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
This should be one position to watch for a city bigger than Peru with a population of 15,000 plus. The reasons for the drastic cut in pay was not explained.
38 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Thanks for posting. Perfect example for why Harl appointed our fire chief with other positions included to come to the salary of $84k + $12k raise recently. Wake up alderman!!!! What's really going on?
It seems as if all the blogs regarding our volunteer fireman getting paid well for each fire call they attend is true. Could the city be overpaying is a good question? Maybe this should be looked into. Why does our city with a population of 10,000 have such high employee salaries compared to other areas comparable to our city's population?
I understand wanting to know more details about the chief's salary and I don't doubt there are some that may abuse the per call pay, but really? If your house was on fire, your loved ones in danger, you would be pretty damn happy to have volunteers show up on your doorstep to assist, perhaps for hours for a mere $34 per man. How many volunteer firemen have left family dinners, holidays, school functions, etc all to rush to YOUR aid. Perhaps because people don't appreciate the time they have to spend on training, but will complain if they don't show up for a parade, is why they limit their participation.
If the call is over what? 2 hours, are not they paid more? If a call is 15 minutes, their pay is still $33? Not bad for a title as "volunteer" I would say.
If you have kids going to school at the U of I in Champaign-Urbana, tell them to be careful. The Daily Illini is reporting a large uptick in crime.
"After a recent spike in crimes on campus, including two sexual assaults and 12 incidents of robbery and mob action, the Champaign Police Department and the University of Illinois Police Department are urging students to walk in pairs and to stay alert."
Nice to see that someone has fairly inquired rather than accused. This is a question which Chief King, or the men and women involved in the Peru Fire Department would possibly care to answer. I do think that it would be fantastic to see all of the paid volunteers and full timers in the parade plus the entire police department and Mayor of Peru. With the upcoming Christmas parade this could be possible. It also must be remembered that this is a individuals choice and should be honored as such. Thanking all of our Peru safety team for all it does and especially Rod and Tom for their participation in the parade. It would be nice to see more downtown to watch the parade! This year there was almost no one along the street. WHY such a embarrassing turnout? Did LaSalle and other towns have a good turnout of spectators?
We should revamp how the FD and Ambulance service is organized. What we need is one professional full time department to cover LaSalle, Peru, and Oglesby. This department should be separated from the municipalities and be organized in its own fire protection district with its own taxing ability. There should also be an elected board. The key is to get it out of the hands of the little potentates we call Mayors.
8:31 from what I saw on Facebook, it looks like LaSalle had a great turnout for their Halloween parade and activities. Their mayor was present for the festivities. Was Peru Mayor seen anywhere in town? LaSalle had more activities for the kids besides the parade, so I think some of the Peru residents went to LaSalle. Peru's parade wasn't very well attended.
The community activities in both La Salle and Oglesby have been outstanding this year. By community I mean family events mostly. Peru seems to be dawdling behind them. We can't seem to get the leadership to wake up and to care about the things like this that matter to families. Peru had Central States, Maud Powell, Festival, Fireworks, Halloween Parade and each draws a very small percentage of the city to them. If I missed one, please let us know.
Those of you who have FB accounts know what the other cities did this year.
After driving through lasalle I was impressed how things are gradually changing. Jazz fest was a big hit. Lasalle fest held this summer had a low turnout due to weather. Both lasalle and peru need to have a festival where there is a carnival. We need this event for our younger generation. Could this be at Baker Lake or Rotary Park? Or possibly downtown LaSalle? We older generation remember this type of event. We should instill events for our youths memory.
It is always interesting how people on the Peru blog ooh and aah over LaSalle and Spring Valley activities. I personally think all of the communities in our area are trying to play to their strengths and improve, and that certainly includes Peru. That comment might prevent this from being posted but it won't be the first time that has happened.
Parades and carnivals? We need no more of either of these types of events. Please.
