“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

Monday, October 21, 2013

It is Official Building and Zoning Inspector Chosen

At tonights city council meeting, Jeff King was chosen to be:

Full time Fire Chief
Fire Marshall
Safety Director
ESDA co Director
Building and Zoning Inspector

The ordinance was passed 4-3
Ald. Potthoff  No
Ald. Perez - Abstained
Ald. Mueller - Present
Ald. Radtke - Absent
The following aldermen voted yes
Lukosus
Waldorf
Ferrari
Sapienza

159 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why would mueller vote present? She needs to pick a side and not be afraid to make enemies. To me it sounds like her vote would have been no if she had the guts to vote.

Anonymous said...

Finally Potthoff has a backbone!

Anonymous said...

Why wasn't this little tidbit on the agenda? When during the meeting was it brought up to discuss and vote? I thought a motion had to be on the agenda before it could be voted on?

Anonymous said...

The vote should be tallied as 4-1. A majority voted affermative thereby making the abstentions not countable.

Present=abstention and you cannot force a member to vote.

Anonymous said...

What this salary for all three positions?

Anonymous said...

These incompetent alderman/woman who voted yes, did they ask questions? Qualifications? Certifications for being a building inspector? No degree from a fire science academy. List goes on!

Anonymous said...

$84 thousand a year! Plus all city benefits? With not much qualifications and no degrees. Only has lived
In peru since 2000. Never a fire chief on any other fire department either.

Anonymous said...

Yet another laughable policy brought to you by our fearless politicians!

Anonymous said...

WLPO SAID $84,000 a year. Will King also get $33 per fire call that the volunteer fireman get get? When they go to a call, or is this included in the 84K.?????????????????????? If he get paid extra for this, that could be an extra $10K because he would be going to every call so to speak. Just an average.

Anonymous said...

Is king also going to get paid as a volunteer fireman? Paid per call?

Anonymous said...

Must be nice to be jack of all trades, but a master of none it sounds like. A master of a trade is to be certified at a level to be a expertise. This seems as if this has been in the works for a while. Tayor was released of his position a few days ago, and now this. What about all those certified, experienced persons who would be much more qualified for the job as building inspector? If a person has never built a garage, how can they inspect it. If a person has never done extensive electrical or plumbing work on a house, how can they know how to inspect it? If a person has never roofed a house, how can they inspect it? Think about it. Can I as a volunteer fireman with absolutely no formal training go into a burning house? Answer: NO, I couldn't because I really might not know how or what to do.

Anonymous said...

Glad he was not put in charge of River Navigation.

Anonymous said...

It looks like they are going to hire a replacment Electrical Deparment Superintendent alos. There was an ad in paper last night.

Anonymous said...

This is just more information that supports merging LaSalle and Peru. One Fire Deparment, One Police Deparment. One Fire Chief, one Police Chief.

Anonymous said...

On the agenda for last night's council meeting it states "An ordinance fixing wages for employees of the City of Peru".

Very vague. Was Harl afraid to put what was actually taking place? Were wages fixed for other employees or just for King?

Just another "in your face" to the people of Peru and "I can do what I want without the public knowing" from Harl.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why none of these jobs weren't advertised in the paper. Also, now the city will be paying benefits for this full-time employee. What's the benefit package cost to the city? Peru has a lot of money.

Anonymous said...

No your wrong, the ordinance was passed 6-1.

Anonymous said...

Hiding behind a abstain vote, pathetic.

Anonymous said...

I see a magician must have had behind closed door meetings and pulled this out of a hat.

Anonymous said...

Didn't the news paper indicate and quote Mr. Harl as stating that he was being frugal with this appointment? If you tally Mr. King's present wages and Mr. Taylor's wages and subtract them from the $84,000 Mr. King has been offered that's an increase of about $30,000. Not cost effective in my books!!

Anonymous said...

Beginning to have my doubts about Alderman Perez. If you think about it very seldom he would comment to all the questions related to the fire department and liberty fire company(who gets donations from taxpayers), that were directly asked of him to reply on here. There have been so so many questions. And a couple other of these alderman are clueless as to anything let alone vote yes. Sadly, these Alderpersons are suppose to be representing the people. I say thank you for voting the way you did ALDERMAN POTTOFF you must have voted in the manner in which you did due to you intellectual level of competence. A person would think that the other Alderpersons would have followed you in your decision of your vote. Now will fire chief king order all fire equipment from his company dealing in fire equipment in moline for the city of Peru? Is this an added bonus for king?

Anonymous said...

Perez is a volunteer fireman - therefore abstaining - makes sense

Anonymous said...

9:51 pm
You cannot force an alderman to vote, but she was elected to make tough decisions. By voting "present" she in effect is not voting. Take a stand and vote or get out. This is not a popularity contest. If she doesn't want to ruffle feathers, or she's afraid somebody won't like her, she shouldn't be there.

Anonymous said...

11:16 he sits on the city council and should be required to vote.

Anonymous said...

Most instances a fire chief has some type of a degree. Other then firefighting certification such as firefighter 1,2,3. Is king a certified emt? Remember he wanted an ambulance service to be overseen by him at the fire station a few years back? Shouldn't a person that oversees an ambulance service be a certified emt themselves? laSalle was looking to hire a building inspector, they had an ad in the paper. This is political corruption in my opinion how all this transpired.

Anonymous said...

11:20 could it have been a lot of doubt to not actually vote? Wishy washy. In agreement with your blog.

Anonymous said...

abstaining makes no sense. two different roles and no conflict of interest. how much did he eat at the recent three day convention.

Anonymous said...

Regarding the article about Gary Eccles in last night's paper, what I want to know is why does everybody speak so highly of Gary, and yet they couldn't wait to get rid of him as chief and get King in there. Sounds two-faced to me. Too many things that don't sit right with me with the way King got to be chief. Gary was a good guy who got a bad deal.

Peru Town Forum said...

Knew before the vote last night, that supposedly Potthoff and Radtke were opposed to this appointment thinking each position required a full time person. Now what does the Mayor do but bring this up while Radtke is gone for a week or 2. In my opinion, to avoid any conflict with Radtke, he brings this up for a vote while he is conveniently gone from a meeting. Otherwise the Mayor would have been required to break a tie vote and have his name all over this appt. as if he doesn't anyway.

Anonymous said...

What was the reasoning behind the departure of Frank Taylor. Now with King as building inspector, seems like the same scenario with Eccels has played out again. What is the common denominator here? HHMM?

Peru Town Forum said...

Out of respect for Gary Eccles, this should have been postponed until after his funeral.
I would like to correct my previous statement but that the building inspector should be full time, not sure about the fire chief.

Anonymous said...

Is this the first time Alderwoman Mueller voted present? Has she abstained in the past? I would like to see her voting record since she took her seat in April. Please Alderwoman Mueller vote yes or no, voting present is the easy way out. The people elected you to vote. Vote what your heart tells you to do, not what the mayor or other aldermen want. There are many women watching your actions, and want you to be a strong and independent woman on the council. Show us why women should be in politics.

Anonymous said...

