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
The Progressive Democrat Majority in the Illinois State Legislature obviously does not like average citizens checking up on government. I wonder how Frank Mautino will vote on this issue. We need about 400 people to let him know how he should - or how we will vote on his next election in two years.
someone should foia the 1699.00 amex bill for safety committee lunch, which included open bar and lots of taxpayer purchased liquor....sounds like a mess to me
reading "Black Friday" reports in the news this morning. Sounds like spending has decreased considerably. I drove up to the shopping area in Peru around 9:00 AM to look at the famous intersection and noted very thin parking lots. Either people are holding on to their cash or maybe on-line sales are finally taking over. I for one buy almost everything on-line. I often get a better deal, sometimes avoid sales tax and get free shipping once in a while. If you are not in a hurry and know what you want - on-line buying is the way to go. Can't wait for our grocery store to get on the bandwagon! Some of their stores already offer this option.
Can anyone answer the following questions with regards to these safety lunches that quite regularly turn up on the disbursements?
Question #l: Who is on the committee? Question #2: Who is the chairman? Question #3: Do the aldermen and mayor attend these meetings? Question #4: Where are they held, how often are they held, and at what time of the day (cannot find any information on the city website). Question#5: After looking at the disbursements it appears that they have a luncheon after every meeting. Is this true and why did the last luncheon cost $1699 (was the xmas tree made of gold).
why are we buying lunch for the "safety committee" at all? These meetings are getting out of hand, next they will be catering the regular council meeting. I can see the agenda now: "Proceed into closed session. Drinks and appetizers followed by dinner. Choice of Chicken or Beef with a Cesar Salad. Desert will be a choice of a fruit cup or Black Forrest Cake. - Catering provided at substantial profit by campaign donor XXXX and paid for by the residents of Peru. Selected guests are invited for after dinner drinks to be served at XXXX."
10:00 am - apparently the city did not use up the quota of fuel and they need to burn some more. It takes to long just letting trucks idle all day, so they have every vehicle they can out and about burning gas.
I agree that taxpayer money should never be spent for alcohol. What proposols do you have to stop it? Most lunches paid for with taxpayers money should not be paid for with taxpayers money because these same people would have lunch anyway. Considerably damaging to honest government is the practice of private businesses recruiting and entertaining government officals with intention of totally eliminating all competition. Consider this practice as brainwashing (which the majority of politicians enjoy) and bussiessmen consider money well spent. One accounting guideline which after being created is often forgot about is the budget. Each department head should have to account for itemized budgets and personally give explanations to why the budget guideline has been exceeded or why certain itemized accounts are so high that they becomes impossible to reach. Quality of workmanship, quantity, delivery time, difficulties and ease of demanded performance should all be considered in city cost analysis evaluations and the ability of leadership determined by such.
I saved several hundred dollars in sales tax and avoided a great deal of aggravation by purchasing on-line this weekend. Even if they eventually start charging sales tax - I won't be doing much shopping at the stores anymore. I'll only go to them for immediate needs. So what will Peru do? The trend is toward on-line shopping. That is not going to change. Even if all the on-line retailers charge sales tax, Peru will only get its cut for transactions conducted by residents of Peru. The paradigm is about to shift. Peru will be getting less and less sales tax dollars from residents of the surrounding cities.
Those of you who think the parking lots were thin on Black Friday are clearly making that up. I'm a Friday shopper and many family and friends agreed that it was the busiest it has ever been. Also, it has been pointed out before that the city's sales tax collections are on pace for a record. You can look up the history under the Illinois Dept of Revenue website. Sorry to disappoint so many of you. For those of you who shop online, many of us believe in shopping local and supporting the local community and businesses but that is certainly your choice.
10:13 Unfortunately there is no way to stop this because it would need to come as a directive from the mayor and council and that is not going to happen.
Ok folks, on the news Thursday evening online sales were at 47%. What's this telling us? We should not be focusing on retail businesses coming to peru.
These safety meeting lunches that we appear to be paying for. Are they lunches for employees of the city and are they held while these employees are on the clock?
Concerning shopping in Peru - I drove through the area Friday morning around 9:00 AM - nothing spectacular, just normal weekend traffic (can't compare it to a "normal" Friday though). I also drove through around 1:00 PM - saw the same. Manards looked busy - did not go North of I-80 in the afternoon.
