http://www.newstrib.com/free/local-effort-to-combine-police-services-has-been-tried-elsewhere/article_f6c81f1http://www.newstrib.com/free/local-effort-to-combine-police-services-has-been-tried-elsewhere/article_f6c81f16-0df0-11e8-9f7b-1724c7c3dabd.html6-0df0-11e8-9f7b-1724c7c3dabd.html
One thing not mentioned that I thought of after viewing the picture associated with this article that has not been mentioned. The Peru Police Chief is also the City Administrator. Does this put a different light on this picture or not? I'm not sure but certainly it adds another dimension to it. In the other cities the Police Chief is not the Mayor or City Administrator.
38 comments:
This would be more logical for the local combination of fire departments. The duplication of fire trucks and the buildings to store them are costly for the LPO residents. Police calls are more numerous than fire calls.
5:42 PM
I have long held that belief and publicly have expressed it. The problem is
La Salle is now a combined FD and ambulance service. But that is becoming more common with Princeton (many years), Mendota and Ottawa all being Fire Dept/Ambulance service combined. I understand that it works very well in those cities. Princeton has been FD/Ambulance service for at least 20 years maybe longer.
combined police dept. meeting at Peru city hall Tuesday at 1:00 and Thursday at 10:00. Come one, come all!
if someone else will be in charge other than the peru police chief. He will tell anything to be in charge and to help himself; but beware!
Not one of the four chiefs have enough background for the combining of the 4 depts. under one roof. The longer they persist upon making a attempt to do so the more they are diminishing chances of success of doing so.
Initially they must hire someone qualified to accomplish all aspects of such a task and surrender all powers even as much as the elimination of their own positions to succeed. Do you believe each Chief is willing to do this?
The infighting looks to have started...one person wants to start a search for new architects. Finley wants the building in his back yard. The 250 million savings is being questioned and for good reason. Most projections are hard to keep just three to five years out. The four chiefs sure don't want to lose their jobs. Time will tell if the four groups can come together with a friendly agreement.
According to Monday Feb. 19th's meeting agenda it looks as though we're going to add another full time person to our family. No, it will not be an on the street worker (the kind we're always told we don't have enough of). Instead it will be a full time engineering/zoning administrative assistant. Where are we coming from with these new high paying positions? How did we survive without them for all these years?
Does Peru have any responsibility to inform its citizens of additional part time hiring's such as adding another retired person to the city cemetery who is already drawing a Class A Caterpillar Pension for 46 years. The other part time had many years with the cable company. Please do not combine their years of service with a outstanding work ethic as the Peru City Cemetery was in its worst condition last Memorable Day ever. In the area of flat gravestones the huge riding tractors were driven over the markers and the grass was left to accumulate rather than be cleaned off resulting that you could not read the gravestone and markers are chipped by grass cutting blades. These part timers are employed 8 hours a day without supervision and seem to believe their only responsibility is to ride their tractor. Why does Peru insist on hiring's of the old, and unneedy when it has young family men/women without jobs and would take pride in their city cemetery.
Also it is said that a recently advertised position of part time receptionist in city hall has been elevated to a full time position at the maintenance department without any applications advertised in the media. Mayor Harl, Human Resource Manager Reese, AWS Bernabei, PWS King what to each of you creates unfair hiring practices.
Is the soon to be hired Dalzell snow remover with Peru equipment still to be hired in Peru @ $23/hr. At $23/hr. as a starting wage why wouldn't a person who understands the law be hired? As a Peru taxpayer he has taken Peru equipment out to another town, Dalzell, illegally to perform a unauthorized practice. Was he a employee of the city at the time or incompletely in between jobs? AWS Bernabei who is liable if a injury or mishap was to occur? Past studies show that this is not allowed by the great majority on account of liabilities. Does Peru maintenance equipment have costly upkeep expenses and also extreme turnover of equipment?
9:05 the job posting is to fill a position that is being vacated. Get facts. You could have gone to the website to find out.
I have been following comments on social media, the local and regional news medias and this blog. I believe Mr. Hart, Mr. Perez, Ms. Ajster and others have legitimate concerns that should be addressed! I do not consider my self a wacko or a trouble maker but a concerned Peru citizen that wants a true transparency from our elected officials. I just see a blatant power hungry police chief and a ineffective fire chief. The ASM and PSM idea is not working for Peru.
Yes, Peru government has the responsibility of informing its citizens of any and all job openings. Mayor Harl, 10 years ago, promised transparency.
5:32 PM
If a position is being vacated, we can assume someone is either retiring or leaving for some reason, therefore there is a job opening and it should not be filled without advertising a job is now available . Is Peru not an equal opportunity employer?
OK, readers is this right or wrong? btw, the Peru website is like a carnival and nearly impossible to find anything without detailed instructions on how to reach what you want to know.
Lois,
Please take those negative posts that scream corruption with a grain of thought.
The first step for a fulltime position is to get approval to hire. Then applications will be taken and the process will begin to hire a replacement.
