Has everyone received and read their copy of the River City Review? The Review eight pages of fluff printed on swank, slick, full glorious color, glossy paper stock mailed at - I assume- tax payer expense to every household in Peoria. My highly anticipated booklet arrived yesterday. Very nice. Informative too! Please, take the time to read it and you too will learn the following:
"Peoria is Winning the Battle Against Crime." Nice photo of Chief Settingsgaard at a podium. Very official. Chief looks good in suit and tie. Sarcasm aside and in attempt to be fair, some impressive accomplishments are cited. "There has been a 93% increase in number of nuisance violations handed out in the month of September alone. Drug arrests are up 17% from last year, and miscellaneous arrests were also on the rise."
Next, we have a pic of CAT equipment performing demo on the Sears Block. Didn't Ran$burg rename that Museum Square? Ooooh! The next headline is a doozy. "NEAT Improves Peoria Neighborhoods." Now I find this hard to believe. "The team inspected 11,350 properties in 2004 - 3,818 had no violations, and 7,532 had violations and enforcement taken." (Looking at the East Bluff, I'm thinking those violations must have been for stray gum wrappers, because it is looking as foul around here as ever.) Also, you gotta love this nugget of info... "The NEAT concept is a popular one with Peoria residents and has received accolades from cities throughout the United States." Who knew?! I bet Hawaii is jealous as hell.
Next we learn "Census Generates Dollars for the City," followed by, "Peoria Directs City Growth" and then, "City Is Dedicated to Neighborhood Improvement." Whoo hoo!
Turn the page, and look at the purty a half page photo of snow plow trucks under the caption, "City is Tough on Snow Removal." Wow. Good to know.
And for the three of you who were lying awake at night wondering... Yes, "Wisconsin Avenue Improvements Are Completed." Got to admit, I have serious sidewalk envy.
Flip to the next page, and we learn gosh goodness golly, there is an "Ordinance to Protect Against Stream Erosion."
C.J. Summers will be relieved to discover "Bike/Walk Trail for Growth Cells One, Two and Three" is underway. "Over 28 miles of trail are planned, with approximately 1.8 miles completed to date." I shiver at the progress.
Next we learn, "How Your Dollars Are Spent." Cute graphic of a checkbook register and everything! "An owner of a $100,000 home only pays $273.75 for City Services." 'Only' huh?
Peorians should be elated to know "Customer Service is One Call Away." Yup. Whoopee twang ding dong, they want you to know their number. 494-CARE.
On the back we have full color pictures of all our beloved councilfolk. Good looking group too. Hey, Sandberg, what is up with the bow tie? That isn't a clip on is it? Chuckie Grayeb looks strange, to say the least. Little Bobby Manning on the other hand, can you say cutie pie? He has those cheeks that Aunty Polly just longs to pinch!
Citizens can go to bed at night knowing the home addresses and faces of all the council members, the City Assessor, the City Clerk, and the City Treasurer. City Manager Randy Oliver, CPA, PE takes a nice picture, but interestingly enough gives City Hall as his address. Hmm... you really don't think Chase already knows where you live?
I now know from this piece of fluff that I pay Elected Officials and Commissions -on average- $4.33. That's a crapola statistic. Commissioners are volunteers, I believe. What I want to know is how much did this fluff/campaign piece cost the average property tax payer? There isn't anything particularly informative about it, most people probably threw in the garbage on site with the rest of the junk mail, and yet, it apparently qualified as a NEED. Another something our elected officials can't bare to cut. I would be willing to wager these mailings would easily pay for a block of shiny new sidewalks, easy.
I also received a copy of Peoria's Annual Report a month or so ago. It too is a very expensive, glossy, colorful booklet. It is not a report, however, but an advertising piece, aimed at some unknown entity who apparently doesn't live here. Why they sent it to me, I have no idea. It is nearly as glossy as Ran$burg's hallucination 20/20 campaign book put out during the last election at taxpayer expense. Mayor Ardis would never do such a thing. This fluff piece at least brags on Peoria, not some far fetched plan that took four years just to dream up. However, I did see that Ardis felt fit to put his campaign slogan, "A New Generation of Leadership" on the bottom of every page of Peoria's Annual "Report."
