City Park bandshell gets the go-ahead - MyWebTimes.com
Thumbs up, Streator is getting a bandshell!
I am sure the residents of Streator are thanking you for this wonderful project and I believe that it will get lots of use and will be something the city can be proud of.
16 comments:
It would be crazy to build one in Peru when LaSalle will be putting up a big one in the new 110 acre park overlooking the bluff. Maybe hold off and work with LaSalle to get a large one for the entire area. What are your thoughts about that?
4:36 PM
I am looking forward to the proposed LaSalle bandshell and hope that it will be one of their early projects in their new park. As a resident of Peru, I would like to LaSalle and Peru work together on many things but knowing the people in political positions here in town, I don't see it happening in the near future.
correction to above post "I would like to see La Salle and Peru work together"
You will never see that until certain old guard residents of Peru are gone. They are known as the "Baker clan" or Baker lovers" who believe the best way for the communities to get along is if LaSalle does what Peru says. We need to be equal partners. Both sides need to benefit equally. Both need to have an equal say in what happens. For two long these old guard residents hated LaSalle and that was all that was on their agenda was to hurt LaSalle. The possibilities are endless on what the two towns can do along with the other IV area communities. The other problem is the other communities are paying for Peru`s schools, roads etc because of the sales tax structure. you never hear a thankyou from Peru city or Peru schools to all the other towns. Question would be if peru did not have the sale tax or stores started popping up in other communities, would peru survive? My guess is property tax in peru would go up. Count your blessing Peru. Be thankful. Nothing is forever. I will say that hate attitude is not shared by a majority of Peru residents. Just those who feel they are entitled to run the city regardless of the will of the voters and to those who over a 40 year period got personally rich off of developement in peru and got their way on all situations. Now they are out and cannot handle it.
Anon 7:55 You maintain that the "Old Guard of Peru" is the reason that Peru does not have a cooperative effort with LaSalle.
You also feel as many others that possibilities are endless if the IV communities would work together.
What is the delay in the work together attitude taking place? Three years ago Peru, LaSalle, Oglesby and Spring Valley all elected new Mayors and yet you see no success in a co-op. It is appearing that they need Don and the "Old Guard" for professional leadership.
12:30 PM
I don't understand your post, if we were not cooperating when Baker was mayor and we are not cooperating at the present time, how would Baker improve the cooperation? He was part of the Peru can do it along mentality and he was never ever interested in sharing the spotlight or even a lawn mower with the city of La Salle.
It may take generations and a new group of citizens to improve the atmosphere between the 2 cities.
Just think about the past and you will see why a gettogether with La Salle is out of the question. In the 40s and 50s La Salle had everything (shopping, etc.) and didn't care one bit about Peru. When Don Baker was mayor they laughed at him when he ran utilities up north from Shooting Park Road. He had the drive and maybe some connections to develop the area for the future and it worked out to Peru's benefit. Now, why in the world would they want to share with someone else what they paid for? It's like when you played marbles and the winner went home with all the marbles. People can rant and rave all they want about Mayor Baker, but he was good for Peru and knew how to play his marbles.
Now Lois I know you like to have the last word so have at it.
Blogger Lois said...
My point is simply this.
The police and fire departments get along well with other and provide mutual aid and assistance. We share a high school LaSalle Peru Oglesby and Utica students grow and learn together, not caring where their friends live whether it is Peru or LaSalle. There are residents in Peru who go to church in LaSalle and some in LaSalle who come to Peru.
I have always had friends and family in LaSalle and Peru, made no difference to me. I personally have always considered this one community. I shop in both, I have received medical care in both and take part in entertainment in both.
We share one hospital and the railroad tracks run through both cities as do streets and sidewalks connecting us. And this year we will probably use their swimming pool.
We are one community separated by politicians.
Lois and Cecil, great comments and both correct. No doubt Cecil that Mayor Baker had vision , business instincts and a love of the City of Peru. What Mayor Baker would want for Peru today I am not sure of but I do know that he is responsible for its present success and the position in the community it has reached.
Lois you are correct we are one community, LaSalle and Peru. We are looked at by surrounding cities as being one community and it would be to our advantage to actually and truly be one.
At the present time LaSalle and Peru both need leadership with vision to know if now is or when the proper time to would be to start to move our cities along with Spring Valley and Oglesby in a bonding direction.
It would be great if Don Baker would take this project on as he is the elder statesman of LaSalle County with the leadership skills to accomplish such a project. He is also the person who could obtain the help of the tools which would be needed, finances, working personnel, political contacts etc. Maybe it is time to ask him of what he sees for the future of Peru after forty four years of being its Mayor, and if he would help Peru one more time with continuing this future.
Lets see you voted Don Baker out of office and now you want Don to replace the current Leadership in both Peru and LaSalle. It sounds like many are unhappy with the results. Is it time to bring back the OLD Guard? It's Time......what a great campaign slogan!
Lois, you forgot that we are also seperated by tax rates, power rates, school districts, sales revenues. There is much more to it than we all like each other or we are all one! With that reasoning I am not suprised that you haven't staged a Occupy Peru demostration. That way we can just divide those resources into one big happy pot of gold. Everybody should make the same amount of money, everybody should have the same health care, more, more, more. Lois, please tell us that you live in Peru because of the above mentioned advantages. Why continue to divide a successful city?
2:45 PM
If you don't understand the point of my comment and others who believe what I was saying, then there is nohting in the world that would convince you any differently and I won't waste my time
It is nice to say that we are "one community" but political boundaries are part of life in the USA and "one community" is not reality. There are many examples of twin, tri and quad cities and they all maintain their political boundaries. The fact is if you live in Peru you would NOT want your city's resources combined, your school districts combined or your money combined. Why? Because your taxes would go through the roof, as the resources would be spread over twice the population. It is just a matter of business. Business-minded people understand this. A little competition between communities is not a bad thing. When you combine there is ALWAYS one who benefits more than the other. This really isn't even worth debating.
To 12:50 p.m. - I beleive you nailed it.
I can't believe that people are so blind that they can't see that working together (instead of against) their neighbors is beneficial to one and all. Sharing thoughts, ideas, equipment, manpower, knowledge, etc. can only help - not hinder. Hasn't our public works superintendent already borrowed a tool from LaSalle and then found it so beneficial Peru purchased their own? Correct me if I'm wrong Lois, but isn't this the train of thought you were leading to with this topic? Steve, I can't believe you don't see the benefits working together with our neighbors could produce.
9:41 AM
Yes that is my point, that the things tat make us the same are more than the things that make us different. There will always be political differences but there is so much we could share, especially regarding parks and recreation.
Regarding schools, we already share with La Salle and Oglesby, our high school and the junior college is what is called a Community College.
Do schools share anything on a local level such as sciene Fairs, spelling bees etc? I think that would be a good starting point. Maybe the young could show the adults how to get along.
It does not make sense to continually degrade the city next to you because in the long run that will hurt our city also.
When both cities are thriving, we all win.
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