Peru Alderman Perez asked the city to explain spending on the newly formed BB Gun Club at Monday’s city council meeting. Perez asked why there were in the disbursements payments of $3,700 for the gun club.
He said he has totaled up all city expenditures for this club which come to about $12,000 and all expenses over $5000 are supposed to go to the appropriate committee to be approved.
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Treasurer Gary Hylla responded that expenses by the city for the BB gun club were nowhere near that amount.
Alderman Perez began reading from the copy of of recent city disbursements for the club starting with the amount of $1,861.
“Here you go,” Perez said, handing them to Hylla.
“You can give them to me after the meeting,” Hylla said, refusing to accept them.
The vote to approve was 6-1, with Perez voting “nay.”
Hylla did not want them after the mtg either and said he would not be available the next day. Aldermen Perez and Sherry Mayszak have asked at recent city council meetings about city spending on the club since in January and answers seem to be difficult to come by. This seems so simple, check to see how many checks have been written by the city or by credit card if that is what they used. Verify and total and tell the aldermen. This can all be seen on the video posted for the last council meeting February 27. |
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Minutes from the Peru City Council
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48 comments:
Treasurer Hylla did not accept the figures from Ald. Perez on paper either.
Sounds like Ald. Perez needed anothe 15 min of fame.
12:15 PM
No, I believe it will be Treasurer Hylla that will get the publicity because as a city official working with taxpayer money, he should be more than willing to discuss any discrepancy of money spent and distributed. Especially when it is not a necessary expenditure. Its fine to have a BB gun range in city but it is also important to be honest about the funding.
Back room funding is supposed to now be a thing of the past.
I just went through the recent 2013 disbursements and have to agree with alderman Perez that there is approximately $12,000 listed with regards to the bb gun club. If that's a mistake why was Mr. Hylla reluctant to answer and explain the discrepancies if indeed they exist?
I just went through them also. I spent awhile looking through them on the city web site. FYI I finally found them starting with January 16th General Fund totaled 5,700.00
February 13th Totaled $2000.00
February 27th Totaled $3,800.00 This looks to be close to $12,000.00 in spending. I went back as far as December and couldn't find any others. According to Monday's News Tribune the BB Gun Club is fully sponsored by volunteers and donations. Great Job Alderman Perez and Mayszak for calling them out on this. The city is suppose to be operating off of a budget, and I'm sure the BB Gun club was not in this budget.
Shouldn't the Mayor and Finance Committee be watching over the spending? What about Checks and Balances??
$12, 000.00?? What happend to all the donations the city was suppose to get for this? I'm beginning to think Peru is as bad as Dixon. HYLLA anf Harl .
12:44 more fantasy from the world of Bizzaro
What was Budget Director Hyllas reason for not accepting Alderman Perez's offer of leaving him look at the recent disbursements of the new BB Gun Club.
Alderman Perez presented his figures at a public meeting as a offficial of the city to another city official who refused the figures therefore refusing to discuss the figures. The Budget Director told Alderman Perez to give the figures to him after the meeting. As a follow up Hylla refused to accept the figures again.
The Mayor of Peru being the the man in charge of the city has the responsibility of keeping all elected officials and his appointed officials within their responsibilities and Code of Ethics, and to create a team effort.
What is the reasoning for Hyllas actions and what steps have been taken by Mayor to help maintain some respect of a city official when this form of behavior is shown at a city council meeting. The Mayor must know that the behavior of members of his administration reflect upon him personally and indicate what type of job he is doing. The qualities which the Mayor exhibits in the performance of his duties will reflect upon the number of votes he receives in April.
Its about time for the annual Helen Reddy video. I would much rather watch the Helen video than read another article about Ald. Perez trying to do the syfraning(Jefro Bodine) of the City finances. Last week the daily news described why he couldn't have his own checkbook for his operation. Please lets get back on track with the women...a salute to Helen Reddy
Cmon
This is the land of guns, rock and roll, drinkin, gambling, trucks and drugs.
We have to get the little guys started on shooting early soes we kin get that title of most gun clubs, churches, n bars in Numerica. Damn nat Rodney fer point in out how easy it is to get yer gun charity funded no questions asked. We could get so many more BB s if we could get some of that Prom ise money. I don't like em saying we can't let the kids drink at prom anyway. What about our IV traditions?
Damn new commers. What about respect fer Mr Hyler?
The mayor did nothing because as we all know he seems to have a dislike for the 2 aldermen who question things they don't feel are accurate. And, it appears as though Mr. Hylla has joined the mayor's forces and is, in my opinion, rather rude at times.
I find it strange Rodney was at the opening of the range as if he was an integral part of it. So what is his position???
3:17 PM
Why is it strange as I don't believe he was the sole alderman at the opening of the range. Just another thing some of the aldermen do, take part in city activities. He is not on any committee that would know about this and until the expenditures come our each month, most of the aldermen would not know cost.