THIS I THINK WAS DISRESPECTFUL TO THE ECCLES FAMILY IN THEIR TIME OF MOURNING. LOVED MR . GARY ECCLES IN WHICH HE DESERVED TO BE A FULL-TIME FIRE CHIEF A FEW YEARS AGO. HE COULD HAVE AND SHOULD HAVE HAD FULL-TIME FIRE ENGINEER/FIRE CHIEF. WOULD HAVE BEEN NO DIFFERENT THEN HOW POSITIONS WERE GROUPED TOGETHER HERE. THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN POSPONED UNTIL NEXT WEEK. Where is the respect here? Wanted to wait to blog this, but since I read the above blogs the timing was right. GOD BLESS GARY ECCLES AND HIS FAMILY. HEARTFELT PRAYERS GO OUT YOU.

Anonymous said...

LOIS, I just blogged in regards to your 1:06 blog not seeing your blog before I blogged mine. We feel the same way and knowing that imaging all those other who feel the same. Now if this were postponed one who didn't like the idea would have been present. THATS PROBABLY WHY THIS WAS PUSHED THROUGH.

Anonymous said...

To: Lois and Bloggers
From: Rodney Perez

Lois,
Before I express my views on the shift with Build. and Zoning to Fire Chief Duties and wage ordinance I'd like to address the "Pay per Call" concern, and a couple others.
Prior to this wage ordinance Chief King did receive pay for each call he responded to. The chief will no longer receive that pay.
For anyone concerned about how I vote needs to know my voting record in regards to fire department motions. I've either motioned with "Present or Abstain" There was 1 time I chose to vote either Aye or Nay and that was to fill the position Brother Gary Eccles retired from.
Before the motion on the floor was made to change the wage ordinance and job description, I made it clear to the council and public how I was going to vote, and gave comment on my views which is similar to my comments here.
For those who follow me know I don't hide behind anything. I hurt someone's feelings because of my views than so-be-it.

I fully support the City of Peru having a full time fire chief within our city. To have that, comes a price tag, with that price tag should have a full load of responsibilities.
The Fire Chief, and Fire Marshall's responsibility goes beyond what takes place within the fire house, and incident scene; responsibilities of these positions manage a wide range of public safety which includes: inspections of commercial, Industrial, and residential structures, (including new construction) and implementing and enforcing building codes.

Building and Zoning responsibilities placed on the duties of a fire chief isn't uncommon, in fact, the Fire Chief in the City of Nebraska also has the duties of Building and Zoning Inspector.

In my opinion the City of Peru can no longer expect to pay a chief salary of $4,400.00especially when the NFPA (national fire protection agency) state and federal gov. continue increasing regulations and changing laws which the chief must be responsible into seeing the department and city keeps, or gets compliant with.
Peru has commercial, residential, and industrial structures that need annual inspections; our city disaster preparedness plan needs full implementation out into the community. The list goes on, and I expect as a city official these tasks will be performed.

Mayor Harl appointed Jeff King as P/T Fire Chief,/Fire Marshall, along with City Safety Officer, and shared ESDA director three years ago.

Mayor Harl understood the need to have a full time chief; placing the duties of building and zoning within the job description of the fire chief makes sense to me.

In regards to whether or not Chief King can handle this amount of responsibility shouldn't be for anyone other than Jeff King to know.
Jeff understands his position is appointed and not part of a collective bargaining unit. Jeff also understands he must prove himself by showing positive results within the scope of these duties.



Anonymous said...

When do all these positions become effective for King to start his being on the throne? Immediately?

Anonymous said...

To: Lois
From: Rodney

FYI.. There are other communities where the FD manages Building and Code Enforcement.
City of Nebraska was the last one I researched.

Thanks:-)

Anonymous said...

It seems that the community are a bit upset how this was maneuvered and passed and voted on. How can a person be in two places at once. Say doing a look at inspection and a fire happens? The reason building inspector was group together with other jobs was to have salary larger so king would take all. To hire a full time chief/Marshall/ESDA would have not flown for asking a salary of $84k. Because fire chiefs in suburbanian ares have college fire science academy degrees and that closer(84k) to what they receive, which they get compensated for in salary negotiations. Which peru doesn't require this type of accreditation for their fire chief position. Did peru hire a full-time assistant chief? Wait, that's what king will want next. Baby steps here. And a new fire station. This is probably going to get better as time ticks away. TAXPAYERS, get you pocketbooks out. Writing has been on the wall since 2009!

Anonymous said...

Rodney where did you get the wrong amount you stated $4,400? That is wrong if I say so by reading several past blogs throughout the year? And Rodney, inspect
Building construction and codes? Qualifications to perform this duty? Shouldn't it have been part of the process in hiring a person? Stop walking on hot coals. You know people in peru can see through your blog. Sorry to say. I have always supported you, but now I have to think. I feel your beating around a bush on this one. My opinion.

Anonymous said...

Mr Perez, from trying to interperate your blog, you are saying that mr. Jeff King will not be receiving extra money for going to fire calls? That's included in this 84k? Thank you, but have a few questions about your blog. Will ask later.

Anonymous said...

Ald.Perez has you considered moving to someplace in Nebraska.

Anonymous said...

I will be willing to bet that down the road , all these responsibilities/jobs will be re-evaluated and re-distributed but the pay will stay the same. Like a chess game.

Anonymous said...

Bottom line is qualification for the job description. Does it matter to the council, mayor and taxpayers? When dolling out eighty-four thousand taxpayers dollars. "if" is a small word but has a big meaning.

Anonymous said...

Rod, its your responsibilty not Chief King to decide how much responsibility he can handle.

Anonymous said...

How would one go about getting a organizational chart for the elected and appointed officials for the City of Peru?
Once that person obtains this chart who would be able to make sense out of it?

Anonymous said...

Once again $4,400 part-time chief. Wasn't Fire Marshall joined with that position? Closer to 10K? Plus king received compensation for going to each fire call. So, city of peru, and council people, king actually received closer to the amount of $16,000 per year. tell the truth to taxpayers Harl. You want people to think king only received $4,400. So fire Marshall salary was what?$6k? Trying to confuse the taxpayers MAYOR harl is not making yourself look good. ESDA compensation as co-director was also around $2,000 a year. So take 16k plus 2k=18k. Before this $84k. Take $84k-18k=$66k. So making him a full-time fire chief and part-time zoning/building inspector cost we taxpayers 66k. !!!!************************************************!

Anonymous said...

Noticed nothing said in regards to what benefit package this has. That alone can up the ante many thousands a year. Never mentioned and harl mentioned something about his frugality. Reall, not frugal at conventions.

Anonymous said...

11:15 I couldn't agree with you more. What an awful time to make that appointment with what that family has gone through. This council is heartless.

Anonymous said...

From what a paper said evidently it seems that Taylor's replacement for building inspector will be making $2,464.00 more then what Taylor made with a salary of about $24,000 part-time as building inspector. A paper said the full-time chief will make $57,536.00 and Taylor made about $24,000. King is to make $84,000 per year. Take $84,000-$57,536.00 =$26,464.00. This $26,464.00 would then be the salary replacing Taylor's salary of $24,000. So off the bat a raise of $2,464.00 was given to the new appointed building inspector. This isn't made up. It's all in black and white. Also a paper didn't mention any other city benefit packages being included in this $84,000 salary. Just did a little mathematical figuring here from what's in print and came to these figures.