Concerning the safety committee meetings. Is this an actual City Council Committee meeting or is it an employee safety meeting? Some businesses provide lunch for these types of meetings in order to get them over with without disrupting the normal work day. Naturally, incentive is required to get employees to attend on their own time. That being said - if alcohol is served, it sounds like an after hours meeting? Also, if it is an employee meeting, are we paying them overtime. If it is, they can bring their own food.
The point of these safety luncheon meetings is that there is not agenda, no minutes, no place to even find out who is on them, when they are held, and where. The point is that they are frequently held as lunches and that $1699 is an outrageous amount of money to be spent on something that has no accountability.
Okay 11:37. Let's get rid of the retail sales we have in Peru! Let's stop letting them come here. Online shopping is up, so we must be stupid for wanting retail right? Just because Seriously, the more you read here, the crazier it gets.
Xmas Tree/Safety Mtg Lunch $1699.00 is under Bldg and Grounds.
Why the combination, either we bought an expensive Xmas Tree or we had a Safety mtg Lunch that was very expensive lunch.
Under Bldg and grounds indicates this is an employee function.
When I was in the work force, if a required mtg was held, we had to come even on a day off and we were paid our regular wage for the time spent there. No lunch. What is the standard policy now for those of you who are required to attend these kind of functions. There has to be a logical explanation for this strange expense.
3:51, nobody is saying that. The point is that we need to look forward YEARS not MONTHS. Nobody is saying that municipal sales tax will drop to zero or decrease drastically in a short period of time. We are saying that shopping habits are changing and our government (state and local) needs to plan accordingly.
Lois Carroll, when you were in the work force the employee was accountable for his/her actions. Xmas Tree/Safety Meeting Lunch $1699.00 - ther is no logical explanation for this strange expense and as 2014 Standard Operating Procedures no logical explanation will be attempted or given. The recent results of a FBI investigation in Peru should be proof to all voters that any questionable circumstances will only be determined in the ballot booth. If in question do not vote for the incumbent.
Todays standard policy is to get all you can as fast as you can no matter what it is. Today this procedure is known as getting ones fair share and if you go away hungry or broke you know who to blame. If you believe this is mistaken compare the size of a politician going into office and his size 4 yrs. later going out of office.
Speaking of habits changing and our government (local and state) needs to plan accordingly has all illegal gambling locally been stopped since the introduction of the state's legal gambling video machines were introduced?
Anon 5:48 PM No, definetly no, illegal gambling has not been stopped locally since the introduction of the state's legal gambling video machines have been introduced. This is a law which local law enforcement and political representation perfers to ignore rather than enforce. Many have questioned why, but by now the answer has become evident. To some a piece of the pie, legal or illegal, is better than no pie at all.
I am not a life long Peruvian but moved here more than five years ago. Many friends who come to our home for a visit refer to Peru as "The Village of Corruption". These visiting friends love the people who live here but do not believe that certain laws are enforced fairly to all and that some laws are not enforced at all which is hurting local development.
since the state has taken upon itself to get in the pot and gambling business, no sense having those laws on the books anymore. Any law dealing with marijuana or gambling should be abolished.
I have always thought that gambling was legal in Peru because it is so out in the open and has been in town at the same places for so long. If it has been illegal how come no arrests are ever made? I can't believe being that gambling in Peru is illegal and most know this but nothing is ever done about it. Why is this so?
7:05 - it is the same in every small town in Illinois and has been since the 1950's. No matter where you go, you can find action. You just have to know who to ask. I guarantee I can "get tickets" in Carbondale just as easy as Peru, LaSalle, or even points farther north. If you look, you will find it. One thing that might be confusing you though... People in the Illinois Valley are not all that smart about it. Displaying the tickets behind the bar is a strict no no everywhere else. It is getting that way here now, but some still openly make the purchase. Everywhere else, it is a backroom thing. But rest assured, just because you don't see it doesn't mean it is not happening.