3:11 OH no those poor souls that think they are disliked by the Mayor. 3:17 yes, thats what I like about him, he will change positions based on who was the last person he spoke to.
3:11 PM
Since I fall into the dislike group, I tend to think that we have discovered the inadequate leadership or lack of that Peru finds itself with and consider myself fortunate not a poor soul.Maybe like being in a maze and suddenly finding your way out. I tend to think that Ald. Perez and Ald. Mayszak might feel that way also.
3:11.. So funny! Actually funny and sad all in one! Can't wait til April 9.
Anon 317 I agree, Alderman Perez should turn his cheek and see no evil or question finances when it comes to certain things such as this. After all oversight and checks and balances should only apply to projects and spending he's involved in. I'm sure mayor Scott Harl and several other officials would agree. How Dare the Alderman question the status quo!!. Vote Perez Out!!!
Scott Harl will be able to Thank Rod for his election loss. Rod is Harls worse nightmare! I guess Rod's not a Harl supporter after all or he would zip his lip and hide the chaos!
Hopefully Rod will tell us who he's endorsing for mayor?
Who is this band of women? What is the platform? I always vote for the best candidate, should I now start to vote for just women? I am a liberated female that wants equal rights. What issues in Peru make this important for women to unite and vote?
band of women? they play in a band?
Anon 5:50 AM are not awake yet with that comment! This whole deal passed through Finance and no one else said a word - there is no line item that supports spending money on bb club read financials before saying he should turn his cheek it is aldermens job as well as mayor and all elected officials to look at the money being spent for such a club! thought money was coming from PD to pay for the whole thing!! status quo is what gets cities into trouble!
I am sure that all of Peru knows who Rod is endorsing and its not Harl or Baker. Whoever Rod endorses will win.
Just a curiosity question because I think I know the answer:
I see that the latest charges for the bb gun club that were questioned at the last meeting are listed under "building and grounds". Does that committee get to see all the receipts and bills before they're placed on the disbursements for the "finance" committee to approve? Being that the treasurer was reluctant to answer the question posed by an alderman maybe things like this might be caught, questioned, and solved in committee. Just food for thought. It seems as though someone should be able to provide an alderman and the citizens of Peru an answer before the disbursements are approved and the bills paid.
Linda,
No our committee does not see any receipts. The only time we are consulted about a purchase is if it is over $5,000.
We gave the go-ahead for the BB gun club. I simply want to know how much was donated and how much the city paid. I think it should be fairly easy to come up with those numbers.
I was told by Treasurer Hylla that the January BB gun club expenses were on the city disbursements but should not have been. He said those expenses should have gone thru the police dept. so if there has been $12,000 spent so far in total, and the first $5,000 or so was donated, that would leave approximately $7,000 as a donation. I'm not sure if employee wages are figured in any of the numbers, because several employees spent quite a bit of time working on it. It was like when the mayor made the road signs about resurfacing the roads. We saw the expenses for the materials but how much employee labor (pay) did those signs cost?
I don't have a problem with this BB gun club at all. I simply want to know what it cost us.
Sherry Mayszak
1:27 PM
Sorry she is not an elected official and I can't publish. Go check out the video, the last meeting in available on the city web site.
"correction - is available"
From what's heard in that meeting sounds like Alderwoman Mayszak and Aldermen Perez have been seeking answers regarding receipts and spending of the gun club and haven't been able to get the answers from the treasurer, other aldermen, or the mayor.whos suppose to be over-seeing what's being spent? The Alderman looked to have factual documentation and simply wanted an explanation of what's being spent. If the city treasurer, finance, and the mayor couldn't answer then why would they move onto approving that spending? Don't these officials understand they're accountable for taxpayer dollars and shouldn't just be approving spending if they have no clue what it is?
I'm curious if they check their bank and credit card statements monthly and not pay attention if something appears on a statement that shouldn't be there if they would pay it anyway?
This sickens me to watch our elected officials and this mayor sit back and ignore this. Other officials should've stood behind the alderman and demanded answers and should not have approved that spending until their questions were answered. I'm thinking an Open Forum to the news tribune is on the horizon.
Angela C.
Sherry, backtracking again?
The Newspaper on Monday had a story regarding this. I signed my son up for this and it's a very fun and exciting hobby which also displays discipline. All these kids are very into this. There is a poster of sponsors and contributors to this club next to the range. There has to be at least 10-15 sponsors. According to Mondays paper, and all these great sponsors I'm surprised to hear that the city had to contribute any funds into the program.
Everyone should see this room, it's a very nice and professional set up. If the city had to pay to have that work done I'd be a bit disappointed that the organizers or the city never publicly requested volunteers to do the work. Between my friends alone we could have constructed this room for no charge and had paint and wood donated.
As a parent and citizen of Peru, These Aldermen and Alderwoman should be questioning those expenses. From seeing the room and knowing it was bare, no more than $1,500.00 should've been invested in materials and Labor. As I said- Majority of all labor and materials should've been donated. I own a construction company and would've been happy to build the whole club just for public recognition.
