LaSalle Insider

It appears by the conversation on the Change for  Peru blog that the subject of the PVAS  is a hot topic.  I have had the experience of negotiating over the years with the board for PVAS on trying to place an ambulance in the city of LaSalle at our fire station.  As most of you know, recently we were successful in having a staffed ambulance placed in our fire facility for a portion of each day.

I would like to take this opportunity to explain what I know about PVAS and its evolution over the years.  Former Mayor Baker once explained to me that the ambulance facility started with equipment that Peru had once owned therefore the city of Peru  decided in the original charter that its current mayor and two sitting alderman would make up the board.  The understanding was that they could oversee payment back to Peru for its original investment.  This was where the original problem started.  The confusing thing was that the operation was to be a stand alone non-profit organization which operated separately from the city of Peru.  It could and did contract with the cities of Peru,LaSalle and also the Dimmick area to offer ambulance coverage.  This would be similar to the private services used by cities such as Streator and suburban cities as well.  The problem stems in part with the name…Peru Volunteer Ambulance Service (PVAS). If this were the ”Red Star Ambulance Service” for example people would realize that it is a separate entity.  Add to the fact that the charter was never changed to allow for private citizens to man the board and we arrive at the conundrum we have today.  The city of Peru needs to either separate itself from the service or bring it totally under the control and ownership of the city.  This gray area is the cause for all the concern  we feel as citizens.

 I want to stress that  I feel the employees are doing a wonderful and professional job.  In conversations with our fire chief Andy Bacidore, he has stated that the arrangement we have with the employees who staff our ambulance are excellent.

I had a conversation with Mayor Harl shortly before the election concerning the PVAS and he assured me that the city would have to look into the current arrangement as far as how the board was currently constructed to see what , if any changes, he thought were necessary.

I honestly don’t know what would be better in the long run, whether city ownership or private ownership would be preferred.  I would leave that for their city council to discuss and decide.  I am sure that the current confused state of operation needs to be addressed for the betterment and clarification of all who work for and depend on the ambulance service.

One other note, the PVAS board did amend the charter to allow for representation from LaSalle on its board.  Currently Alderman Demes sits on the board and does  assist in the oversight of the bills which are paid.  The board meets every other Monday as far as I know.  I was asked to be that representative originally by then Mayor Washkowiak but I turned it down.  My feeling was that we were finally receiving services under a written contract or agreement, if you will, therefore we , as a city, did not need to be or should be on the board.  My reasoning is that we contract with our garbage hauler in LaSalle and we don’t demand a seat on their board so why would we require it from our ambulance  service.  If the contract is not followed we have options to correct or end that relationship.  I was out-voted and as a result LaSalle has more liability because of that board appointment.   I would like to see that changed as well.

I awoke early wednesday morning  to join the area’s mayors for a breakfast buffet at Mario’s Maples Supper Club hosted by IVAC.  The gathering was part of their ongoing breakfast seminars.  This was the last for the season and is usually well attended.  The topic was the “State of the Illinois Valley” and is  a forum for the local Mayors to give us their plans for their respective cities.  This year LaSalle, Peru, Spring Valley and Utica were represented.  All by their mayor’s with the exception of Spring Valley.  Newly elected Mayor Cliff Banks was off on a fishing trip.  I have to say that for the most part that the majority of the audience probably wished they were off fishing as well.

Spring Valley’s economic director, Deb Ladgenski did a very good job of entertaining the audience with a quiz she designed to point out how many of our lives in the Valley are impacted by the businesses located in her city. From St. Margaret’s Hospital to Walmart’s distribution center , the number of people connected to these two operations alone number in the thousands in the Illinois Valley.  It was an informative and  a well put together speech.

However it did little to give us  a view on the state of her city.   She was, however, the highpoint of the seminar.  Mayors Grove and Harl appeared to not be “ready for prime time”  Maybe it was the time of day (7:30AM) or the fact that they both have day jobs to deal with later but their talks left much to be desired.

First, Mayor Grove talked about Walmart being a good business partner in the area. Fair enough but we were looking for his thoughts on LaSalle’s current state and where he plans on taking this city in the coming years. His only contributions in that vain were that LaSalle would share equipment with the surrounding cities so as to lessen the costs of duplicating equipment used on part time basis and his continual plan to hire an economic director to bring businesses to LaSalle.