Anonymous said...

Ok Rodney. What qualifications did the city of Nebraska fire chief have in order to be their building inspector also? Can you post the phone number or website so people can check it out. Thank You.

Anonymous said...

Had to go all the way to Nebraska to see this. What population of city
Of Nebraska? Also strange that all of a sudden peru needed a full time chief. Mayor Harl, frugalness would have been to leave salary as it was for each position and hired a qualified part-time building inspector(possibly retired person, same salary as Taylor's)and saved the city and taxpayers $44 thousand a year. YOU COST THE TAXPAYERS $44 THOUSAND A YEAR IN JUST SALARY MR. MAYOR. Not to mention other benefits. WE ARE NOT STUPID CITIZENS AND TAXPAYERS. YOU MAYOR AND COUNCIL COST US TAXPAYERS $44 thousand dollars a year by bundling all thes positions. Peru isn't AT+T. Yes, I mentioned this twice. Everybody should read all this and do some basic math. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$! And the defense used that peru needed a full-time chief is a defense mechanism for defending the salary compensation given. Not buying into any of this.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to be building a room huge room addition with a bathroom to my house in the near future. I will be contacting Mr. Jeff King. I know what I'm doing af far as all the codes , plumbing, electrical, construction, framing,
Etc.. I also know that while in the process of building it, it's required to be inspected at different stages of the construction process. A minor test here would be to be not on code on a few things and see if the newly appointed code enforcer/building inspector catches the violations. Photos, signatures and detailed conversations will be documented between myself and the building inspector. Time will tell a story. I don't work on a buddy buddy system either. A smile and it's all good doesn't work in my world.

Anonymous said...

4:25 In reality Mr. Taylors part time salary was $47,500/year. Therefore you need to do some recalculating. If you think I'm wrong check out the 2013 budget on the city web-site. I did.

Anonymous said...

Why does Peru need a full time fire chief? Seems like we've been doing good with a part time one.

I also agree that the timing of pushing this ordinance through sucks. Why not wait til after Mr. Eccles services out of respect? No meeting next week, but I think it could have waited until the next meeting. I would have liked to see how Radtke would have voted. Mueller??? Where is your vote Becky? It's needed and you're getting paid to make decisions, so make one.

Another Harl ordinance shoved down our throats without any warning, just like Adventure Drive, which I still curse whenever I have to go up there.

Anonymous said...

Rod is correct with the $4,400.00 chief pay. I served on the PFD for 9 years. In my time there the chief pay was about that $4,000.00 mark and the position as fire marshall received an additional $4,000.00 I completely understand where Rod is coming from, who in the hell would accept a chief position for $4,000.00? Or even $10 to 50,000.00 would be a joke. To hire a chief with a fire science degree Peru would be looking at a salary of 6 figures if you think I'm kidding research it. Eccles as chief also had multiple incomes that generated his $85,000.00 salary from Peru and I know Gary never held a degree in fire science. In the case of former chief Eccles salary and what Rod is saying it looks like King will have much more to manage than the former chief's.
Seems simple if King doesn't hold up his end of bargain another chief could step in, or when Peru gets a new mayor the choice would be his/hers. Taylor was a joke as inspector besides a city the size of Peru why have one after all make the police or fire dpt do it. Oh wait. You just did.

Anonymous said...

Re did the above figures and basically it seems to figure
out correctly. Going from part-time to full-time chief includes the ESDA service,Marshall position(which was
Included in salary previously), and includes fire calls the
Chief goes to. Which fire calls per month can vary on a big scale. Paper did not say that fire chief/fire Marshall was two titles and one salary. Paper said fire chief $4,400. This is not hard to figure out. A worded math problem.

Anonymous said...

Rodney Perez, does the fire chief in the city of Nebraska have EMT CERTIFICATION?(large percentage of
Fire chiefs do. DOES FIRE CHIEF IN Nebraska has an associates, bachelors or master degree in fire science? Does the building/code inspector in Nebraska have certification and or credentials in being a inspector.?Does Mr. Jeff King have any of these fire science degrees? Any certifications or credentials in building/code inspections. Maybe Mayor Harl could answer these questions instead of making appointments for positions. The people on the city council who are suppose to be representing the taxpayers should be asking all these questions. They get paid a good salary to represent us. Its easy to say well , the city of Nebraska combined these two positions. So what! Ask questions. Easy to just make appointments also.!ask questions.

Anonymous said...

Does anybody remember back to 2011, I recall/think when a few fireman went to a council meeting to show support for Mr. King in regards to a situation involving a fireman? And a letter was written to council from that fireman? Wasn't it also around this same time that Mr. King wanted $125,000 a year salary package from the city for full-time chief/Marshall position? This was blogged. Read it but can't remember exactly when. So, it seems something was stewing then. And Mr. King has since donated to Harls campaign war chest. Who remembers this? Fishy. Fishy.

Anonymous said...

Go Getm Rodney!! I trust your judgement. Keep up the good work. All of us at my office of 28 love you! Keep fighting

Anonymous said...

Very distraught and disgusted at the timing of this Mayor Harl, City Council and Fire Chief King. It is very evident that not a one of you actually have the manners or has true compassion to not have had the decency to postpone this. No medal of honor to any of you. Such a disappointment which should not be surprising. Not one of any of you have any class regarding this. I will leave it at that.

Anonymous said...

6:53, your blog has no intelligence or verifiable information. Rodney for this blog topic did a disservice to some of us. Who have supported him. Rodney referred to the City of Nebraska , , but didn't give any facts or figures. He stated the City of Nebraska has these two positions combined. 6:53, educate yourself by reading 6:27's blog. If you really want to learn something 6:53 read all the blogs on here and from the past. Suggestion: only if you can comprehend a sentence/paragraph. Happy reading and comprehending 6:53.

Anonymous said...

Shame on all of you at city hall for doing this to the Eccles family. I am thoroughly disgusted by this whole situation. This appointment could not have waited one week? Didn't one person have the brains to say hey wait a minute Mr. Eccles just passed away I think we should wait till at LEAST after the funeral. Selfish and self serving and most of all an EMBARRASSMENT to the city.

Anonymous said...

5:35 I m also aware if this. You forgot to mention pay for chief that they have received for each call they sign in for or go on. Doesn't this come to approximately 15k a year part-time? You also forgot to mention that Mr. Eccles worked for the city for what 25-30 years. Being said, of course his salary would be up there. Also Peru is not a highly populated area such as Tinley, Rickford Bloomington, Moline, Plainfield. Please give more facts 5:35. All the facts would be nice.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 7:34 I am 6:53 to prove your ignorance I simply googled Nebraska City low and behold a few quick searches I found a town of 7,000 population with a fire chief holding a position as building inspector under the direct supervision of mayor Jack Hobbie. I spent a total of 15 minutes on the internet to find this while seeing a few other towns with a chief that has the same job status.
I did read all these postings and if you pay attention to details you would find that Alderman Perez said a fire chief taking on building enforcement job duties isn't uncommon. One quick search and you would find Alderman Perez is indeed correct. It's not uncommon.
We have many political conversations in our office. Not everyone of us there is a Peru resident but most of us are. Even the ones who aren't know the alderman and we all find him to be honest and sincere with his position.