The large per cent of illegalities would not exist if a agreed upon amount were not distributed to those who are also paid to enforce the same illegalities. This distribution can be shared in many more ways than monetary payment. Many of those who are paid to enforce all laws choice to cover up their negligence by heavy publication of those they choice to enforce covering their win wink avoidance of those they are profitering from. Often areas that have weak investigative media or perfer to report only good are open nests of these pick and choose enforcements.
It is funny you should mention investigative media. The News Tribune - in particular the original Mrs. M - was largely responsible for busting up the open "Las Vegas" style gambling in this area. They crusaded relentlessly on the subject and drove it mostly underground. Today's football tickets and the old "for amusement only" games are nothing compared to the roulette wheels, black jack, and full blown slot machines that where present in the 1950's and into the 1960's. But alas, now the State of Illinois is putting modern slot machines everywhere they can in order to steel money from those that can least afford it. For you Video Gamming fans - I can guarantee you one thing. You never see a millionaire that made his money honestly playing a machine. The State of Illinois should be sponsoring savings plans not gambling and now marijuana sales. Do you know how much money you would have if you simply saved 10% of everything your earned from high school until retirement?
Some may think that people of the Illinois Valley are not that smart about illegal gambling and others may think that they are very smart about about illegal gambling. Some people may respect those who hold elected offices and others may not respect those who hold public offices. But all should repect the office and above all the office holder himself should respect the office. When a office holder or appointed official does not enforce the law he is setting a example of the upmost disrespect of the same office he holds. It all gets back to the face in the mirror doesn't it?
Recently the mirror has been foggy. In the legal boundaries of Peru the perimeters of right and wrong are determined by degrees and this determination has been upheld by a retired out of town judge or a federally funded national organization.
42 comments:
The Progressive Democrat Majority in the Illinois State Legislature obviously does not like average citizens checking up on government. I wonder how Frank Mautino will vote on this issue. We need about 400 people to let him know how he should - or how we will vote on his next election in two years.
someone should foia the 1699.00 amex bill for safety committee lunch, which included open bar and lots of taxpayer purchased liquor....sounds like a mess to me
What safety committee lunch? $1,699 for lunch?? Yes somebody should FOIA that.
reading "Black Friday" reports in the news this morning. Sounds like spending has decreased considerably. I drove up to the shopping area in Peru around 9:00 AM to look at the famous intersection and noted very thin parking lots.
Either people are holding on to their cash or maybe on-line sales are finally taking over. I for one buy almost everything on-line. I often get a better deal, sometimes avoid sales tax and get free shipping once in a while. If you are not in a hurry and know what you want - on-line buying is the way to go. Can't wait for our grocery store to get on the bandwagon! Some of their stores already offer this option.
Look in today's packet it's there clear as day
Card member services 1699 safety committee lunch/Xmas tree
Taxpayer money should never ever be spent for alcohol.
Can anyone answer the following questions with regards to these safety lunches that quite regularly turn up on the disbursements?
Question #l: Who is on the committee?
Question #2: Who is the chairman?
Question #3: Do the aldermen and mayor attend these meetings?
Question #4: Where are they held, how often are they held, and at what time of the day (cannot find any information on the city website).
Question#5: After looking at the disbursements it appears that they have a luncheon after every meeting. Is this true and why did the last luncheon cost $1699 (was the xmas tree made of gold).
why are we buying lunch for the "safety committee" at all? These meetings are getting out of hand, next they will be catering the regular council meeting. I can see the agenda now: "Proceed into closed session. Drinks and appetizers followed by dinner. Choice of Chicken or Beef with a Cesar Salad. Desert will be a choice of a fruit cup or Black Forrest Cake. - Catering provided at substantial profit by campaign donor XXXX and paid for by the residents of Peru. Selected guests are invited for after dinner drinks to be served at XXXX."
I thought leaf vacuuming was over done with as of Nov. 24th. Why is it riding around town?
10:00 am - apparently the city did not use up the quota of fuel and they need to burn some more. It takes to long just letting trucks idle all day, so they have every vehicle they can out and about burning gas.
I agree that taxpayer money should never be spent for alcohol. What proposols do you have to stop it? Most lunches paid for with taxpayers money should not be paid for with taxpayers money because these same people would have lunch anyway.
Considerably damaging to honest government is the practice of private businesses recruiting and entertaining government officals with intention of totally eliminating all competition. Consider this practice as brainwashing (which the majority of politicians enjoy) and bussiessmen consider money well spent.
