Election Day is April 2, just a few days from today and throughout this campaign I have heard so many comments about Term Limits not only on the national stage but here on the local level also. Our Peru City Council has several members who would be ineligible for running for office if we did have that law  but we don't have that law here in Peru so it is up to the registered Peru voters to express their thoughts on this subject.

The Fourth Ward has only Dave Potthoff on the ballot altho there are actually 2 people running for that seat. The other candidate is Aaron Buffo whose candidacy was protested by Ald. Potthoff with the aid of the city both monetary and otherwise. Aaron Buffo is running as a write in candidate in the Fourth. Evidently Dave was opposed to any competition.

Ald Potthoff has served the city as an Alderman in the Fourth Ward for 29 years.  He father before him also served on the city council. So this has become like a family tradition.


If you believe in term limits and live in the 4th Ward, you will have an opportunity to express your views.

The 3rd Ward has a contest between Alderman Dave Waldorf and Kristen McDaniel.  Dave has been on the city council 15 years  and if you favor 2 or 3 terms at the most,  you have an opportunity to vote for someone else.  Kristen recently established a law practice in Peru and hopes to serve the city in which she and her husband have to chose to reside in.

Evidently Mayor Harl is silently promoting Waldorf as he remains silent, he has put a Waldorf election sign prominently in his front yard.

Fourth Ward Battle for Alderman......Current Alderman versus Write In Aaron Buffo....

Peru Residents Will Decide on April 2 What Aldermen Will Be on the City Council

The cold weather has been rather difficult for all the candidates running for Peru City Council. Ground has been so frozen and even signs are hard to place in yards but they are beginning to crop up as we look forward to hopefully better weather.

First Ward: John McLeod against current Alderman Jeff Ballard

Second Ward: Tom Riordan against current Alderman Tom Payton

Third Ward: Kristen McDaniel against Alderman Dave Waldorf

Fourth Ward: Aaron Buffo against current Alderman Dave Potthoff. Buffo is not on the ballot but will be running as a write in candidate. Remember that this is the race where Potthoff challenged the petitions of Buffo and incurred thousands of dollars of legal fees paid for by the City of Peru so that Buffo's name would not be on the ballot. Potthoff must believe his constituents are so dumb that they can't write in the name.

Watch your doorknobs for hangers placed there by the candidates and probably walking the wards looking to speak with you and ask for your vote. If you have questions contact any of them and they will be happy to speak with you about your concerns.

Peru Electoral Board - How Fair is This City and Government

As I sat through this long and rather tiresome meeting, knowing full well before the first word was spoken what the results would be, I thought this is nothing more than a show of power by the Mayor and one of his aldermen.

I recently heard the word of "swamp" in reference to the Peru City Government and tonight I actually thought that was appropriate terminology with reference to the members of this extremely prejudicial board.  What else did anyone expect other than for Mayor Harl and Tony Ferrari to support their fellow  alderman Dave Potthoff in his attempt to disallow a fellow Peru resident to challenge him for one of the aldermanic seats in the fourth ward.

You will find all pertinent details of the meeting and decision in our local News Tribune so I will suggest you go there for details.

One of my first meetings in a really long time, other than the first court proceedings on this issue.

To let you know how unwelcome I was, this is what took place. I went with a friend to to the meeting in the packed city council chambers.  About three quarters of the way through the discussions a police officer came up to my friend and I and told us not to talk to each other.  Now keep in mind that almost everyone in the chambers said a few words or more to those around them and people came up to me afterwards and asked what the police officer said to me. I told them and people sitting close by said they certainly could not hear me. And then I found out the reason the officer did this was because he was instructed to do so by his superior. We were targeted for nothing more than who we are and not because of anything  we did.