Federal Government spends $3 million on a toilet seat. State Government spends gobs of cash touting Gov. Chicagovich back and forth. Working diligently to keep up with this trend of "Waste First, Want Later" local government prints and sends material tooting its own horn that few read or want.
I hope this doesn't mean that this new generation of leadership is as wasteful as the last one.
14 comments:
I was so mad when I found this in the mail. What a complete waste of my hard earned tax dollars. I'm not sure about Ardis. He's a lot more hot air than I expected. I haven't heard anythng about his "crime task force". But hey, I could read nearly two pages about how snow will be removed!!!!!
http://www.stopthejunkmail.com helps with junk mail and opt out
Polly,
The Bow tie IS NOT A CLIP ON!!!!!!! The fun is in the tying and memories.
Now to really blow your mind because the River City Review NOT ONLY is SOFT FLUFF with little or no substance, but the administration sent it to residents of West Peoria and Peoria Heights. Zip codes are zip codes, I guess, but I started receiving calls and emails Tuesday night from residents in adjoining municipalities. If that isn't a big enough waste, The $80,000 per year with Longevity staff person in charge of "GETTIN HER DONE" APPARENTLY CAN"T PROOF READ AS MY PHONE NUMBER IS NOT 692-2564, but 682-2564. Of course if citizens call the WRONG number listed by the "CLOSE PERSONAL FRIEND and SYMPATICO of ONE OF MY FELLOW AT LARGE COUNCIL MEMBERS" and I don't respond, then SHE, HE and THE URINAL CAN BERATE ME FOR NOT RESPONDING TO CONSTITUENT CALLS.
But what do you expect for +$80,000,...... accuracy and fluff ....... NO ...... and certainly not an ACCURATE SUBSTANATIVE PIECE, but the tie is from Cambridge England and I will gladly meet you at Kellehers to teach how to tie it. You name the date and time ............ and thanks for the snap of Gizelle.
PS. It is a rectangle, not a SQUARE.
Are there any copies for sale on E-bay yet?
$80,000?! Not peseos? Lira? Yen?Real American dollars? Remember when farmers put truck loads of broccoli in front of the White House when Geo I was in office? I got a pretty good idea where we can put this junk mail. Next Tuesday night lets dump them all on the front steps of City Hall. Better yet, Ardis' front lawn! Actually for that kind of moola I should frame it or put this prized issue of the river city review in a safe deposit box?
I think Councilman Sandberg is referring to the city's public information officer's salary when he refers to the $80,000, not the amount it cost to send out the mailing in question.
GS, correct me if I'm wrong on that.
Polly:
Public monies were not used to produce the Vision 2020 book.
That's one of the things that makes it intriguing -- grassroots support. More than 1,800 people had at least some involvement in developing it. And volunteers spent (and are still spending) an aweful lot of time using that book as a guideline for improving our city and region. Read through it sometime. There's more to it than fluff.
Remember, it takes courage and talent to build something. Any fool with a hammer can tear it down.
I don't think we're talking about the same book P.Daddy. The one I have was most certainly paid for by the City, handed to me by Alma Brown, and I know the reception at the Pere Marquette announcing Hallcination 20/20 was paid on the City's dime. I got my ass out of paid early on a Saturday morning last winter because the City was handing out free donuts. The glossy booklet I have is fluff. Fluffy, fluffy, fluffy, fluff. I'm going to try to find a scanner and post it.
Polly:
You're probably referring to the booklet (PDF available here), not the actual plan.
What I'm talking about is the Vision 2020 planning document (you can download sections of it here).
This is what was launched at the Pere. It's a big mother of a book with scads of action items, time tables and real work that's done, getting done or proposed to get done.
