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
The Democratic caucus lasted about 15 minutes at Peru City Hall and candidates were selected whereas the Republican caucus lasted for hours at 2123 Fourth Street in a building owned by Bob Vickery, current twp. clerk, with at least 4 votes taken and controversy and uncertainty still remain. From what I have heard there are doubts that everything was handled properly. Crowding close to one hundred people into a very small building certainly presented a safety problem and the fire dept. should make the Republican caucus aware that this should never happen again. Are there rules that the parties must abide by when voting in a caucus situation, such as adequate room, seating, safe conditions?
Finally! Citizens of Peru read about the corrupt TWP Board in a Trib article and average citizens stood up and ran for office to make change. This is awesome! Every current TWP member should be voted out and replaced. Is it to late for an article to be printed in the Trib about the backroom deals that must be taking place in all of the closed sessions the City of Peru has about every week.Lets review their minutes when/if ever released and see how they did business. Maybe a news story would wake people up and run for office to replace some of those small minds. I hold a position that wouldn't allow me to run or I'd be cleaning house!
Earlier this year, a group of Peru Township residents and the News Tribune shared research to publish investigative stories that showed Peru Township elected officials were among the highest paid in the state. The township spent more on retirement benefits for 1 employee than it did on state-mandated charity care. Plus, most of the tax dollars paid by citizens for roads were used for salaries and benefits. The above paragraph has been copied word for word from the Wednesday, 12/5/12 blog comment and the article titled Peru Township elected positions to be contested in April written by Kevin Caufied, Staff Writer. I, as many others, are pleased to see that both the News Tribune and the Peru Town Forum are actively leading the distribution of knowledge of Peru Township Board (offices) both incumbents and candidates. To each, Kevin and Lois, a BIG Thank You and letting you know that a lot of us are depending on both of you for your expert comments in the upcoming months about the local political scene. Your insight and folow-up will enable many to cast a educated vote. Again Thanks.
I heartily agree with Dec 5 2:05 PM about voting out incumbents but then we will have new members that will be receiving the same pay!!! Has anyone talked about their voting to reduce their own pay and more importantly reducing the retirement options. It has to start somewhere and there is no time like the present. We need to find out what these new people feel and think and are more importantly, ready to step forward to address this inequity.
Get rid of Hocking! Big problem with Steve running, he's as big of a UNION pusher as Harl! No matter what the outcome, Peru twp. is still a big joke and ripoff. In fact it may just get worse.
I live on 6th st in Peru, Nelson and Mitchell asked me to sign their petition after what I heard I signed it i never voted for an independent before but I will be in April! I wrote their positions down and am glad they have a plan to cut salaries, eliminate the retirement benefits and cut the $250 monthly medical stipend that the officers receive. While also eliminating the wasteful spending by road commissioner I look forward to hearing more from them. I could careless if your republican or democrat we need conservative reform in here
The need to abolish the township has not changed no matter who is running. There is no need for the Peru positions at all. If voters want a township function, the Lasalle twp could merge or cover Peru at 10% of the cost to Peru and distribute the Tax funds to the needy and take care of the roads easily enough.
7:07 Yes you can and it is happening in THIS state. The people can and will abolish these outdated and unnecessary organizations. Granted, some townships seem to be effectively doing things , but the Peru one is one that should be exposed in the Chicago papers, not just the News Trib.
Why can't cant can't you cut the whole thing? The vast majority of it's budget is expense, without performing any necessary FUNCTION.
Somewhere taxes must be reduced and the elimination of a unnecessary government body would be the place to start. The few miles of road the township maintains should be transferred to other sources and the township is the last in the chain to help the needy and therefore never approached. What would the taxes be reduced by if the township was eliminated? This is not about being a good guy or a bad guy but instead about not performing any necessary function.
6:07 p.m. And what's also funny about Steve running is I hear he is also running for 4th ward alderman as well! How do you think that will play out? I think Alderman Potthoff will rally his supporters to vote for Lukosus while Justin and Steve will wind up sharing votes. This is one big joke.
So, was Bobby V ousted by the party for his "less than Republican" service on the County Board or did he just decide that the kitchen was to hot? My prediction, Peru Township will continue to churn out the pay checks. They will just have different names on them.
