This blog is maintained for the sole purpose of allowing the people of Peru and those interested in the cities of the Illinois Valley to express their views.
“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
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Referendum Has Lost
CITY OF PERU - ALDERMAN
VOTE for 1
(WITH 0 OF 12 PRECINCTS COUNTED)
YES . . . . . . . . . . . . 609 40.85 609 0
NO. . . . . . . . . . . . . 882 59.15 882
54 comments:
Anonymous
said...
As I have said before, Peru voters deserve what they get.
The Lagger of the Valley will just get to sit and watch while the other towns pass it by, losing families and businesses,
Once more it is Baker, he cannot let go and even when defeated he reaches out to drag the town down with him. No single person has done more harm out of spite and false pride than that living monument to himself.
Looks like the voters of Peru really approve of the city council. They are doing the job for the people. Now those with the agendas and part of the anti Peru effort need to shape up or ship out. Sorry folks your 15 minutes is up!
AS LEAST I WILL SLEEP PEACEFULLY KNOWING THAT MOST OF THE ALDERPERSONS WILL RECEIVE A PENSION FROM US TAXPAYERS, MY HOME VALUE WONT BE A HIGHER VALUE IN THE MARKET WHEN I DIE BECAUSE PERU DOESNT HAVE A OUTDOOR POOL FACILITY, THEREFORE MY INHERITANCE TO MY KIDS WILL BE LOWER. MY ALDERMAN ARE HORRIBLE AT REPRESENTING US. I WILL ENCOURAGE OUR YOUTH TO GET THE HECK OUT OF PERU AFTER HIGH SCHOOL AND JUST COME BACK TO PARTY ON HOLIDAYS. Have a nice night.
this was always the mighty few against the silent majority. Some of the reasons given to vote yes for this were, if both your alderman don't agree with you, you have an alternate to seek out. That doesn't make enough sense. Who says the at large alderman would agree with you either? I did not speak against this before the election because it would have sounded like sour grapes. As a no voter you have to prove two things before you can sway the majority. 1. you have enough votes to actually affect an election. your face book page has less than two hundred likes and about the same on this blog. 2. You have to show real change can come about by the actions you propose. If this had passed, the election process would have been too convoluted to make sense. No one ever stated clearly how the election would be run. Could you run in a ward and then the two highest that didn't win would take at large, or would you have to declare at large/ward. The at large would really be senseless as whoever was elected would happen to live in one of the four wards and surely would have undue pressure from the constituents of that ward to "protect" home base. The only real way I could see affecting change would have been to throw out the ward system completely and have all alderman at large with the number total that you happen to prefer (6). I do not believe that would win widespread acceptance any better than this hybrid rule that was proposed. Too many people like having a neighbor that has their same interests as they do to talk to, and believe it or not, most voters like their alderman. Pointing out the fallibility of public officials can be great sport. But surely compromise is true politics at it's heart. Elected officials are here to work for us, spitting vitriol at them surely makes their job more difficult. Why would new blood or younger candidates run either. This blog was proud of the mayoral change they helped bring about and immediately started to feast on their new creation. I feel this blog/face book page will sadly wither away. Oh there may be times when anger and indignation raise the roof, but unless you can quadruple your active members to this club, you will surely be unheard as those who cry "wolf', thus diminishing your voice even more.
I understood the referendum perfectly, I understood how it would work, meaning that the procedure for election was exactly as explained and the council would then have to decide upon the terms and how and when they would occur. There was nothing difficult about it. People were available or they could have been asked here and they would have been answered.
This is Peru and it has not changed in my lifetime. We can all withdraw into our homes and know for certainty, that Peru is what it always has been only more so with each passing year. I don't say that with any pride at all. And all of us who have children living elsewhere know exactly why they have left and many more will follow because of the politics in this city.
lois not going to tell you i told u so. not going to gloat. just going to sit back and see whom rodney is going to call on this? will it be lisa madigan, the state elections board, carretto? i am sure there is a conspiracy here somewhere. must be the n/t fault for printing it wrong in the paper, where it made no differece what so ever. it was printed right on the ballot, thats all that counts. after that smoke clears, will wait to see what you will be complaining about next? i see half way thru the election you were on to the firemens pension board. i am sure mrs eceles will wish you but out. everything you have touched has failed, except giving us a mayor who is only worried about making sure the local 150 members are working so he keeps getting his pension checks. freido
Hmmmmmmm... I noticed on the NT web page that the FBI is poking around Peru City Hall. Boss Hurl tap danced around the question. "If they have been, they haven’t come to me, Nobody contacted me. There is no opinion or no statement I can make if they haven’t come to me.”
