bet that if peru ambulance did away with that board with the aldermen on it, or have the mayor appoint them an make Peru Ambulance a TRUE ' PERU AMBULANCE" keep it the way it is but have the mayor appoint the department head like every other department.
There are no owners of PVAS. The assets of the corporation do not go to any individuals. If the not for profit organization dissolves the assests of the organization will go toward another not for profit organization. It is spelled out legally by laws specific for not for profits. If the organization has liabilities then that like organization would absorb those liabilities or bankruptcy court would require the most responsible bidder. No individual can at any time make claim to the assets of the organization. Including employees. If Peru or the ALD.Committee of one would like to absorb PVAS into City operations as suggested, you then have to absorb everything including the liabilities. Some would say that would be a costly venture and some would ask if the City has the capabilities to manage another entity. Sounds like this is a power struggle with a few members of the city council buying in that the succesful current service would work better with city taxes, fulltime union jobs and their newly founded expertise.
Why the big deal with PVAS. The library is a city entity with a high tax rate and has been very profitable. It has a seperate board with no jurisdiction from the City Officials. It works well and provides the city with a service that is shared by the entire community. The only difference is that the Mayor appoints the members of the board, hopefully for their dedication and service to the library. I guess this would work for PVAS if the organization had a tax rate, they don't. PVAS sends reports each month to the City, however remains a private not for profit for many reasons including Peru's liability.
Lois in response to your post from 1:49 I don't know what meeting you were at but Mark started out the meeting by introducing the board. As far as your other questions about the board, why didn't you raise your hand and ask? I suspect then you wouldn't have any thing to complain about. Also Mark stated at the end of the meeting his door is always open. If you have questions, why not make an appointment and go down to the service to ask you questions?
How do you know Lasalle left because of the make up of the board? You have stated many times that Lasalle left because of money. So which is it? It seems like you like to make things up and post them to fit your argument.
The make up of the board has always had alderman on the board so the city has some say how there money has been spent. Since the board also has people beside alderman I don't understand how this reamains an issue.
Don Baker is still a tax paying member of this city and should get his questions answered and have his concerns heard the same as you or anybody else in the city. Lois maybe you should take your own advice and let go and enjoy your retirement.
If Baker doesn' own the building, then why did he always have his fingers in it, and always had his special few aldermen on the board? He also had the little resturant next to the ambulance building built for someone in his family. Its time he goes away.
Baker has no ownership in the building, that is public knowledge. The food shack has nothing to do with PVAS. It makes sense to have City officials on the board, that insures the city is taken care of by PVAS. If Don Baker wants to discuss Ald. Perez's plan, he should be granted the opportunity to have his questions answered. All the questions and critics have been throwing haymakers at PVAS. And telling PVAS that this is not about the service. On the other side of the conversation those same idividuals are making PVAS out to be a circus act. In reality the major question Peru should ask is "Why do you believe the fire department can do the service better and less expensive?" Is Ald.Perez really the one qualified to answer that question? This isn't a fireworks display! Its unexplainable that this is a committee of him only. Mayor Harl needs to step in and redirect this committee of one.
If you were at the meeting you would know that I did ask questions and had more but the meeting ended and they were not taking anymore. Please tell me where I said La Salle was leaving because of money, exact time place and words.
Anon 12:04 Correction: The City does pay a large fee to the pvas but the aldermen that are on that board are on there as a cover to make it seem as though there is city representation from those aldermen. The city has " NO " say what pvas does with their money if they did then pvas would have to make their financials open to the public and their meeting minutes would also have to be made public. If those aldermen on the board of pvas were attending meetings as representation of the city, then they are doing it illegal because those minutes and agendas need to be posted and available to the city. You people have to understand that the old administration was able to pose as if they were a representation of the city but they legally weren't. Just like when the city was covering pvas insurance and many other things through the city. Mayor Harl and a new administration came in and started cleaning house and sealing the cracks. I read the paper and see Baker and some of these old admins showing up to these meetings in an uproar!! Come on People..They are in an uproar because the contaminated dirt and all of that bad bacteria is surfacing and they are ticked because this new admin is cleaning up the city and calling them out on the way. Baker did a great job up until the late 80s then he got to comfy and started being a Chicago politician. Once Baker realizes this is no longer HIS city we will continue to see him and his cronies crying at those meetings. Aldermen Joe M. and Alderman R. Wren were the only aldermen that could bring reason to Baker. Sad those 2 aldermen had to leave so soon. Bless their hearts.