Alderman Perez-- hope you read this! We got your back.

Anonymous said...

@8:00 and others saying the city should have waited until after the Eccles funeral to give Frank Taylor's job to the current chief? Gary Eccles has nothing to do with the current chief getting extra work thrown onto him. I could see if Gary was the current chief and the city rushed to give his position up but that's not the case.
Gary Eccles hasn't been a chief in years. Some of you are way off your rockers! What gives you people the right to make such ignorant comments that the Eccles family care that the city gave the current chief more job responsibilities.
Unreal!

Peru Town Forum said...

8:54 PM

I would just like to offer my opinion on this. It might be true that Fire Chiefs also act as Building Inspectors in small communities and I also googled the Nebraska City situation. The only thing I saw was the same name listed on both departments.
None of us at present know the qualifications of Jeff King or of the Fire Chief in Nebraska City NE. The point that people are expressing is why was there not a brief discussion held giving the qualifications that the Fire Chief has in regard to new building inspector requirements as wiring, plumbing, etc and be forthright and descriptive to reassure people. In other words what skills does he have in comparison to a retired contracter the might have applied for the position.
This problem is not new to the city council that likes to use big words or abbreviations unknown to the average resident and most of the time they wouldn't either if it was not written on a paper they were given to read.
I am very disappointed in the way this was handled with respect to the Eccles family and with respect to the residents of this city. I did not attend the meeting.

Peru Town Forum said...

9:10 PM

Too many of us are aware of why Gary Eccles was no longer Fire Chief and how it happened. For your information, this all comes down to RESPECT something this city is very short on showing time after time. We expect our leadership to be leaders and respectful but it ain't happening anymore unless they receive something for it.

Anonymous said...

9:10, you must not know the particulars and truth as to how Mr. King became fire chief at first in 09 by being voted in by the fireman on a voting system based on popularity, etc..by Librrty Fire Company members. Then when Harl became mayor, he started making the police chief and fire chief appointed positions. I believe the blogs are referring to the fact of a lot of facts and Mr. Gary Eccles loved his jobs as fire engineer for many years for the dept/city and also his many years as serving as our fire chief. And never was given the chance as a full-time fire chief. There is a lot of history that you must not be aware of as to why several people are very upset at the timing. Myself included. Ask a retired firefighter or one who quit the department in the last 8 years as to what I'm blogging out of respect for Mr. Gary Eccles. Mr. Jeff King wanted Mr. Gary Eccles position as fire chief back in 2006. A lot of backstabbing was happening. Sad, but true. Prayers to the Eccles Family.

Anonymous said...

Taylor made $32 an hour. And worked 40 hours a week. He made roughly $90,000 a year with misc. o.t. and benefit package. It was in the paper last time they listed annual pay.

Anonymous said...

@12:41pm
Happens every time someone passes. There are always phonies that want everyone to think they were the deceased best friend. And they are always they one to give the interview to the paper and come across as their buddy. These are called glory hounds. And these are the ones that were looking out for themselves during the overthrow of eccles years ago only securing an officers spot for themselves! Disgusting! Gary didn't deserve to be treated like that them and doesn't deserve these phonies talking about him now

Anonymous said...

Mr. Eccles took the high road and that is why he is beloved by so so many people. God bless. He will have an honorable service this Saturday.

Anonymous said...

My apologies if I'm over stepping here.
I currently serve as Alderman in the City of Milwaukee with family in Ottawa Il. which is how I've learned of this forum.
I was in conversation this evening with one of my Ottawa friends who happened to ask me about voting practices in mention of a conversation debate on the town forum so I figured I'd check out the buzz for myself.
Reading through these forums some are questioning conflict of interest and abstention.
As a long standing official from a city not nearly as populated as Chicago, but with politics of Cook County I've had plenty of experience with voting practices and long standing debates.
In Brief~ If an elected official is faced with voting on an issue pertaining to increasing salary, or job promotion of himself, co-worker, or superior of a company which he or she"s employed with, it's highly advised to refrain from voting by either abstaining or voting present. The proper procedure would be abstention.
Of course there's nothing in law form stating this particular individual can't vote, unless of course it's to give him/ herself a raise. But to avoid favoritism conflicts its best to sty clear and not vote to avoid those accusations. Even politicians know the people don't trust politicians so to think we could say we are taking off our work hat and voting with my official hat is far fetched.
My advice, given to me by corporate and municipal attorney's through the years is to steer clear when it comes to voting where personal interests lay. The work place being one of those. It's ok to voice input on the matter before voting present but that's it.

Hope this helps.
Alderman Davis

Anonymous said...

Didn't Mr. Perez get off the committee for fire/safety? And no longer a member of Liberty Fire Company? Rodney is still a paid volunteer fireman. the fire department . Being so, he should vote as a alderman. He's spending taxpayers money for crying out loud. Excuses! Then Harl should never have a vote whatsoever because he has close ties with alderman whom may entice him to vote a certain way on a tie vote. Conflict of interest. Rodney should abstain from voting on any issues with parks and recreation. Conflict of interest. Being on that committee as a alderman. Conflict of interest. Anybody to find a reason to have a conflict of interest no matter how big or small. Could go on and on and on.......

Anonymous said...

I sure hope noone tries to overshadow Gary's memorial services for their own personal gain or glory. Whether it be Peru's self serving mayor and council or any of the "phony" fireman. If so I hope a jury of Gary's real peers deal with them in their own manner that would sure make gary smile in heaven ! Everyone knew where they stood with gary and a lot around him knew his feeling towards those few people . That's what made gary a true man . He was true and sincere! RIP Brother. We got this

Anonymous said...

Alderman Davis, thank you for your input. What you say makes sense, and it is exactly what Alderman Perez did.

10:44, you ramble on and make no sense.

Anonymous said...

910, what are the particulars? I feel that the city should have waited to make thsi announcement out of respect for Eccles family. Then again i ask myself why the mayor would give Mr King more responsibilities when it has been reported here that his actions are embrassing the city and the the people who live here. Did he nopt get asked to leave a Cops for Cancer benefit two years in row? The rumors of his womanizing ways (they are true), and not to mention the backstabbing rumors that you speak of. Yeah, If I were to donate to Mayor Harl, does that mean I could get a 84,000 a year job? Where is this town headed?

Anonymous said...

To: 10:41 and Co.
From: Rodney Perez

I always find it amusing how some of you blog. especially those who say they supported me up until Monday's vote to abstain. HaHa. Really? Please don't under estimate my intelligence. I just can't take anon comments to heart especially knowing I have a group of bitter critics looming in the shadows.