One accounting guideline which after being created is often forgot about is the budget. Each department head should have to account for itemized budgets and personally give explanations to why the budget guideline has been exceeded or why certain itemized accounts are so high that they becomes impossible to reach. Quality of workmanship, quantity, delivery time, difficulties and ease of demanded performance should all be considered in city cost analysis evaluations and the ability of leadership determined by such.
I saved several hundred dollars in sales tax and avoided a great deal of aggravation by purchasing on-line this weekend. Even if they eventually start charging sales tax - I won't be doing much shopping at the stores anymore. I'll only go to them for immediate needs.
So what will Peru do? The trend is toward on-line shopping. That is not going to change. Even if all the on-line retailers charge sales tax, Peru will only get its cut for transactions conducted by residents of Peru. The paradigm is about to shift. Peru will be getting less and less sales tax dollars from residents of the surrounding cities.
I think 9:56 has some legitimate questions that deserve answers. Can anyone tell them where to find the answers or provide them themself?
Those of you who think the parking lots were thin on Black Friday are clearly making that up. I'm a Friday shopper and many family and friends agreed that it was the busiest it has ever been. Also, it has been pointed out before that the city's sales tax collections are on pace for a record. You can look up the history under the Illinois Dept of Revenue website. Sorry to disappoint so many of you. For those of you who shop online, many of us believe in shopping local and supporting the local community and businesses but that is certainly your choice.
10:13 Unfortunately there is no way to stop this because it would need to come as a directive from the mayor and council and that is not going to happen.
Ok folks, on the news Thursday evening online sales were at 47%. What's this telling us? We should not be focusing on retail businesses coming to peru.
@10:54- at 2:30 I personally was on Rt. 251 going north past the mall, the traffic was the same as any other Saturday in that area. That is the truth.
These safety meeting lunches that we appear to be paying for. Are they lunches for employees of the city and are they held while these employees are on the clock?
Concerning shopping in Peru - I drove through the area Friday morning around 9:00 AM - nothing spectacular, just normal weekend traffic (can't compare it to a "normal" Friday though). I also drove through around 1:00 PM - saw the same. Manards looked busy - did not go North of I-80 in the afternoon.
Concerning the safety committee meetings. Is this an actual City Council Committee meeting or is it an employee safety meeting? Some businesses provide lunch for these types of meetings in order to get them over with without disrupting the normal work day. Naturally, incentive is required to get employees to attend on their own time. That being said - if alcohol is served, it sounds like an after hours meeting? Also, if it is an employee meeting, are we paying them overtime. If it is, they can bring their own food.
The point of these safety luncheon meetings is that there is not agenda, no minutes, no place to even find out who is on them, when they are held, and where. The point is that they are frequently held as lunches and that $1699 is an outrageous amount of money to be spent on something that has no accountability.
Only includes staff. Not elected officials.
so it is a meeting to discuss workplace safety - correct?
Okay 11:37. Let's get rid of the retail sales we have in Peru! Let's stop letting them come here. Online shopping is up, so we must be stupid for wanting retail right? Just because Seriously, the more you read here, the crazier it gets.
Somebody needs to FOIA the invoice for $1,699 and find out who attended.
Xmas Tree/Safety Mtg Lunch $1699.00 is under Bldg and Grounds.
Why the combination, either we bought an expensive Xmas Tree or we had a Safety mtg Lunch that was very expensive lunch.
Under Bldg and grounds indicates this is an employee function.
When I was in the work force, if a required mtg was held, we had to come even on a day off and we were paid our regular wage for the time spent there.
No lunch. What is the standard policy now for those of you who are required to attend these kind of functions. There has to be a logical explanation for this strange expense.
3:51, nobody is saying that. The point is that we need to look forward YEARS not MONTHS. Nobody is saying that municipal sales tax will drop to zero or decrease drastically in a short period of time. We are saying that shopping habits are changing and our government (state and local) needs to plan accordingly.
Lois Carroll, when you were in the work force the employee was accountable for his/her actions.
Xmas Tree/Safety Meeting Lunch $1699.00 - ther is no logical explanation for this strange expense and as 2014 Standard Operating Procedures no logical explanation will be attempted or given.