Peru is a wonderful place to live. It has prospered through the years with foresight and making the right decisions. Nobody forces people to live here and kids have to leave to find jobs and big time entertainment that we can't provide for many reasons. Don't think that prospective businesses don't know about or see that large inflateable rat. If this dissent continues and festers it will send the wrong message to prospects. We can work for a bright future or we can fight and become a blight.
To anyone who thinks the at-large referendum was an endorsement of the current city council, you had better stop and think about it. The final tally indicates a very close race with only 300 or so votes separating the two sides. Thank you to all Peru voters intelligent enough to clearly understand and support the at-large referendum. A special thanks to all members of the initiative who contributed money and labor for the cause. I suspect this is just a first step to educate the electorate of Peru of things to come. You successfully exposed the slimy underbelly of the Peru establishment. You smoked the aldermen out of their do-nothing, know-nothing funk and caused them to embarrass themselves by scrambling to save their phony-baloney seats. Even the NO voters are now aware of how desperately these fake leaders are to maintain power and influence. The Status Quo crowd in Peru will pound their chest and claim to have the hearts of the citizens on their side. But the numbers don't lie. A considerable amount of Peru residents approaching 50% have indicated they believe we can do much better. What is even more important is the fact that an overwhelming percentage of those who approve of the Peru city council will soon be casting their votes from elderly and retirement housing as their primary residence or they will not be here to vote at all, if you know what I mean. Simply put, there are rapidly becoming fewer and fewer of them and more and more of "US". We will eventually prevail as the Status Quo crowd continues to contribute to the population at Peru City Cemetery.
Alderman Mike Sapienza said he was disappointed the referendum was placed on the ballot, “to create such a negative atmosphere in the city, in a city that has so many positives that haven’t been tooted.”
Sorry grapes Mike don't be such a whiner was Harl not there to tell you to what to say. Maybe you haven't noticed Mike the city has had negative atmosphere since your election and it hasn't change maybe you should look within the council
Laws are provided for the citizens to make change and seems to me your wards didn't vote 100% in your favor so you are doing as good of job as you think
Lois, your statement that Peru hasn't changed in your lifetime is appalling. If someone didn't get 251 to come through Peru we would be a surburb of Dalzell. I don't like having the airport for the rich only but if it brings some industry for the area, I'm all for it. We can't be narrow minded.
It won't go away. The No vote pulled out all stops on this, and still the Yes got a great deal of support.
Remember the way this was structured forced it as a complete referendum on the entire council. Like a total vote of no confidence.
Those are historically hard to win in any election. The aldermen mobilized their very core, friends , families, dependent business... All of them.
If it was just a joke, it would have barely gotten 10 percent. It was dangerously close given the full court press of the aldermen.
Lois says it would not matter, but I disagree. It was poorly conceived, overturned too many duly elected terms, required a large perception change, and above all did not obtain the support of Baker.
You ignore his influence at your own risk... Unless his reputation and back room deals are protected, he will oppose everything. And he will never get the support needed for re election, but has enough sway with the old folks he can prevent any candidate from defeating the incumbent large minority machine of about thirty percent.
He is the key to gridlock. Negotiate with him, or let it all go to crap.
A majority of the people who vote tend to be of the baby boomer generation. Many are old school and just go with the flow and can't accept change to be progressive or obviously don't understand it. This is ok that it didn't pass. There will be other elections so this just gives some time to some of those to dig their hole a little deeper so people will see and hear and read what's really going on with our city. We all know what alderman can be trusted and which ones can't be trusted. A new mayor to come in 2017 also!
this at large alderman is pure hooey. Don't you see if it actually does get on the ballot and passes the forces that "bee" would simply gang up in parts of the town that they have strong holds on. I could see them "running" candidates all from one ward/area where their strength is concentrated. Then in effect, you could have as was espoused on the radio at 9:30 five alderpersons out of one ward and then one each for the other three. I wonder how you would feel about this scenario. you would still have 9-1 votes. You simply don't understand how elections are run. you only need 50% plus one vote to win. feeling good about this election is foolish, as elections go you lost by a landslide. If there is an evil cabal as you believe, they have become even more set in their ways. They must feel untouchable now. You in effect have separated them even farther from the crowd of rabble. I wouldn't be surprised if they got their shots in at the next council meeting. be ready for the gloating.
6:10-I don't think any person who would be in the "right" would wish someone to "butt out". What is right is right. Are you bothered by something that may have come out of the closet regarding a pension/pensions. And so you know, don't blame Lois! Mr./Ms.: 6:10- wouldn't you want people to have your back if needed in a situation? Also, seems as if you could be a person very much involved in somewhat of a capacity with the city of peru either as an employee, spouse, alderman, contractor, etc.. Have a nice hump day.