10:41 you know a bit to much about me which leads me to believe we're closely affiliated somewhere in the political/ organizational world.
I'm a true born believer in transparancey and open communications. I'm an Alderman you can trust.
I have a great running track record of answering my phone and treating everyone with respect.
If 10:41 and co. Wants me to take concerns seriosly than I advise to put a name to your concerns otherwise I'll just take your blogging comments as simple pot stirring for self-gratification.
Please feel free to reach out here with an attached full name, or call me anytime 24/7 365 and I'd be happy to answer questions, debate, or just chat. :-)

Yours Truly....
Alderman-
Rodney Perez
815-245-7566


Anonymous said...

10:44 i THINK HE SHOULD ABSTAIN FROM EVERY VOTE. Alderman DAVIS? Please. Reading the forums? Yeah.

Anonymous said...

Alderman Davis, Thank You, as a experienced government representative you have added some intersting and very good ideas. Hope to hear from you again and more often.
Since you have bravely stepped out of the Milwaukee quagmire of political life into the Cesspool of Peru Politics through the channels of Ottawa please refer to recent older posts to obtain a historical background to know why Peru citizens are so upset.
Has Milwaukee had the only one and the same engineering consultants for over 60 years? Peru has!
In a city of $35M revenue do you believe it is justifiable to let a $3M contract for 5 years without any competitive bidding? This same firm has been doing business with Peru since the 1980's without a competitive bid. Practice has been so status quo that each additional legal agreement is treated as a rider to the original contract. The City of Peru recently agreed to the 5th Rider with a water treat/waste water firm named TEST. The same City Attorney wrote the orginal contract as well as the 5th rideras he has held this position for 30+ years.
Would you have asked for a advertised job opening in reference to the recent fire chief/building inspector combination or simply made the appointment. It has been stated that other qualified Peru citizens are interested in the position of Building Inspector.
These are examples of recent decisions made by our representation there is a long history of poor business practices to dwell upon. Perhaps I should ask you the question that is most puzzling and that is when do people have enough that they become active in greater numbers?
Alderman Davis do you have a Code of Ethics that you have to sign to hold your position.
Again Alderman Davis thank you for tasting some of our own tainted quicksand.
Oh, by the way you have not seen a orange dump truck with a Peru seal on the door in Milwaukee have you? Someone stole one of Perus a couple of months ago and nothing more has been said about it.

Anonymous said...

Rodney went to Milwaukee to find something that says you shouldn't vote on your own salary. Its not relevant to the topic, unless of course Ald.Perez is receiving the salary.
A comparision from Nebraska is 1/2 truth at best.
Why go to such extremes? Playing both sides of the fence has its advantages, but after a while it becomes very difficult to explain.

Anonymous said...

Excuse me 10:44 but you have been misinformed. Alderman Perez is not a member of the park and rec board.

Anonymous said...

To: Alderman Davis
From: Alderman Perez

Thank you for reaching out and sharing your input in regards to voting practices.
As you know we're in the business of damned if you do and damned if you don't which is what makes our job exciting.
I base my choices on doing what's right for the people. The one question I ask before every vote or decision I make is... Will I be able to sleep at night in peace.
I always pray for wisdom on every issue, makes life decisions easier that way.
I agree with your outlook on voting practices, in this case I abstained from giving my supervisor (chief) a raise.
As you could imagine if I voted Aye or Nay the critics would have accused me of voting special interest for personal gain in employment. I find it best to remain consistent when voting on certain issues such as the Fire Dpt.
Have a great day and Thanks again!

Sincerely ...
Alderman-
Rodney Perez
Peru Il.
815-245-7566

Anonymous said...

Rodney did the right thing. It is a conflict of interest when king is his boss!

Anonymous said...

Building/Code Enforcer requirements to perform the duties. Website: icc.safe.org

Anonymous said...

city of Littleton CO is advertising for a fire chief. Populations of Littleton is 41,737. The chief is in charge of three jurisdictions. There is a listing of job requirements. One is a bachelors degree in fire science(4years), preferable a masters(6 years). Many other requirements. salary $125,000. Perus population , 10,000.(a little more). Also a interesting read. Littleton is 3+ times larger then the city of peru.

Peru Town Forum said...

will have to ask about that one as I have close family living in Littleton and others close by.

Anonymous said...

On the internet . Advertised fire chief job openings. Application deadline nov. 3, 2013. For Littleton CO.

Anonymous said...

9:31 Building Grounds and Recreation . So the blogger is right in saying recreation. 9:31 correct?

Anonymous said...

Rodney, anybody who is involved with city politics knows a lot about you. Even more so are the people who participate on this forum. The blogger who you referred to as knowing a lot about you is a no brainier. They are simply participants in society. Didn't Harl ask King about him taking on the job as building and code inspector? Here is a scenario. Let's say I was a janitor at a school for years, and the principal came to me and asked if I would coach a sport. I agreed to do it. But, I've never played the sport. Would i be a good coach? Would I have any qualifications or credentials to perform the duties of this coaching position? The answer would be no. It's the principal and superintendent and school board members to find a coach that has the knowledge, and qualifications to be a coach. I would not accept a position for self-gratification for self gain. I know I couldn't coach because I've never done it nor have I play a or any sports.

Anonymous said...

Never thought of it that way 10:57.

Anonymous said...

Wrong 10:37. His committee is Public Property.

Anonymous said...

Fire chiefs pay in spring valley is $100 a month. That's $1,200 a year. Good article a paper today. Front page. All volunteer fireman should read article. Kudos to SpringValley fireman who do their job not for the monetary compensation they receive. True volunteerism. ,

Anonymous said...

Anon 3:03 You bring Spring Valley into this? Try using a town with a tax base. Or use a comparable town to the Valley. The Chief from Dalzell makes? Shame on the SpringValley Chief for even taking that check from the city.
If you're going to compare real data please give us data from Ottawa, Morris, or even Mendota. Geesh!!!

Anonymous said...

Rather than being the city which is known for spending the most or the least I would rather get the biggest bang for my buck (and no I am not trying to resurrect Perus' annual fireworks issue).
A good business man realizes that you are not going to pay department heads and engineers $90,000 and above and pay a fire chief $100.00 per month.
What are comparative salaries of surrounding cities? How much does a city engineer, fire chief, police chief make in LaSalle, Mendota, or in Ottawa a near by city which is twice as big as Peru?
Besides the High Rise and Big Ben Peru does not have any multi story buildings.

Anonymous said...

I didn't take 3:03 blog as a comparison issue. laSalle just gave $5,000 raises to several department heads, one in which was their fire chief, also in a paper today. How long has their fire chief been their fire chief? And what's his certs if you want to get comparables. Please research the information 4:50 and let us know. Your blogs seems to be rather defensive in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

In comparison of salaries the Police Chief of Peru makes more than the LaSalle Police Chief and he has not been on the PPD near as long as the LaSalle Police Chief has been on the LPD.
The Ottawa Police Chief annual salary is $68,000 for a town twice the size of Peru and the Peru Police Chiefs annual salary is over $90,000.
To compare salaries of local fire chiefs with Perus you would have to segregate each position that Perus fire chief holds and deduct everything but his pay as Fire Chief. The Mayor expressed that he has saved the city money by his combining jobs. By taking a part time position and making it a full time position I would think he not only has sent the payroll expenses sky high he has also created a position with fringe benefits. The previous assistant building inspectors position was not managed correctly and therefor should not be utilized in the foundation, financial or performance, of the latest flavor of the month. Mayor Harl how have you saved money for Peru recently?
You have had a abundance of opportunities!




