Published Agenda for the Peru Public Works on Oct. 25, 2017

This is the agenda from the Peru web site for the meeting to be held last Monday.  As you can see there is nothing special to be discussed.  This is transparency Peru Style.           

This is actually what was discussed as written in the News Tribune of La Salle.  As you can see there was a great deal to be discussed that related to the residents of the city.  They consistently do this with no honest agenda being put forward by any of the City of Peru Committees. Transparency Peru Style.

Actual Meeting of Peru Public Works

Peru to Hire a Community Service Officer

Yes Peru We Do Still Have a Lobbyist in Springfield

I believe this would have been the third year the Mayor would have brought to the City Council a request to continue to retain a Lobbyist for Peru at the cost of $24,000 per year. To be truthful I never thought it necessary but continue to follow the work done by obtaining the quarterly reports sent to the city by the Lobbyist. If you are interested in past comments just put the word  MrAnarney into the search bar on this blog and you will get those posts and reports from past years.

Last year there was some hesitation on the part of several of the Aldermen but they agreed to see what happens in the next year spanning July 2016 to July 2017. This year I began watching City Council minutes to see when a discussion about this hire would appear and it did not but a friend told me that is was strange that the amount of $2000 a month was appearing on the disbursements to the Lobbyist but no contract was found or any discussion about the issue was found or heard.

This was my foia to find out why we were paying an individual each month but we did not renew the contract.  Now how many people would look to the budget under Administrative Expenses for the Mayor to find the answer.  Evidently the Mayor did not wish to bring up the hire up at a City Council meeting. And we should all be asking Why. I believe I know Why but you are free to make up your own mind.

A Look Back at The City Council and Gambling Two Years Ago

05959a232293.htmlhttp://www.newstrib.com/news/local_news/peru-committee-folds-on-gambling-restrictions/article_83e64974-95ba-56fb-9197-05959a232293.html



Interesting to look back and see who thought what 2 years ago and then read the new outlook in todays News Trihune.

Harl says Peru employees are bogged down by Freedom of Information Act Requests

Harl says Peru employees are bogged down by Freedom of Information Act Requests


I have to admit I filed one today, not on a whim, but because the city has failed to provide the information I have been waiting to see in the minutes of one of their council meetings and it has never appeared.

The Mayor should be pleased that so many people are interested in Peru City Government.

Mayor Harl Would Like You to Pay for a Trip to China

Public comment criticizes City of Peru

Public comment criticizes City of Peru

So only the Financial Officer of 2 years is commenting.  What aldermen who have held their seats for 15 years or more?


Relative to the first post is this link that I wanted to publish.  It is dated but that is immaterial as I doubt it was changed.

https://www.iml.org/file.cfm?key=1288

Contentious City Council Meeting This Evening

 " What we've got here is failure to communicate" 

The quote is from a well known movie of the past years and seems appropriate.

If you have been recently following this blog, you will recall my concern for lack of communication between the city and its residents.

I understand the settlement of the recent lawsuit   between Peru and a resident of the city in which the city was ordered to pay a sizeable sum of money for not repairing home damage caused by the cities sewer issues.  At that time our City Atty told the home owner to sue the City, when they did not agree to pay for the repairs.  Well she did and I understand won many times the requested $12,000.

That lady attended the meeting this evening and expressed her feelings.

Additionally there are currently issues with the City Credit card being used improperly. I will not detail this issue because this is one that our Peru news reporter should cover in detail.

Peru's splash pad is heading toward home

Peru's splash pad is heading toward home


Certainly more than most people anticipated for a city the size of Peru but also adds more questions, at least from me.????????????

Lots of room for lots of little kids, middle sized kids and I bet even some bigger kids on a hot day. This leads me to the question of whether we now will need supervision or more explicitly, people hired by the city to keep everything on an even keel. Especially interesting in that now there will need to be showers open to the public which are more maintenance and definitely paid people to make sure there will be no problems there.

Will there be enough parking in the lot for all the anticipated users? And last but not least are all the nearby residents on board with this? Maybe that does not matter to the city.

Maybe all needless Mom and Dad worries which I hope is the case.  Any thoughts? Constructive ones please.

Krug: FOIA lawsuits a threat to our democracy, insult to our time

Krug: FOIA lawsuits a threat to our democracy, insult to our time

This is lengthy but definitely a good read if you are interested in the dangers that might be lurking around the corner. Foia is how we learn about what our government is up to on all levels but some officials think there are things we should not know or don't need to know. Sound familiar?

Please Sign Your Name If You Expect Me To Be Considerate of Your Disappointment

So people with no name are expecting me  to take their comments seriously when they are telling me how disappointed they are  that we allow politicians to be criticized about what they do and don't do.  Our elected officials in Peru do not show they have any respect for many of the people living in Peru but some expect us to take it all in stride and to continue to think highly of them.
 So if you write in with more of the same I will not put on the blog without your name attached.