Lois, the time to fracture the chance to get control of the township board isn't now. We need to rally the voters to elect all the new canadiates if we do they can cut our taxes and cut the spending, then we can dissolve the road department and that will allow about 70% cut in township tax. Raising the hope of the entire township being done away with now is only helping the incumbents and focus on making the changes now for responsible and transparent township. We need conservative reformers and that is not hocking or Ozzy! Don't forget Bernabi asked for an increase in his retirement contribution for being a trustee. They all must go!!!
The standard bearer of the next twp. bd. membership should be judged by their willingness to take a substantial pay cut. Before election all candidates should submit the pay scale which they believe is justifiable. There is no reward to the taxpayer to vote out the present incumbernts and continue on with a twp. bd. if the newly elected only carry on as the present have shown a history of. The proper method would be to improve not destroy. With the present pay scale and lack of a equivalent work load could a positive solution be a referrendum petitioning for a combination of townships to identify if there could be a need of this segment of government representation. If there is no need elimination should be called for in the next statewide election and the township boards responsibilities would have to ber turned over to another body such as the city. Peru should be able to handle a couple of more blocks of roads which is sensibly theres anyhow.
What are the guidelines for a establishment of a township? For instance: TOWNSHIPS BY COUNTY
LaSalle County - 36 Townships
Cook County - 30 Townships
Will County - 23 Townships
Rock Island - 18 Townships
McClean - 8 Townships
Somewhere there must be a explanation of why the number of townships by county appears to be so far out of balance, and someone should have the responsibility to explain and justify the above. This appears to be another county board in which LaSalle County has a larger membership than Los Angles County and has chosen to stay as is rather than recognize the citizens vote.
townships are laid out in 36 square mile tracts. for some reason, probably going back to the 1830's Peru and LaSalle Townships are about half that. LaSalle County has so many because it is one of the largest - landwise that is. Don't know why Peru and LaSalle Townships are so small - but I think it has to do with the fact that the people that settled in Peru wanted nothing to do with LaSalle - something about LaSalle taking all the canal business and some bad debt issued in Peru's name and taken by LaSalle.
Attn: 4:51 AM, You make an interesting "guess" based on well, nothing in particular. Here's another scenario which I think is much more likely. Dave Potthoff will support and actually speak highly of Mr. Weberski. Steve Weberski will likely run a well organized campaign with broad support throughout the entire city as well as the 4th Ward. Then, after all the votes are tallied it becomes apparent that Mr. Lukosus and Mr. Loger have in fact "split" the remaining vote with the official tally breakdown being something like this: Weberski 54%, Loger 24%, and Lukosus 22%. Give or take a margin of error of plus or minus 3%. What do you think of that?
Getting a non binding referendum going would be a good place to start. By educating the electorate about the waste and hopefully getting a massive vote in favor of abolishing the township in its CURRENT form, the groundwork would be laid for new blood, and their mandate would be to reform. Moving the road work would be a great first step, then focusing on the assistance of the poor could be prioritized. Should things not change, the process of petitioning the legislature could proceed, and the current court cases could be watched to see individual municipality results.
I'd like to know why so many candidates are running as independents this year. Has it been virtually impossible to unseat an incumbent in the past if you ran as a party representative? If so why?
What qualifies anyone to be a council member in their ward is the desire to do what the majority of your constituents want! Not what the mayor wants or what your personal interests want you to do.
Well someone should inform those aldermen what the qualifications are for the job, because they are certainly lacking in the what the majority of your constituents want.
Mr. Weberski will take the office off and running with his wheels already on the ground. You will find him knowlegable in the areas the city spends big money on and capable to do something about. Justin,a young person, is very interested in Peru and a much needed representative of the younger segment and what they desire . As for the present alderman I can't comment because he has not done anything that is publicly known in his two years of office.
31 comments:
The Democratic caucus lasted about 15 minutes at Peru City Hall and candidates were selected whereas the Republican caucus lasted for hours at 2123 Fourth Street in a building owned by Bob Vickery, current twp. clerk, with at least 4 votes taken and controversy and uncertainty still remain. From what I have heard there are doubts that everything was handled properly. Crowding close to one hundred people into a very small building certainly presented a safety problem and the fire dept. should make the Republican caucus aware that this should never happen again. Are there rules that the parties must abide by when voting in a caucus situation, such as adequate room, seating, safe conditions?