Anonymous said...

10:37 If you are expecting an answer on here you will not get it, if you ask it during public comment you will not get it. Maybe call his office and set up an appointment to speak with him but I bet you will still not get a direct answer from him.

SV tax payer said...

To the moron that says "shame on the SV fire chief for taking a check" do you realize the SV city council gets paid $500 a month, the fire chief attends all if the same meeting as them, the fire chief looks at buildings with the building inspector, the fire chief meets with contractors when they are building new schools, hospital remodels, new alarms systems etc etc etc. if you ask me these other towns giving their chiefs big raises and SV giving its chief peanuts and a slap in the face makes SV look stupid. They can afford to give the chief a few dollars, look at their police chiefs pay, street supervisors pay, economic developers pay, and as a matter of fact they made up a position for the old fire chief and he gets paid. The SV chief deserves more pay since he attends all the same meeting as the council, and then some. SV get your act together

Anonymous said...

Once again people the mayor has made a false implication by stating that he has saved the city money by combining the jobs. Previously the fire chief earned approximately $8,000/year (not including fire calls) and the building inspector's salary was $47,500/year. That, in my books, adds up to $55,500/year. Wasn't the new salary listed at $84,000/year? Do the math.

Anonymous said...

Rodney said that why its true 10:37,5:02, and many others. You can't find a fire chief for less than $100,000. You need a fulltime chief and have to pay for that. Ottawa, LaSalle hjave full-time chiefs( THEY ALSO HAVE A AMBULANCE SERVICE).

Anonymous said...

I know for a fact that now that the fire chief is full-time employee his business can not do business with the city. State law says so .

Anonymous said...

Towns the size of peru do not have full time chiefs who make 100k. you tell us what towns the size of peru pay 100k. Fire chiefs that make a high salary have a bachelors or masters from an accredited college or university in fire science. I know this is fact. Populations of peru 10,000. Salary is based on experience, education. All figures that have been thrown out regarding this combination of jobs is purposely down to confuse people. It's not working. Nothing has been broken down in exact figure. King was receiving pay for fire chief. Fire Marshall, ESDA,'paid on call fireman, Each one of just these he was getting paid for. But course we didn't get this PART OF THE STORY LINE. PERU IS now a AT+T, they wanted to bundle jobs with one salary to confuse everybody. HARL DIDNT SAY ANTHING ABOUT FIRE MARSHALL, ESDA, fireman pay per call king got previously, he said just fire chief salary, which is that figure of $4,400 correct?

Anonymous said...

Taxpayers only are given information that the
City wants us to have. The truth and whole truth isn't given.snowballing us with this whole deal.

Anonymous said...

Tuesday I asked someone if they knew if Mr. King was a fire chief or a assistant chief prior to moving to peru. They didn't know but said they would ask somebody who would know. They got back to me. They said they were told no he never held neither of those titles prior to moving to peru. They said he was on a fire department in his
Hometown of Morrison since he was 18, but took a three or four year break from being a fireman prior to moving to peru. They said King moved to peru in 2000. Thought I would throw this information out there.

Anonymous said...

1217, we know that he does not have the experience to be a "building inspector" and from what you say, does he even have the experience/knowledge to be a fire chief making that much money? Are the citizens overpaying this man?

Anonymous said...

If you have a interest in future plans for security and why the Peru Fire Chiefs occupation was combined with the building inspectors read the 13th comment, from @11:04 Oct 24.in the next topic. To accomplish this goal the Mayor had to get the Fire Chief position to full time.

Anonymous said...

@1:18 If the prevailing wage of the Illinois Valley is $87,000 per year with exceptional fringe benefits and the individuals specific education and experience are at a exceptional level you are not overpaying him.

Anonymous said...

In the next topic Anon 11:04 AM, Oct 24 explains why Mayor Harl had to upgrade the Peru Fire Chief position to accomplish some of his goals. New positions, new buildings and NEW TAXES!

Anonymous said...

It's up to perus alderman and mayor to do a interview and application process to decide on who they hire and what type of qualifications they have for every job. Do alderman have any knowledge of what they're actually voting on? Some might, some might not. They just follow others in their vote. Just strange how all this came to be.

Anonymous said...

Potthoff voted no. With him being a senior alderman my question is why the other alderman didn't wonder why he cast his vote as he did. He said no for some reason. He seems to be a intelligent person. After reading all these blogs, a person should wonder why he voted as he did. There has to be a reason.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you should email Alderman Davis from Milwaukee. Its nice Rodney has a pen pal.

Anonymous said...

City of perus annual statement in paper today lists Frank Taylor's salary was between $25,000-$49,999.99 per year. What was his true salary and what benefits did he receive? This lists all workers, read it and see all the names of people who were summer help and are kids related to a city employees, or other people involved in some capacity with the city. Astronomical salaries in my opinion. Push some into retirement, stop giving raises. This is peru, not Champaign. Salaries don't reflect benefit packages.

Anonymous said...

Once again Mr. Taylor's annual salary was $47,500.

Anonymous said...

Why 3:25 did mueller vote "present"? Potthoff explained his no vote, mueller did not explain why she did not vote yes or no. Does she realize her job as alderman is to make some unpopular decisions? She dropped the ball big time on this issue.

Anonymous said...

Alderman Perez did what I would have expected him to do.
Perez is a firefighter and the chief is his boss. If he would have voted yes to give him a raise I would have called him with an ear full. If he voted no I'm sure his chief would have had him cleaning floors at the fire department. For those of you that think Perez should have voted yes or no because he's attending meetings as an alderman and not as a fireman is living in a bubble.
Good Job Alderman Perez.
As far as Alderman Mueller she had no excuse, at least I haven't heard of her reasoning, I don't believe she's related personally to the chief, and really don't think she's employed with the fire department. She should have voted on the issue.

Anonymous said...

Waffle on a decision....that's not new. Instead of scrubbing floors he will now get that super duper safety instrutor office badge and maybe his own hose.

Anonymous said...

Full time, Part time any old time being employed by the city is the best job in Peru. Pay, fringe benefits and production demands no one else comes close. If the occupational demands were higher no one could want to undertake five seperate occupations and no one would be able to disappear in her office for months at a time as the $65,000/year human resource manager. Peru hired a city engineer when asked what part he was involved in with the new road at the airport and he answered thats Chamlains I don't do the airport. What specifically does he do and more important what is he supposed to keep his hands off of? Why does a representative of a Consulting Engineering Corp continue to attend city council meetings and sit at a table of city department heads when Peru now has its own city engineer? If he doesn't do roads and bikepaths what does a civil engineer do?

Anonymous said...