As far as the combined police services, lets get all the facts before we claim that police commanders are not qualified, cities can't afford a new facility and services will be compromised. I give those credit for looking at a tax solution and efforts to make the community stronger. Those who are spending the time and looking at the options should be appaulded for the vision. It would be real easy to keep things the same way.
Do people who seek employment have to fill out an employment application? In our City, the City of Peru. Is it legal for Department heads to seek summer help by going to the house of a possible summer employee, who is still in high school, and saying I could get/give this person a job. Wouldn't this hiring practice be against the law? Is our city an Equal Opportunity Employer? Would this hiring practice be considered discrimination against others whom may have sought or would have sought summer employment? Thank You, just curious. would like my comment her be posted on facebook, the transparency page, to see other peoples opinions on this subject.
No! our city is not a equal opportunity employer. Discrimination to the hiring bodies of Peru is just another word for I don't care.
Recently I was informed of a Peru resident who worked for the city on a part time basis for 50% of the going rate of pay. He accumulated a outstanding work history and got along well with his fellow workers. Several times his supervisors approached him on the job and told him that a full time job was coming up and they were getting him ready for it.
The job did open up and he was interviewed for it. You are correct he did not get the job. The person selected for the job on a Friday came to work without any prior experience for the job and moved from Peru to Spring Valley one day later, Saturday.
The city engineer, the Human Resource Manager, and the PWS comprised a 3 person hiring committee. In a very short time the new city employee married into the city engineers family.
Isn't the Peru city rec. board in charge of summer hiring with a final approval by the city council? Department heads are not to be involved in the hiring process of summer help. But be aware that many times the way it is supposed to be is outweighed by who swings the heaviest hammer!
5:32 Feb. 19th
I am 9:05 that you responded to. For your information I did look at the city website before I posted my comment. That's how I saw this posting and I did look at our job openings section because I was curious as to what this job entailed. I saw nothing and I do not believe city council would need to approve the position if it already exists and someone retired from it.
5:04
Your looking at random questions and accusations that are misleading. Please if you have any evidence of illegal hiring practice I would encourage you to file suit. It's very hard to give a opinion on some imaginary thought.
504
Yes, crazy people are allowed to post on facebook and Twitter!
Elected officials are not in charge of hiring employees full or part time. I have spoke to one and he said, he rarely hears the name of the hire prior to the public announcement and has no involvement with any full or part time hires.
Come on 1:15 PM. I bet he told you this looking directly at you eye to eye. How is it that most children connected work for the city? How about this summer the city draws names of potential employees out of a hat! OH, lets start with 1/2 of those thought to be needed and hire and deduct hires as a need develops.
11:55AM Your comment is very upsetting and personal to me and I will answer you in a much better time.
The rec board has no say whatsoever in hiring summer help. As a matter of fact they have nothing to do with the summer help.
12:45
It sounds like the person who was hired had more qualifications than the other. There is no rule that say's you must live in the city to be an employee.
The qualifications had to have been met or they would not have hired them. Could it be, the person who was working for the city at the time didn't meet the qualifications that were required.
The opening for the job was in the Newstribune.........like other job openings in Peru.
10:27 AM
No, Person hired was nowhere nearly qualified as the one who was not.
If you were going to hire a person to work in Peru who would you hire a person who pays property tax in Peru and supports the city he makes his living in or the person who pays his property tax to Spring Valley and supports the neighboring city not Peru the one he works in.
The person working for the city met the qualifications that were required. The one requirement which he did not meet was that he had no one on the interview committee that was to became a relative through marriage a brief time later. Although fully aware of this circumstance the interviewer did not relieve himself of the position but choose to remain on the board creating another potential discrimination lawsuit.
A huge factor in the world of employment is pride. In this particular issue is the fact that a Human Resource Manager, a City Engineer, and a PWS who comprised the Interview and Hiring Committee should have knowledge that a person working for the town he lives in is going to take pride in that town and his occupation more so than one who is hired on Friday and moves out of town on the next day.
The person not hired besides not being educated in a fire department has more overall qualifications than the non educated and non experienced Peru Fire Chief. In the long range scheme of things many wonder if this also accounts into the hiring practice of Peru, Illinois City Government. It is a well known fact that when a committee was formed to study the advantageous of a city administrator the idea of a city manager was to remain completely excluded by all concerned. Reason being that a City Manager has to have a particular educational background that a preferred individual does not have. A city administrator is simply an additional title with no additional education or background needed.
Upon intensely studying the Peru Police Chief and the Peru Fire Chief who are now the AWD and the PWD Peru still has only the PPC and the PFC with new initials for a title and tremendous unknown salary increases. FOR WHAT?
9:56 AM
Well written and very true. Several Peru residents including myself sat through the numerous mtgs wherein the group of men and women chosen by the Mayor of Peru interviewed Department Heads that included the Police Chief and Fire Chief. It was a done deal before the meetings were concluded.
