PeoriaStory

Sustainable community

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PEORIA -- Here's a little-advertised event that might prove promising, at least as a way to put local people on the griddle.

A conference on building a healthy, sustainable community takes place from 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 1 at the Peoria Civic Center new ballroom.

Participants include Peter Senge of MIT and author of The 5th Discipline who will speak on "systems thinking" on the interrelatedness of the planet, communities, and individuals, and Marc Gunther, a Senior Writer at Fortune Magazine and author, who will moderate the Panel Discussion.

Both are experts on sustainable development (development which meets the needs of the present without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs).

Panelists will include, among others, a national director of the World Wildlife Fund, a Caterpillar, Inc. Vice-President and several local business and civic leaders.

The event costs $10 to $20 at the door. You can order advance tickets here.

UPDATE, MAY 2: Journal Star reporter Steve Tarter wrote an account of this conference but it's not on the JS website. According to his story, the conference, which attracted about 400 people, provided few local answers for sustainable living.

City councilman Bob Manning said inner city neighborhoods need investment.

Developer Alexis Khazzam said education needs to be improved.

A panel member from the World Wildlife Fund suggested buying locally-owned meat and produce.

Caterpillar's Steve Fisher said his company is recycling and remanufacturing old equipment, and promoted reduced emissions.

Apparently no one mentioned these key issues:

1. Peoria's pathetic recycling policies, which guarantee increased landfill expenses for the foreseeable future and waste materials that could be recycled.

2. Peoria's mania to widen and expand its roads to encourage even more auto traffic and commuting.

3. Peoria's lack of a free inner city bus system to cut down on auto use and provide a way for the poor to get around town quickly without having to own a car. Macomb and other towns do this now.

4. Peoria's lackluster record on developing hike and bike trails, such as the Kellar trail. Advocates claim the city could have been more aggressive.

5. Peoria's silence on expansion of the PDC hazardous waste landfill, on its edge. The best argument against the landfill expansion is sustainability: if companies cannot cheaply dispose of hazardous waste, they'll find other products to use in manufacturing.

The venue for this conference, an expanded Civic Center, is also not on the sustainable agenda, and an argument could be made that the expensive expansion was unnecessary.

A conference of 400 people could have met elsewhere, in a rehabiliated historic building, for example.

And so it goes...

--Elaine Hopkins

5/5/07. A conference attendee comments:

Senge's "system thinking" efforts help to highlight the indirect and the unanticipated effects of actions. Thus he reminded the crowd of worries 50 years ago, about how we would feed the "population explosion."

He then showed the prices of agricultural commodities for the second half of the 20th century, and how instead of rising, prices (uncorrected for inflation) declined,as supply grew, and lots more supply than demand.

But he also quoted Indian economists looking at the price decline, who said "rural suicide." Unanticipated consequence of the greater efficiency, productivity, where one farmer can do the work of 10: If 5 keep working, then production goes up, but so do number of unemployed farmers (whose land is acquired by more productive farmers) and unanticipated despair results. Rural refugees in shantytowns surround most big cities in third world.

The extra productivity goes round the world, so already 20 years ago it was true that average US food traveled 1500 miles from grower to customer. Looking at system, food travels more, that burns more gas, so more carbon dioxide.

Looking at systems is how science found impacts of CO2 on global warming, and thus Cat asked for govenment regulation of CO2.

Keep looking at systems: Today's WSJ front page, carbon dioxide/global warming help explain rise in asthma rates (particularly children) over last 20 years, as enhanced urban CO2 supports ragweed growth, etc.

Looking at systems- moderator asked about farmers market- That would cut distance of high quality food to market, less CO2. The better quality of a strawberry that does not half to be picked early to ship cross-coutnry allows a higher price to farmer, and less transport cost to farmer, so that is more profitable, supports local ag employment.

Think systems. -30-

E-mail your comments for a follow up story.

Good title

PEORIA -- Here's a provocative title for a film: "Electile Dysfunction."

The 58-minute documentary takes place at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 5 at the downtown Peoria Public Library, 107 NE Monroe, in the basement auditorium.

The free event is another in the monthly series from the Midwest chapter of Citizens for Truth.

Here's what the news release says about this film:

"Penny Little's film is about problems with the 2004 election, electronic voting machines, fraud, and the election process in America.

"It gives a dynamic overview of our entire electoral process beginning with historical interviews in 2003 from people in the street, celebrities and experts that frame the story of serious problems with electronic voting machines.