4:05 you do understand you have to add up the salaries of all of these positions that multiple people hold in a town like Washington to compare to King's salary. Say whatever you want, but we are saving money with him filling multiple positions. I don't even know the guy but there is no doubt about that.
Sometimes people think they are getting a bargain by buying the cheapest anything but in the long run it costs you more than if you had spent your money on the better product. I think in the long run this is what Peru will encounter. Buy the best quality will benefit you in the long term. And I promise you that not being interested in those things that you believe are frivolous will also cost you in the long run. With that being said, how many lawsuits are currently on the plate of the city?
Anon 5:51 PM Central States utilized Peru's Washington Park as the 1st local site when Bo Windy was District 20's Supervisor and later Jim McVey. Than it was taken out of state for a period and than brought back to Oglesby. Pohar Construction redid the baseball field at Washington Park and than the tournament was divided between Oglesby and Peru. If I have any info incorrect please add your corrections or additional info. Very good tournament which has always been well managed by a great group of volunteers. Another great local team tournament was the Mayors' Tournament held at Heglar Park in LaSalle every year. Tremendous local interest which created many fond memories.
Anon 5:51 PM Saving money or misspending money. When comparing salaries let's take a look at who is getting the better bang for their buck. Yes, salaries are important but so is the return on investment. Presently where does Peru fit in from 1 to 10 10 being the best grade in relationship to the blind leading the blind all the way up a highly professional environment? At $96,000/year is Peru getting someone who is doing everything correctly or incorrectly or where in between. It must be remembered that in some skill positions the job has to be done correctly or the employer, the city, will eventually pay in multiplies of the original savings.
Chances are that the adage "Jack of all trades, master of none" is not a path to success in multimillion dollar businesses. No matter what way recent salary increases approved by the city council are looked at they appear inefficient. Especially since agreements were made and since broken - all additional responsibilities accepted by the two Chiefs were to be for a short time frame at no additional compensation. The time frame of one to three months has now been ongoing for ten months with ridiculous increases in financial compensations and benefits which are in reality burying the city financial balance and progress at the benefit of a few.
you can't compare the salaries unless the talent is equal. Now, granted, some people with the correct credentials might be totally useless and some with no credentials may be the most talented individual available. However, we don't even have the talent to determine if the employee has the talent - so we need to go with credentials. Currently - the person(s) in charge of our public works, water & sewer, and electric departments are without credentials - which is scarry.
I agree with the comments regarding the combined positions but my original response was about the comparison between communities. If people are going to compare the "high salaries" in our community with another, my point was that is hard to do when we are not comparing apples to apples.
I don't think most of our salaries are that high. I think the issue is what is the most efficient way to get the job done. Please don't start with the stupid outsourcing comments which are often proved to be far more expensive in the long run.
We have a great city and a lot of great people, but we need to continue to improve. Complaining on a blog does nothing to help. Get involved.
Yes, the Central States Tournament has a long history with Peru. That's when Peru's baseball board and the city officials/park & rec took a strong interest. Now they just think they're entitled to hosting the tournament. It's a district 20 tournament, which encompasses more than just Peru. Oglesby just stepped it up with their level of enthusiasm and ability to rally volunteers. They know what it takes to host a successful tournament. I'm sure LaSalle is capable of doing the same. Won't be long and the Central States Tournament will be co-sponsored by Oglesby & LaSalle. The ball diamonds in Peru will be a ghost-town.
I agree with 10:54. The negative comments serve no purpose other than to attack some very good people via anonymous means. It appears to me IMO that there is certainly personal agendas with many (not all) of the comments directed at some elected and appointed officials. Peru is not perfect by no means but the positives far outweigh the negatives. King and Bernabei appear to be doing an excellent job. Only time will tell if this can continue but so far it is working and saving us all a lot of money. My family is a major taxpayer in this city and I like the movement to do more with less. I also understand that some other cities have already been in contact with Peru officials asking questions as these cities are looking at doing similar things in their towns.
