My opponent has had a difficult time being straightforward about the amount of Village funds which were spent on Tower Park and Poplar Lane Park. As recently as the Meet the Candidates Night in March 2005, he told the audience that the changes in Tower Park were paid for “mostly using private donations.”* Mr. Carter might need to check out what the definition of “mostly” is. Donations amounted to $282,473.00; however a total of $1,062,897.00 was spent on this project. The result? $780,424.00 of Village Funds was spent on the changes at Tower Park. Over THREE QUARTERS OF A MILLION DOLLARS from the Village General Fund was spent on the Tower Park changes!
At the same Meet the Candidates Night, my opponent stated that Poplar Lane Park was "paid for with a state grant.”* Actually, less than HALF of the project was paid for with a state grant. $224,400.00 of Village Funds was spent on Poplar Lane Park, which has flooded several times since it opened. It is difficult to keep up with clean-up of that park, because every time the river comes up (and it's done it a LOT), it leaves behind a lot of debris.
At the same Meet the Candidates Night, my opponent stated that Poplar Lane Park was "paid for with a state grant.”* Actually, less than HALF of the project was paid for with a state grant. $224,400.00 of Village Funds was spent on Poplar Lane Park, which has flooded several times since it opened. It is difficult to keep up with clean-up of that park, because every time the river comes up (and it's done it a LOT), it leaves behind a lot of debris.
My opponent is not being forthright as to what his “spending record” involves. The taxpayers of Peoria Heights deserve the truth from Mr. Carter so that they can make an educated decision when they enter the voting booth. (* Peoria Times-Observer 3-30-05)
The point here is that an administration (particularly the mayor) has to be up-front and honest about what projects cost. Most of the voters will not take the time to investigate what needs to be investigated to find out the exact cost of items. They depend upon their elected officials to be forthright on costs; not provide some sort of shell game to confuse people.
For example: I've had a few people tell me that they've been told by someone (I wonder who) that we paid an "exorbitant" cost for the new police building. The sale price is $495,000.00 for the police building. It is 5,000 SF. This comes out to just below $100/SF. We were quoted costs of new construction running around $200/SF. So, we are immediately cutting costs by 50%. On top of that, we are paying that $495,000.00 over a 5 year plan, with NO interest.
Here's the rub: elected officials should not be doing things that they feel a need to run a shell game when someone calls them out on the costs of those things. Be honest; be up front; then you're never caught in that shell game... like the Times-Observer illustrated.
Keep exposing the truth, Mayor, and poking holes, the Big Holes in your opponents funny/fuzzy "math stories" that could qualify him for a job in the "accounting" dept of the former Enron aka Enwrong 'addition'.
ReplyDeleteHere's a great picture in solidarity with the efficient little fella that graces the top of your info blog, and gets to the truth; from 'yourheartofillinois' website I saw. Hats off!
http://www.yourheartofillinois.com/images/user_photos/whoi/Bannon_2009_2_10_23_sized.jpg
That's a heckuva good photo, and thanks for sending it my way. We can always use more help in "poking" those holes!
ReplyDeleteBOY I WISH I HAD A BOAT, OH MAYBE EARL C. COULD GIVE ME AND MY KIDS A RIDE TO THE PLAYGROUND AREA. DIDNT EARL C. BUY A VILLAGE BOAT FOR THE PARK? OR DID EARL C. WASTE THE MONEY ON SOMETHING ELSE AND COULDNT AFFORD IT?
ReplyDeleteSome WATER park..[grimace]
ReplyDeleteMayor Allen, what ideas/proposals should be or could be done about "aqualand", if anything... other than the continual clearing and cleaning of debris once the water subsides..? Or maybe it should be just the sinking ship costly legacy of the former Earl.
About not-so-wonderboy Carter's "exorbitant" cost claim for the new police department: not true! as the FACTS state. The former Williams Brothers building, a good price, 5 yr no interest payment plan (thank you, Mayor, and to Tom Williams Sr and Williams Bros) and beats what would have been double the cost for new construction, hands down!
From this blogs January post, the old police building doesn't even have a holding area for suspects!, dangerous to personnel and the public, so this new police house is a very welcomed and needed building. Thank you for seeing to it!
Unfortunately, about all we can do is do our best to try and keep Poplar Lane Park clean. Right now (Feb. 16), there is a load of tree limbs and other stuff, down there that we will have to pay out quite a bit to have cleaned up. Most of it is from the flooding, but also from the ice storm we had several weeks ago. The walking track (or what USED to be the walking track) remains mostly submerged now.
ReplyDeleteThe sand in the playground area will have to be dug up and replaced as soon as the weather fully breaks, as it is now holding a lot of junk from the river. Too much money was spent on it to simply walk away from the park; otherwise we could just allow Mother Nature do what it's always done to that slice of Earth: flood it, and not worry about it.
We are now looking to purchase a piece of property at the corner of Moneta and Columbus, in which a park will be placed (although not a very large one). The difference here is that since Kelly Avenue School closed, there is no park in that area. Where Poplar Lane Park is at, just across Galena Road is Bielfeldt Park, which has every amenity Poplar Lane Park has, and doesn't flood. We pay taxes on the maintenance of Bielfeldt Park, as we are members of the Peoria Park District.
Does it get old to belabor this point? Yes, it does. But, I have to bring it up more than I'd like to because my opponent keeps harping on our "spending too much money," and you can just bet he's going to come up with some strange argument against the proposed park at Columbus/Moneta. We shall see... thanks for the nice comments, by the way.
IT LOOKS LIKE EARL C. WATER PARK IS OPEN FOR THE SEASON, MAYBE HE CAN HAVE HIS COMMUNIST PARTYS ELECTION NEWS CONFERENCE IN THE DRINK. WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY EARL C.
ReplyDelete