The recent results of a FBI investigation in Peru should be proof to all voters that any questionable circumstances will only be determined in the ballot booth. If in question do not vote for the incumbent.
Todays standard policy is to get all you can as fast as you can no matter what it is. Today this procedure is known as getting ones fair share and if you go away hungry or broke you know who to blame. If you believe this is mistaken compare the size of a politician going into office and his size 4 yrs. later going out of office.
Speaking of habits changing and our government (local and state) needs to plan accordingly has all illegal gambling locally been stopped since the introduction of the state's legal gambling video machines were introduced?
The city should not be buying Xmas trees this is a violation of religious right taxpayer money should be used to buy religious icons
And on a side note...does that tree talk for 1600 bucks...#bornlastnight
No that tree does not talk for 1600 bucks but it does bark and that is worth something.
Anon 5:48 PM No, definetly no, illegal gambling has not been stopped locally since the introduction of the state's legal gambling video machines have been introduced. This is a law which local law enforcement and political representation perfers to ignore rather than enforce. Many have questioned why, but by now the answer has become evident.
To some a piece of the pie, legal or illegal, is better than no pie at all.
Don't police departments have an officer with titles as investigator? Isn't it that positi on that investigates illegal gambling? hummmmmmmmm
I am not a life long Peruvian but moved here more than five years ago. Many friends who come to our home for a visit refer to Peru as "The Village of Corruption". These visiting friends love the people who live here but do not believe that certain laws are enforced fairly to all and that some laws are not enforced at all which is hurting local development.
since the state has taken upon itself to get in the pot and gambling business, no sense having those laws on the books anymore. Any law dealing with marijuana or gambling should be abolished.
I have always thought that gambling was legal in Peru because it is so out in the open and has been in town at the same places for so long.
If it has been illegal how come no arrests are ever made? I can't believe being that gambling in Peru is illegal and most know this but nothing is ever done about it. Why is this so?
7:05 - it is the same in every small town in Illinois and has been since the 1950's. No matter where you go, you can find action. You just have to know who to ask. I guarantee I can "get tickets" in Carbondale just as easy as Peru, LaSalle, or even points farther north. If you look, you will find it.
One thing that might be confusing you though... People in the Illinois Valley are not all that smart about it. Displaying the tickets behind the bar is a strict no no everywhere else. It is getting that way here now, but some still openly make the purchase. Everywhere else, it is a backroom thing. But rest assured, just because you don't see it doesn't mean it is not happening.
The large per cent of illegalities would not exist if a agreed upon amount were not distributed to those who are also paid to enforce the same illegalities. This distribution can be shared in many more ways than monetary payment. Many of those who are paid to enforce all laws choice to cover up their negligence by heavy publication of those they choice to enforce covering their win wink avoidance of those they are profitering from. Often areas that have weak investigative media or perfer to report only good are open nests of these pick and choose enforcements.
It is funny you should mention investigative media. The News Tribune - in particular the original Mrs. M - was largely responsible for busting up the open "Las Vegas" style gambling in this area. They crusaded relentlessly on the subject and drove it mostly underground. Today's football tickets and the old "for amusement only" games are nothing compared to the roulette wheels, black jack, and full blown slot machines that where present in the 1950's and into the 1960's. But alas, now the State of Illinois is putting modern slot machines everywhere they can in order to steel money from those that can least afford it.
For you Video Gamming fans - I can guarantee you one thing. You never see a millionaire that made his money honestly playing a machine. The State of Illinois should be sponsoring savings plans not gambling and now marijuana sales. Do you know how much money you would have if you simply saved 10% of everything your earned from high school until retirement?
Some may think that people of the Illinois Valley are not that smart about illegal gambling and others may think that they are very smart about about illegal gambling. Some people may respect those who hold elected offices and others may not respect those who hold public offices. But all should repect the office and above all the office holder himself should respect the office. When a office holder or appointed official does not enforce the law he is setting a example of the upmost disrespect of the same office he holds. It all gets back to the face in the mirror doesn't it?
Recently the mirror has been foggy. In the legal boundaries of Peru the perimeters of right and wrong are determined by degrees and this determination has been upheld by a retired out of town judge or a federally funded national organization.
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