To 9:54 pm - Your long winded observation lacks the political reality of the situation. It just isn't as complicated as you suggest. Splitting hairs about an at large alderman favoring his home ward is so baseless as an argument. You don't list all the particulars of the advantages of at-large aldermen as it was presented and you try to project the image of an intelligent electorate in Peru that actually takes the time to study an issue before casting a vote. There is no such electorate in Peru and hasn't been as long as I've lived here for 30 plus years. The NO vote prevailed for one reason only. The majority of Peru voters are simply unsophisticated and deathly afraid of anything they consider out of their "comfort zone" or different. The proponents of the referendum did an excellent job of explaining it's advantages. It is beyond their control that the message was beyond the intellectual level of understanding for a large percentage of those who voted No. Sorry, but I observed a very large number of those voters lumbering in and out of the polling places yesterday, canes and walkers in hand, hunched over and struggling to get in there and do their duty as "The Don" had instructed them to do. Very, Very sad!
Really 9:11. What raises do city employees get yearly? How does that compare percentage wise to what a homeowners taxes would have been raised? Alderman have pension plans? Appointing positions at an astronomical salary is acceptable with not many questions? How many closed session council meetings since 2009? Reasonable? I think not. Oops, forgot the payroll scandal. Test? Chamlin's? Money seems to become available when wanted by city officials. Progressive Peru, my back side. What city's the size of Peru do not have an outdoor pool facility? Answer please. Maybe peru can beautify waterstreet and design a beach area so our family's can swim in the carp infested,brown disgusting illinois river. How can St. Bede charge people for an area of waterfront beach area on the illinois river? I was told that people who have boats can pay $300 for a summer for an area of beach on the river, in back of St. Bede. How can they legally charge people money for that? Anybody should legally be able to be there.
The only thing these comments prove is why you lost. Lois a few years ago you and your partner planted a venomous root with this blog. Its vines have since grown wild and yesterday they finally entangled and poisoned you. Even in defeat you do more harm to your cause. Peru will be better off when people die? The no votes are unintelligent? Please keep it up! It's helping your opponents more than they help themselves! And to anyone who thinks this was close you are a political amateur. 58-42 is a landslide in modern elections.
I'm looking forward to the next election. Each candidate who is seeking to be re-elected/or elected as an alderman or mayor needs to have a question and answer session whereas they are THE ONLY ONE ON THE PANEL BEING ASKED QUESTIONS ON TOPICS WHERE NO INDEX CARDS ARE NEEDED. I would be willing to bet that 6 who are alderman would not be too savy about being put on the spot for questions when they wouldn't have their cronies standing beside them. What would this tell you. It's a good possibility that some questions would be highly verbally manipulated by some candidates.
A large percentage of people who vote have been voting since the Baker Days. In many instances they don't understand change. For instance a mcdonalds cheeseburger is no longer a quarter. Nobody was disrespectful as far as referring to people's passing. Too bad people's values aren't the same as 40-50 years ago. Simply put, people who know what's been going on don't like the fact things have come to the forefront with our governing. Everybody needs to stand tall and stay involved! 2017 can't come soon enough! As fAr as alderman, the saying, "the more the merrier" DOES NOT HOLD TRUE.
12:09 pm, When at least 4 in 10 voters support a referendum that has the potential to provide wholesale change to the number of staus quo aldermen, that is not a landslide, that is just a good start. Stay tuned as this group continues to bring more and more incompetence to the public's attention. Go ahead and gloat as you will, but 800 plus votes for this initiative was a very good showing for a first try. As I said we did not prevail, but we have more motivation and quite frankly, a more intelligent group than any current or former aldermen who signed that ridiculous letter they paid $1500 for.
1:19 you and your group would be better off keeping quiet for few days rather than popping off about who is/was intelligent or not. You sound too much like sour grapes. The next election the NO people might publish all the nasty comments the YES people have made on this blog and then the electorate can decide who makes more sense. Since you know the ad cost 1500 you must work at the NewsTrib.
Go ahead and publish the nasty comments as you call them. You think that will sway their vote? They vote no because the Peru Pope told them to vote no.
Any thinking person who is undecided is going to vote based on fact, not on what one side says about the other. The rest already have their minds made up for them by the Trib or the radio.
Deliberate or not, I do know that both media outlets owned by Miller were quoting incorrectly the wording of the referendum. i can't believe that the knowledge they had on the referendum was accidentally misquoted. I am betting it was intentional, either way sure does not look good for them as a media outlet.
If the city wants to save money, why not just 1 alderman per ward? This at-large stuff is a bunch of crap just so maybe someone can get elected if they can collect votes from the whole town instead of just their ward.
12:09 I was unaware that venomous roots were why Lois lost. I did not even know Lois was running for something?
If you mean that mean spirited comments were why the referendum lost, I thought it was because 8 was better than six? But you say its because some bloggers called people close minded and stuck in their ways, and followers of people who served but can not let go?
