Most days I have more questions than answers about the workings of the city and many of you do also. As far as I can tell, we have no plans for anything. The Friends of the Peru Pool is one small example of dedicated volunteers who want to work toward funding a pool in Peru at some time in the future. There is absolutely no cooperation from the city except a few words of praise for the hard working people who are trying to raise some funding. I have heard no explanation about what has happened to the money that would have been spent on maintaining the previous pool each year since it was demolished. This is a legitimate question and yet when Ms Noonan asked this question of the mayor at the last council meeting, his answer was "Proceed", meaning I won't answer that.
The city just voted to "give" a contract to TEST without going for bids, in spite of the fact that Mayor Harl ran 2 mayoral campaigns, saying this would be corrected when he would be elected Mayor and people do have that in print. And now when questions are asked on this blog about various aspects of our water service, bloggers immediately attempt to make them look foolish for even questioning the process and this only could be coming from TEST employees, families or friends,and elected officials. This administration has developed a network of contractors, aldermen and employees who makes sure that the votes always go in the right direction as directed by whom?
We have a smoke shop recently charged with selling illegal drugs which remains open, 2 smoke shops were raided at the same time and the other store in Spring Valley was closed while ours remains open. The minutes of a meeting at least 2 weeks ago said that legal counsel was working on this problem. It takes that long long to come up with an answer?
Communication is a vital function of any successful city and we have literally none. Your tax dollars are spent with or without your knowledge for the benefit of others ( as in retirement parties). In spite of the frequent announcement of how much sales tax the city is generating, it seems there is not enough to plan for the future or even for the average needs to maintain the city. Let's never forget we are so progressive we have a Lobbyist in Springfield looking out for our needs when what we really need is a City Manager.
All one has to do is drive around the city and it will speak for itself. Knowing that the people in La Salle and Peru carry a long history of resentment towards each other which I do not understand and I a resident of Peru my entire life have never felt that we as a city were ever any better than LaSalle. In fact there were times in the recent history of our city, I was frankly disturbed by happenings in Peru. The boundary line divides police, fire, ambulance but I hope that we are past the point that it makes a difference to the people of either city. I shop wherever I am getting the best buy and sometimes it is beyond either of the cities. We all have friends and family in both.
It is a worthwhile goal to hope that someday, city services would be combined to serve both La Salle and Peru in a fiscally responsible manner.
53 comments:
The next election can't come soon enough.
I have to agree that Peru is in desperate need of a City Manager and here is why.
Peru currently operates wholly and exclusively on a purely political basis. Mayor Harl forms his positions on a purely political basis. Harl then encourages the aldermen to support his positions on a purely political basis.
What that means is, decisions are made based on wnat is best for the politicians instread of the citizens. The mayor and aldermen are concerned about getting elected and staying elected. Not about what is in the best interest of the people. The politicians take care of friends and family, as was evident in the case of the No-Bid TEST contract. Every elected official that voted for that knew it was ethically wrong and they just did it in spoite of the outcry from their constituents.
Peru has no real leadership. We have politicians, like Harl who think they are above rhe common man. We need new aldermen who will commit their efforts to hiring an experienced City Manager who will be free to operate outside the usual political channels in Peru. City Managers have the skills that Scott Harl lacks, and the knowledge to advance a city instead of "dumbing it down" as Harl has done.
If we elect enough aldermen in 2014to force Harl to hire a qualified and experienced City Manager we can effectively eliminate the political shenanigans that have dominated this city for decade after decade. The City Manager will be worth his/her weight in gold by rendering an incompetent mayor to nothing but a doorman at city hall. How appropriate would that be?
Oh, by the way, a good City Manager would also take over the majority of duties of the Treasurer and the Clerk allowing for huge salary reductions for those office holders.
The same goes for school districts. Why do we need to pay all that overhead when we could consolidate Peru and LaSalle school districts into one?
Lots about a pool. What is your solution? You have stated many times that taxpayers should not pay for something not everybody wants. And you expressed the question of needs vs wants?
Would you pay for a pool in Peru? And how much would you be willing to pay?
The last election could not come soon enough and sadly when the dust settled we find that possibly what did change has been for the worse. The loss of a truly outstanding alderman in Sherry. The disinterest of the 1st ward in only having two individuals run for two positions, and therefore ending up as has the 3rd ward without representation. The fourth ward through political manipulation at its crudest stayed status quo and at the desires of those who financially have, are and will gain the most escaped the only candidate, Steve, who possessed both the knowledge and inquisitive appetite to halt all of their shananegans.