We keep talking about doing more with less and at a cost savings yet I have yet to see a comparison chart. I totally agree with the concept and I totally agree with trying new ideas but then someone has to follow through and show proof that the process worked and saved money. This year we contracted out a great deal of the grass cutting and yet we still hired the same amount of summer help. We also contracted some of the landscaping work. I'm not for or against the idea but it would be nice to see a cost comparison chart as promised. Then people could make informed and intelligent comments.
Anon 11:25 Everything you state is hearsay! Most families consider themselves major taxpayers in this city as that is the nature of the beast but they do not feel a need to emphasize it nor do they believe that gives them any more privileges than others. Since you have proven absolutely nothing how can you business wise claim Peru is doing more with less? Presently Peru has combined a few wages to accomplish getting less for more? From your comment that other cities are in contact with Peru officials asking questions which most are not told about what are the questions and who is answering them? Please note that I am anonymous answering anonymous, you.
11:03 that is such garbage. Peru had incredible volunteers for the tournament. This has always been a cooperative venture with the local communities. You clearly are not involved in any way or you would know that. Peru does a great job with our ball diamonds and it is far from a ghost town. Absolutely ridiculous.
I agree with 11:25. While it may be offensive to many of the bloggers who only criticize every single thing anonymously, I will say, anonymously, that there are MANY positive things going on and there is absolutely no doubt that other communities want to follow some of that lead. I do wish we would follow the lead of some others with their positives, but despite a weak mayor, I think most of our people are pretty strong ad we are moving on a positive direction. If a couple get voted out, so be it. That's politics.
Anon 2:00 PM What are these positive things going on in Peru. As for being a retail center which you can thank Mayor Baker and Dick Janko for Peru has not done anything that positive in the last 6 years. The sales tax has produced such a income for so long that the city does not need the high property taxes that other cities in the area have. Recently a large amount of the sales tax has been used for tremendously increased salaries and pensions. Here 's hoping that the retail sales tax income remains high.
3:29 the City of Peru does not have a property tax rate nearly as high as those around. Not even close. Maybe that is what you are saying but the retails sales tax collections are doing well to be fair.
The fact that Peru property taxes are so low means that there is plenty of room to increase them without causing to much of a problem. This is a vast untapped revenue resource that the Council needs to capture for future spending. Maybe we can bond this out to pay for the new Super Police and Fire Station.
To set the record straight. The district administrator from Milan asked Peru to host the Senior LL state tournament and also the Central States tourney with no obligation to house players. Bo Windy and Clarence Dingerson volunteered to be co-chairmen and the tourney went off without a hitch.
Untapped revenue resources for what? Bigger administrative checks for the Chiefs? Normally a cap is set for each job and if a person wants more he has to move on, and Peru has reached moving time for some.
In 2002 we meaning peru hosted central states and did do some housing of players. It was volunteerism. The family's who housed players did not receive any monetary money from the league, had players for several nights, got them to and from games, feed them, did players laundry. A friend of our family did some housing and hosting of the players family's that were in town after the games. I asked for who housed players, he said to the best of his recollection it was Mayszak , Renks, Kings, Steve's, couldn't recall any others. Peru hosting Central States is an honor and something we should be proud of. Yes, he said Sherry Mayszak who was an Alderperson. She was volunteering many years prior to being a alderman.
I remember 4:46, there were games at Veteran Park and I went to see them with my wife. . I talked to a family whose son and another player was staying with a host family. I do remember this family saying how nice of a city Peru is, and the hospitality was great.
38 comments:
Thanks for posting. Perfect example for why Harl appointed our fire chief with other positions included to come to the salary of $84k + $12k raise recently. Wake up alderman!!!! What's really going on?
Washington volunteer firefighters get paid $12 per call. Population 15,000. Peru $34 per call. population 10,000.
