Peoria Pundit

Caterpillar Inc. is fixing up its parking deck. Good for them. For them. It’s their deck, they are responsible for it. In a totally pure free-market, free-enterprise system they ought to be responsible for those costs. One of those costs, one assumes, would be to find a place for its workers to park.

After all, there isn’t a mini-mall, mega-mall or a hot-dog stand that isn’t forced to comply with strict standard that state exactly how many parking spaces must be provided. The number of the spaces is set my ordinance. The number of handicapped spaces is set by ordinance. The width and length of the spaces are set by ordinance. The cannot just say that their customers and employees are going to park on the street. They have to either buy enough land to build their own lots, or make arrangements with nearby property owners who have a surplus.

But not if you are Caterpillar. For them, the free-market is a concept to be trotted out to argue that it should be able to do business anywhere, with anyone, without restriction from pesky rules and regulations.

But when it suits their interests, they are like pigs at the public trough.

So, Caterpillar simply went to the city of Peoria and announced they wanted to pave over the ground at the former Sears Block and have it’s minions park their cars there. Don’t worry, we’ll pay for the costs and cover the cost for providing security at the site. This would be roughly equal to the rental space the city otherwise would be able to get from the spaces.

Well, that was the theory when this was discussed during an executive session following the last council meeting.

Caterpillar didn’t need to pay rent, the thinking was, because it was “a wash.”

Council member Gary Sandberg now says that he was told that the process would take about five mnths. But the agreement presented to the council for approval Tuesday stated that it would take as long as 7 1/2 months, a 50-percent increase. In other words, the city was losing 50-percent more rent that the council had been led to believe.

Sandberg lectured the council:

“We are going to have to start treating our business assets with some business sense, like Caterpillar does,” he said.

“I guess I misunderstood the math” and “didn’t understand the length,” said City Attorney Randy Ray, adding that the “wash” was based on “rough math.”

“It’s not lost OR found money,” Ray said.

Mark Johnson of Caterpillar (I can’t find his title right at this moment; I’ll get it later) told the council that the company doesn’t know exactly how long the repairs will take. The deck, he said, is 45 years old.

“Instead of just patching it up, we want to do a major overhaul,” Johnson said. “I expect it (the length of the agreement) was extended so it could a a little cushion.”

Council member Barbara Van Auken, who earlier expressed doubts the longer length of the agreement made it a wash, said she trusted Johnson’s word and was among those who voted to approve the agreement.

But the biggest defense came from Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis.

“I have absolutely no problem with the agreement,” Ardis said, “considering all the good Caterpillar does for our community.

“I don’t think this is one we need to dig our heels in on, folks.”

The vote to approve was 9-1, with Councilman Eric Turner abstaining (he works at Caterpillar) and Councilman Pat Nichting, who was absent.

Sandberg told me after the meeting that the city essentially gave up about $100,000 in revenue by not renting Caterpillar the space. And then there is the revenue that the owners of privately-owned parking decks lost because Caterpillar didn’t have to rent spaces from them on the open market.

So the council not only screwed the taxpayers out of incoming revenue, they screwed some private businesses out of some cash as well. It’s sorta like if the city is standing outside of restaurants handing out free hot-dogs and soda.

And here’s my last comment/question about this whole mess: I assume these improvements to the Sears Block include paving it over and laying down some parking stripes. Exactly what good will these improvements be to the city once Cat’s own deck is completed? After all, aren’t they going to have to tear it our to build their museum and Caterpillar’s visitor center?

A wash? This thing sounds like a hosing from day one.

NOTE: Corrected to change weeks to months.