Where there is smoke there is normally a fire. From reactions displayed at the times a check and balance system to record time on the job by means of time clocks for all individuals who earn their living by payment from the taxpayers of Peru I would also say things seem tainted. A time clock installed for each department with the top supervisor of that shift to witness all punch ins and punch outs for each and every shift plus a appointed city official (Mayor, alderman, other elected officials) to make at least one unannounced shift start up and or shift ending per day would be a fair method of erasing doubt. When it was reported in the newspaper that the Mayor said "This is not going to make the troops happy, You are dealing with a double edge sword Ald. Potthoff " proof was evident that integrity may be lacking.
After thoroughly reading the report of Judge Balestri, I thought what he has commented on is only a snapshot in time but in actuality this has been going on for many years. By that not only referring to OT pay but lack of management within the Public Works Department that the mayor was aware of and did not correct because the troops would not be happy. Notice the date on the above post.Now think about the comment Harl made to Ald. Potthoff. Although the discussion is not documented in the minutes the comment was made and remembered by many. "The troops will not be happy" Was the mayor referring to the improperly given OT. This was in response to the suggestion made by Ald. Potthoff about time clocks. Was this a slip of the tongue that only makes sense in retrospect?
28 comments:
KARMA KARMA KARMA KARMA KARMA KARMA!
That discussion in open meeting is proof that Harl was staunchly opposed to a Time Clock for more than one reason. First of all he was opposed because as he stated,"the troops will not be happy". But more importantly, Harl was opposed to installing a Time Clock because he knew a Time Clock would likely expose his under the table Overtime scheme and that is proof enough that he was well aware that his authorization of OT was "unsactioned" and possibly even "illegal", and he knew he had to keep it secret. Very good Lois. You have touched on the fact that Harl knew he must keep the OT arrangement a secret and the Judge's report revealed that nobody else interviewed had knowledge of the scheme except Harl, Bleck, and the two employees who received the OT. Such secrecy does not suggest honest dealings.
The judge was not aware of a number of pertinent factoids that may have altered his report signifcantly.
Funny how any report is only as good as the entire volume of information used to make it. Incomplete info means a report based on incomplete information.
Therefore, an Incomplete Report.
I understand there was a pay freeze but what I don't understand is the reason for the O.T. Was Mr. X given a newly established job with more duties? A job that didn't exist previously and one that justified fake O.T.? The titles "foreman" or "supervisor" keep coming up. Didn't we have these positions before? Surely we did and surely there should be a job description and pay scale established somewhere. So why the added salary? Were the other foreman who work for the city in other departments also given the free bonus?
Anyone or any entity that has ever been involved in a proper and thorough investigation, knows that the judges report and investigation is not worth the paper its written upon. This all stems back to the recommendation given to the council by their city attorney. It was bad advice. How the city restricted the questions to be asked by the judge indicates a thorough lack of experience in investigating matters regarding alleged criminal activity. What experience, if any, does the judge have in conducting investigations? He must surely read investigative reports, but has he ever conducted the investigation himself? What are his qualifications for conducting a report such as this and what are the qualifications of those posing the questions that restricted the judges questioning? The whole investigation is tainted. Only Perez saw through that and was intelligent enough to know that only authorities specializing in investigative alleged wrongdoing have the experience and are qualified to do such. The other poor council members followed blindly behind the poor advice given them. But as usual, hasn't that been the Peru way under this administration?
The person or company who does a report will state in their report findings whether or not all the information was obtained. Purposedly documents will not be given for the sole purpose of hiding facts that would change the report. In the court of law, this is taken into consideration and does not look good for those who are responsible for not providing the necessary documentation. Eventually dishonesty catches up with those who are dishonest. Wonder what the closed session minutes would reveal? All of them, not some.
The judge states in his report that the mayor did not want to appoint a new superintendent immediately. I seem to recall that the mayor had someone from out of town ready to fulfill the position but council vetoed his choice. I seem to recall that the mayor said he had already interviewed the gentleman and was ready to hire him. Does anyone else recall this incident?
How about delaying the hiring for the reason being the budget. To make up $$ for the overtime paid, being as the temp. Co-sup. supposedly not being paid a salary. Any under the table deals going on with that???
Was not the person from out of town that the mayor wanted to hire a friend or a relation of a friend? I believe I read or heard this. Can someone remember if this is true or not?
I do know that the person was from out of town. Actually I believe he had 2 people in mind. l for superintendent of public works and l city engineer.
We need more Cow Bell! And more trucks!
Whatever happened to that Gourmet Burger joint they where going to build in the old ESDA building that we sold to the Boss's friend?
they never did finish tearing down the burned out buildings on the westclox sight. they cleaned up the debris, but there is still a burned out hulk that needs to be demolished.
Peru, Illinois politics is really ripe for a country western song to be written about it. How about a few good suggestions for a title.
Payroll would show when émployees actually received OT hours. Investigate what projects were being worked on in that time frame of paycheck as to whether employees actually were working, or just getting their pay checks padded. Or just a regular 40 hour week working a tad and hanging out. Would be interesting to know if any of this OT was paid out for the concert venues. ie: set-up, during, tear down. This would open up another can of worms. For instance: concert promotor should insue those expenses. This is just a thought that popped into my mind.
2 EMPLOYEES RECEIVES OVERTIME PAY OVER A PERIOD OF A COUPLE OF YEARS. Very strange. Now if there were big PW jobs with a time limit for job completion, then seems as though more employees would have gotten OT. WHY 2????
the Judge's report states quite clearly that the extra hours where not worked. The time was just added to the time sheet and they got paid the OT rate. So essentially, the got paid for 52 extra days each year.
A question I have is what about the IMRF? After having their salaries padded since 2009, how much is this going to change the pension. Might the State of Illinois be interested in the fraud?
1:44 PM
Interesting thought and that certainly might add a bit to the IMRF pension fund. And how will they explain that? Did the judge even hit on that one?
do they pay into imrf
Today is Jan 30, 2014 and the city council meeting Jan 27, video is still not on the city website.
Peru has lost more city council videos in one year than movie land has lost in the history of Hollywood.
the point is that future IMRF benefits are based on pay history. The more you make while working, the more you make while retired. Illinois made pay padding (pension spiking) against the law. Probably not the case here as I'm sure there are many more years and I don't think they count overtime pay.
Did you expect anything different when it comes to the video of the last meeting? Every time the mayor doesn't want a meeting posted the camera seems to fail. This is disgusting and definitely not an example of the transparency we've been promised.
It is the transparency that is practiced by the Illinois Democrat Party.
10:44 I am a long time independent, and what party exactly is transparent? Democrats are bad, republicans are worse... What party do you belong to? Tea?
Putting labels like democrat and republican on these small town clowns is ridiculous. They are just bad.
2:20--- I have to agree with you. There is only one smart clown in the circus at city hall and that would be Mr.Pottoff.
220 What's wrong with the tea party? I am coming to learn that they and the libertarians are the most consistent.
4:30 Well the Nazi party and Green party seem pretty consistent too. If that's all you are judging.
I asked if that person belonged to an "immune" transparent party, like Tea. When are people going to relapse that, especially in small town politics, it is character , honesty, and common sense, not some rigid party platform that makes a good leader.
you need consistent arguments with a strong base in economics, in regards to solving problems 946, something anyone with a rigid party affiliation, can't deliver. unions give to democrats, businesses give to republicans, libertarians and tea party members are the only ones interested in getting the money out of politics and actually serving.
5:55
If they work full time for the city every dime made gets reported into imrf.
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