It seems as if all the blogs regarding our volunteer fireman getting paid well for each fire call they attend is true. Could the city be overpaying is a good question? Maybe this should be looked into. Why does our city with a population of 10,000 have such high employee salaries compared to other areas comparable to our city's population?
I understand wanting to know more details about the chief's salary and I don't doubt there are some that may abuse the per call pay, but really? If your house was on fire, your loved ones in danger, you would be pretty damn happy to have volunteers show up on your doorstep to assist, perhaps for hours for a mere $34 per man. How many volunteer firemen have left family dinners, holidays, school functions, etc all to rush to YOUR aid. Perhaps because people don't appreciate the time they have to spend on training, but will complain if they don't show up for a parade, is why they limit their participation.
Why is it Perez and Riordan are the only ones who volunteered for the Halloween parade? Why don't any of the other firemen volunteer for the parades?
If the call is over what? 2 hours, are not they paid more? If a call is 15 minutes, their pay is still $33? Not bad for a title as "volunteer" I would say.
If you have kids going to school at the U of I in Champaign-Urbana, tell them to be careful. The Daily Illini is reporting a large uptick in crime.
"After a recent spike in crimes on campus, including two sexual assaults and 12 incidents of robbery and mob action, the Champaign Police Department and the University of Illinois Police Department are urging students to walk in pairs and to stay alert."
Nice to see that someone has fairly inquired rather than accused. This is a question which Chief King, or the men and women involved in the Peru Fire Department would possibly care to answer. I do think that it would be fantastic to see all of the paid volunteers and full timers in the parade plus the entire police department and Mayor of Peru. With the upcoming Christmas parade this could be possible.
It also must be remembered that this is a individuals choice and should be honored as such. Thanking all of our Peru safety team for all it does and
especially Rod and Tom for their participation in the parade.
It would be nice to see more downtown to watch the parade! This year there was almost no one along the street. WHY such a embarrassing turnout? Did LaSalle and other towns have a good turnout of spectators?
We should revamp how the FD and Ambulance service is organized. What we need is one professional full time department to cover LaSalle, Peru, and Oglesby. This department should be separated from the municipalities and be organized in its own fire protection district with its own taxing ability. There should also be an elected board. The key is to get it out of the hands of the little potentates we call Mayors.
8:31 from what I saw on Facebook, it looks like LaSalle had a great turnout for their Halloween parade and activities. Their mayor was present for the festivities. Was Peru Mayor seen anywhere in town? LaSalle had more activities for the kids besides the parade, so I think some of the Peru residents went to LaSalle. Peru's parade wasn't very well attended.
The community activities in both La Salle and Oglesby have been outstanding this year. By community I mean family events mostly. Peru seems to be dawdling behind them. We can't seem to get the leadership to wake up and to care about the things like this that matter to families.
Peru had Central States, Maud Powell, Festival, Fireworks, Halloween Parade and each draws a very small percentage of the city to them. If I missed one, please let us know.
Those of you who have FB accounts know what the other cities did this year.
Lois: Don't forget we shared Central States with Oglesby. Actually, to be completely accurate they shared it with us.
After driving through lasalle I was impressed how things are gradually changing. Jazz fest was a big hit. Lasalle fest held this summer had a low turnout due to weather. Both lasalle and peru need to have a festival where there is a carnival. We need this event for our younger generation. Could this be at Baker Lake or Rotary Park? Or possibly downtown LaSalle? We older generation remember this type of event. We should instill events for our youths memory.
Nope. Central States started in Peru.
It is always interesting how people on the Peru blog ooh and aah over LaSalle and Spring Valley activities. I personally think all of the communities in our area are trying to play to their strengths and improve, and that certainly includes Peru. That comment might prevent this from being posted but it won't be the first time that has happened.
Parades and carnivals? We need no more of either of these types of events. Please.
4:05 you do understand you have to add up the salaries of all of these positions that multiple people hold in a town like Washington to compare to King's salary. Say whatever you want, but we are saving money with him filling multiple positions. I don't even know the guy but there is no doubt about that.