I would think there had already been contracts in place for projects before city engineer showed up.

Peru Town Forum said...

5:17 AM

Only Chamlin is allowed to do the airport.

The second the bike=walking path was brand new since he was hired. If there was time for a political donation in July, there should have been time to review this project.

Anonymous said...

There is no excuse for the city engineer not having the responsibility of the bike=walking path at Baker Lake. He should have taken the manhours needed out of the city employee pool, supervised the job himself and saved the city 66% of the cost of the bid of $17,000. The next time it would save even more because the city employees would have experience, which they still do not have. When the city workers joined Operating Engineers Local 150 they were to recieve training. How much of this training have they recieved? If this part of joining a union has not been carried out fully does the city have to honor their brotherhood and collective bargaining and the Local 150 agreement? These contracts are not all one sided unless the party not recieving all stipulations fails to counter with their demands. The city employees organized with the stipulations Peru was to get a much better trained employee. Have we?

Anonymous said...

Are you surprised 418 that our local government has messed up yet another process? Imagine that

Anonymous said...

No none of us are surprised 6:35 we have now reached the stage of complete disappointment with a solid foundation for the reasons why. We all know the reasons why a educated gentleman ( P.E. with a civil engineering degree from the U. of I.) hired at $87K/year was not involved with the track at Baker Lake or the new road at the airport. To his credit hetruthfully answered the question asked of him by Alderman Potthoff at a city council meeting. There are many in Peru who think that people would be fooled by his hiring and that no one would question what for if the attitude of don't step on tradition, at the cost of over $800,000 this year, is to be maintained.
The engineering position is now appearing to be a more of a management occupation which years ago was oten filled exceptionally well by men who did not have a high school dipoma. Just because the pay of the last Superintendent of Public Works pay was more than what a Professional Engineer could be hired for do not confine this young man to what little advancement the position experienced. Take off the handcuffs you have placed on him of a consulting engineering firm and set high expectations for him, turn him loose, and lets see what positive things he will accomplish for Peru. Set him loose before you lose him!

Anonymous said...

A reporter interviewed perus fire chief. Came upon article surfing web about peru. It was: IllinoisValleyLiving.com. Interesting. perus fire chief mentioned he is a partner in tri-state fire control. Wasn't that where he
Worked for his full time job? Must be quitting that with all his positions he was recently given last Monday with the
city of peru. Salary of $84,000+. Wonder if he will still be working for his company.DID ANYBODY ON CITY COUNCIL OR THE MAYOR ASK QUESTIONS? What hours he will be working for peru? HOPE WE GET FULL-TIME WORK FOR A FULL-TIME

Anonymous said...

10:37
to lose the new superintendent of public works would be one of the best things that could happen to us - another stupid decision by the clueless!

Anonymous said...

4:18 what is a manpool for hours. You sound like Mr. Union educated to me. Then your next knock at 10:37 talks about the education aspect of a engineer. Are you troubled about the fact that education was a required for the job.
Is it possible that it was much more cost effect to have this project done by a private company?

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:52 I do not know the reason that you are in favor of losing the new Superintendent of Public Works. Could the reason be that he has been placed on the wrong job for his education and experience?
Would you be in favor of him working in his field of engineering and only employing a consutant when needed. Economically he is paid $87K/year and Chamlain is billed out at over $800K/year.
Now if I was Mayor of Peru I would take all the employees in public works total up all their years of service and divide by their number employed. After seeing the average number of years of service I'd start to observe because these guys have had enough experience to know what they are doing. The Mayor should take over the hands on management of the public works department and leave the engineering to the city engineer.
That is a combination of jobs Mayor/Dept. Hd. of Public Works which would be more cost efficient, and the savings in round figures of $800K by assigning only engineering duties to the professional engineer. 1:52 I bet your mad enough to eat nails by now!

Anonymous said...

$800k savings per year could be used for a new swimming pool! It wouldn't take long and Peru would have a new pool, and road maintenance could continue. That's alot of money each year, and Chamlin's makes a lot of mistakes. Another empty Harl promise..........

Anonymous said...

Being as the article of the interview with peru now full-time fire chief, he stated he went to approximately 15-20 calls a month in illinois valley living article. . So now being full-time fire chief, will his new job description as full-time enable him to be at all calls? Someone should oversee all these positions that have been given to him. Since it's costing us taxpayer several thousands of dollars more per year.

Anonymous said...

Anon 3:39 Every four years you get a opportunity to vote for who you yourself wish to oversee all City of Peru Department Heads.
The next Mayor/SPW election will be in 2017.





Anonymous said...

5:03 since when do we get to vote for SPW?

Anonymous said...

dear 1037 and 339, you both bring up good questions and I agree, someone should be monitoring this situation. I have read the same article and found it amusing. This blog states that he was never a fire chief in his former home town. We also know that he was never a building inspector, so what are his exact qualifications to hold the recent positions that were given to him at a 84,000 a year pay rate? Will he be able to purchase fire equipment from his company? This man must not be very smart as he states in the IV Living article "if stuck on a island, what would you bring? he said "my cell phone", Really, does he not know that a cell phone would be useless after one day due to the fact that there probably would not be electricity available for charging purposes!! This man is going to be our building inspector? Not to bring up a sad situation but he stated that he learned alot from Mr Eccels "as a yong chief", well I have heard from a reliable source that he did not like Mr Eccels. This man is a phoney!!
Rest in peace Mr Eccles, you brought honor to the postion of "Peru Fire Chief". This town is getting worse, where do we go from here-oh, maybe Ogelsby or LaSalle.

Anonymous said...

Anon 8:45 You will get to vote for the SPW in 2017. Future cost saving plans are to combine it with the Mayor position. Presently it is a "work in progress".

Anonymous said...

My question is simple. How can anybody perform all the jobs that Mr.Jeff King has agreed to take on for the city of peru and perform the duties in which are required? Didn't one alderman have this concern? Why didn't all alderman have this simple thought as a concern? Building/code enforcer in itself should have a qualification requirement. Simple.

Anonymous said...

10:43 WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? PLEASE EXPLAIN! THANK YOU!

Anonymous said...

Closed session in Utica last night regarding hiring a fire chief. New chief has a associates degree in fire science technology from Joliet junior college AND a paramedic certificate from kishwaukee college. Does our newly full-time fire chief have these same credentials??????????????

Anonymous said...

2:38 PLEASE read Ald.Perez response and that will give you explanation on why Peru hired a full-time fire chief. He knows he is on the fire department and knows Mr.King. End of discussion.

Anonymous said...

4:11 What are you talking about?

Anonymous said...

What does the Utica fire chief make a year?

Anonymous said...

Hey 4:11 I noticed over the last couple years Rodney has only answered a couple questions regarding the fire department. Their have been many questions directed to him and no answer. PLEASE go back and read and take note.

Anonymous said...

ALL SHOULD READ UNDER BLOG TOPIC :FIREFIGHTERS PAY QUESTIONED IN PERU, 2011 BLOGS, COMPARE THOSE BLOGS TO BLOGS NOW AND WHY THERE ARE STILL SO MANY QUESTIONS. VERY INTERESTING AND INFORMATIVE. A MUST READ.