Lois you had plenty of time to ask questions, you have never been afraid to open your mouth, so why that night? Because you didn't get your questions answered, I'm sure you have taken advantage of Mark's offer and called him or went down to the ambulance and talked with him.
When PVAS covered Lasalle, Lasalle wanted and got one of there alderman on the ambulance board. So to say Lasalle split off because of the board could not be more wrong.
Don Baker does not now or has ever owned the building that the ambulance operates out of. The building was put there and was voted on by ambulance members because it was central between Lasalle and Peru. And what in the hell does the fact that Baker used to own the restaurant have to do with anything?
aNON 3:13 ha ha ha. A cover..The books are wide open. Roberson has said this many times. Go to PVAS they won't mind. Nothing to hide. Your information about Baker and past is fiction.
Does anyone else think it was overkill the night of the meeting when 5 ambulances were parked in the parking lot at City Hall? Some of them sat there running for 2 hours. Nice to have so much money that you can take these gas guzzling vehicles for leisure drives all over town. Wonder who was manning the station that night. I personally think it was unnecessary!
Anybody listen to the scanner during the snowstorm we had last Friday? The accident on the bridge had injuries, and only one ambulance from PVAS responded, as the other was already on another call. Dispatch did an all call for another crew. After SEVERAL minutes, dispatch advised "Noone answered the all call. Do you want us to call someone else?" The reply was no, have the other ambulance meet us here after they clear the hospital. This is not an isolated incident, but common practice. PVAS refuses to call for help when it is clearly needed. Obviously there is a failure of leadership.
Baker owned the property the building was built on thats why the building was put there. Former Direcctor pat Jacklovich wanted the building up on shooting park road. Thats the truth. The Big Don got off the board long enough to make the transaction and then gets back on as president because thats what he commanded his puppets to do. You can verify this entry with county records.
Can we track down how much pvas paid baker for the land? Trip to the ottawa clerk's office should not be too hard. Was it a fair price per acre or % of an acre? I assume pvas has minutes, as all not for profits must have, that discusses and approves the purchase of the land? I would also assume that realtor appraisals would have been done on the land prior to purchase. Can I also assume that a copy of the appraisal would be attached to the bank loan? What bank financed the property and building? Was due diligence performed during the loan process? If it is true that the city paid insurance premiums for this business than I also assume that anybody can go to the city and ask for disbursements reports against each policy held by the city. The policy for each year should be on file and an educated individual could read through the policy to see exactly what property was covered under the policy. Good bookkeeping could provide answsers for all questions immediately.
Based on the simplistic nature of the report provided by the director, I am pretty sure I would not be comfortable with the "books" held at PVAC. I have to imagine that some areas of the books are private if HIPPA regs are followed?
Sounds like the nasty comments are about the Former Mayor and the PVAS board. Why would anybody care about the past? Are we not looking for the best service for the current Peru? The building is in a centrally locate area in the middle of LaSalle/Peru. From what has been discussed the call times are not the issue, the building is in a good spot. The PVAS annual report is on file and that is a open book. What specific numbers would you be looking for? Just ask the Director. The audit is performed by a professional CPA and the financial reports are also done by a professional CPA. The Board meets twice a month and all is on file with the IRS. The annual and monthly reports are also on file with the City of Peru. If you review the reports you will notice that there has never been any payments to past or current city officials.
