Politics: ‘Word on the Street’ just a little too dated to be considered ‘in the loop’
Some thoughts on today’s Word on the Street:
- I see they finally got around to reporting on the controversy over Aaron Schock operating his 18th District U.S. House seat out of county GOP headquarters. I reported on it back on Sept. 20, 18 days ago. Kudos! Better late then never, I always say.
- Members of the Peoria Zoning Commission might resign if the city council insists on making the board meet in the evening so people who work for a living might have an opportunity to attend. I say don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. No one is irreplaceable and some new blood on the zoning board might be a good idea anyway. There’s a strong sentiment that city hall needs to continue its trend toward fresh, new leadership. This gives Mayor Jim Ardis a way to make some needed changes.
- I have it on good authority that Peoria County Board member Tim Riggenbach will NOT run for the Republican nomination for the 92nd District seat being vacated by Schock. Instead, I hear that Riggenbach will instead stay on the county board and try to move up the ranks above being chair of the finance committee. Also, I’m hearing that Blair Gambill will seek the county board seat that would be vacated by Allen Mayer when he formally announces he is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 92nd Illinois House (more on this race later).
I heard these details on Sunday, which is probably after the Word on the Street was completed and turned over to editors, so I’m thinking my information is probably just a teeny bit more fresh. But thanks, anyway, for trying to keep us in the loop.
- WotS did put a name to the rumor I mentioned last week. Cindy Ardis-Jenkins, sister to Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis, is supposed to be considering a run for the job.
- Meanwhile, there is some aggravation within the Democratic Party over county chairman Billy Halstead’s decision to back the candidacy of Jehan Gordan for 92nd Illinois House. The aggravated party members are those who might have wanted to back other candidates, such as county board member Allen Mayer, for the job. Mayers hasn’t announced, but has attended candidate forums. It’s not Halstead’s job, they say, to back a candidate before the primary, especially when there are other folks who are running for the nomination.
Here’s the background: Before Ray LaHood decided to retire from Congress, Halstead and other party leaders were looking for someone to run against incumbent Aaron Schock. One of those party leaders was Mayer. Then when LaHood dropped out, Schock decided to run for Congress, meaning he cannot run for the state house.
With Schock out of the picture, there’s more interest among Democrats for the party nomination for the 92nd District. One of those is Mayer, who backers now are ticked at Halstead for not ending his support for Jordan. Halstead wants to keep the promise he made to Jordan before Schock dropped out of the picture, to give her his full backing for the race against the popular incumbent. And it isn’t just Halstead. Current State Sen. Dave Koehler is backing her too.
I am reminded of what former U.S. Speaker Tip O’Neill said, that the only currency a politician has is his word. Once a promise is made, that promise has to be kept. If not, you have no credibility and no possibility of success in politics. Halstead would be a fool to go back on that.
And I am reminded that no one seemed to object to Halstead courting Gordan back when no one else had the testicular fortitude to run against Schock. And if Mayer is supposed to be so electable and Gordon is a nothing sacrificial lamb (as they suggest) and who needs to step aside, then why are they so worried about facing her in the primary? Fact is, she’s a viable candidate, both in the primary and the general election.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
Who is “Tim O’Neill” ?
I graduated with a guy in Minnesota named Tim O’Neill, and I can say without a doubt he has never been the speaker of the house, but he was a pretty well of kid and had some great speakers IN his house.
Jehan will be terribly disappointed you confused her last name. And don’t forget you promised to attend Mayer’s announcement when he has one….
“former U.S. Speaker Tim O’Neill “. Sorry, but I don’t recall this politician. The nearest I can get is Thomas O’Neal aka Tip O’Neal who was from Massachusetts and was Speaker of the House from 77 to 87 and became a house member in 53.
Jehan is an impressive person but Allen Mayer will win the Democratic nomination.
Cindy Ardis-Jenkins is a grand slam for the Republicans. She will win, turning the initial conventional wisdom that the seat reverts to the Democrats on its head. One more time Democrats thought they had the seat in the bag but fate had a different turn. What a powerful combination Cindy brings–massive community service, working at Children’s Home, deep roots in Peoria, likeable and intelligent and she works for Schock, specifically reaching out to neighborhood associations. Aaron blazed a trail to victory and Cindy will blaze another.
BILL SEZ: Members of the Peoria Zoning Commission might resign if the city council insists on making the board meet in the evening so people who work for a living might have an opportunity to attend.
I SEZ: Suppose that in Bill’s opinion, the doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters, Caterpillar employees, restaurant and retail workers, etc. who work second and third shifts don’t “work for a living.”
First: Typos corrected.
Second: It’s a given that one of the things government does when it wants to freeze the general populace out of the decision-making process is it makes sure all public meetings happen during the day, thus making it difficult for MOST working class, non-professional people are unable to attend. As I have made abundantly clear I work second shift. If I were so disposed to attend a zoning board meeting at p.m., I would NOT be able to do so on days that I work.
So let’s dispense with the “Billy is being unfair to nurses, retail workers, etc. nonsense.”
Third: I will attend any press conference for Mr. Mayer, as long as I am notified and I don’t have to work.
It must be nice to puff yourself up when you talk about rumors that have no proof. If you are right, your brag. if you are wrong, you pretend it didn’t happen.
Thanks for the input.
Ever since Molly Parker left the WOS column its suffered.
Karen McDonald has done a half-hearted job of trying to fill the position, but for the most part has lagged in coverage of policitcal happenings in the county–something Molly was pretty decent at.
Hopefully the new guy on the column can drum up some interesting things ’cause Karen sure isn’t!
Half-hearted reporting from Karen McDonald? BIG surprise. I thought perhaps her poor performance in Pekin was simply because she didn’t give a s*** about the happenings on this side of the river. I guess she doesn’t give a s*** about reporting in general. I don’t know what the JS editors were thinking putting her on the WOS column.
It’s a little too early to make sweeping pronouncements. I chalk this up to the fact that there are two NEW reporters for WotS.
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