Bill Dennis has finally stopped playing with his thingy...

About time too, sometimes there are so many typos in his postings I think he may be going blind ;-)

Yes, William has finally stopped messing with his blog, has ditched us losers at blogsplot, and can be found at peoriapundit.com once again.

Bill is already back to harassing me for harassing Councilwoman VanAuken, on whom I believe he has a huge crush. He denies it, but isn't fooling anyone. No one doubts Barbara is extremely bright Bill, you have every right to fall for her.

For the record, I believe that VanAuken does return calls and e-mails- when she receives them. I just think she does what she wants (water company vote, Station 11) instead of what her constituents instruct her to do. I also think Teplitz was much, much worse. My frustration with VanAuken at this moment stems from her lack of fight to restore Fire Station 11 to full capacity. I was at a forum where VanAuken said Fire Station 11 was critical to the people in her district, that Teplitiz's vote had endangered citizens, and if elected, Barbara would make Station 11 a priority. Plenty of campaign flyers stating essentially the same thing were distributed on her behalf. I personally know three fire fighters who campaigned for her who are pissed. They believe their lives are jeopardized by the current cuts and strange distribution of fire fighting equipment. Seriously, whoever heard of a Fire Station without a water truck?! The water truck is the one with the friggin hoses, used to put out FIRES. I also know that the City could find an annual revenue stream of $750,000 by cutting waste if they were so inclined. Hell, the Municipal Band gets $100,000 - and polkas certainly don't count as an essential service. Council seems to be in favor of a tax increase, but not enough of one to restore fire fighting capabilities to safe levels. Have these people learned nothing from Hurricane Katrina?

I also remember VanAuken chastising Teplitz for saying the garbage fee was "only" $6.00 per month. VanAuken told the audience using the word "only" was indicative of a leader who had forgotten the needs of her constituents, many of whom were on fixed incomes. Yet, Barbara hasn't mentioned eliminating the garbage tax (which doesn't pay for garbage pickup). These were the issues VanAuken ran on, these are the issues we have every right to hold her accountable for, ahem, Bill.

However, adequate fire protection is more important than the slimy garbage tax. So, I'm putting the pressure on Manning. If Councilman Manning can dissect the water company's books and find certain revenue, despite the outrageous $300 million price tag, finding a paltry $750,000 of local government waste to restore Station 11 should be a cake walk. So, how about it Bob?