Mayor Harl told us about his daily schedule of arriving at city hall at 5:3oa.m.  leaving for his day job as a crane operator at 7:30 than returning to city hall around 3:00pm to work on city business till about 7:30pm.  He than tries to rest up to do the same thing the following day. He let us know that the job  of running Peru takes a lot of work.  Again no real insight on the plans for Peru’s immediate future.  Scotty, I love ya, but you had to know what you were getting into before you ran for the office.

Finally Mayor Esmond told us of how people in Utica don’t really like much change, which was the reason for his re-election as mayor.  I will give Mr. E credit though, he was the only area representative to tell us part of his plan for utica’s future.  He envisions a civic center north of Route 80 to host concerts and expositions, something on a line with McCormick Place but on a smaller scale.  This, if he can convince investors that “if they build it we will come!”

All in all, the strongest performance was probably the coffee which I consumed in large quantities to stay awake during the talks.

In all seriousness, I think what the attendees learned was that as far as LaSalle and Peru goes, we will have to go slowly with our new mayors until they fully comprehend the job at hand.  I think they are both realizing the job entails more than they originally thought.  Mayor Esmond is more comfortable in his position having been there for 8 years.  As far as Mayor Banks goes, I have not had the opportunity to see him in action yet but he has already had some challenges in his own way (see appointing a police chief).  

oh, and one last thing, I thought the eggs were great and the bacon I had was cooked just the way I like it, crispy!  Good job Mario…

Monday evening Mayor Grove addressed the LBA (LaSalle Business Assoc) and shared with them his vision for the future of LaSalle under his leadership.  Many of the alderman , including myself, were in attendance.  The mayor appeared a bit nervous with his first public appearance since his election.  He spoke approximately thirty minutes which was followed by a question and answer period of about thirty minutes as well. 

After letting us know his administrative appointments were to be the same personnel as the previous mayor’s with the exception of Pam Broviak who was not reappointed, he began to discuss his vision which is strongly dependent upon an economic director being added to the city’s payroll.

He expects that person to be the glue between the business community and the local government and assumes that he or she will be able to attract new businesses, write grants , and create an atmosphere downtown and elsewhere which will pull customers and new commerce to our city.

He intends to go after  downtown dilapidated building owners and demand that they clean up their buildings  so as to make them saleable in some cases, for others to create shops.  The LBA is selling murals for $150.00 which can be used to put in storefronts of empty buildings to hide the fact that  they are in disrepair.

He is going to direct his building inspector, Brian Maddox, to focus on rental properties which need attention and correction as well as directing our city attorney to “go after” deadbeat owners in court.

 Newly elected Alderman Boo Herndon commented that if we make an example of a few of these owners that others will see the city means business and they will address their properties  for fear they will be next in court.

Other issues such as no electricity to our historic lampposts on first street and the overall problems with downtown wiring were also brought up. The mayor promised to address these with Illinois Power Company

The downtown grant program for storefront renovation was mentioned by Reverend Tom Arnold.  He questioned if it still existed and was there any funding left.  Mayor Grove promised to look into that issue as well.

As public addresses go it was pretty standard. A lot of general thoughts but few specifics.  Yes we will have a new city website with each department contributing their ideas as to what is needed but no launch date set.  The mayor showed that as a manager he will welcome everyone’s ideas but as a leader there was not much in new direction.  Ways by which to fund these actions were not discussed, generally because no one really wants to discuss how much things  will cost the taxpayer, just how soon  these problems will  be dealt with.

All in all there was a good crowd, estimated at about 50 to 60 people in the visitor’s conference center.  I think most people left with the thought that they will wait and see what changes take place and at what costs.

Congratulations to LaSalle’s B & B Remodeling Softball team for receiving runner up trophies in the Max Lauritzen Annual Tourney. The team lost Monday night 14-6 to Peru’s Lori Janko Wilke team which boasts no losses for the season. The tournament began a couple weeks ago and included 20 teams from the local area. Games were played in Peru’s Sunset Park and Oglesby’s Memorial Park.

Other local little league information can be found at the League Web site.

(LaSalle Insider is looking for people who love local sports and are interested in posting game-related information on the LaSalle Insider. If interested in joining our community news site, just drop an e-mail to garry.schroeder@lasalleinsider.com.)