Peru lost more than it gained in the election of 2013 which creates the all important question of what will be done in the upcoming elections of 2015 and 2017 to reverse this trend. In the meantime the populace is living in a political envirnoment which the government representation believes it is the constituent.
4:09 I agree. Peru was at the cross roads, and they chose the direction in the election. You have to stop assuming the electorate WANTS any of the leadership or transparency.
Many want ro fo back ro the past, Some want to just keep sucking it dry.then there are a few who want change. But not enough.
There is not a city I know of that would not have gotten sued at least a dozen times with the crap that goes on here, but nobody likes lawyers :). So you all get what you always got.
The only way you can have "fiscally responsible" is if they are privatized.
I believe 1:56 pm was referring to the 2015 election as the time to change aldermen. Probably just as anxious as I for that time to come.
Combine both towns and have one mayor and one city council. Start by throwing out Harl and put Grove as mayor. He is a down to earth person who doesn't think that he is better than everyone else. In fact get rid of the Peru council also, you don't hear the bickering in LaSalle like it is in Peru.
Anon 6:45 Your Statement: "Many want to go back to the past. Some want to just keep sucking it dry, than there are a few who want change, but not enough."
I am sure you are including one very important group that I would like to emphasize. That is the group that does not care until they are directly related to the issue or person until it or he directly affects them. Their reaction can be posiive or negative, but no matter which they are now involved. For this reason swimming pool or splash pad committees, business organizations, organization of city employees, infrastructure committees and union bodies, religious groups, recreational groups and senior citizen gatherings and PTA groups, etc. become very important in our political structure.
Crossroads because of a pool or smokeshop. Smokeshop is open because the city has no legal recourse to close the shop.
Pool is a choice. Voters will be in charge of that choice.
Water Testing is done by a private company, city officials may have many reasons to retain the local company. The competition between Peru vs LaSalle is in fact overstated. Nobody born after 1950 believes that one town is better than the other. Your comments about resentment is another far fethched theory to create controvery that isn't there. Ok- we got it!
10:34 AM
Generally I would ignore your "city hall" comment but I would like to comment on the relationship between La Salle and Peru and then the bloggers can draw their own conclusion.
At a recent Recreation Board meeting a representative from La Salle approached the Peru board to see if the 2 cities could get together and sponsor a joint Christmas Parade. She was not welcomed with open arms for her suggestion with some long time Peru Rec. Board members looking for excuses such as where would we have the Christmas Parade. The suggestion was a nice big parade could start at Rotary Park and move toward La Salle downtown.
In my personal opinion that this would be a wonderful way to avoid duplication of services and have a much larger vibrant Christmas Parade visible to both cities similar to the Cops 4 Cancer parade which went through both cities and which was enjoyed by everyone.
If this is indeed true, I do not like in the least that unelected members can decide what is achievable, especially when they have made so many poor decisions in recent years and yes Pickleball is certainly one of them.
Great idea on the parade.
I do not understand why Spring Valley can close its smokeshop and Peru cannot when both are charged with the same illegality?
How often has this peru business been professionally inspected since the arrest?
Do these people own the building they are doing business in or are they renting it? If they are renting what are the responibilities of the owner and who is he/her? For some illegal activities the building can be shut down for up to a year is this true of a building in which drugs have been sold in? Since everyone knows it has been used to sell illegal substances (drugs) this will have to be declared if and whenever the building goes up for sale. That disclosure is a law.
The comment about consolodating schools is not that it is not a cheap as you would think. Do some research before shooting your un-educated mouth off.
One Christmas parade for LaSalle-Peru would be nice. If this parade did not arouse enough interest in making it worth having I'd forget the parade and have a Citizens Family Christmas dinner at City Hall paid for by the city similar to the Mayors Dinner at Olive Garden. I am sure that there are many young families in Peru with children that would appreciate a family dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy with cranberry sauce. A additional idea would be to have Santa Claus give each child a gift at the dinner.
Sounds like 4:24 is worried about his / her job.
In the long run it will be less expensive to consolidate the school districts. Some people might have to work harder when you get rid of the dead weight in the administration - but it will be cheaper.
Back when my kids were little there was Santa at the fire department in peru. Hotdogs were served. 4:25, I agree a big meal needs to be provided by the city and fire department due to the fact taxes pay into city and fd and they party hearty on us! Money paid to Liberty Fire Company from donations would do the trick. Wasn't there a post a couple months back that Liberty has $650,000 approx. in account?
