LaSalle Insider

If you have a problem with your cable or Internet service, do you really want to wait a month or more to get it resolved? No Way! But in LaSalle, this seems to occur time and again. People in the area have trouble getting their Comcast-related issues taken care of by contacting the local Comcast office. So instead they contact their alderman or the mayor and ask the city to help. This usually begins a lengthy process of the city trying to contact Comcast on behalf of citizens, asking a representative to attend a council meeting, and maybe a resolution results or maybe not. Not necessarily the best or fastest way for a person to have a problem with their cable or Internet resolved. So what is the answer? How can someone get their problems solved within minutes or hours?

Enter @comcastcares - an account set up on a new microblogging site called Twitter. If a person signs up on the Twitter Website and creates an account of their own using a “handle” or username, they can send messages to @comcastcares whenever they have a Comcast-related problem. Comcast also has several other Twitter accounts powered by people who are ready to help customers.

So how does this work? Well, at the last council meeting, Ald. Demes asked the city to invite a Comcast representative to the next meeting because a resident had complained about damage a Comcast contractor had done to their yard. Repeated attempts to contact Comcast had failed. So the council agreed to arrange to have a representative attend the next council meeting to discuss the matter.

How does someone use Twitter to solve a problem like this? A message (see the image showing how the message looks) was sent through Twitter to @comcastcares during the meeting. Within an hour, and before the council meeting was over, @comcastcares had answered who to contact to resolve the issue. If a city official had sent this message, they could have sent off an e-mail at this point and perhaps had the issue resolved by the next day. Here is an image of the Twitter page for @comcastcares showing his answer to the question above:

Anyone can create an account on Twitter and contact any of the Comcast Twitter accounts by simply typing in a message using the “@” symbol then the name of the Comcast account. There is a video on the main page of the Twitter Website that further explains how to use Twitter. But if you want a more in depth explanation of Twitter and how to use it, you can follow this link here:

Time to Meet the Bird (Twitter and Microblogging)

If you use Twitter for nothing else, you can at least use it to get fast, responsive, and efficient service from Comcast.

One of the more troubling things for me about last night’s council meeting was the comment made that our City is in decay and our best days are behind us.  This thought was vocalized by Alderman Diz Demes and echoed by Aldermen Boo Herndon.

I will admit that we have problems in areas of our city with abandon homes and rundown commercial buildings but …”best days are over?”

I have spent the majority of my life here and I can recall old abandon homes when I was a kid as well as environmental waste areas that should have been dealt with (we didn’t realize they were dangerous at the time).  I also remember the downtown business sections thriving with people and activity on a daily basis.  I can also  recall when the manufacturing factories were closing left and right and a bumper sticker was seen that read “Last one out of the Illinois Valley, Please turn off the lights!”

My point is that these periods come and go.  President Clinton could not have been more wrong when he declared the end of the business cycle in his presidency.  History shows us that there is a natural expansion and contraction of our economy.   This “business cycle” has and will always exist.

This area has weathered the storm before and will again.  It was not long ago we were commenting monthly on new housing starts  or new developments here or coming in the near future.  Many dedicated people worked hard  and took risks to make  these things happen.

I guess that’s my point.  This area, this community isn’t about physical structures that come and go but by the people who live here and are willing to spend their time, money,and sweat to make it a place they can be proud of.  We will come out of this downturn and we will be stronger for it.

This will happen in spite of what government does or doesn’t do.  Its the people that make things happen, not governmental programs or  long winded politicians.

On Monday night, in spite of the fiscal numbers presented, your LaSalle City Council approved of hiring an economic director at a salary of $45,000 along with full medical coverage which costs the city an additional $15,000.00.  Throw  in $3,000 for mileage allowance and we are up to $63,000.  We will also realize additional costs for phone, computer setup, office expenses, seminar fees , conference fees, well you get the idea.

The hope of those who supported this action  (it passed 7-2 with the Mayor supporting) is that the person hired will bring economic growth to our city while those villages that surround us flounder.

The gentleman hired (or I should say appointed) is on a one year contract to show the city that he can do what others haven’t been able to, that is grow the economy in a recession /depression.  Did I mention his name?  Its Don Aleksy, one of the three individuals we interviewed last Monday in an informal setting.  He  and his wife are  owners of their own business which sells Tupperware  and you can check him out at BusinessCoaching4U.com He does not plan to stop anything he currently does and will add this position to his  daily schedule.

Alderman Green and myself had asked to table the vote for a month in order to gather more information as to how we would pay for this new position.  The balance of the Council thought this was too long to wait on such an important campaign promise so we were outvoted and the new position was approved  and filled in a matter of minutes.

Those approving this action are as follows:

Aldermen Demes,Bacidore,Ptak,Laverie,Salazar,Herndon.

Opposed:

Alderman Green and myself.  (the two longest serving aldermen presently with the most experience in fiscal matters)

No guidelines to measure progress were set..instead the Mayor said we will judge as we go forward.  Review in one year  (I have never seen a position done away with yet).

Those of us who have paid at least the first half of our property tax bill saw the increase from the City of LaSalle’s portion of our bill.  This was due to the fact that a couple of bond payments normally paid from our general fund were passed on to the taxpayer because we didn’t have enough to pay our ongoing expenses.   The hope by some of us was that we would be able to avoid that in this fiscal year by saving enough in expenses to fund  the bond in house.  The cost about $180,000.00   NOT GONNA HAPPEN!

We need (according to our police chief ) to hire an additional three police officers to be at a level that meets our city’s population and its needs.  NOT GONNA HAPPEN!