Anonymous said...

I see on the agenda for the Accounts and Finance Committee meeting tonight they will be discussing a loan from Peru Federal for a fire truck. Mr King gets a new job and a new truck all in a 10 day period at the taxpayers expence. Where does Liberty Fire Company stand in all of this? Is our fire station big enough to house another truck or are they replacing one? If not replacing will the fire department be asking the taxpayers for a larger staion in the near future? If Peru can get a loan for a fire truck, why cant they barrow money for a pool?? I realize the difference in money from a truck to a public swimming pool, but do we really need another fire truck for as he states it "15-20 calls a month" Just wondering!! We should all question this man's integrity.

Anonymous said...

Mr. King stated he goes to 15-20 call a month. That was prior to his new appointed jobs he has agreed to take on. What's average calls per month. Take total calls in a year and divide by 12. That gives monthly average. How many fire calls each year for the past 5 years would be the question. Is loan in regards to the pumper truck approved many months ago from e-one for what $750,000 dollar? It is this loan for another one?No bids from the other numerous fire
Truck companies. Remember the trip and who went on it to Florida to look at truck plant. Remember all questions asked why Liberty, fundraising organization wasn't contributing to purchase. And the taxpayers and businesses donate. Donations requests sent in mail from liberty. Absolutely nobody answered anything. Wasn't it said that liberty fire company has $650,00"+ in their account? True? I asked someone who is a reliable source who really didn't want to answer questions, but did. I did tell this reliable source I wouldn't use names, and was told that Mr. King knows a longtime family friend who was and still could be a sales representative for e-one fire truck company out of Florida. Is this why the new pumper truck was ordered from e-one? Is Mr.King getting a kickback of some sort? I was told by this reliable source that the information that was given to me was from what they knew back in 2006-2007. As to the sales rep now, my reliable source had no information. But, it's all about who a person knows.

Anonymous said...

I thought that's why there is mutual aid from other departments 12:39, so departments can help out each other to defray cost if needed of equipment for all departments. It seems Mr. King and Mayor Harl have something up their sleeves to have a totally full-time department in the near future so Mayor Harl can say it was done during his administration. Getting their ducks in a row possibly. No way peru has the money or a need with its population size to have a full-time fire department. Full time departments in many instances have fireman who have fire science technology degrees. Mr. King said himself in the
illinois Valley living magazine interview that peru IS A SMALL TOWN WITH A BIG TOWN ATMOSPHERE. This is in print. Doesn't seem to make sense with all the spending on fire apparatus(trucks). Peru has to always look better then anybody else. Spend, spend, spend.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't a truck ordered late spring? To be delivered in the fall? Wasn't financing already done? Who is paying? City a.k.a. Taxpayers? Liberty Fire Company a.k.a. Fundraising organization for the fire department? Once again, this was asked many months ago, and no answers.

Anonymous said...

Again, we all need to question this mans integrity as well as "Liberty Fire Company" How would one go about to form a citizens committee to questions such actions by our city officials. I have also heard from a reliable source that our Mr King has plenty of skeletons in his closet. Where is the ITEGRITY and HONOR this postion should hold like our former chief had?

Anonymous said...

What a bunch of pathetic rumors. Form a citizens committee? Why don't you give him a call and set up a meeting and ask him questions yourself? This is the problem. Everyone wants some big action or thinks people on a blog are going to do anything. Hilarious! When I have a question, I pick up the phone and call someone. I don't care if it is a state rep, US congressman, or the dog catcher. Or since you think Rodney has all of the answers then call him. Stop wasting your time posting and find out for yourself what is going on.

Peru Town Forum said...

10:17 AM
Responsible elected officials take the time and effort needed to squelch comments that might be nothing more than rumor. This is part of the job and if they have any integrity that is what they do.
If something is false, make it right, do your job for which you were elected and that job is being responsible.
It is easier for one person to make a statement to the residents than to have a 150 people calling and asking questions to the person in question.

Anonymous said...

Have you ever heard of liars and people who talk the talk? I'm sure that you have run into people like that. And there are people who bold face lie or only will tell you half the truth and then there are also people who will get angry when asked a question because they know you know the truth. And there are people who make themselves and others believe their lies. There is this word called karma. Take note of politicians. Fast talking and manipulate a question when asked. Some people get a high out of intimidating and bullying. How about those people out there who are narcissists? They think they can get whatever, whoever they want and don't have to answer to anyone and there are no repercussions for their actions. Karma can be a great thing. What goes around comes around all in time.

Anonymous said...

You bet your last dollar that if I were in a position where accusations were made and there was no truth in those accusations, I would publicly respond to questions and accusations made of me. The only reason I wouldn't respond is because the accusations are true. Think about what I just blogged.

Anonymous said...

All of the above listed jobs should have been publicized and a fair and honest hiring process should have been implemented. The manner in which Mayor Harl implemented this was very unprofessional of him. Was talking to a person today who knows Mayor Harl and he said he thought Harl was smarter than this. This person also said he can't believe what's been going on down at city hall since Harl became mayor. This person doesn't even live in peru, but does pay taxes when shopping, eating and drinking in peru. When exactly is the next election? Oh, that's right 2017.

Anonymous said...

Lois, you should say that it's easier to post a rumor than get the accurate information. All involved with the city have e-mail addresses posted on the web site. This includes all city services. What you are saying is that it's ok to post accusations, lies, rumors and expect those involved to comment to the anonymous person or group involved in posting the falsehoods.

Anonymous said...

harl has the problem of surrounding himself and then listening to the wrong persons!

Anonymous said...

After reading last nights News Trib I questioned what the headlines will be 5 years after Harl is out of office? Why is Peru always the town that this b.s. takes place in? As far as Mayor Harl he lost interest and left Peru along time ago. Such ashame!

Anonymous said...

This guy never had interest for anything other than himself and the union. Wonder what he thinks when he looks in the mirror?

Anonymous said...

We got suckered 5:46, suckered.

Anonymous said...

Just so everybody who doesn't get out of their house very much. There are so many people talking about these combined appointments to the fire chief by The mayor. Case in point, no experience. And the hiring process, which was wrong also. Who thinks King and Harl have something up their sleeves?

Anonymous said...

Just did a little research on fire chiefs salaries in the state of illinois. From what I researched peru with its population and experience as far as having degrees in fire science of the appointed newly full time chief, we are paying too much. Why from 1998-2009, we had a fire chief who performed the duties for what $4,000? As fire chief. No problem. What kind of growth has peru had since 2009? To validate this change. Peoria Assistant Fire Chief makes $54,000 a year. Look at the size of Peoria. Yes, full-time department. What's the size of Peru? 10,000. What is Harl and the council doing? Not to mention, no advertisement in paper for this position.

Anonymous said...

no advertisement in paper for this position

another campaign promise made and broken

Mirror mirror on the wall who is the FAIREST of them all?

Oops, the mirror broke. Sorry Mayor.

Anonymous said...

who said anything about rumors and faslehoods about our new chief! Welcome to Harlville, Illinois.