5:51 PM
Sometimes people think they are getting a bargain by buying the cheapest anything but in the long run it costs you more than if you had spent your money on the better product. I think in the long run this is what Peru will encounter. Buy the best quality will benefit you in the long term. And I promise you that not being interested in those things that you believe are frivolous will also cost you in the long run. With that being said, how many lawsuits are currently on the plate of the city?
Anon 5:51 PM Central States utilized Peru's Washington Park as the 1st local site when Bo Windy was District 20's Supervisor and later Jim McVey. Than it was taken out of state for a period and than brought back to Oglesby.
Pohar Construction redid the baseball field at Washington Park and than the tournament was divided between Oglesby and Peru.
If I have any info incorrect please add your corrections or additional info.
Very good tournament which has always been well managed by a great group of volunteers.
Another great local team tournament was the Mayors' Tournament held at Heglar Park in LaSalle every year. Tremendous local interest which created many fond memories.
Anon 5:51 PM Saving money or misspending money. When comparing salaries let's take a look at who is getting the better bang for their buck. Yes, salaries are important but so is the return on investment. Presently where does Peru fit in from 1 to 10 10 being the best grade in relationship to the blind leading the blind all the way up a highly professional environment? At $96,000/year is Peru getting someone who is doing everything correctly or incorrectly or where in between. It must be remembered that in some skill positions the job has to be done correctly or the employer, the city, will eventually pay in multiplies of the original savings.
7:52 AM
Thank you for saying so well the point I was trying to get across and you did a much better job.
Chances are that the adage "Jack of all trades, master of none" is not a path to success in multimillion dollar businesses. No matter what way recent salary increases approved by the city council are looked at they appear inefficient. Especially since agreements were made and since broken - all additional responsibilities accepted by the two Chiefs were to be for a short time frame at no additional compensation. The time frame of one to three months has now been ongoing for ten months with ridiculous increases in financial compensations and benefits which are in reality burying the city financial balance and progress at the benefit of a few.
you can't compare the salaries unless the talent is equal. Now, granted, some people with the correct credentials might be totally useless and some with no credentials may be the most talented individual available. However, we don't even have the talent to determine if the employee has the talent - so we need to go with credentials.
Currently - the person(s) in charge of our public works, water & sewer, and electric departments are without credentials - which is scarry.
I agree with you 7:39. I think you have the history exactly right.
I agree with the comments regarding the combined positions but my original response was about the comparison between communities. If people are going to compare the "high salaries" in our community with another, my point was that is hard to do when we are not comparing apples to apples.
I don't think most of our salaries are that high. I think the issue is what is the most efficient way to get the job done. Please don't start with the stupid outsourcing comments which are often proved to be far more expensive in the long run.
We have a great city and a lot of great people, but we need to continue to improve. Complaining on a blog does nothing to help. Get involved.
Yes, the Central States Tournament has a long history with Peru. That's when Peru's baseball board and the city officials/park & rec took a strong interest. Now they just think they're entitled to hosting the tournament. It's a district 20 tournament, which encompasses more than just Peru. Oglesby just stepped it up with their level of enthusiasm and ability to rally volunteers. They know what it takes to host a successful tournament. I'm sure LaSalle is capable of doing the same. Won't be long and the Central States Tournament will be co-sponsored by Oglesby & LaSalle. The ball diamonds in Peru will be a ghost-town.
I agree with 10:54. The negative comments serve no purpose other than to attack some very good people via anonymous means. It appears to me IMO that there is certainly personal agendas with many (not all) of the comments directed at some elected and appointed officials. Peru is not perfect by no means but the positives far outweigh the negatives. King and Bernabei appear to be doing an excellent job. Only time will tell if this can continue but so far it is working and saving us all a lot of money. My family is a major taxpayer in this city and I like the movement to do more with less. I also understand that some other cities have already been in contact with Peru officials asking questions as these cities are looking at doing similar things in their towns.