PVAS put that building there only because Baker wanted it there. The former director and some of the original members have many times spoken about PVAS putting the building on shooting park road. It still would have served LaSalle well. If its no problem to respond from the current location to the shooting park road area or further north, why would it be a problem running from shooting park road or further north to down town or near the current location. By putting it up north you would have prepared yourself for the future expansion north. That idea of the current location being ideal for the two towns is the dumbest excuse ever heard. Your growth is to the north and the north only. What would ever possess you to think it was a lock that LaSalle would always stay with pvas. During the open meetings with LaSalle it was stated many times that Peru never consulted with LaSalle. It was also stated that LaSalle offered its fire station to house units for peru and where ignored. When two communities share its to be at the benefit of both. Not what one entity says is good for the other. Peru was always doing what it could to not allow anyone from LaSalle on thier board. Then when they did, it was only one person. Thats the same as having nobody. Baker once stated years ago at a PVAS christmas party that they would not allow anyone from LaSalle on the board because they were to stupid. Cities do not go out an build seperate ambulance buildings and seperate fire stations. Who is the stupid one now! you don`t see Oglesby,Utica,LaSalle,Mendota,Ottawa,tax payers paying or subsidizing two seperate Buildings. Show me where the savings is at. Here is an idea, put up a big public safety building up by Midway plaza to house all fire/ems and police and sell the other buildings and use the money to pay down the loan.
31 comments:
Personally I thought the presentation should have been given by the director of the service, Mark Roberson. He has the knowledge of the inner workings of the department.
The structure could have been explained and while he was at it, he could have told the people about the Board of Directors in an open and honest manner. Who currently sits on the board and why, how long are their terms, what does the Board of Directors control, are they compensated in any way?
Also what are the plans for the future and also a willingness to accept that a legal contract is necessary between them and the city of Peru.
So much was lost because of unneeded emotionalism.
Does anyone realize that La Salle left because of the structure of the Board of Directors and the structure of it? Open the windows and let the sun in.
Did you know that according to the by-laws of PVAS that originally all board members had to be elected Peru city officials and supposedly when a vacancy occurred the Peru City Council needed to give their consent? Does anyone remember any of this ever being discussed at full council and why would it be if the ambulance service is not-for-profit volunteer and not affiliated with Peru?
because mayor baker owns the building, and he controlled everything and the council. back then nobody could speak their own mind.
Having PVAS Board members in the past being on the City Council insured that Peru's best interest was served with PVAS. Thats really all it was.
Another conspiracy theory, Baker does not own the building, the property or anything affiliated with PVAS. He does not serve on the Board or has any input at PVAS. His only interest is Peru and keeping the ambulance service alive and maintaining low tax rates for the residents of Peru. For most of us that own property in Peru, he has a excellent point.
I distinctly remember when the mayoral election was being held and the debate was held at the Peru Library and although I don't remember the question, Mayor Baker answered with "Peru is my life"
I guess that explains why he can't let go and enjoy his retirement as he should.
The faces are changing at City Hall and this is what we can expect more of in the future because that is life and change is always inevitable. We may not like it or approve it but it happens.
The cities of Ottawa, Princeton and Mendota already have fire department/ems services and at some time in the future, Peru may join those cities. EMT's will always have jobs but it may not always be with the same service they are with now.
Lois, The question is as a resident of Peru are you willing to pay xxx amount of dollars to have your own ambulance service? And why if you already have one with a supplement of $48,000 a year, that is not taxed on you real estate bills? Maybe, a few would agree to tax the residents. I think we heard a few elected officials say its inevitable that taxes will go up. Most of us would want to avoid higher taxes. And from most points of view this discussion is not about service quality. Its about money and who gets the money. The choice is a private service without tax dollars or a public service supported by tax dollars. We have seen the public side work with the benefits, long term pensions, capital costs that never end. Once we get on board with that roller coaster of costs, we can't get off. Its forever. Peru is fortunate that it has a private service that has been able to provide quality care for residents. Other cities don't have that option. Yes, times change and past priorities are no longer current priorities. Is that what we want as residents? Before your time my grandmother used to say "Beware of the medicine man selling you health in a bottle". The value of the phrase was don't trust the wagon or the horse carrying the medicine. Make your own judgements!