Finally! Citizens of Peru read about the corrupt TWP Board in a Trib article and average citizens stood up and ran for office to make change. This is awesome! Every current TWP member should be voted out and replaced.
Is it to late for an article to be printed in the Trib about the backroom deals that must be taking place in all of the closed sessions the City of Peru has about every week.Lets review their minutes when/if ever released and see how they did business.
Maybe a news story would wake people up and run for office to replace some of those small minds.
I hold a position that wouldn't allow me to run or I'd be cleaning house!
Was that the meeting on 4th st last night? Drove past around 7ish and saw a huge crowd. I don't know how the floor held up to be honest with you.
Earlier this year, a group of Peru Township residents and the News Tribune shared research to publish investigative stories that showed Peru Township elected officials were among the highest paid in the state. The township spent more on retirement benefits for 1 employee than it did on state-mandated charity care. Plus, most of the tax dollars paid by citizens for roads were used for salaries and benefits.
The above paragraph has been copied word for word from the Wednesday, 12/5/12 blog comment and the article titled Peru Township elected positions to be contested in April written by Kevin Caufied, Staff Writer.
I, as many others, are pleased to see that both the News Tribune and the Peru Town Forum are actively leading the distribution of knowledge of Peru Township Board (offices) both incumbents and candidates. To each, Kevin and Lois, a BIG Thank You and letting you know that a lot of us are depending on both of you for your expert comments in the upcoming months about the local political scene. Your insight and folow-up will enable many to cast a educated vote. Again Thanks.
I heartily agree with Dec 5 2:05 PM about voting out incumbents but then we will have new members that will be receiving the same pay!!! Has anyone talked about their voting to reduce their own pay and more importantly reducing the retirement options. It has to start somewhere and there is no time like the present. We need to find out what these new people feel and think and are more importantly, ready to step forward to address this inequity.
Get rid of Hocking! Big problem with Steve running, he's as big of a UNION pusher as Harl! No matter what the outcome, Peru twp. is still a big joke and ripoff. In fact it may just get worse.
I live on 6th st in Peru, Nelson and Mitchell asked me to sign their petition after what I heard I signed it i never voted for an independent before but I will be in April! I wrote their positions down and am glad they have a plan to cut salaries, eliminate the retirement benefits and cut the $250 monthly medical stipend that the officers receive. While also eliminating the wasteful spending by road commissioner I look forward to hearing more from them. I could careless if your republican or democrat we need conservative reform in here
The need to abolish the township has not changed no matter who is running. There is no need for the Peru positions at all. If voters want a township function, the Lasalle twp could merge or cover Peru at 10% of the cost to Peru and distribute the Tax funds to the needy and take care of the roads easily enough.
you cant CANT CANT cut that stuff once it is in place!!
7:07 Yes you can and it is happening in THIS state. The people can and will abolish these outdated and unnecessary organizations. Granted, some townships seem to be effectively doing things , but the Peru one is one that should be exposed in the Chicago papers, not just the News Trib.
Why can't cant can't you cut the whole thing? The vast majority of it's budget is expense, without performing any necessary FUNCTION.
Somewhere taxes must be reduced and the elimination of a unnecessary government body would be the place to start. The few miles of road the township maintains should be transferred to other sources and the township is the last in the chain to help the needy and therefore never approached. What would the taxes be reduced by if the township was eliminated?
This is not about being a good guy or a bad guy but instead about not performing any necessary function.
6:07 p.m. And what's also funny about Steve running is I hear he is also running for 4th ward alderman as well! How do you think that will play out? I think Alderman Potthoff will rally his supporters to vote for Lukosus while Justin and Steve will wind up sharing votes. This is one big joke.
So, was Bobby V ousted by the party for his "less than Republican" service on the County Board or did he just decide that the kitchen was to hot? My prediction, Peru Township will continue to churn out the pay checks. They will just have different names on them.
change the township and mayor
Lois, the time to fracture the chance to get control of the township board isn't now. We need to rally the voters to elect all the new canadiates if we do they can cut our taxes and cut the spending, then we can dissolve the road department and that will allow about 70% cut in township tax. Raising the hope of the entire township being done away with now is only helping the incumbents and focus on making the changes now for responsible and transparent township. We need conservative reformers and that is not hocking or Ozzy! Don't forget Bernabi asked for an increase in his retirement contribution for being a trustee. They all must go!!!