The City Council had agreed to the Mayor's terms that the City Manager to be hired would be our Police Chief and Fire Chief. I don't believe the group would have have known whether those interviewed were being honest or not but several of us knew and honestly had to bite our tongues. This was a done deal before it started.
Since Mayor Harl is the first mayor of Peru to not really be Mayor as the job had previously been handled, I wonder what he does beside preside at Council Meetings and travel out of town. I say that in all seriousness and if you know please let us know. If he was in his office and looked out his window, he certainly would see the trash that is being pictured on FB this morning.
Believe you me those pictures on facebook with regards to the garbage across the street from city hall don't begin to show the pig style that exists at 4th and Fulton. How could this have happened and gotten to this stage of the game? Wasn't Mr. King being compensated for being the code enforcement officer and building and zoning inspector before we went out and hired more people for these positions? Did he and the police and the aldermen from that ward close their eyes to the filth that is visible along route 6 in that location? Or, is that a location of a privileged person?
Does anyone know anything about the new position that is being created - engineering/zoning administrative assistant? Is this another newly created office position and will it be another addition to the engineering department? It seems to me that the reason given by our PSM for not getting a lot of jobs completed or addressed on time is the lack of workers. Why aren't we hiring more of them instead of more bosses?
Zoom back to 2009 and the recent election of Mayor Scott Harl, fast forward to 2018 and vocalize in writing what opinion you have of Harl and his 10years in office. What in a brief synopsis comes to your mind first.
Do not become confused as Harl in 2009 had a campaigned that Peru would pass a Term Limitation of two terms and he himself is now serving his 3rd term. Many believe the only way he will leave office is to lose a election!
Politically there is a huge difference in the application of ordinances when meant for someone else or yours truly. Has anyone read the account of Peru's Chief Bernabei by Edgar County? The Chief has stepped outside his bounds and expounded upon his lack of knowledge for years, now Edgar County has proved it.
Presently if the co-ordination of various local police departments was allowed to stand on its own it will succeed. What limits its opportunity for success is the fact that a certain officer is continuously attempting to build his own empire and it appears that he is using this idea to accomplish his goal.
The trash mentioned on Fulton Street and behind 1818 Fourth Street are not a new thing achieving squatters rights for years.
The money is starting to be requested from the taxpayers of Peru in the amount of $10.500. This is Peru's share of monies set aside just for attorneys fees. Mayor Harl must take charge and become a real mayor and put a harness on a power hungry police chief!
3:10 The position being hired is replacing a current position.
9:22 You need a law that would prohibit those elected to serve two terms. Look to the State of Illinois for that, not a city ordinance.
There is less and less interest in public service, it's not worth it for most people. Those who tend to run in recent times have a direct ax to grind, not for the best interest of the city. I also don't believe the Edgar County Blog is really a news worthy source. Looking at the piece of paper you will notice one perspective that lacks any reliable source. I would encourage you to make something up and send it to the Edgar Blog, it might make your day.
ANON 3:14 PM
I do believe that Edgar County is really a news worthy source!
There is no need of anyone to make something up as Chief Bernabei already has and it has already been sent to Edgar County which states that Bernabei is claiming his own incorrect interpretation of the law to suit his own purposes. A well known fact of Bernabei is that he prefers to falsely extend his power and knowledge over all phases of the law - executive, judicial and legislative.
Peru taxpayers would presently be best served by not granting the $10,500 to the local Chiefs of Police until the proper personnel are in place. Present "Baby Stepping Methods" by the Peru Chief of Police building his own empire offer no local advantages to LaSalle, Oglesby, Spring Valley and Peru. There is a former local Chief of Police, now retired, who would have no problem in moving this area forward in security and who has the necessary updated knowledge in police methods of organizing. For this man to unite and lead a coordinated police force and to present his truthful intentions professionally would compliment our and other local towns toward the future with vision.
Locally do not expect Mayor Harl to have a need for a harness as he is doing what he thinks a Mayor is all about - travelling - to Washington DC.
11:12
Your whole statement is about getting some retired or fired local police chief a new job? Most of us feel very comfortable with the 4 local police chiefs and the experience and expertise they carry.
If you believe the Edgar County watch dog or some local self proclaimed do nothing ex-politician watch dog blog has any factual intentions, you may buy some of that riverfront property for investment purposes. Those that feed the frenzy of the watchdog trash have ONE objective......to get taxpayer money in the form of litigation. Wake the sheep. Those 2 or 3 self proclaimed watchdogs are looking to pad the pockets with our taxes. Nothing more! I prefer they have a tag day.
12:24
and who are you? a close friend who benefited from bernabei?
12:15 PM
Could also be a relative. Presently no one knows of a retired or fired local police nor does anyone know of a chief who is looking for a new job except "Yours Truly Doug Bernabei". Bernabei is actively promoting the co-op police concept with himself in command.
To the statement "Most of us feel very comfortable with the 4 local police chiefs and the experience and expertise they carry" you have left way too many loose ends for present comment.
Can you think of a positively sound reason to hire the TIF law firm that the 16 person committee is in favor of?
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