Today LP’s students and parents received notice from Dr. Craig Carter, L-P Superintendent, that a small piece of the spire architecture above the special ed north doors had fallen to the ground. “No one was hurt,” said Dr. Carter. “We immediately closed the entrance, notified our architect, and a local contractor will be making repairs early this morning. As a further safety precaution, the other spired entrances will be closed until they can be checked as well. ”

Those arriving today at the school were advised to use the west gym entrance doors.

Well by now you all are aware we have elected three new mayors in our communities. Jeff Grove in LaSalle, Scott Harl in Peru, and Cliff Banks in Spring Valley. There are those who wonder what caused this and are amazed that three cities with incumbent mayors running for re-election all are under new leadership.  To start with those gentlemen who won can send a note of thanks to our “hope and Change”  President Barack Obama.  Last Fall he created a firestorm which called for change from the status quo and away from the media hated George Bush even though old George wasn’t running. Credit must go to Barack’s campaign people because we bought what they were selling at the time. 

Add to that the fact that we are in a down economy (read recession) and the feel of the voting public was “throw the bums out” regardless of who the “bums” are.  The former mayor of Spring Valley was correct when he said ”its a tough time to be an incumbent running for reelection!”  Its to early to see if this feeling will carry over to next year’s elections (city of Oglesby and state offices) but unless we see a great  turnaround in our economy locally and statewide its a good bet there will be upsets again.

Please don’t get the wrong idea and think I am  dismissing the elections of our new mayors as a fluke.  I am merely pointing out the other factors that help create the “perfect storm” for these gentlemen.  It still took good campaigns and good ideas to get people to vote and  I applaud the work all of these candidates did to get out the vote.

I had the opportunity to talk to our Mayor Jeff Grove prior to taking the oath of office on Monday night and mentioned to him that soon he would be sworn in and then prepare to be sworn at  if the public thinks he’s not answering to their needs fast enough.  That’s the nature of politics . We all want quick fixes and instant answers.  Unfortunately that world doesn’t exist.

I look forward to working with our new mayor here in LaSalle and I join our surrounding communities in hoping for the best with their new mayors.  It may turn out to be a great opportunity for the Illinois Valley to come together and benefit from new leadership and ideas or we may see a change again in four years.  That’s the challenge for these men.  We wish them godspeed!

If anyone saw the News-tribune article from May 8th titled “Financing stymies Kaskaskia project” you must have come away with the same thought-Mayor Jeff what were you thinking?  In the article it talks about the inability to obtain financing (real shock in this economy!) to proceed with the renovations and improvements to the Hotel Kaskaskia. The bulk of the article deals with the obvious and points out that the private (read local) developers are hopeful they can still move forward soon with the project.

What I find amazing  were the comments by our new Mayor Jeff Grove. In the article the paper points out that  Grove”s campaign for mayor included his goal of clearing up eyesore buildings from the city  and the Kaskaskia project is high on his radar.  Grove even states that he has second thoughts on the fact that Blouke Carus purchased the building for a dollar.  Mayor Grove  states that “for a dollar, I wish we would have just taken it over”

I am fully supportive of cleaning up and getting rid of eyesores in the city.  As an alderman I have continually fought to get the old Mathiessen school building corrected or demolished in my ward. But to compare the Hotel and its developers with the likes of the owners of dilapidated rental buildings and abandoned decaying homes is an insult of the worst kind.

I was at the auction the day Blouke Carus purchased the Hotel for a dollar. There were no other bidders present. I thanked him for his willingness to take a chance on developing  and renovating the old hotel when no one else would even consider the idea.  He has spent thousands of dollars since that first buck was used to purchase the hotel.  He has not received a nickel’s worth of return since. He continues to spend to maintain the building while searching for the additional investment dollars to make this dream a reality!

Where did the  Mayor think that LaSalle’s taxpayers would find the funds equal to what  Mr Carus has invested to date? I am sure if Mr Carus had a crystal ball back on the day he purchased the Hotel and could see where the economy would be today, he might have hesitated to raise his hand at that auction.

