I did not go to any of the meetings this evening. They were the Public Property Meeting, The Committee of the Whole Meeting and the City Council Meeting.
I understand the city will have NCIC write a grant for money to make a parking lot at West and 12th Street where there is currently a grassy triangle intersection. The grant would cover half the cost, the city would be responsible for the rest.
The most surprising thing I heard is that Jeff King, our FD Chief, co super of Public Works, Building and Zoning Inspector and Doug Bernabei, our Police Chief and co super of Public Works will now be co heads of the Electric Department. Is it possible that no one applied for this position?
36 comments:
Are the fire chief and police chief electrical engineers too? QUALIFICATIONS? WHAT IS GOING ON? PERFECT EXAMPLE PERU DOES NOT NEED A FULL-TIME FIRE CHIEF. WASTE OF TAXPAYERS MONEY. MAYOR HARL, WHAT IS GOING ON? WHERE AND WHAT DOES THE CITY COUNCIL ACTUALLY DO? ALDERMAN DAVE P, YOU ARE ONE OF THE MORE
INTELLIGENT ONES, I'M SURPRISED YOU HAVEN'T SPOKEN UP. Keep up the good work with this blog site everybody. Best thing to happen in Peru is this forum.
are you sure about that intersection? 12th street dead ends before it intersects with West street. There is a creek that runs between 12th and 13th.
Just checked the map, it is actually called Park Road (did not know that) and 11 th street would be on the other side of the triangle. It is my understanding that that Park Rd and the grassy triangle would then become a parking lot. Believe this conversation took place at the Public Property mtg.
Several aldermen made comments regarding Mr. Bernabei and Mr. King taking over the electric department. The mayor hinted that there was "no plan" in place and if they had one to present it. It sounded as though no one wants to apply for the position in Peru. Carefully listen to the video when it comes out.
This is 10:50. Please accept my apology ALDERMAN Dave P. I also agree that a worker who works for the electric department could handle the job temporarily. 3 alderman voted against the temp.? Are sleepy alderman starting to wake up?
8:50, the unemployment is high and I can hardly believe that there would be no interest in this position of people who would be highly qualified. Could it be that people don't want to be associated in a working capacity with the city. Very sad. Here is an idea: Hire a headhunter for all the positions being sought. Possibly this would be a way for peru to fill positions in a etchical manner. Not who scratches whose back.
I am in question of the Committee as a Whole Meetings:
Is this a formal or informal meeting?
Has a ordinance been created and passed by the council to have Committee as a Whole Meetings?
Would a approved ordinance by the council be necessary to conduct Committee as a Whole Meetings or can they be called at the desire of the Mayor?
I think it is great that these cheifs are doing this. They are professional mangers who are saving the city lots of money. They are running the public works department more professionally then ever. It is nuts to go out and hire new superintendents "just because." Good job with this forward thinking. Us taxpayers appreciate government doing more with less. It is crazy to think we need to hire an electrical engineer to run electric or pay someone big money to run public works. We need people who are not afraid to be the boss and these guys are not afraid. When the rare occasion is needed for engineers hire a consultant job by job. I heard this current arrangement will save the city 300K a year. I also heard the super of electric made over 110,000 last year just in wages. Is that true. Why spend spend spend?
Better yet - sell the electric department and outsource public works.
I hardly think a police chief and a fire chief are qualified to be the head of the electric department. Granted they are good leaders and managers, but electric is extremely important to everybody and could be deadly. Better to spend some money and get somebody who knows what the heck they're doing in that department.
12:53
you are either king or bernabei or you have a sick sene of humor! how is giving more power to power and money hungry individuals good for the city and how are we saving $300,000 by having individuals in charge who know nothing about the departments they head? sounds like more chaos to me!
Wonder if they are scared of electricity? Professional managers? Joke! Maybe one is. 12:53, why don't you ask a person who knows one very well and they will tell you the truth. One talks real big, but a lot of people know differently. Very true!
10:30
lol - would you think that with all we are paying for salaries for employees and chiefs and elected persons they would think this up for themselves - obviously not.
With people like you tooting the chaos horn 12:53 pm, we are destined to remain dysfunctional in each and every department.
Did you have a particular consultant in mind? I bet you do don't you. Are the initials CHAMLIN & ASSOCIATES?
The only viable option for continued reliable electric production is to sell the department to a major utility. It is beyond the capabilities of Peru to manage the department and maintain the system. Money is constantly being syphoned off to the general fund to pay other bills instead of maintaining the system. It is in pretty good shape right now, but the continued lack of investment will pay a toll quickly. It is better to sell this asset to a utility that knows how to run it than let it rot on the vine.
It is obvious that the city will not hire a qualified director. There is nobody available locally and they refuse to hire from outside the area. All the more reason to sell it. Lastly, they are milking and diverting every penny they can. Sorry, the choice is simple, sell it off. To bad everyone will have to pay more, but it is better to pay more knowing the lights will come on than to pay little and put up with outages.
@12;53 The current super is also under investigation by the FBI for falsifying his time sheets !