This blog was the best thing that ever happened to Peru. This town has a mindset like concrete and as much false pride as you can find in one backwater town. Keep firing all barrels at the leaders who aare as family minded as Marie Antoinette.
Ald.Sapienza won't be too happy that he has finally been talked about on the blog. Funny but he started this by signing his name to the infamous yellow postcards urging the NO vote, I know because he sent them to my friends who he thought might still be his friends. Wrong. And of course stooping so low as to sign the Baker ad in the N.T. You no longer get a pass as a new aldermen, you have proved yourself.
The changes that have occurred are not something very pretty to see, have you been through the downtown lately. As to Rte. 251, it is noisy, fast lane of traffic right through the city. Great for bringing stuff none of wants brought here, easy off and quickly back on and across the river.
I will make sure to salute alderman Sapienza when I come to a city council meeting since he does not believe in democracy. I will also toot a horn right in his ear to clear the bs in his ears.
He is a fake and will be left at the bottom of the ballot box if what heard I about 3rd ward is true, a possible new canadiate to 3rd ward that is moving !
It's like the odd number wards never get a new person to run
Someone previously stated that Mr. Sapienza was disappointed that the referendum was on the ballot because "it created a negative atmosphere in the city, a city that has so many positives". If this is true Mr. Sapienza why did you upset the proverbial apple cart by running against Mr. Ankiewicz? Did you feel a change was necessary? Did you feel maybe there was a better way to get things done? Did you think that maybe you would be a better representative to the citizens of your ward? So, in short, you felt that the citizens in your ward did not have sufficient representation?? Isn't that what citizens in other wards have been saying? Each ward may have 2 aldermen but that does not mean that each ward has equal representation!!
8:43 am, What a wonderfully enlightened point you bring up. This is the great hypocracy of the Peru establishment and the status quo crowd. Mr. Sapienza, in his pursuit of challenging a sitting alderman considers that pursuit as honorable and justified. However, the At-Large Initiative which would have encouraged and provided the opportunity for many others to challenge sitting aldermen is somehow "negative" in the eyes of the great Horn Tooter. What a Hypocrite.
Sapienza, obtained 2 additional years on his term that he would have lost if the Yes vote was to win. The next alderman race in the 3rd ward will be very competitive with additional candidates of very high qualifications gaining interest in Peru politics. I am very familiar with one gentlemen who understands business, city politics, and his responsibilities as a aldermen to his ward and its constituents who is contemplating a candidacy in the 3rd. I assure you that he has the thought of gaining progress by having others with like interest of what Peru is capable of and how a political body should achieve these results. This person will not only replace whom he wants he will provide the desire that all incompetent aldermen will be replaced with women and men of high qualifications. Presently he as most others believe that the 1st, 3rd, and besides Alderman Potthoff in the 4th ward there is no representation. Tuesdays vote was a vote on a form of government. It had nothing to do with 200 years of history or family values. From now on it may get a lot more down and dirty and directly personal. As the ex Treasurer and alderman said 6 years ago at a council meeting "these people even want to grade us. This ain't right Mayor." He has had his turn to express what he thought was right now lets take our turn.
It is sad that so few voted shows how bad morale has become in the city I am so sad the pool didn't go thru this city is just darn depressing and yes I voted
7:31 that seems to be the answer from everyone in government. If you don't like it leave.
Doesn't that seem a little weird to you? Someone buys a home , slowly watches a city go down the tubes, then because it bugs you to hear them, you say move? I think that was what they told the neighbors by the pickleball courts...if you don't like it move.
if another town is better than peru move majority of the people are good, taxes are low crime is in check great fire protection hey if its better someplace else MOVE OUT OF PERU
8:18 if you only want people who are totally satisfied in your perfect town, then how does it get better and not stagnate? Why is it that someone who complains about something must move? Don't you see what a Nazi like ass that makes you sound like?
Lets turn the table. If you don't like me complaining why don't YOU move?
Stop bickering do something. Suggestion: Ottawa City Council 4 Commissioners 1 Mayor Pop 18563 [2012] Peru City Council 8 Aldermen 1 Mayor Pop 10187 [2012] 1201
Please 12:02 NOTE THAT oTTAWA has a different form of government. Commissioners have a salary of about $16,000 and run each designated area as their own domain. What 4 Per commisioners do you support for Peru?
54 comments:
As I have said before, Peru voters deserve what they get.
The Lagger of the Valley will just get to sit and watch while the other towns pass it by, losing families and businesses,
Once more it is Baker, he cannot let go and even when defeated he reaches out to drag the town down with him. No single person has done more harm out of spite and false pride than that living monument to himself.
