Peoria Pundit

I hope everyone enjoyed the Peoria City Council meeting today. It was both short, AND boring.  Here are the bullet items:

• The council punted on what was to be the big story, a new attempt to pass an ordinance mirroring the state law banning smoking inside commercial establishments. The goal is supposedly to “capture” 100 percent of the ticket revenue. But council member Ryan Spain asked to table the vote until the state comes up with rules on how the state law is supposed to be enforced. Gee, if only the state would do that before they pass legislation like this.
• Council member Barbara Van Auken seemed a little frustrated that no one seconded her motion to table a measure to contact state legislatures to urge them to reconsider future changes in state police and firefighter pensions that put burdens on city governments. She said she needed more time to study the issue, but Mayor Jim Ardis said it’s well established that the state legislature has a habit of increasing pension benefits to these workers, forcing municipal governments to foot the bill. Van Auken is probably the most outspoken advocate for police and firefighters on the council these days. Mayor Ardis is brother to a firefighter, but doesn’t seem to be having any problems behaving as a member of management.
• Council members Gary Sandberg and Pat Nichting have been sniping at each other a bit recently.  So it was a little funny to see them unite on the losing side of the 8-2 vote to approve the “agreement and release” that effectively ends Randy Oliver’s tenure at Peoria City Manager. Nichting didn’t discuss his reasons. But Sandberg opposed a section of the agreement that states neither party will “engage in any derogatory statements or discussions concerning the actions of or performance of the other, recognizing that the resignation submitted is intended to be for the best interests of the city and the residents.” Sandberg complained that the term “derogatory” is subjective. “I don’t want to be derogatory. I want to be candid. [The agreement} will not allow for transparency.”
• Council member Clyde Gulley can be a bit long winded and more than a little meandering when he speaks on an issue. But I agree with his request for an explanation why members of the Peoria Police Department sometimes ticket cars for violating the snow ban on roads that have already been plowed from curb to curb. That seems like a really good question to me, too. The ban exists only to get cars off the snow routes so crews can plow. Once the snow is plowed away, ticketing cars that park on cleared roads seems rather, well, abusive.
• This being Peoria, there’s no way simply tabling an issue keeps it from being discussed anyway. There was some discussion at the end of the meeting about how the police plan to enforce the state’s smoking ban. Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard said his department plans to visit some establishments suspected of ignoring  law. It’s only fair, he said, because other establishments are obeying the law and shouldn’t have to compete against those that do not. Violators are reported to the Peoria Liquor Commission. Sandberg said that in his experience bars and restaurant tend to be obeying the rules more than other businesses, so it makes no sense to target them. Council member Bill Spears asked what the police were doing to enforce state law in businesses that don’t have liquor licenses. Settingsgaard said other agencies might have to take care of enforcement elsewhere. Police traditionally have a role in making sure liquor license holders follow the rules. But because there’s no enforcement rules in effect, the fact is that some businesses will get away with it, while others will not. Funny, I thought there’s something in the U.S. Constitution requiring equal protection under the law. Apparently not in Illinois and not if you have a liquor license.
• Sandberg, Gully and George Jacob voted against the city’s new sidewalk policy. It seems  they didn’t like an amendment that requires the city use Tax Increment Finance funds on all new sidewalks in areas inside a TIF district. There was some debate on whether or not this rule would be too restrictive.