I just received an e-mail the other day from one of the groups looking for input, so this thing still seems to be underway.
As I see it, though, we have to options regarding v2020:
The first is classism, pure and simple. We can hate the rich because we're not (and trust me, I'm not) -- or maybe hate them because they neglected to invite us to one of their planning meetings. We can complain that the money for Vision 2020 came from the big boys and then we can throw the whole thing in the can.
That's the path I keep reading about in local blogs: hate the rich. I think it probably comes from Peoria's union background.
Here's the thing about rich people, though: they got that way because they know one or two-thousand things the rest of us might benefit from hearing. When someone who knows more than me is speaking, I tend to shut-up and listen. But, hey, that's just me.
Here's the second option: thank God people are still willing to spend and invest their own money in this town. Vision 2020 wasn't pork. It wasn't taxes. It was donated money from the pockets of people who care. Instead of bitching, we could maybe roll up our sleeves and choose a project or two to help make the good stuff happen.
Don't like a plan in the book? Join a committee and change it. Of course, it's always easier to be snarky.
Take a look at some of the planning, Polly. You'll like some of it. No doubt, you'll scoff at a lot of it. But that's fine! The point though is that you (and your readers) carefully consider it -- and not simply dismiss thousands of hours of work out of hand because a few people got their collective noses bent out of shape in how it was developed.
And don't even get me started on the Heart of Peoria plan!
I guess it's "Option A" for CJ.
First of all, peoriadad, the desire in this country to punish the rich (no, I don't qualifiy) is one of my pet peeves. This is America. With hard work, anything is possible. You are SUPPOSE to be successful. The idea of over taxing the rich because they took us up on capitalism is stupid and shooting ourselves and the U.S. economy in the foot. That said, Vision 20/20 was an election ploy. Ran$burg accomplished nothing while in office, and the snobs at Republican H.Q. decided to promote a Vision instead of accomplishments. Yes, there are some solid things in The Plan, some are quite good. Most of Hallucination 20/20 is simply regurgitated material from previous plans, spewed on to a glossier format. It's not that some of the Vision couldn't or shouldn't be realized, but the overall vision was to keep Ran$burg in office. I know some people who were lisited as supporting Vision 20/20 who never participated in it or cared about it or even gave permission to use their names. Typical Ran$burg. Stick in these here parts for a few more years and you will see the same names and faces attempt the same old crap. (Ran$burg, Maloof, Grieves...) There is a clique in town bent on power for the wealthy - especially wealthy developers. They are a specific, strange breed of local Republicans-country club- and they don't embrace all Republicans by a long shot. For instance, you won't see our Republican Mayor, Jim Ardis invited to many of their events or parties. I love the rich as long as they are willing to play nice with others. The real farce, I mean force, behind Hallicination 20/20 doesn't qualify. That doesn't mean some really nice, well meaning folks didn't get snookered into believing something that has no intention of ever becoming reality unless and until the aforemention clique is elected back into power.
Can I have a witness and an "Amen" please?
CJ,
It only takes a second to look up a word before you rip someone for using it. And by definition, Classism means, "Bias based on social or economic class." Like Anne Heche, the word goes both ways -- despite what your left-leaning sociology prof might have said.
Besides, who has time for snide sermons on correct word usage? ;-)
I thought the sarcasm in my response to your post was obvious, CJ. Perhaps not. I'm not indicating, with some kind of broad brush, that you hate rich people.
But your post does point to a much more sinister issue: rich-people oppression. Someone must stand up for these neglected souls, CJ. Who will save the fabulously wealthy? Who will be their voice? Maybe a green ribbon campaign is in order...
Coming in late, but the most offensive part of the publication is the random EMPHASIS on random WORDS by using big pretty colors and LARGE fonts with no consistency or REASON whatsoever.
"The poor can't very well oppress anyone, can they?"
Can you say Nicholas II? How about Louis XVI? They might tell you otherwise...
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