It seems that a local promoter was given permission before the facts were presented either to the city council or to the people of Peru. The issue is not that 15,000 people will descend upon this city of 10,000 for an evening of entertainment but that it will bring other issues to the forefront.
I had expected a full discussion of this at the council meeting because it is going to impact upon so many people in town, but it has not happened. So many people seem to be out of the loop, including other elected officials. The Mayor of Peru has always served as liquor commissioner and controls who gets a license and who doesn't. Think back to the 4th of July a few years ago when there were disputes about who could sell on Water St and who could not. This is a very lucrative permission to be given when you are allowed to sell liquor at a public outdoor event attended by thousands of people.
At previous events where the servers made sure all liquor buyers were of age by asking for an ID seemed to have prevented problems but I don't believe that the people who attended previous concerts came in this great a number. How do you prevent situations from developing? Can you have a big time concert without alcohol? Illegal drugs are another matter, so do we have to have drug sniffing dogs check everybody coming in?
As always a few ruin so much for the many. Unlike the Taste of Chicago and the Blues Fest, this is NOT sponsored by the city and we have No sponsors ponying up any bucks to cover the cost to our city or to cover the loss of money in rent that we lose to make enough room for parking. Fifty cents a ticket won't do it. And please don't run by us again all the money we will make from motel and restaurant sales tax, as most people come and go the same day and even eat in the many towns surrounding us. Probably stop for lunch at Ottawa Cracker Barrel and supper at La Salle Denny's, we have absolutely no control over that.
20 comments:
Another well written, common sense post Lois. Once again our council and mayor have jumped into and committed themselves to an event without proper planning. Just as the rec commission purchased pickleball equipment and is still trying to figure out how to allow the taxpayers (who paid for it) access to it. They seem to just jump right in and think later. There should have been a lot more discussion regarding this concert before permission was granted. I don't believe any questions were asked or discussion made.
Lois has the FFA aproved it yet ? or have they even been told of the event yet ? I think this would be a primary question then last min. Just wondering ?
From reading the news, this is a done deal and all of the arrangements have been made by the Mayor and the Committee. The event is held at the airport and the Mayor is in charge of liquor control. I would imagine that the airport committee has been involved and Mayor Harl has approved details. A nice event for Peru.
What committee are you referring to 11:35? Just curious!
11:25 AM
We do not have an airport committee, that property is bundled into the Public Property Committee. If you check the minutes of their minutes, you will only find the information I have posted about the city taking over the farm land that was being rented by private individuals.
We all appreciate the new signs with the City of Peru logo placed on streets that are under construction! The signs say that our Mayor and City Council gave us these new street repairs. It should read-New road bought by the taxpayers! Did he write a personal check out for these construction projects? Maybe the drug sniffing dog should spend time at the campaign office at City Hall instead of the Charity Concert for a Cause.
Hey who is paying for these signs? The next campaign sign made should read "Self Praise Stinks". Time in office should be fully donated to managing the city rather than campaigning for next years election.
A successful Mayor runs on his past record alone and his ability to fulfill the promises he has made to the people.
I understand that these signs for the self promotion of the Mayor cost $2000.00 each. Maybe next time we could get something that can be used again for this kind of money. Maybe that could have paid for the grass seed at the airport. My mistake we don't need that either. Well maybe they could have just put in in the pool fund or maybe we could reuse them for speeding signs in the outfield at Washington Park.
If you want to see a good view of what's on these signs visit B. Foster's blog. I think whoever came up with this idea should be ashamed of themselves. I wonder if it meets all the requirements of the new "sign ordinance". Why is the mayor's name on it and why is the city council mentioned? They didn't pay for this project. Local residents did!
I wonder what's going to happen in April 2013? One year from now who will be our mayor?? And signs paid for now with his name on them. Stupid, paid by us taxpayers? What the heck is going on??? Politics and advertisements go hand in hand. Any ideas who will be running for mayor in Peru in 2013??? I would hope that whomever they may be that they are reading all blogs, attending council meetings, and won't be foolishly spending our taxpayers money.
I will need to FOIA the city for fire department records to find out how many and how much was paid to the volunteers to attend the concert. Yes I understand they do get paid but not 32 per hr, more like minimum wage. The light towers are used and I would like to get more information on their size, also number of vehicles that are there from the PFD. Understand that some of the large trucks might be hard to get out of that venue in case of an emergency elsewhere and we might need to get mutual aid. I have used the word might because I am still looking for information on stats.
Excellent question 3:04. Who else would run for mayor, and who would you support? I'm not necessarily referring to monetary support, but vocal.
Lois, you speak of mutual aid like its a bad thing. I believe our fire department goes mutual aid to LaSalle for every confirmed fire, and vice versa. Not sure if you've been to any events, fairs, festivals, concerts, or the like it other communities, but if you had, you would've seen police, fire, and EMS all there, not because they're wanting a free show. Just as our tax dollars pay for them to respond to our daily emergencies, they also pay for them to provide special and large event support. Some cities charge for these services, and some cities do not, especially when they involve local community organizations. Irrespective of the fact that the concert may be attended by a majority of people from out of town, the city departments have a responsibility to protect and serve them.
10:16 PM
Mutual aid is a good thing and a very important one for all of our cities. My point is that this is not a city sponsored event but a private one where the promoter is the recipient of a great deal of the profit and at this point in time, it is beginning to sound as if the city is putting both money and manpower into an event that is not for the cities benefit. Tell me where I am wrong. None of our departments are used to handling crowds of this number. The fire works produces major disruptions and that is only a few thousand people. We are talking of 15,000.
I read this information a few days ago and hesitated on giving the url because it is dated material but perhaps some of you might understand my concerns if you do read it.
http://www.crowdsafe.com/englishspeech.PDF
We don't want to pay them to teach fire safety at local safety events or promote the town in parades but we will pay them to direct traffic while babysitting drunks ?
Lois is correct in saying that public vs private is a entire different set of standards. If a private event is being held then the responsible party should provide the services for the event. If the fire fighters don't want to provide a community service for parades or safety events because they are not paid, thats unfortunate but their choice. From many of the previous topics its apparent that again the topic is about money. Listen..this is a private event and why should your tax dollars support a for profit activity?
This meeting of the Public Property Committee was held just prior to the city council meeting on the April 9, 2 weeks ago and this is part of the minutes.
"Concert – Mayor Harl stated that he spoke to Merry Noonan about the cost to the city of
taking the farm ground out of production for the concert. Studer re-emphasized that the
airport cannot show a loss from this event and must show income of fair market value
rent. After further discussion, it was noted that Noonan will have to pay more to cover
those monies lost due to taking crops out of production and planting grass."
Amazing that when this topic surfaced again just 2 days ago at the last city council meeting , not one word of this information was brought forward. It is beginning to become more and more evident that much of the decisions are hidden and it is like finding a needle in a haystack. Thankfully we have some very smart residents who are able to search them out.
Its pretty bad our city keeps us in the dark so we won't find their dirty little secrets.
Now, there are 2-3 (my opinion), city councilman who seem very intelligent with their heads screwed on right. Where have you been? And why are you sitting Un your chair at council meetings and playing stupid? If you don't want to represent us taxpayers with the credititability in which you were voted in for, then resign.
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