No Pool
No Pool Tax
No Pool annual Tax
No Pool Mait. Cost
No Pool Employee Cost
Thank You Peru Residents
Looks like the voters of Peru really approve of the city council. They are doing the job for the people. Now those with the agendas and part of the anti Peru effort need to shape up or ship out. Sorry folks your 15 minutes is up!
Thank youuu peru. No pool or ref! The voters have spoken! Now the reformers can cry and let the blame game begin.
Update that total. Its getting crushed! Lol
AS LEAST I WILL SLEEP PEACEFULLY KNOWING THAT MOST OF THE ALDERPERSONS WILL RECEIVE A PENSION FROM US TAXPAYERS, MY HOME VALUE WONT BE A HIGHER VALUE IN THE MARKET WHEN I DIE BECAUSE PERU DOESNT HAVE A OUTDOOR POOL FACILITY, THEREFORE MY INHERITANCE TO MY KIDS WILL BE LOWER. MY ALDERMAN ARE HORRIBLE AT REPRESENTING US. I WILL ENCOURAGE OUR YOUTH TO GET THE HECK OUT OF PERU AFTER HIGH SCHOOL AND JUST COME BACK TO PARTY ON HOLIDAYS. Have a nice night.
this was always the mighty few against the silent majority. Some of the reasons given to vote yes for this were, if both your alderman don't agree with you, you have an alternate to seek out. That doesn't make enough sense. Who says the at large alderman would agree with you either? I did not speak against this before the election because it would have sounded like sour grapes. As a no voter you have to prove two things before you can sway the majority. 1. you have enough votes to actually affect an election. your face book page has less than two hundred likes and about the same on this blog. 2. You have to show real change can come about by the actions you propose. If this had passed, the election process would have been too convoluted to make sense. No one ever stated clearly how the election would be run. Could you run in a ward and then the two highest that didn't win would take at large, or would you have to declare at large/ward. The at large would really be senseless as whoever was elected would happen to live in one of the four wards and surely would have undue pressure from the constituents of that ward to "protect" home base. The only real way I could see affecting change would have been to throw out the ward system completely and have all alderman at large with the number total that you happen to prefer (6). I do not believe that would win widespread acceptance any better than this hybrid rule that was proposed. Too many people like having a neighbor that has their same interests as they do to talk to, and believe it or not, most voters like their alderman. Pointing out the fallibility of public officials can be great sport. But surely compromise is true politics at it's heart. Elected officials are here to work for us, spitting vitriol at them surely makes their job more difficult. Why would new blood or younger candidates run either. This blog was proud of the mayoral change they helped bring about and immediately started to feast on their new creation. I feel this blog/face book page will sadly wither away. Oh there may be times when anger and indignation raise the roof, but unless you can quadruple your active members to this club, you will surely be unheard as those who cry "wolf', thus diminishing your voice even more.
9:54 PM
I understood the referendum perfectly, I understood how it would work, meaning that the procedure for election was exactly as explained and the council would then have to decide upon the terms and how and when they would occur.
There was nothing difficult about it. People were available or they could have been asked here and they would have been answered.
This is Peru and it has not changed in my lifetime. We can all withdraw into our homes and know for certainty, that Peru is what it always has been only more so with each passing year. I don't say that with any pride at all. And all of us who have children living elsewhere know exactly why they have left and many more will follow because of the politics in this city.
It is sad. Only about 2,000 people bothered to vote.
lois
not going to tell you i told u so.
not going to gloat.
just going to sit back and see whom rodney is going to call on this? will it be lisa madigan, the state elections board, carretto?
i am sure there is a conspiracy here somewhere. must be the n/t fault for printing it wrong in the paper, where it made no differece what so ever. it was printed right on the ballot, thats all that counts.
after that smoke clears, will wait to see what you will be complaining about next?
i see half way thru the election you were on to the firemens pension board.
i am sure mrs eceles will wish you but out. everything you have touched has failed, except giving us a mayor who is only worried about making sure the local 150 members are working so he keeps getting his pension checks.
freido
Hmmmmmmm... I noticed on the NT web page that the FBI is poking around Peru City Hall. Boss Hurl tap danced around the question. "If they have been, they haven’t come to me, Nobody contacted me. There is no opinion or no statement I can make if they haven’t come to me.”
Peru is a wonderful place to live. It has prospered through the years with foresight and making the right decisions. Nobody forces people to live here and kids have to leave to find jobs and big time entertainment that we can't provide for many reasons. Don't think that prospective businesses don't know about or see that large inflateable rat. If this dissent continues and festers it will send the wrong message to prospects. We can work for a bright future or we can fight and become a blight.
To anyone who thinks the at-large referendum was an endorsement of the current city council, you had better stop and think about it.
The final tally indicates a very close race with only 300 or so votes separating the two sides.