4:32 like most, you have no absolutely idea what you are talking about. "Get rid of administrators and you will save money." Sure. Right
It will not be cheaper because you end up paying the salaries and benefits of the highest paying districts whose staff costs are in the many millions of dollars. Administration costs add up to basically nothing and most local school districts have far less management costs than similar sized private sector businesses. That is a fact and I am a business person who knows my local governments and I know business.
Also the districts within LaSalle and Peru are not small which is usually why districts consolidate in more rural areas (although not very often). I am not a school expert but I'm an informed taxpayer. Where the hell do you get the idea that larger school districts or larger municipalities are cheaper to run? Are you kidding me? Do you think Peoria or Rockford or Bloomington are cheaper to run? And even if they were, is that what you want in our community?
Seriously. Good luck with your brilliant "bigger government is better" approach. I'm pretty sure about 90 percent of taxpayers will tell you where to stick that one.
10:34. The pool is not a choice. The voters will not be able to TAKE CARE OF THAT.
The voters are not being asked if they want a pool to be a priority on par with similar expenditures and projects undertaken and paid for out of budget. They are being given a question if they want to pay additional tax to get a pool funded. That is not a referendum. It's a death sentence.
The mayor refuses to allow anyone to ask questions about the massive savings in pool maintenance since it was closed. He refuses to allow knowledgeable individuals who have researched and raised money for the pool to speak. He refuses to consider a phased plan, with splash pad, then pool. He refuses to investigate saving almost 800,000 over the TEST contract period, an estimate based on market lab test pricing and a revised labor plan which was never allowed to even have public exposure.
He allows tens of thousands of dollars to be spent a few times a year in concert expenses so he can shake hands with stars, the Peru definition of culture.
He allows parks to be taken over from kids and turned into private playgrounds for his pals. He has a horrible environmental record.
And that , my friend, is a partial list.
hmmmm. I wonder why Wal-Mart does not put a store in Peru and one in LaSalle. Why can't we have a mall in Peru and one in LaSalle? Hmmmm... I wonder why the churches are consolidating.
The size of Peru and LaSalle combined does not justify two school districts. I'm sorry - almost all public schools are poorly managed. There is plenty of dead weight that can be eliminated. I think the biggest joke is having PhD's involved - people that have never been out of the school environment dictating budgets and best practices. Also - every school administrator will do everything in his or her power to expand their budget and expand their "importance." We would be much better off - even if we don't consolidate districts - if we fired every PhD adminstrator, pay every teacher based on their performance - do away with tenure and the unions. Put an MBA in charge of the school and be done with it.
A partial list. Where dose the person you describe occupy the position of Mayor? It cannot be Peru as the population of Peru recently re-elected Mayor Harl. No city would re-elect the person you describe.
Sometimes it is fun to stretch the story alittle, but please not the whole book.
Here are some snipets from a report by the Center for American Progress - a "progressive" group.
"At the same time, policymakers have begun to rethink the fundamental design of our education system. Our education-governance structures were built in a different era, and in many states, little attention has been given to improving the organization and design of states’ education systems. Indeed, over time many states have allowed some exceedingly odd systems to evolve."
"Many states have large percentages of small, nonremote districts that may represent hundreds of millions of dollars in lost potential capacity. Across the nation, we found that small, nonremote districts might represent as much as $1 billion in lost annual capacity, by which we mean money that may not have had to be spent if the district was larger. (Research suggests that the optimal school-district size is around 2,000 students to 4,000 students; for our analysis, we considered a district small if it had 1,000 or fewer students.) In California alone, more than $64 million may be lost on small school districts. In some states, these estimates might be relatively small, but in other states, they are large. In New Jersey, for example, the estimated lost potential cost is about $100 million, or about $1,000 per classroom teacher."
"States and districts must reform school-management systems. Policymakers must create performance-focused management systems that are flexible on inputs and strict on outcomes. States and districts should also take this opportunity to rethink the role that school districts play in our education system."
7:06 I did not describe the person. I gave a partial list of facts regarding his policy and behavior.
He may be a wonderful person and I am sure he is a great father. But there is no denying that the person who did, and is doing those things, was elected. I do believe it reflects poorly on the electorate, but in fairness almost 7 out of 10 who did vote did NOT vote for him. He is a minority mayor and not a good one.
to 6:24 and anyone else allowed to publish comments!!!
now Steve's # of savings over TEST has gone from 1/3 to over $800,000..you guys are ridiculous..no credibility..no sense of moral justice..and certainly no truth or fact finding before your little fingers type away!!