We keep talking about doing more with less and at a cost savings yet I have yet to see a comparison chart. I totally agree with the concept and I totally agree with trying new ideas but then someone has to follow through and show proof that the process worked and saved money. This year we contracted out a great deal of the grass cutting and yet we still hired the same amount of summer help. We also contracted some of the landscaping work. I'm not for or against the idea but it would be nice to see a cost comparison chart as promised. Then people could make informed and intelligent comments.
Anon 11:25 Everything you state is hearsay! Most families consider themselves major taxpayers in this city as that is the nature of the beast but they do not feel a need to emphasize it nor do they believe that gives them any more privileges than others. Since you have proven absolutely nothing how can you business wise claim Peru is doing more with less? Presently Peru has combined a few wages to accomplish getting less for more? From your comment that other cities are in contact with Peru officials asking questions which most are not told about what are the questions and who is answering them? Please note that I am anonymous answering anonymous, you.
11:03 that is such garbage. Peru had incredible volunteers for the tournament. This has always been a cooperative venture with the local communities. You clearly are not involved in any way or you would know that. Peru does a great job with our ball diamonds and it is far from a ghost town. Absolutely ridiculous.
I agree with 11:25. While it may be offensive to many of the bloggers who only criticize every single thing anonymously, I will say, anonymously, that there are MANY positive things going on and there is absolutely no doubt that other communities want to follow some of that lead. I do wish we would follow the lead of some others with their positives, but despite a weak mayor, I think most of our people are pretty strong ad we are moving on a positive direction. If a couple get voted out, so be it. That's politics.
Anon 2:00 PM What are these positive things going on in Peru.
As for being a retail center which you can thank Mayor Baker and Dick Janko for Peru has not done anything that positive in the last 6 years.
The sales tax has produced such a income for so long that the city does not need the high property taxes that other cities in the area have. Recently a large amount of the sales tax has been used for tremendously increased salaries and pensions. Here 's hoping that the retail sales tax income remains high.
3:29 the City of Peru does not have a property tax rate nearly as high as those around. Not even close. Maybe that is what you are saying but the retails sales tax collections are doing well to be fair.
Anon 5:52 PM Are you agreeing, disagreeing or agreeing to disagree with 3:29 PM. All you have done is to reinstate her/his statement.
The fact that Peru property taxes are so low means that there is plenty of room to increase them without causing to much of a problem. This is a vast untapped revenue resource that the Council needs to capture for future spending. Maybe we can bond this out to pay for the new Super Police and Fire Station.
To set the record straight. The district administrator from Milan asked Peru to host the Senior LL state tournament and also the Central States tourney with no obligation to house players. Bo Windy and Clarence Dingerson volunteered to be co-chairmen and the tourney went off without a hitch.
Untapped revenue resources for what? Bigger administrative checks for the Chiefs? Normally a cap is set for each job and if a person wants more he has to move on, and Peru has reached moving time for some.
@12:21, house players? When was the last time this was done?
In 2002 we meaning peru hosted central states and did do some housing of players. It was volunteerism. The family's who housed players did not receive any monetary money from the league, had players for several nights, got them to and from games, feed them, did players laundry. A friend of our family did some housing and hosting of the players family's that were in town after the games. I asked for who housed players, he said to the best of his recollection it was Mayszak , Renks, Kings, Steve's, couldn't recall any others. Peru hosting Central States is an honor and something we should be proud of. Yes, he said Sherry Mayszak who was an Alderperson. She was volunteering many years prior to being a alderman.
I remember 4:46, there were games at Veteran Park and I went to see them with my wife. . I talked to a family whose son and another player was staying with a host family. I do remember this family saying how nice of a city Peru is, and the hospitality was great.
4:11, nobody answered your question. Was it 2002 like a blogger commented on?
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