Thank you to all Peru voters intelligent enough to clearly understand and support the at-large referendum. A special thanks to all members of the initiative who contributed money and labor for the cause. I suspect this is just a first step to educate the electorate of Peru of things to come. You successfully exposed the slimy underbelly of the Peru establishment. You smoked the aldermen out of their do-nothing, know-nothing funk and caused them to embarrass themselves by scrambling to save their phony-baloney seats. Even the NO voters are now aware of how desperately these fake leaders are to maintain power and influence.
The Status Quo crowd in Peru will pound their chest and claim to have the hearts of the citizens on their side. But the numbers don't lie. A considerable amount of Peru residents approaching 50% have indicated they believe we can do much better. What is even more important is the fact that an overwhelming percentage of those who approve of the Peru city council will soon be casting their votes from elderly and retirement housing as their primary residence or they will not be here to vote at all, if you know what I mean. Simply put, there are rapidly becoming fewer and fewer of them and more and more of "US".
We will eventually prevail as the Status Quo crowd continues to contribute to the population at Peru City Cemetery.
Alderman Mike Sapienza said he was disappointed the referendum was placed on the ballot, “to create such a negative atmosphere in the city, in a city that has so many positives that haven’t been tooted.”
Sorry grapes Mike don't be such a whiner was Harl not there to tell you to what to say. Maybe you haven't noticed Mike the city has had negative atmosphere since your election and it hasn't change maybe you should look within the council
Laws are provided for the citizens to make change and seems to me your wards didn't vote 100% in your favor so you are doing as good of job as you think
Lois, your statement that Peru hasn't changed in your lifetime is appalling. If someone didn't get 251 to come through Peru we would be a surburb of Dalzell. I don't like having the airport for the rich only but if it brings some industry for the area, I'm all for it. We can't be narrow minded.
It won't go away. The No vote pulled out all stops on this, and still the Yes got a great deal of support.
Remember the way this was structured forced it as a complete referendum on the entire council. Like a total vote of no confidence.
Those are historically hard to win in any election. The aldermen mobilized their very core, friends , families, dependent business... All of them.
If it was just a joke, it would have barely gotten 10 percent. It was dangerously close given the full court press of the aldermen.
Lois says it would not matter, but I disagree. It was poorly conceived, overturned too many duly elected terms, required a large perception change, and above all did not obtain the support of Baker.
You ignore his influence at your own risk... Unless his reputation and back room deals are protected, he will oppose everything. And he will never get the support needed for re election, but has enough sway with the old folks he can prevent any candidate from defeating the incumbent large minority machine of about thirty percent.
He is the key to gridlock. Negotiate with him, or let it all go to crap.
A majority of the people who vote tend to be of the baby boomer generation. Many are old school and just go with the flow and can't accept change to be progressive or obviously don't understand it. This is ok that it didn't pass. There will be other elections so this just gives some time to some of those to dig their hole a little deeper so people will see and hear and read what's really going on with our city. We all know what alderman can be trusted and which ones can't be trusted. A new mayor to come in 2017 also!
this at large alderman is pure hooey. Don't you see if it actually does get on the ballot and passes the forces that "bee" would simply gang up in parts of the town that they have strong holds on. I could see them "running" candidates all from one ward/area where their strength is concentrated. Then in effect, you could have as was espoused on the radio at 9:30 five alderpersons out of one ward and then one each for the other three. I wonder how you would feel about this scenario. you would still have 9-1 votes. You simply don't understand how elections are run. you only need 50% plus one vote to win. feeling good about this election is foolish, as elections go you lost by a landslide. If there is an evil cabal as you believe, they have become even more set in their ways. They must feel untouchable now. You in effect have separated them even farther from the crowd of rabble. I wouldn't be surprised if they got their shots in at the next council meeting. be ready for the gloating.
Well said 9:39.
6:10-I don't think any person who would be in the "right" would wish someone to "butt out". What is right is right. Are you bothered by something that may have come out of the closet regarding a pension/pensions. And so you know, don't blame Lois! Mr./Ms.: 6:10- wouldn't you want people to have your back if needed in a situation? Also, seems as if you could be a person very much involved in somewhat of a capacity with the city
of peru either as an employee, spouse, alderman, contractor, etc.. Have a nice hump day.
To 9:54 pm - Your long winded observation lacks the political reality of the situation. It just isn't as complicated as you suggest. Splitting hairs about an at large alderman favoring his home ward is so baseless as an argument. You don't list all the particulars of the advantages of at-large aldermen as it was presented and you try to project the image of an intelligent electorate in Peru that actually takes the time to study an issue before casting a vote. There is no such electorate in Peru and hasn't been as long as I've lived here for 30 plus years. The NO vote prevailed for one reason only. The majority of Peru voters are simply unsophisticated and deathly afraid of anything they consider out of their "comfort zone" or different. The proponents of the referendum did an excellent job of explaining it's advantages. It is beyond their control that the message was beyond the intellectual level of understanding for a large percentage of those who voted No.