I fail to understand the gist of your comment.  You write in anon with a request to not allow people in Peru to criticize their officials because they do it an anonymous manner and you do the same .

When elected officials are using tax dollars with excess employees to make decisions affecting all or most of the residents and yet they do not act in a respectful manner when a resident or more than one is affected in some manner, they are ignored. I have seen this and heard more of this. Do you really believe all these comments written to be posted if there was not a great deal of disappointment about many decisions that have been made and continue to be made.I am also aware of numerous  things going on that people will ultimately become aware of in which the city will be forced to answer for.

The lack of respect to the residents has reached a pretty high level and most are just giving it back to them.

In case you were not aware of it, I worked to elect Mayor Harl in 2009 and expected him to be a peoples mayor and he is not. Time after time I have seen just the opposite.

Does Peru Really Care?

Here it is a beautiful Monday on a warm and sunny Fall day and what is that sound I keep hearing especially when I open my windows.  Not the birds singing or splashing in the bird bath and kids coming home from school, not even a car with a noisy muffler, it is the "beep beep of a large construction truck backing up on 6th St. The trucker think that makes a difference in how I feel about the "crap" they are dumping into almost my back yard.

Peru has been blessed with 3 plots of wooded ravines and at one time former Mayor Baker published a pamphlet that had pictures of the one on 7th St. between Monks and Chambers.  He pictured walking trails and horseback riding paths and generally a very lovely and peaceful park. Well we know that never happened but the thought was at least there. People move to the country to get out of town to be near wooded areas and the city has it right in its midst. This is the kind of place that should be preserved for future generations but how well is Peru doing its preservation.

Not very well, it appears since I keep hearing the "beep beep".  What is being dumped, is it anything beside concrete slabs and dirt.  Is it clean fill, clean soil? I don't know and the city doesn't know and evidently does not care.  All that matters is that it is on private property and that is the only qualifier.  Do the truckers go through the city approval process  and agree to be legally responsible if anything happens to the sanitary sewers? Or some other environmental problem? I talked to the Dept. of Public Works, the PPD and the City Clerk. Do my aldermen know, if they are aware of their ward, yes they do.

Peru officials, do you care?  Remember you are allowing this in a residential area? Does that matter?  Should this area be rezoned to industrial to accomodate the heavy truck traffic on these streets? Are the dumpers telling other associates "I know where you can get rid of this load and it won't cost you a dime"?

City Council Meeting Sept. 5, 2017

Posting a title early because I believe there might be some comments coming up.  Just watching a video on FB of a resident expressing his concerns to a silent Mayor and City Council. Also heard that there might have been a closed session Meeting of the Whole prior to the regular Council Mtg. No update from the N.T. this evening.



_________________________________________________________________________
Ancel Glink Question of the Month

Municipal Q&A - September 2017:

Question: Can a unit of local government pass a policy limiting public comment to residents only?

Answer: According to a recent PAC opinion, public bodies may not restrict public comment to residents only, as Section 2.06(g) of the Open Meetings Act provides that "any person" shall be permitted an opportunity to address public officials under the rules established by the public body 

Do You Really Think I Write All That Appears on the Blog

I am a life long Peru resident and have many friends, acquaintances and relatives living here. We have great residents.  I don't criticize people but oft times do criticize government for what they say and do. Everyone should do a bit more of it.

 I have no clue why people keep writing in saying I make all the comments here that criticize the city, don't you understand the way in which a blog is administered? Some of you constantly complain and criticize comments made by others also.  I like to think that most of you have good intentions.

Do you ever criticize the Gov. of Illinois?
Do you ever criticize our local Senator or Representative?
Do you ever criticize our state legislature?
Do you ever criticize our Senators in Washington.
Do you ever criticize Congress?

Evidently there are people in Peru who believe the elected officials in Peru should never ever be criticized.  If you believe that then you are not a very good citizen of this community.

They don't need constant pats on the back and handshakes, they get their fair share of that. They deserve to know what people think of how the government is working or not. The taxpayers are funding this government very well on all levels

I am sure that there are those who will throw this back at me who don't realize that criticism at times is justified and criticism and suggestions made to the government make a better city, state and federal government.

New Comment under Old Headings

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Anonymous said...

The reason Peru does not have a swimming pool is that the people who have wants in Peru are not willing to participate in long term battles and all the politicians are aware of this. Peru is full of great starters and lousy finishers who are nowhere around at the end.
Peru is a town full of people waiting for the next guy to do it. If it had a active citizenship there would not be a tower in Washington Park limiting the potential of the park.
Peru has become a spoiled baby in regards to a sales tax which was initially started from income of the Peru Mall resulting in low property taxes. Yes this is the same empty mall, which now is known for outdated facilities and overcharged leases. From all appearances the day has arrived for local leadership and the economic director to prove their worth. Hopefully being handicapped by a self made late start is not going to cause a lousy finish.
Now please lets see how many people will invite me to move out of town rather than staying and making a effort to improve Peru

10:14 PM, August 30, 2017 

What Is The Limit of What the City Allows To Be Dumped in The City?