PVAS has no owners and the Board has no compensation. Former Mayor Don Baker has no ownership with PVAS. No individuals have any ownership with PVAS. The only compensation is that of the paid staff. You can make your own judgements on the qualifications of each individual that serves on the Board. Same with the local hospital boards, library board, recreation commission, Easter Seals, United Way, Horizon House, on and on. No compensation and all are volunteers. The ambulance Board is no different than those many volunteer organizations. All organizations have a different mission, however no compensation exists.
No compensation may be given but you people have to know that for many, many years only Peru elected officials were allowed on the board. Are there the same restrictions on the other boards you named 2:41? Why would they have to be Peru city officials if the service is not Peru owned or operated?
2:41 PM
There is no such thing that PVAS has no owners. They have assets and if there are no owners, to whom do the assets belong? If the service ever dissolved and I can't even imagine who would be in charge of that decision, what happens to the equipment, the building and supplies. If there are no owners, will it be free to the first to take them.
Even a not for profit agency, has something for which somebody paid money.
I have said before and I will say again, you could search high and low and I don't think you will find another not for profit running a city ambulance that is supposedly self sustaining but being supported some by the city and yet claims to be private.
Those are things that should have been presented on Tuesday instead it turned into an angry and loud and nasty event.
I was told by one member of the ambulance board that I was too political. In other words keep your nose out of the ambulance business.
Lois, I would say if any board member or employee of pvas wants you or any other citizen of Peru to keep their nose out of it, or, not be so political then I would recommend they boot the aldermen off the board and not take 50,000.00 of the tax payers dollars,until then....It's your/ our business to stick our noses into.
I had a conversation with Alderman Rod Perez regarding the aldermen on the board. Rod told me that they do not represent the city while on that board. Rod said If the board would like city representation on their board then the mayor and full council would have to approve that. Rod also stated the city would handle it like any other board through the city with the mayor making the recommendation for the board with council's approval and all meetings, minutes, etc would be legally posted for the public.
That made perfect sense to me. I would have to bet that if peru ambulance did away with that board with the aldermen on it, or have the mayor appoint them an make Peru Ambulance a TRUE ' PERU AMBULANCE" keep it the way it is but have the mayor appoint the department head like every other department.
There are no owners of PVAS. The assets of the corporation do not go to any individuals. If the not for profit organization dissolves the assests of the organization will go toward another not for profit organization. It is spelled out legally by laws specific for not for profits. If the organization has liabilities then that like organization would absorb those liabilities or bankruptcy court would require the most responsible bidder. No individual can at any time make claim to the assets of the organization. Including employees.
If Peru or the ALD.Committee of one would like to absorb PVAS into City operations as suggested, you then have to absorb everything including the liabilities. Some would say that would be a costly venture and some would ask if the City has the capabilities to manage another entity. Sounds like this is a power struggle with a few members of the city council buying in that the succesful current service would work better with city taxes, fulltime union jobs and their newly founded expertise.
Why the big deal with PVAS. The library is a city entity with a high tax rate and has been very profitable. It has a seperate board with no jurisdiction from the City Officials. It works well and provides the city with a service that is shared by the entire community. The only difference is that the Mayor appoints the members of the board, hopefully for their dedication and service to the library. I guess this would work for PVAS if the organization had a tax rate, they don't. PVAS sends reports each month to the City, however remains a private not for profit for many reasons including Peru's liability.
9:32 AM
If I can locate one of the reports, I will post it on the blog.
It is strictly numbers not of finances but of calls.
Lois in response to your post from 1:49 I don't know what meeting you were at but Mark started out the meeting by introducing the board. As far as your other questions about the board, why didn't you raise your hand and ask? I suspect then you wouldn't have any thing to complain about. Also Mark stated at the end of the meeting his door is always open. If you have questions, why not make an appointment and go down to the service to ask you questions?