Shame on you!!
Oh come on now. We all know what is wrong with the education system. It’s the fault of the Republicans. They instituted this no child left behind b.s. that required schools to teach reading, writing, and mathematics. This screwed everything up! I mean, how can you teach kids all this stuff to the point where they can pass a test? Teachers are not trained to do this! How can the teachers teach this stuff when they also need to indoctrinate the kids into the socialist system? Get rid of this no child left behind stuff and the schools will be back on track. We also need to make private schools illegal! These private schools are corrupting our youth!
I was just scrolling through these comments. Wow. Some of you people are just a little off. Nice blog. lol
The only thing bad about the government shutdown is that they might start it up again :)
8:56 great comments and so right. Why should the kids have to learn to read and spell and add two plus two when they can take a computerized doll home for the weekend and play mommy and daddy. Also, whose job is it to teach the kids to cook and sew buttons on? Our system has gone bonkers and nobody is doing anything about it.
8:48 Moral Juatice? fact finding? The numbers are all there.
The competitors , and there are more than one, came up with them, not Steve. Your Mayor would not allow them to be discussed.
That is a fact. Please tell me again about moral justice.
To 8:48 pm,
I beleive the reference by 6:24 was based at least partially on a comparison of savings realized by the city when the Landfill sampling was competitively bid. That savings was 37% as quoted by Mr. Weberski in the newspaper forum. Therefore, 6:24 was actually being conservative in estimating a similar savings on the operations contract that was never allowed to be bid. 37% savings on the operations contract would actually amount to well over $1,000,000 over five years.
Sadly, we will never know if that kind of savings was actually possible because our elected officials and people like you are determined to protect and defend a private company because of sentimental or political reasoning and without any regard for what is ethically or morally correct.
As a result, you and others like you are at least partially responsible for wasting my tax dollars as well as every other property owner in Peru. We just don't know exactly how much waste and that is because of people like you.
Therefore, Shame on YOU!
6:57 You said it RIGHT!!! Good work.
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government only when it deserves it." Mark Twain
Here's some food for thought: Why does someone have to go up to the podium to speak at a council meeting? I thought it was because they needed to be captured on video? Well, apparently we no longer have video equipment that works therefore, if you would like to speak at a meeting, why do you have to go up to the podium? Just another way to intimidate and discourage citizens from speaking up?
To not have open competitive bidding on a 5 yr. $3 million dollar contract is a POOR BUSINESS PRACTICE. To have a contract which is in the stage of a 5th rider and never have a open competitive bid is a HISTORY of poor prior business practices.
To have a group of city representatives elected by the populace who ignored these constituents in regard to this issue - I SEE NO NEED TO GO ON. PLEASE REACH YOUR OWN LOGICAL CONCLUSION (the council vote was 7-1 in favor of a 5th rider being accepted, Alderman Perez was the only NAY vote. The Rookie Alderman Sapienza expressed himself verbally for the 1st time and most left hoping that it will be his political epitaph).
8:11 Unfortunately, many backwoods idiots take that quote to mean when they disagree with the duly elected government you should talk rebellion and actively plan insurrection, and try to instigate government failure "at all cost", so they can prove they are right.
The heart of all terrorists and fringe politics is a belief that their cause justifies abandonment of morality.
If you mean pulling your support by supplying alternate candidates and viewpoints, I am all with you. If you mean something else, I will have to against.
Often clarity and common sense get stepped upon by big numbers.
The Test issue is a example of this misfortune.
The City Council of Peru, Illinois has a legal ordinance that on all expenses of $20K and above they are to follow a open bid contract procedure.
The City Attorney advised the council of a "Super Majority Clause". The City Attorney never elaborated upon why, when and where this provision would be advantageous to utilize. The council enforced the Super Majority provision.
Now there is quibling of whether this "Super Majority Clause" has cost the taxpayers $800K or over $1 million.
A simple open competitive bid of any bid over $20K which would have cost the city $0.00's to enforce to save $800K to over $1 million rather than a council vote enforcing a Super Majority. Take this true example to the bank, state all the particulars involved and inquire if the bank would want to give this administration and coucil a loan.
Does perus attorney have any whatsoever affiliation with test? Does test have perus attorney as their legal attorney for business????has perus attorney ever been tests counsel for any court hearings, etc... Food for thought.
We don't need a city manager( yet another redundent salary), we need a mayor that can manage a city not a slick talking dude that can fool some people to support him with lies and empty promises.