"The documentary highlights the role mainstream media plays not reporting these abuses to the American public. The storyline moves to felon purge lists as a means to disenfranchise voters, a stolen election in Alabama 2002, and then on to irregularities in Florida and Ohio, in the November 2004 election."

The film includes interviews with "Greg Palast, Danny Schechter, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Victor Navasky, Jim Hightower, William Rivers Pitt, David Dill, the US Congressional Representative John Conyers and his team, prominent computer scientists, celebrities, journalists, civil rights organizations, voting rights watchdogs, international poll watchers, election officials and everyday voters."

It "raises serious questions. Is Democracy Dead? Did the electronic machines count your vote? The chances of the exit polls being wrong were 180 million to one against in 2004. How could this happen? Why are the machines so easily hackable? Why the long lines? Do our votes count?"

Great questions!

E-mail your reviews for a follow up story.

We are the asteroid

PEORIA HEIGHTS -- Modern civilization is the asteriod bring drastic, slow motion change to the planet. We may have two decades to save it.

That was the message of Chicago scientist/educator Jim Sweitzer of the Climate Change Project, speaking on April 26 at Forest Park Nature Center, at an event sponsored by the center and Lakeview Museum.

Sweitzer, a volunteer with Al Gore's project, said that global warming is now beyond debate.

He presented scientific evidence showing climate trends and the changes already taking place, from melting of glaciers to the disappearance of the Snows of Kilamanjaro, which will be gone in two decades.

Scientists now know that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, from the burning of fossil fuels, have doubled in 200 years, and current projections suggest the level will be at 600 parts per million by mid-century.

Climate temperatures will rise accordingly, he said. Illinois likely will have the climate of Oklahoma.

"Don't confuse weather with climate," he warned.

Climate is the planetary average temperature over years, now at 59 degrees Fahrenheit on Earth. Weather events -- snow storms, heat waves -- are isolated events.

Global land temperatures since 1860 have gone up about two degrees Fahrenheit, he said. They're projected to increase from three to seven more degrees within decades.

"Eleven of the last 12 years were the hottest in history; 2005 the hottest year globally. In the U.S. 2006 was the hottest year," he said.

"Last summer was the hottest on record in the U.S."

The planet is already feeling the impact, he said. "Flooding in Europe." Fires in the U.S. west, loss of sea ice.

Invasive species such as the West Nile virus may be a result of climate change, he said.

In Africa, Lake Chad has dried up since the 1970s, causing ecosystem collapse and fighting over water resources that likely led to the situation in Darfur, he said.

Sweitzer was less certain about what should be done. The U.S. uses the lion's share of fossil fuels, and a systematic approach to cap emissions and conserve will be required, he said.

He mentioned switching to fluorescent light bulbs, and nuclear power, which is highly controversial. Bright people are working on these issues, he said, but they need public support.

Sweitzer holds a PhD from the University of Chicago (1978, Astrophysics) and worked at the Adler Planetarium, Chicago. After 10 years as a museum professional, he returned to the University of Chicago to help create the Center for Astronomical Research in Antarctica.

He made two trips to the South Pole, facilitated the first live video broadcast from the Pole and fostered student/teacher outreach to the Pole.

In 1996, he became Director of Special Projects for the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York where he managed the development and implementation of the new Hayden Planetarium and all the Rose Center scientific content.

He was the executive producer of an award-winning sky show, Passport to the Universe, which attracted more than 3 million viewers in its initial 2-year run. In 2002, he returned to Chicago to become director of DePaul University's Space Science Center, acting as liaison between NASA's Space Science missions and a seven-state Midwestern region.

In 2004, he launched his consulting firm, Science Communications Consultants, which is dedicated to making the message of science accessible, exciting and inspiring to all.

As he spoke with individuals, the audience drifted out and into the parking lot, where many drove away in their SUVs, no doubt wondering about their own carbon footprints on the planet.

--Elaine Hopkins

Haz Landfill Proposal Leaked

PEORIA -- Peoria Disposal Co. would pay Peoria County $1 million into a perpetual care fund and from $2.50 per ton to $7.50 per ton fees on waste going into its hazardous waste landfill at Pottstown, under a proposal now being negotiated with Peoria County officials.

It would also pay $100,000 for the county's and opponents's legal fees. Opponents who agree to the settlement will not be sued, it states.

