"None of us would ever know when the ‘Silly Season’ was upon us if Mayor Allen didn’t make the announcement as a ruse to attack the People’s Party and the former mayor. And now that he has ‘officially’ opened this ‘Silly Season’, the Mayor is gearing up for the February election, implying, insinuating, and, of course, dragging the opposition into his ‘campaign’.
Would someone please remind Mayor Allen, he isn’t running against anyone in this election. And, let me be the first to announce; no one running in this election will be running against the former mayor because, he isn’t a candidate either.
Allen is savvy about one thing. Crediting nothing more than, ‘word on the street’, and insinuating there’s about to be a political ‘bru-ha-ha’ (initiated by The People’s Party, of course), provides the perfect opportunity for him to insist he has no choice but to bring out the ‘big guns’ (‘facts’ from the archives) to ‘set the record straight’ for our consideration..."
Of course, it doesn't appear that The Voice received his/her copy of the 2007 Peoria Heights Examiner, in which the esteemed staff of that fine periodical pretty much dedicated its entire contents to ripping into me. Oh yeah... I wasn't up for election that year. He/she also obviously is not aware of that fine paper being sent out the Saturday before the Tuesday election. In other words, leaving me no opportunity to respond.
So, in 2009, I decided I wasn't going to let that happen again, I got this blog started. And, surprise surprise surprise, the Peoples Party put out a whole battery of things against me, and I was at least able to respond through this blog. Don't know if it made much difference, but it made me feel better. At least, I was a candidate in 2009... but if ANYONE believes that I won't be the negative focus of their literature coming up next Spring... well, you don't know Earl. I think it's fairly clear from the content of the Voice what their strategy will be... try to keep those non-Peoples Party trustee candidates from winning by ripping into Allen.
This is the one thing I've really noticed about Earl and the Peoples Party... and now The Peoria Heights Voice. They accuse me of doing virtually everything that Earl did. The former mayor had his private road blacktopped while he was mayor... I don't care too much about that, because the people living along that road are taxpayers, too... but he also had a brand-spanking new asphalt turnaround installed in front of his house, courtesy of the Village taxpayers. So, when asphalt was laid on my street, from about four doors up from me, to the area in front of my mother-in-law's house (three doors down on the opposite side of the road), why I've done something very bad! Never mind that the road was disintegrating in this area... never mind that it's all on a public road... never mind that it is just an extended asphalt patch over the damaged road... BY GOD! that doggoned Allen is doing something ILLEGAL!
When I had Krumholtz (sp) Brothers landscaping do a project in our backyard a few years back, photos of the Krumholtz Truck on my driveway magically appeared on the desk of a reporter for the Observer. Krumholtz Brothers have done a number of projects in the Heights; they even did Poplar Lane Park landscaping; and honestly they were the only ones I called that responded to my request to have an estimate done on the plan my wife had for the backyard. Some weeks later, I had the Laborers Union dude tell our Village Administrator at the time that "Mayor Allen better watch what he's doing... getting free landscaping done by Krumholtz..." So, I had to call that union dude and explain to him that I got NOTHING for free... we paid $3,400.00 for the project... and then I had to hand out copies of the canceled check to the entire Board of Trustees during a meeting, and threaten legal action against whoever was passing this garbage around.
When we have curbing and sidewalk put in on one block of Boulevard a few years back, it's thrown back at us by the loyal opposition, that "Boulevard is a Peoria street!" Never mind that it only helped out Peoria Heights businesses and a resident. The curbing and sidewalk was only on the Peoria Heights side of the street. Never mind that Peoria paid for half of that entire upgrade, and never mind that there is NO resolution or ordinance that even showed that the Village Board, way back in the early 60s, agreed to turn over maintenance of the Boulevard STREET to Peoria. And, never mind that former Mayor Carter signed off on an agreement when Glen Ave. was widened some years back, that effectively turned over Glen Ave. from the Village boundaries west to Knoxville to Peoria Heights for ALL of its maintenance. That is several blocks of a PEORIA street, on BOTH sides, that Carter signed off on us maintaining FOREVER. The Peoria Heights Voice says that action was just fine, because Carter bartered this, that, and something else by being willing to take on Glen Avenue maintenance even where it is only in Peoria.
But, that's different, right?
There is nothing I would appreciate more than a completely issues-driven campaign next spring. If the Peoples Party is against a paid ambulance staff, then come out and say it. Put it in your campaign literature, and promise to do away with it, and bring in AMT to handle our emergency calls. If the Peoples Party is against Tower Park Music Fest, come out and say it, and promise to do away with it if you get the majority on the Board. If the Peoples Party is against the Police Department being moved to a different building, come out and say it, and promise to bring the police back to Village Hall, and sell off the police building, should they get the majority on the Board. Let the people know where you stand. If the Peoples Party doesn't like the outdoor dining along Prospect, say so, and promise to do away with it if they get the majority on the Board. In other words, let the voters decide based upon the ISSUES.
You know, instead of putting photos of my garbage cans in the newspaper; and I'm sure there will be photos of that "illegal" asphalt strip in front of my house in the next issue; and the cartoon of the tower with money blowing out; instead of that petty, stupid stuff, make it ISSUE driven. I'd love it. I'd be more than happy not to say a word about Earl... I get tired of throwing his name around, I honestly do. I might have to make sure that the people know how Trustee Pendleton voted on several issues in the past years, BUT that's issue-driven, as far as I'm concerned.
Let's see what happens. I'd appreciate being more on the sideline... but I just have a feeling that won't be allowed to happen by certain people.
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