But the GOOD NEWS….we have an Economic Director….if you need a loan for your property tax bill or want a police officer but none are available…you can always call our Economic Director…now where did I put that phone number?

Saturday, June 13th,  Congresswoman Debby Halvorson stopped by the tourism center to talk about  and to small businesses and hear their concerns.  It was unfortunate that the turnout was not as large as expected.  The Congresswoman was  apologetic for asking us to take part of a beautiful Saturday afternoon and spend it with her but I was a bit surprised that more local businesses did not take what I thought was  an excellent opportunity to dialogue with someone from Washington D.C. who might be able to make a difference. 

I did see Ray Andres from the Uptown Grill and Sharon Wagenknecht from the Carus mansion but the others there represented Utica businesses for the most part.

Anna Koval, as our hostess at the tourism center, was in attendance and had several questions for  Ms. Halvorson.  The balance of the 20 or so gathered there were made up of  mostly other public officials.  Mayor Grove was joined by Aldermen Green, Laverie,Salazar and myself.  Spring Valley was represented by their economic director, Deb Ladzinski.

Representative Halvorson informed us that she was on three committees including small businesses, veteran affairs, and I believe transportation.

It was the small businesses that she focused on Saturday , looking for feedback and requests from those in attendance, as to what their biggest concerns were.  It was a shame more didn’t attend and take advantage of having the “congresswoman’s ear” for the afternoon.

We did hear of possible tax changes regarding small businesses and the time spent on filling out and filing all the  paperwork necessary to comply with the IRS demands.

I had a chance to speak  personally with Debbie and her husband after the event and I found the two to be very involved and concerned with the district that they serve.   It helps a great deal that Debbie was a state senator for twelve years prior to taking over Jerry Weller’s seat in DC.  They are definitely a team and are results orientated.  It was refreshing to hear that just being concerned and trying for an answer were not good enough for these two.  Although Ms. Halvorson has regional directors assisting her its always nicer to talk to our DC rep face to face.

I am sure all of us in attendance came away with the same feeling that this is a person who can identify with small town America and understands the issues we face and the frustration we feel at times with our government.

Thank you Congresswoman Halvorson for taking some of your time to spend with us on such a great Saturday afternoon!

The LaSalle City Council met in executive session on Monday Night to discuss personnel and interview candidates for the economic director’s position.  I cannot disclose the actual happenings but I can tell you that if you have an interest, pro or con, on LaSalle creating the position of economic director you should attend next monday night’s meeting (June 15) at 7 PM.

As many of you may know, Mayor Grove campaigned with the idea of hiring or adding this position to LaSalle.  His thinking was that he did not  reappoint Pam Broviak as our Director of Public Works therefore he should have the ability to use her salary from the previous fiscal year towards the hiring of an economic director . 

While I am not totally against the creation of that position when the city can afford it and the business climate is in more of a growth stage, this is definitely not the time!!

We are involved with two union contract negotiations, we have not completed our appropriations for the new fiscal year and have not been presented with our current revenue projections.  It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this fiscal year will probably show less income than last.

But the Mayor says that the public voted for him partially based on his campaign promise of an economic director.  Is that true?  Really?

I thought no one believed anything after the words ” I will make this promise” when you saw that in a political ad.  Remember “read my lips, no new taxes!”  We can ill afford our Mayor fulfilling this promise at this time without all the information on costs being calculated.

Are you spending any money you don’t absolutely have to in this economy?

Don’t you think your government should use the same logic before we create new positions (even if it’s promised its just a trial for one year?) When’s the last time you saw the government ,on any level, lay someone off?

And ask yourself one question….if we wait a year and revisit this idea after seeing if there is an economic turnaround will we be any worse off? 

Monday, June 15th…..7PM   LaSalle  City Council Chambers… See you there!

The city council met last night at our usual 7 PM start time. There are not a lot of highlights to share with you. We did hear from Congresswoman Deb Halvorson’s aide, Samantha Warren. She was there to inform us of the latest happenings in Congress but had to admit her computer’s hard drive crashed over the weekend and she could not be as thorough as she had hoped. It was mostly a hello moment and if you have any questions I will write them down and get back to you. I’m sure its all new for Samantha and it will get better as time goes on.
Sharon Wagenknecht invited all of the city officials to lunch on Friday which will include a tour of the mansion. I am looking forward to that and expect it to be very informative.
We agreed to allow Mayor Grove to participate in the retirement plan of the Illinois Municipal League, we increased the cost of the fine for vehicles which have to be towed or impounded by the city,and passed an ordinance which is tied to the planned new waste treatment facility currently being designed and overseen by (CMT) Crawford, Murphy & Tilly.
The most interesting things to come out of the first two formal meetings for Mayor Grove are those things not discussed. The council is waiting to hear his plans for an economic director, administrative assistant, and the ongoing negotiations with our two contracts up for renewal (Police and ASFCME).
I look forward to the floor discussions and trust that the debate will be lively. Until then don’t forget the fishing rodeo on Saturday June 6th and the upcoming race at Oak Ridge on June 13th….

Ever wonder about water funding opportunities for your city or what rules the city has to meet in order to provide safe drinking water? The Around the Water Cooler show interviews Steve Heare, EPA’s director of drinking water protection, and gets the inside scoop on water funding and requirements:

This week the nation celebrates public works week and honors the accomplishments of those working in public works. The following video, produced by the American Public Works Association, helps explain what public works means to all of us. So as you drive our roads, or turn on the water, or put out your garbage for pickup, remember those folks taking care of these things so we don’t have to.

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.

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.

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

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.