The compromise proposal, first announced in February by the Heart of Illinois Sierra Club and the group Peoria Families Against Toxic Waste, has divided the environmental activists who successfully convinced the Peoria County Board last year to halt the expansion of the landfill.

Many are opposed to any additional hazardous waste going into the landfill on the edge of Peoria, and have said those wanting the compromise were not representing them.

Members at a contentious Sierra Club meeting last week voted against the compromise, which has been supported by the group's executive board.

The pro-compromise activists now are concerned that they have been left out of the negotiations between PDC and the county.

The compromise settlement document, apparently a draft, was faxed to PeoriaStory.com after business hours on April 25. It was scanned into electronic form, formatted slightly, and is reproduced here:

SETTLEMENT PROPOSAL April 12, 2007 (March 26, 2007)
A. LANDFILL DESIGN
1. No expansion over C-1, and closure of the open areas of C-1 would
be initiated within two (2) years or before waste is disposed of in
expansion area, which ever is sooner.
2. Expansion over C-2 only in area shown on attached drawing.
3. No increase in previously requested heights of expansion areas.
4. Treated residue only in expansion over existing Cells 2, 3 and 4.
5. Treated residue, special and hazardous waste would be allowed in
C-5 (vertical separation between C-4 and C-5).
6. Grandfather provision for presently permitted space.
7. The configuration of the landfill expansion is set forth in the
attached drawing.
8. PDC agrees that it will limit its annual direct disposal wastes
(hazardous waste and special waste which are not treated prior to
disposal) to not more 60,000 tons per year, with direct disposal of
hazardous waste being limited to not more than 20,000. These
limits may be increased for any given year if PDC first obtains
approval from the Waste Review Committee and the Board.
B. PERPETUAL CARE FUND
1. $1,000,000 into Perpetual Care Fund at time PDC receives permit for expansion.
2. County to hold Fund.
3. $2.50 per ton on treated residue and direct disposal special waste.
$7.50 per ton on direct disposal hazardous waste.
$7.50 per ton on MGP waste
$7.50 per ton on PCB waste or whatever the City/County Landfill
will agree to.
4. The Host Fee payable to the County would be eliminated.
5. Any closure/post-closure care funds remaining in PDC's trust fund
at the end of post-closure care would belong to PDC.
6. Date certain - if PDC has not received release from post-closure
care obligations on or before 1/1/2080, PDC may begin requesting
reimbursement from Perpetual Care Fund for continuing care
activities at the facility if: (1) Perpetual Care Fund balance above
$75M. and (2) PDC has met all the regulatory requirements of the
IEPA. including maintaining adequate funds in its post-closure care
trust fund, or other financial assurance mechanism.
7. Mechanism for using Perpetual Care Fund in the event no longer
needed - i.e., as per Dr. Daniels, site is excavated to recover
metals, etc.
8. Refine Perpetual Care Fund authorized expenses, scope, etc.
9. PDC and Peoria County must agree upon all expenditures from
Perpetual Care Fund.
C. REVIEW OF LEGACY AREAS
1. Independent third-party consultant to perform detailed, thorough
review, investigation and analysis of Legacy Areas to determine
immediate and/or long-term threat(s) of release. RFQ / Scope of
Work - Not Part of the Host Agreement (to be drafted by County as
part of bid documents)
o PDC input / suggestions in drafting will be allowed
o Public input / suggestions in drafting will be allowed
o Scope will include review of the environmental monitoring of the facility
to ensure that monitoring is sufficient and monitoring is coordinated with
protocol for handling and disposing of MGP and PCB wastes.
2. Legacy Areas - (a) former non-RCRA landfill (SWMU west of barrel-
trench area), (b) Barrel trench area, (c) Section A, (d) Section B.
3. The costs of investigation to be paid by PDC and PDC to fully
cooperate with investigation.
4. Purpose of investigation is to evaluate possibility of immediate
and/or long-term threat(s) of release of hazardous constituents from
those areas, to evaluate the effectiveness of present and proposed
environmental monitoring (groundwater, ambient air, etc.) of the
entire PDC property, and to recommend present or long-term
actions to eliminate or minimize threats of release, and/or improve
environmental monitoring.
5. PDC shall implement the results and recommendations of
investigation, provided that any work to be completed in areas
covered by PDC's permit must be reviewed by IEPA. If PDC does
not agree with a result or recommendation of the investigation,
PDC may request a meeting with the County, and if PDC and the
County cannot agree within sixty (60) days as to what is reasonable
and necessary to protect public health, safety and welfare, and
reasonable time frame for implementation of actions, PDC shall be