Irresponsible management as far as I'm concerned.
Anon 4:05 If you think Sherry is a backtracker stand in her way and get yourself a introduction to a different viewpoint of the world. It appears a lot different from the ground up.
Sherry and Rodney have spent their time "standing tall" in their quest of better government in Peru.
6:08. Volunteers are not wanted in Peru.
Amen 6:36 Vote for alderwomen Mayszak!!
6:08 Nice blog. I'm pretty sure the labor was provided and paid for by the city of Peru. If I'm wrong someone please correct me but I do believe the work was done on city time and therefore at city expense.
I'm 6:08- Well from Mondays NewsTribune and from what I understood before reading all this, was that this was set up and paid for by volunteers and donations, not our tax dollars. It's a very nice set up for us in the basement of city hall but we (real volunteers) could've done that for no charge.
I'm pretty sure the $12,000 does not include the weeks of labor of many city workers to build the project. Just a small oversight in the Treasurers calculations? Someone might want to remind him of the definition of total project cost. I think outbursts from an elected/appointed official should never be tolerated. Will this be on video too? True colors will shine. Period. The mayor should have intervened and asked the treasurer to accept the documents. Very dissapointed in both of their behaviors. With those opinions being said, I have been told by others that the club is nice and hopefully it will be used to teach responsibility and respect for future gun ownership.
Yes it would have been better to seek volunteers. Don't want to sway too far away from bad habits. Remember the days at Westclox, city workers on city time at a privately owned building. People at the family business of the Budget Director wondering why so many city trucks were parked on Route 6. The SPW had to tell the guys to park somewhere else what was going on was so obvious. A city worker with a cooperating attitude could receive healthy unscheduled pay raises than.
Things have Changed. Now city workers build road signs crediting Mayor and his administration for road work. Was there ever a final cost figure given out for the signs and who has the correct cost for the BB Gun Club - Hylla or Perez?
Since all disbursements are first approved by the finance committee, when questions such as the one regarding the bb gun costs arise, couldn't that committee volunteer to investigate and present an answer at the next meeting? When legitimate questions are asked why can't the appropriate person answer the question or volunteer to research the answer? These refusals to respond make us taxpayers suspicious as to what is actually being done with our money. Aren't we, as well as the aldermen, entitled to an answer?
Anon 8:00 According to City employee Russ, he put in 40 + hours building shelves, and staining. along with other assignments. I think he's paid at least 20.00 per hour. Then workers from the electric and grounds department have over a weeks wages involved. I doubt anyone has the exact figures. I went through disbursement dates that were posted above, I found over 11,000.00 just in materials and supplies for BB gun. I'd have to agree with a previous blogger that retailers and contractors would have donated time and materials for this.
Mr. Hylla's attitude and response to alderman Perez's questions is disturbing for a city official. I can't believe the mayor isn't stepping in and taking control but then, when I think about it and view the videos, it doesn't appear he ever takes charge. Some of our officials are definitely not displaying appropriate behavior for government officials who are supposed to work for and represent the people of the city of Peru. They don't even show respect for one another. It's a sad state of affairs!
Past history proves that Don Baker would not allow the disrespect being displayed from one city official to aldermen and/or interested citizens.
Also a Master Sergeant of the United States Army would never allow such behavior in any situation he is in charge of.
Both Mike and Don will demand discipline and respect in their term as Mayor and all in attendance will leave with the feeling they are being treated fairly. Its not much longer and you will not need a 3x5 card to have a voice at a Peru City Coucil meeting.
Disbursements are approved after the fact. By the time the finance committee and then the council see the disbursements, they have already been paid. We can vote nay, as I did for the road signs, but it won't change the fact the the money has already been spent. Approving the disbursements is merely a formality.
So where and when is the "check and balance" system done? When mistakes are found, after the fact, how are they corrected? This is kind of like the rec board president not knowing who signed Melrose's fireworks contract and then finding out we never had one. This just does not seem right to me.
Sherry, it sounds as if there are too many hands in the Peru Cookie Jar. If all the cookies are gone and there should be a dozen left who is responsible to explain this shortage?
what is the job description and job analysis of the position of budget director.
WE TAXPAYERS WOULD LIKE 15 MINUTES OF THE TRUTH FROM MR HYLLA AND THE COUNCIL THE MAYOR. This city is so corrupt, I'm embarassed that my husband is employed by them which gets me also involved somewhat!!!!!!!!!! And no, I won't give my name for obvious reasons as to my husband being employed by the city.
I agree with earlier post, whoever Rod endorses will win. People are sick of the crap that goes on in our town. We need a leader.
Oh please Rodney endorse someone now! Please let me know how to vote!
Anon 10:51 Lets see I endorse, oops I am not Rodney, got confused Ha Ha.
Seriously attend debates, listen to the radio, read the paper, network, judge each candidates viewpoints, use your gut feeling and most important of all be sure to vote!
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