If you drive on 7th St. in the East End of Peru, you may have noticed a new owner at the property located in a residential part of Peru that will be come a new Peru business. I have no problem with the business but I do with the manner of construction that has been taking place.  Or I should say deconstruction.

A concrete block bldg on the property was taken down which left a huge pile of concrete bricks soon to be followed by the breakup of the old driveway.

Where does the city want this dumped? With the permission and the cities knowledge the entire bldg and driveway was dumped into the large ravine area between Monks Avenue and 6th Street on the east side. Of course you all know that a sanitary sewer runs through the center and the creek really fills up during periods of rain. To the north private ownership on both sides has kep it in its natural state and is a natural worded area with all that entails.

But south of the "'fill" which is the road  made to traverse across the ravine which was built many years ago. South is where there is a long standing issue of people trying :"to fill it up" which in some parts has caused Mother Nature to take over and cause land slippage and cause slides. It has been stabilized by allowing trees and foilage to keep it mostly in place but sometimes it continues moving, yes nature is alive.

A large section of the land which has been stable for years has now had tons of broken concrete slabs dumped onto it day after day and yes with the approval of the city of Peru. That includes our Public Works Supervisor and whomever he has told about it. Heavy dump trucks over the city streets all day daily.  I thought we had ordinances on the books to prevent this type of thing from happening but evidently not. The fact that I have complained is probably part of why no help was received.

Yes the land owner wants this debris and maintains he has the right to do this and the Peru Police Dept. agrees also. I am writing this so if some time in the future people have problems with the drainage and a whole new generation is inhabiting this town, someone may find these words and know why it happened.

THE BUZZ: Tracy's comes to Peru Mall

THE BUZZ: Tracy's comes to Peru Mall

Well last week it was Bailey's a new slot place in downtown Peru and next month it will be a new slot place at the Mall. A bit of overkill, is this all Peru is capable of bringing into the city.? It's not like every other town in the area doesn't have their share of these businesses we are drowning in slots and I certainly don't know anyone who would travel to Peru just for that purpose. Every tavern, every restaurant almost.

New Sign Posted at the Playground Near the New Park

Canton police and fire departments soon to have same leader

Canton police and fire departments soon to have same leader

Interesting. This post was also put on the Peru Town Forum FB page and yes you may make a comment there.

Why did I make changes to not allow Anon to post any longer?  Well lets just say the privilege was abused and "crude and rude" was becoming the order of the day. There are people in town who don't have a problem signing there name but most tend to hide behind anon just because they find it a way to not be honest and make rude comments.

There is a lot going on in the city that the city fathers are not pleased with and it will not be discussed on the blog.

Evening hours could boost Ottawa retailers: '70 percent of retail spending takes place after 6 p.m'

Evening hours could boost Ottawa retailers: '70 percent of retail spending takes place after 6 p.m'

In other the way that towns used to exist is what the younger people of today really want. Peru has always said we can't do this or that because of the location of businesses along that line of travel I have always wondered and don't know if it would work but the 2 main streets in Peru also have parking lots in the back, is there any way we could utilize them and encourages businesses to build on the adjacent streets and on Peoria? Constructive ideas only needed.

Work by numbers

Work by numbers The good things about living here and the things that fall short.

Past Peru pool committee member: 'Isn't it about time credit should be given to the committee?'

Past Peru pool committee member: 'Isn't it about time credit should be given to the committee?'

There has been quite a FB discussion about this news article and yes people use their names..  So many people care about what is taking place in Peru but as usual are shut out of decisions even when it is for them and this park and splashpad are only one of them. Evidently another way for the city to show Volunteers, we will use you only when it benefits us and we get the credit.

Some has been posted on the Peru Town Forum FB page.

Peru Playground

If retail is failing, why don’t numbers show it?

If retail is failing, why don’t numbers show it?


Peru will be fine because of
WalMart, auto dealerships
and hardware stores.

Peru Township considers storm alarm presentation, purchases an emergency alarm for the office

Peru Township considers storm alarm presentation, purchases an emergency alarm for the office

If you subscribe to the N.T., can you give us an explanation for this purchase which on the surface does not make much sense.  What has the TWP been using all the years he has been located on Peoria St?

Woman IDs officials who 'bullied' her

Woman IDs officials who 'bullied' her

City officials and local resident in conflict. Maybe there needs to be special classes for people who are elected to city offices in how to communicate effectively with the residents of the city.