Sorry, but I observed a very large number of those voters lumbering in and out of the polling places yesterday, canes and walkers in hand, hunched over and struggling to get in there and do their duty as "The Don" had instructed them to do. Very, Very sad!
Really 9:11. What raises do city employees get yearly? How does that compare percentage wise to what a homeowners taxes would have been raised? Alderman have pension plans? Appointing positions at an astronomical salary is acceptable with not many questions? How many closed session council meetings since 2009? Reasonable? I think not. Oops, forgot the payroll scandal. Test? Chamlin's? Money seems to become available when wanted by city officials. Progressive Peru, my back side. What city's the size of Peru do not have an outdoor pool facility? Answer please. Maybe peru can beautify waterstreet and design a beach area so our family's can swim in the carp infested,brown disgusting illinois river. How can St. Bede charge people for an area of waterfront beach area on the illinois river? I was told that people who have boats can pay $300 for a summer for an area of beach on the river, in back of St. Bede. How can they legally charge people money for that? Anybody should legally be able to be there.
Ummmm. It wasnt close at all
The only thing these comments prove is why you lost. Lois a few years ago you and your partner planted a venomous root with this blog. Its vines have since grown wild and yesterday they finally entangled and poisoned you. Even in defeat you do more harm to your cause. Peru will be better off when people die? The no votes are unintelligent? Please keep it up! It's helping your opponents more than they help themselves! And to anyone who thinks this was close you are a political amateur. 58-42 is a landslide in modern elections.
I'm looking forward to the next election. Each candidate who is seeking to be re-elected/or elected as an alderman or mayor needs to have a question and answer session whereas they are THE ONLY ONE ON THE PANEL BEING ASKED QUESTIONS ON TOPICS WHERE NO INDEX CARDS ARE NEEDED. I would be willing to bet that 6 who are alderman would not be too savy about being put on the spot for questions when they wouldn't have their cronies standing beside them. What would this tell you. It's a good possibility that some questions would be highly verbally manipulated by some candidates.
Totally agree 1209
A large percentage of people who vote have been voting since the Baker Days. In many instances they don't understand change. For instance a mcdonalds cheeseburger is no longer a quarter. Nobody was disrespectful as far as referring to people's passing. Too bad people's values aren't the same as 40-50 years ago. Simply put, people who know what's been going on don't like the fact things have come to the forefront with our governing. Everybody needs to stand tall and stay involved! 2017 can't come soon enough! As fAr as alderman, the saying, "the more the merrier" DOES NOT HOLD TRUE.
Good luck 1245
12:09 pm, When at least 4 in 10 voters support a referendum that has the potential to provide wholesale change to the number of staus quo aldermen, that is not a landslide, that is just a good start. Stay tuned as this group continues to bring more and more incompetence to the public's attention. Go ahead and gloat as you will, but 800 plus votes for this initiative was a very good showing for a first try. As I said we did not prevail, but we have more motivation and quite frankly, a more intelligent group than any current or former aldermen who signed that ridiculous letter they paid $1500 for.
Never said it was a landslide. But it was still a bad defeat at the height of the reformers popularity
1:19 you and your group would be better off keeping quiet for few days rather than popping off about who is/was intelligent or not. You sound too much like sour grapes. The next election the NO people might publish all the nasty comments the YES people have made on this blog and then the electorate can decide who makes more sense. Since you know the ad cost 1500 you must work at the NewsTrib.
Go ahead and publish the nasty comments as you call them. You think that will sway their vote? They vote no because the Peru Pope told them to vote no.
Any thinking person who is undecided is going to vote based on fact, not on what one side says about the other. The rest already have their minds made up for them by the Trib or the radio.
3:33 PM
Deliberate or not, I do know that both media outlets owned by Miller were quoting incorrectly the wording of the referendum. i can't believe that the knowledge they had on the referendum was accidentally misquoted. I am betting it was intentional, either way sure does not look good for them as a media outlet.
I'm gonna toot my horn what a joke our city has turned into
If the city wants to save money, why not just 1 alderman per ward? This at-large stuff is a bunch of crap just so maybe someone can get elected if they can collect votes from the whole town instead of just their ward.
6:12 PM
I would go for that idea, get involved and see what others think. Why not 4 at large and the heck with ward boundaries which are useless anyway.
12:09 I was unaware that venomous roots were why Lois lost. I did not even know Lois was running for something?
If you mean that mean spirited comments were why the referendum lost, I thought it was because 8 was better than six? But you say its because some bloggers called people close minded and stuck in their ways, and followers of people who served but can not let go?