Hey 1:44...
Does perus attorney have any whatsoever affiliation with test? NO!! Does test have perus attorney as their legal attorney for business???? NO!! has perus attorney ever been tests counsel for any court hearings, etc... NO!! Food for thought. Stay hungry...i believe their corporate counsel is in LaSalle. But just curious, why do you ask?
Are the police off for government shutdown or is Taylor on vacation...there has been a car parked in a yard at 7th and plum for weeks...am I missing something
8:31 PM
I can give you a tour around this city with trucks missing wheels and on blocks, cars that haven't moved in over a year but they only see those that they want to punish the residents for.
Selective vision. The police only do something about any vehicle if there is a complaint given to them.
House with no porch for entry, no occupants for years and in that case Taylor chooses not to do anything about it.
To 2:25 pm, No you are mistaken. Peru needs a city manager more than ever. It is not a redundant salary because you hire someone who actually works for the city which will allow you to eliminate and reduce a ton of salaries and waste elsewhere. You will take the politics out of the equation and you reduce the mayor to just some guy who conducts the meetings and that's it. You reduce the salary of the mayor, the clerk, and the treasurer. Next, you eliminate the phony baloney economic development guy as well as the useless lobbyist. You can even eliminate or at least reduce the Human Resources to part-time. Do all those things and you save money and re-direct the rest to hire a real leader. You focus those dollars on a great city manager who can whip this city into shape with real management skills and an understanding of how to run a city efficiently and successfully for the people, not for the elected officials and their friends who do business with the city. Just imagine an outsider coming in who will eliminate all the political crap and waste that permeates Peru.
A city manager is the only answer and the only way to get one is to replace the backwards thinking aldermen who are totally responsible for holding this city back. Think of it this way, you can castrate and defeat Harl without actually beating him at the polls.
8:46 Who do you think hires the city manager, the mayor does then it's approved by the council, so you mean to tell me that a city manager won't do as the Mayor tells him then you are pretty naive and you probably were fooled by this guy to begin with, people like you that make uninformed comments and worse yet cast uninformed votes are why we have the mayor we do. 2:25
8:46 Do you really believe your own B--- S---.
2:25, Pay attention. If you think that Harl has the exclusive right to initiate the process to hire a city manager then who is actually naïve here. Any alderman, along with a majority of other aldermen who choose to make a motion to proceed with a process of hiring a city engineer can do so. Of course, Harl could veto such action but even he would know it would be political suicide to do so. Therefore, he loses if he vetos and he loses if he doesn't. Either way, you get the dead weight moving out of power and or out the door. I don't make any comments that could be considered uninformed. I guess I'm just able to see forward with a much more clear vision than yourself.
I would like to address the comment about the consolidation of schools. It is not always cheaper. COmbining schools is not the easy answer as costs can skyrocket. As fas as dead weight of administrators maybe you should go to a local school and follow these people around. Your ignorance is exposed with this comment. You are right the person who made the intial comment is probably a teacher. But consilodating schools doesnt mean less teachers.
Could the position of City Manager be created through a petition signed by 10% of the total amount of voters in the last city election presented to the proper officials to be placed as a referendum on the next ballot to be voted upon. If this vote resulted in 50%+1 favor to have a City Manager what would be the next procedure? Why doesn't the Mayor and City Council organize a City Manager committee as a Infrastructure Committee was formed to study the advantageous and needs that Peru would achieve by this position?
Sorry, I meant to say City Manager, not City Engineer in my post at 2:03 pm.
6:48 - read the Illinois Municipal Code. It has all the information needed to change the form of Government ot Counicl / Manager. Your numbers are very close.
To: Lois
From: Rodney Perez
Don't give up hope on the Smoke Shop closing yet.
No such thing as "Can't"
If there's a Will there's a way.. And the Will is there.
Coming Soon!
Rodney
6:48 is absolutely correct. The form of government can be changed a few different ways. The citizens can collect the proper number of signatures to get the question/referendum on the ballot, or the corporate authorities can vote in favor of having the question/referendum on the ballot just as they are about to do with the pool question. Or, and this is the way 6:48 was referring to, the corporate authorities, which means the aldermen and mayor, which in Peru's case is a Home Rule body can simply change the form of government if they have the votes to do so because they are Home Rule.
Just like they raised the sales tax with a council vote via Home Rule, they can change the form of government via Home Rule if they choose.
Therefore, elect enough aldermen who have the will to change it and you can change it with a majority vote in the council.
Oh how sweet it would be.
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