How do you know Lasalle left because of the make up of the board? You have stated many times that Lasalle left because of money. So which is it? It seems like you like to make things up and post them to fit your argument.
The make up of the board has always had alderman on the board so the city has some say how there money has been spent. Since the board also has people beside alderman I don't understand how this reamains an issue.
Don Baker is still a tax paying member of this city and should get his questions answered and have his concerns heard the same as you or anybody else in the city. Lois maybe you should take your own advice and let go and enjoy your retirement.
If Baker doesn' own the building, then why did he always have his fingers in it, and always had his special few aldermen on the board?
He also had the little resturant next to the ambulance building built for someone in his family. Its time he goes away.
Baker has no ownership in the building, that is public knowledge. The food shack has nothing to do with PVAS. It makes sense to have City officials on the board, that insures the city is taken care of by PVAS. If Don Baker wants to discuss Ald. Perez's plan, he should be granted the opportunity to have his questions answered.
All the questions and critics have been throwing haymakers at PVAS. And telling PVAS that this is not about the service. On the other side of the conversation those same idividuals are making PVAS out to be a circus act. In reality the major question Peru should ask is "Why do you believe the fire department can do the service better and less expensive?" Is Ald.Perez really the one qualified to answer that question? This isn't a fireworks display! Its unexplainable that this is a committee of him only. Mayor Harl needs to step in and redirect this committee of one.
12:04 PM
If you were at the meeting you would know that I did ask questions and had more but the meeting ended and they were not taking anymore.
Please tell me where I said La Salle was leaving because of money, exact time place and words.
Anon 12:04 Correction: The City does pay a large fee to the pvas but the aldermen that are on that board are on there as a cover to make it seem as though there is city representation from those aldermen. The city has " NO " say what pvas does with their money if they did then pvas would have to make their financials open to the public and their meeting minutes would also have to be made public. If those aldermen on the board of pvas were attending meetings as representation of the city, then they are doing it illegal because those minutes and agendas need to be posted and available to the city. You people have to understand that the old administration was able to pose as if they were a representation of the city but they legally weren't. Just like when the city was covering pvas insurance and many other things through the city. Mayor Harl and a new administration came in and started cleaning house and sealing the cracks. I read the paper and see Baker and some of these old admins showing up to these meetings in an uproar!! Come on People..They are in an uproar because the contaminated dirt and all of that bad bacteria is surfacing and they are ticked because this new admin is cleaning up the city and calling them out on the way. Baker did a great job up until the late 80s then he got to comfy and started being a Chicago politician. Once Baker realizes this is no longer HIS city we will continue to see him and his cronies crying at those meetings. Aldermen Joe M. and Alderman R. Wren were the only aldermen that could bring reason to Baker. Sad those 2 aldermen had to leave so soon. Bless their hearts.
Lois you had plenty of time to ask questions, you have never been afraid to open your mouth, so why that night? Because you didn't get your questions answered, I'm sure you have taken advantage of Mark's offer and called him or went down to the ambulance and talked with him.
When PVAS covered Lasalle, Lasalle wanted and got one of there alderman on the ambulance board. So to say Lasalle split off because of the board could not be more wrong.
Don Baker does not now or has ever owned the building that the ambulance operates out of. The building was put there and was voted on by ambulance members because it was central between Lasalle and Peru. And what in the hell does the fact that Baker used to own the restaurant have to do with anything?
aNON 3:13 ha ha ha. A cover..The books are wide open. Roberson has said this many times. Go to PVAS they won't mind. Nothing to hide. Your information about Baker and past is fiction.
Does anyone else think it was overkill the night of the meeting when 5 ambulances were parked in the parking lot at City Hall? Some of them sat there running for 2 hours. Nice to have so much money that you can take these gas guzzling vehicles for leisure drives all over town. Wonder who was manning the station that night. I personally think it was unnecessary!