I want to list those local individuals currently on the board for the hotel project besides Mr Carus;

Alderman John Lavieri,former Mayor Art Washkowiak, Dennis Clark,Mike Hess,Barb Koch,Pat Barry,Inga Carus,John Chamlin,Norbert Dudek,Helga Interrante, John Piano, and Jim Wikes. 

As an alderman here in LaSalle, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued efforts to make this project happen. I also pledge my support in doing what I can to help in any way.  I honestly hope that our mayor realizes that he has made a mistake with his comment about the project and truly doesn’t mean to dismiss your work as a failed attempt and that we , as a city, would be better off if you had just said “no thanks” when asked to step up to the plate!

Mayor Grove appointed the following alderman as  committee chairman :

Alderman George Green-Finance, Fire & ESDA, and Liason to Illinois Municiple League

Alderman Tom Ptak-Economic Development,Grants, and Liason to LaSalle Business Assoc

Alderman Garry Schroeder-Licenses, Public Grounds and Real Estate, Library Board Alternate

Alderman Diz Demes-Streets, alleys and Traffic,Ambulance Rep and Library Board Liason

Alderman James Bacidore-Wastewater,Building Codes

Alderman Boo Herndon-Police,City Improvements, Rep to Police and Fire Board

Alderman Lavieri-Waterworks,liason to Park Board

Alderman Demi Salazar-Public Health,Lighting,LPAC Rep

Hello and welcome to what I hope is a great new place for all your local news and events.  Our desire is to give you and exciting look at LaSalle and allow you to interact with your friends and neighbors.  In the coming weeks we will bring you local sports like its never been done and videos of things happening around our city. We want to give you the opportunity to submit your thoughts and ideas as well as read those of your fellow citizens.  We will have the lighter side of happenings and a tough look at news in the area.  So stay tuned and tell your friends that you are a Lasalle Insider!

LaSalle mayor, Art Washkowiak, ended 20 years of service to the city of LaSalle last night at the city council meeting. Jeff Grove, winning the mayoral election in April, was sworn in as the new mayor along with City Clerk Virginia Kochanowski, City Treasurer Fran Baratta, and Aldermen Jim Bacidore, Boo Herndon, Tom Ptak, and John Lavieri. Mayor Grove appointed Demitrio Salazar to his vacated seat as third-ward alderman.

Although there still haven’t been any cases of Swine Flu in the Illinois Valley, it doesn’t hurt to be cautious and informed. LaSalle-Peru High School seems to be following this advice by sending out a notice to all parents, students, and staff informing them of steps the school is taking to prevent an outbreak.

According to Dr. Carter, school superintendent, L-P provides alcohol-based hand cleanser and sanitizer wipes in all offices and classrooms. The school will also be “super-cleaned” this Saturday, May 2nd, although no indication was given to describe what super-cleaning means.

Anyone interested in more information can click the health widget located in the sidebar of this site. The CDC has also provided a National Flu Map for those interested in tracking the disease throughout the U.S.:

After what seemed like weeks of constant rain, the sun decided to shine bright in Spring Valley for the 32nd Annual Starved Rock Special Olympics Spring Games. More than 270 athletes from 26 schools and agencies showed up early this morning ready to run, throw, and share in some fun and great competition.

The combined bands from LP, Hall, and Mendota high schools kicked off the event while athletes and coaches paraded onto the field cheered on by families and friends. After the torch bearers carried the flame across the field to light the large torch, the games began. Participants competed in the following events:

50 m run
100 m run/wheel/walk
Relay races
200 m/800 m/400 m/1500 m/3K m races
Softball throw
Tennis ball throw
Shot put
Standing long jump
Running long jump
Assisted and wheelchair races

Here is the list of participating agencies

• Abilities PlusBureau Valley Schools
• Gateway ServicesGeneseo Elementary School
• Geneseo Middle School
• Grundy County Special Ed.
• Horizon House
• JFK Elementary
• Lighted Way
• Lincoln School Mendota
• Lincoln School Princeton
• L-P High School
• Malden Grade School
• Northbrook School
• Northwest School
• Ottawa Eagles
• Ottawa Elementary
• Ottawa Friendship
• Ottawa Shepherd
• Peru Public Schools
• Princeton High School
• Ransom Grade School
• Seneca High School
• Streator High School
• Tonica Grade School
• Tracy’s Boxer Club