The standard bearer of the next twp. bd. membership should be judged by their willingness to take a substantial pay cut. Before election all candidates should submit the pay scale which they believe is justifiable. There is no reward to the taxpayer to vote out the present incumbernts and continue on with a twp. bd. if the newly elected only carry on as the present have shown a history of.
The proper method would be to improve not destroy. With the present pay scale and lack of a equivalent work load could a positive solution be a referrendum petitioning for a combination of townships to identify if there could be a need of this segment of government representation. If there is no need elimination should be called for in the next statewide election and the township boards responsibilities would have to ber turned over to another body such as the city. Peru should be able to handle a couple of more blocks of roads which is sensibly theres anyhow.
What are the guidelines for a establishment of a township? For instance:
TOWNSHIPS BY COUNTY
LaSalle County - 36 Townships
Cook County - 30 Townships
Will County - 23 Townships
Rock Island - 18 Townships
McClean - 8 Townships
Somewhere there must be a explanation of why the number of townships by county appears to be so far out of balance, and someone should have the responsibility to explain and justify the above.
This appears to be another county board in which LaSalle County has a larger membership than Los Angles County and has chosen to stay as is rather than recognize the citizens vote.
townships are laid out in 36 square mile tracts. for some reason, probably going back to the 1830's Peru and LaSalle Townships are about half that. LaSalle County has so many because it is one of the largest - landwise that is.
Don't know why Peru and LaSalle Townships are so small - but I think it has to do with the fact that the people that settled in Peru wanted nothing to do with LaSalle - something about LaSalle taking all the canal business and some bad debt issued in Peru's name and taken by LaSalle.
Attn: 4:51 AM,
You make an interesting "guess" based on well, nothing in particular.
Here's another scenario which I think is much more likely.
Dave Potthoff will support and actually speak highly of Mr. Weberski. Steve Weberski will likely run a well organized campaign with broad support throughout the entire city as well as the 4th Ward.
Then, after all the votes are tallied it becomes apparent that Mr. Lukosus and Mr. Loger have in fact "split" the remaining vote with the official tally breakdown being something like this: Weberski 54%, Loger 24%, and Lukosus 22%.
Give or take a margin of error of plus or minus 3%.
What do you think of that?
Getting a non binding referendum going would be a good place to start. By educating the electorate about the waste and hopefully getting a massive vote in favor of abolishing the township in its CURRENT form, the groundwork would be laid for new blood, and their mandate would be to reform. Moving the road work would be a great first step, then focusing on the assistance of the poor could be prioritized.
Should things not change, the process of petitioning the legislature could proceed, and the current court cases could be watched to see individual municipality results.
Don't forget Steve Weberski was REVEREND GODFATHER HARL'S Campaign manager!
I'd like to know why so many candidates are running as independents this year. Has it been virtually impossible to unseat an incumbent in the past if you ran as a party representative? If so why?
12:00 I don't see why Potthoff would support the person who was running against him two years ago...
5:50 PM, Then you obviously don't understand "politics".
Dave would support Steve W. because he is the most qualified of the three candidates running for fourth ward alderman in this election.
11:51. Surely you meant to put lol after your comment, yes? Not saying Steve isn't the most qualified, just saying Potthoff would never support him.
And what exactly "qualifies" you to be an alderman?
What qualifies anyone to be a council member in their ward is the desire to do what the majority of your constituents want! Not what the mayor wants or what your personal interests want you to do.
Well someone should inform those aldermen what the qualifications are for the job, because they are certainly lacking in the what the majority of your constituents want.
I was just referring as to what made Mr. Weberski more "qualified" than Mr. Lukosus or Mr. Loger
Mr. Weberski will take the office off and running with his wheels already on the ground. You will find him knowlegable in the areas the city spends big money on and capable to do something about.
Justin,a young person, is very interested in Peru and a much needed representative of the younger segment and what they desire . As for the present alderman I can't comment because he has not done anything that is publicly known in his two years of office.
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