Anybody listen to the scanner during the snowstorm we had last Friday? The accident on the bridge had injuries, and only one ambulance from PVAS responded, as the other was already on another call. Dispatch did an all call for another crew. After SEVERAL minutes, dispatch advised "Noone answered the all call. Do you want us to call someone else?" The reply was no, have the other ambulance meet us here after they clear the hospital. This is not an isolated incident, but common practice. PVAS refuses to call for help when it is clearly needed. Obviously there is a failure of leadership.
Baker owned the property the building was built on thats why the building was put there. Former Direcctor pat Jacklovich wanted the building up on shooting park road. Thats the truth. The Big Don got off the board long enough to make the transaction and then gets back on as president because thats what he commanded his puppets to do. You can verify this entry with county records.
Candidate 3:13 PVAS books are open for the public! The coverup seems to be Peru's secret secret plan for ambulance services for the residents of Peru.
Can we track down how much pvas paid baker for the land? Trip to the ottawa clerk's office should not be too hard. Was it a fair price per acre or % of an acre? I assume pvas has minutes, as all not for profits must have, that discusses and approves the purchase of the land? I would also assume that realtor appraisals would have been done on the land prior to purchase. Can I also assume that a copy of the appraisal would be attached to the bank loan? What bank financed the property and building? Was due diligence performed during the loan process? If it is true that the city paid insurance premiums for this business than I also assume that anybody can go to the city and ask for disbursements reports against each policy held by the city. The policy for each year should be on file and an educated individual could read through the policy to see exactly what property was covered under the policy. Good bookkeeping could provide answsers for all questions immediately.
Based on the simplistic nature of the report provided by the director, I am pretty sure I would not be comfortable with the "books" held at PVAC. I have to imagine that some areas of the books are private if HIPPA regs are followed?
Sounds like the nasty comments are about the Former Mayor and the PVAS board. Why would anybody care about the past? Are we not looking for the best service for the current Peru? The building is in a centrally locate area in the middle of LaSalle/Peru. From what has been discussed the call times are not the issue, the building is in a good spot. The PVAS annual report is on file and that is a open book. What specific numbers would you be looking for? Just ask the Director. The audit is performed by a professional CPA and the financial reports are also done by a professional CPA. The Board meets twice a month and all is on file with the IRS. The annual and monthly reports are also on file with the City of Peru. If you review the reports you will notice that there has never been any payments to past or current city officials.
Who was the CPA firm that kept books for PVAS
Just in the last few years, I was told someone in Granville was keeping books and prior to the it was Rorie Schweickert CPA.
PVAS put that building there only because Baker wanted it there. The former director and some of the original members have many times spoken about PVAS putting the building on shooting park road. It still would have served LaSalle well. If its no problem to respond from the current location to the shooting park road area or further north, why would it be a problem running from shooting park road or further north to down town or near the current location. By putting it up north you would have prepared yourself for the future expansion north. That idea of the current location being ideal for the two towns is the dumbest excuse ever heard. Your growth is to the north and the north only. What would ever possess you to think it was a lock that LaSalle would always stay with pvas. During the open meetings with LaSalle it was stated many times that Peru never consulted with LaSalle. It was also stated that LaSalle offered its fire station to house units for peru and where ignored. When two communities share its to be at the benefit of both. Not what one entity says is good for the other. Peru was always doing what it could to not allow anyone from LaSalle on thier board. Then when they did, it was only one person. Thats the same as having nobody. Baker once stated years ago at a PVAS christmas party that they would not allow anyone from LaSalle on the board because they were to stupid. Cities do not go out an build seperate ambulance buildings and seperate fire stations. Who is the stupid one now! you don`t see Oglesby,Utica,LaSalle,Mendota,Ottawa,tax payers paying or subsidizing two seperate Buildings. Show me where the savings is at. Here is an idea, put up a big public safety building up by Midway plaza to house all fire/ems and police and sell the other buildings and use the money to pay down the loan.
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