This blog was the best thing that ever happened to Peru. This town has a mindset like concrete and as much false pride as you can find in one backwater town. Keep firing all barrels at the leaders who aare as family minded as Marie Antoinette.
8:29 AM
Ald.Sapienza won't be too happy that he has finally been talked about on the blog. Funny but he started this by signing his name to the infamous yellow postcards urging the NO vote, I know because he sent them to my friends who he thought might still be his friends. Wrong. And of course stooping so low as to sign the Baker ad in the N.T. You no longer get a pass as a new aldermen, you have proved yourself.
8:31 AM
The changes that have occurred are not something very pretty to see, have you been through the downtown lately. As to Rte. 251, it is noisy, fast lane of traffic right through the city. Great for bringing stuff none of wants brought here, easy off and quickly back on and across the river.
I dont thnk he cares lois lol
I will make sure to salute alderman Sapienza when I come to a city council meeting since he does not believe in democracy. I will also toot a horn right in his ear to clear the bs in his ears.
He is a fake and will be left at the bottom of the ballot box if what heard I about 3rd ward is true, a possible new canadiate to 3rd ward that is moving !
It's like the odd number wards never get a new person to run
Someone previously stated that Mr. Sapienza was disappointed that the referendum was on the ballot because "it created a negative atmosphere in the city, a city that has so many positives". If this is true Mr. Sapienza why did you upset the proverbial apple cart by running against Mr. Ankiewicz? Did you feel a change was necessary? Did you feel maybe there was a better way to get things done? Did you think that maybe you would be a better representative to the citizens of
your ward? So, in short, you felt that the citizens in your ward did not have sufficient representation?? Isn't that what citizens in other wards have been saying? Each ward may have 2 aldermen but that does not mean that each ward has equal representation!!
Mr. Sapienza could you please tell me how this referendum being on the ballot has created such a negative atmosphere in the city??
8:43 am, What a wonderfully enlightened point you bring up. This is the great hypocracy of the Peru establishment and the status quo crowd. Mr. Sapienza, in his pursuit of challenging a sitting alderman considers that pursuit as honorable and justified. However, the At-Large Initiative which would have encouraged and provided the opportunity for many others to challenge sitting aldermen is somehow "negative" in the eyes of the great Horn Tooter.
What a Hypocrite.
Sapienza, obtained 2 additional years on his term that he would have lost if the Yes vote was to win.
The next alderman race in the 3rd ward will be very competitive with additional candidates of very high qualifications gaining interest in Peru politics. I am very familiar with one gentlemen who understands
business, city politics, and his responsibilities as a aldermen to his ward and its constituents who is contemplating a candidacy in the 3rd.
I assure you that he has the thought of gaining progress by having others with like interest of what Peru is capable of and how a political body should achieve these results. This person will not only replace whom he wants he will provide the desire that all incompetent aldermen will be replaced with women and men of high qualifications. Presently he as most others believe that the 1st, 3rd, and besides Alderman Potthoff in the 4th ward there is no representation. Tuesdays vote was a vote on a form of government. It had nothing to do with 200 years of history or family values. From now on it may get a lot more down and dirty and directly personal. As the ex Treasurer and alderman said 6 years ago at a council meeting "these people even want to grade us. This ain't right Mayor."
He has had his turn to express what he thought was right now lets take our turn.
It is sad that so few voted shows how bad morale has become in the city I am so sad the pool didn't go thru this city is just darn depressing and yes I voted
then MOVE
7:31 that seems to be the answer from everyone in government. If you don't like it leave.
Doesn't that seem a little weird to you? Someone buys a home , slowly watches a city go down the tubes, then because it bugs you to hear them, you say move? I think that was what they told the neighbors by the pickleball courts...if you don't like it move.
if another town is better than peru move majority of the people are good, taxes are low crime is in check great fire protection hey if its better someplace else MOVE OUT OF PERU
Anon 8:18 Thank you for your kind opinion and what ward did you say you are a aldermen in?
8:18 if you only want people who are totally satisfied in your perfect town, then how does it get better and not stagnate? Why is it that someone who complains about something must move? Don't you see what a Nazi like ass that makes you sound like?
Lets turn the table. If you don't like me complaining why don't YOU move?
Yes 12:39 typical alderman comment.
Stop bickering do something. Suggestion: Ottawa City Council 4 Commissioners 1 Mayor Pop 18563 [2012] Peru City Council 8 Aldermen 1 Mayor Pop 10187 [2012] 1201
Please 12:02 NOTE THAT oTTAWA has a different form of government. Commissioners have a salary of about $16,000 and run each designated area as their own domain. What 4 Per commisioners do you support for Peru?
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