At one time the city handled the water treatment and that was outsourced to TEST. I think it's time to outsource the electric too.
Start at the top of seniority list and take the first guy that says yes ! Then have the mayor do his job and manage him . simple . no cheating , no lying on time sheets , no drinking on the job . period .
3:38. ? There are a lot of supers in Peru. Who are u referring too?
I don't understand why anyone from Peru would want to sell off the electric dept. someone mentioned the siphoning of money from the electric dept to the general fund. The elec. dept. should not be blamed for money being transferred out of it, and if Peru can use this fund at less expense than they can borrow the money, so be it. Peru has always had great success with the electric dept and sales taxes. I believe that Ald. Potthoff presented a financial program in which a sizable sum is put away each month from the electric dept's profits.
The elec. dept. is also a source of good jobs for Peru citizens and they are known to have done real good work.
Someone who understands the hydro plant please give additional info.
@4:49 If there are so many supers in Peru why can't I find any in the telephone book? There are 3 from Ottawa,Il.
It is not the purpose of government to provide jobs. The same jobs will be available if we sell the department. If the choice is to suck all the money out of it so we can spend $50K or more on flowers, then I say sell it to a utility that is required to reinvest and make a profit. The Peru City Council and Mayor cannot be trusted with this asset and things will not change for many years - probably about 25 when the babyboomers finally go away.
Anon 6:24 No it is not the purpose of the government to provide jobs, but when it owns a business which is highly profitable it is not the governments work to give jobs away. For approximately 120 years the city has done well owning its own electrical department and you have come to the conclusion that the city council and Mayor cannot be trusted with this asset because they are going to suck all the money out of it for flowers. How much did the city spend buying flowers last summer? If I remember correctly I believe $1500, that wouldn't take you very far in the electrical business.
Anon 6:24 Why do you, me and most others in Peru have such a lack of confidence in the abilities and extend this to a mistrust of the coucil. Watching the video of Alderman Sapeanza in questioning Alderman Perez about the flower program made many wonder why people such as this are entering politics? We must raise the abilities and integrity of candidates. Was that NO a cry for Help!
8:35 How could Sapienza mistrust Rodney's intentions? Well a few weeks ago at a City meeting Alderman Perez has shared the need to bid out the landscaping, because the volunteers would not be available. As part of the Public Property Committeee Ald. Perez requested bids and receieved only 2 bidders for the work. Ald.Perez did share with everyone how the specifications were very vague ( he is the committee that is in charge). A week earlier Ald. Perez voted against giving the low bidder the grass cutting contract ( he is the committee in charge), all of the bids were sealed bids, all with the same specifications. It makes you wonder why those bids were rejected by Perez? At the meeting in which Sapienza questioned the process, Ald.Perez read a message from another company about the lack of specifications on the landscaping bid ( I guess ALD.Perez forgot that this was the landscaping was his gig). The Ald.Perez informed Ald.Sapienza that he had volunteers to do the flowers. Are you confused? Alderman Sapienza was the only one that stood up to these crazy antics.
10:55 AM
I think it would be more appropriate for you to ask the questions of Public Works Superintendent Police Chief Doug Bernabei. I was at a council mtg where he explained the mowing bids and why he eliminated some of the bidders and some of the areas to be done. With the volunteers I believed they stepped forward when they saw what was happening and decided they could do this once again, especially since the summer help will be doing the watering. Called a compromise, something seldom seen in Peru so please be thankful.
No 10:55 am, Sappy was the only one to demonstrate "crazy antics".
Just watch the video.
What does Sappy do in real life?
Approving of a persons capabilities is a joke when they have no qualifications. Has this city council really been hit with a snowball?
Alderman Sapienza came across as delusional and angry. Is it true Alderman Sapienza told Green House a week ago they had the contract? No wonder why he appeared so upset he gave his friends at the green house wrong information. Will Sapienza help in volunteering? Or does he really not support volunteers as he said he does. Actions speak louder than words. According to the video Perez and the majority went with the lowest bidder. Why would Sapienza think tax payers would want to pay thousands and thousands for a project that can be done for a few hundred dollars plus watering flowers by city minimum wage workers.
@3:38 Why ask such a embarrassing question? SAPPY DOESN'T HAVE A REAL LIFE.
Will any of the aldermen, besides Perez, get their hands dirty and plant some flowers? It's not rocket science, and they could be shown how to do it properly.
Sappy was a school teacher and served in the military. According to the NT article before his election, "he lived his entire life in the third ward." But they did not explain how he managed to get a masters degree and serve in the military without living outside Peru's third ward!
Let's discuss the city of perus electric department. We now have two co-supers, with three alderman voting nay. What are their qualifications? Doesn't the city have an electrician with a salary of approximately 70k with a certification for being an electrician? Why in the world wasn't the city's electrician considered and asked to fill this temporarily position for the electric department????????????????????????????????? peru needs to clean house from the bottom up, and I mean everybody needs to go.
9:13 your right, what are the qualifications of those three that voted NO.
obviously better qualifications than the shameful ones that voted yes!
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