required to implement the actions pursuant to the investigation
report unless PDC serves the County with a written demand for
arbitration. Arbitration shall be binding on the parties and shall be
conducted by a panel of three arbitrators - one chosen by the
County, one by PDC, and those two shall select a third.
Presumption that the recommendations of the outside consultant
are reasonable and necessary and cost effective- PDC has burden
of proof that recommendation of consultant is not cost effective at
arbitration (i.e.. a more cost effective method is available that
provides equivalent protections).
6. PDC shall be entitled to reimbursement from the perpetual
care fund for costs of investigation above $100,000 and for costs of
remediation in the Legacy Areas recommended bv the consultant but
not required by IEPA. and for implementing the recommendations
of the investigation relating to increased environmental monitoring
and/or protective measures, provided that PDC may not obtain reimbursement
from the fund until it has initiated closure on the expansion area, and has
demonstrated it satisfies any regulatory obligations for funding closure and
post-closure care for the expansion. At no time may any withdrawals or
payments out of the Perpetual Care Fund for purposes of this provision be
allowed which would decrease the balance in the Fund below $4,500,000.
7. Perpetual care fund shall not be used for "corrective actions"
ordered bv IEPA
8. Reimbursement of PDC from the PC Fund is based on nominal amount
adjusted bv annual CPI (i.e. PDC is not paid in inflated dollars, but neither
does the PC Fund pay "real" interest to PDC).
D. ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS
1. Global settlement of siting appeal, Class III permit mod. request,
TSCA coordinated approval, etc.
2. No further expansions of landfill volume, footprint, height, or
otherwise, of any kind whether through siting or otherwise. Tbte \&
not intended to affect the operations of the waste water treatment
plant or the waste stabilization facility which wero not part of tho
siting application. Close waste stabilization facility no later than 9
years after the landfill has reached capacity. Ambient air
monitoring to continue as long as waste stabilization facility is
operating.
3. All of the conditions from siting (unless otherwise agreed), except
those relating to Cell C-1, which would no longer be necessary, the
additional contribution to the closure trust (which is being put into
the perpetual care fund) would be deleted, and screening berms
would be required only in C-4 boundary closest to apartment
complex instead of also along the boundaries of C-1 and/or C-2
which will receive either no or minimal expansion.
4. All provisions to be incorporated into a comprehensive restated and
amended Host Community Agreement.
5. PDC to pay $100,000 upfront to County to pay County's and
opponent's attorneys' fees (subject to paragraph 8 below) and costs
of appeal and negotiations.
6. Peoria County to amend its Solid Waste Plan to include PDC
Landfill No. 1 and to encourage and facilitate technology
development for alternative disposal or recycling methods for
hazardous wastes.
7. The restated and amended Host Community Agreement will be
effective upon PDC's receipt of a final and non-appealable RCRA
Class 3 Permit approving the landfill expansion.
8. Mutual releases and covenants not to sue any parties, including
PDC, the County, the citizen groups or their members and agents.
This only applies to citizen groups and their members and agents who agree
(individually and as a member) to support the settlement proposal and agree
not to contest or appeal: (i) the settlement; (ii) the disposition of the siting
appeal, (iii) the issuance of the permit to authorize the expansion contemplated
by this agreement, or (iv) file a citizen's suit before the pollution control board
or in circuit court alleging the settlement, permit and/or expansion violates
the law. Those individuals and/or citizen groups who elect not to be a part
of this agreement would not receive any release or covenant not to sue from PDC.
9. Waste Review Committee:
WRC will also act as the Environmental Review Committee
o Receive annual report from consultant (see below)
o Wil| receive report from PDC annually regarding compliance
with the best management practices for handling of
MGP/PCB waste streams
o May make recommendations to PDC for changes to
monitoring, maintenance, etc.
o Reports findings to Health Committee WRC will have an outside
consultant (hired by the County)
o Review data from monitoring program and produce report no
less than annually (including recommendations to PDC and
reports findings regarding compliance to the County Board)
o Provide technical assistance in reviewing the compatibility of
waste streams with the health and safety of the community
New waste codes (as originally proposed)
Funding for WRC (including consultant) comes from special revenue funds
from the City/County landfill i.e. tipping fees instead of a host fee - and
not dependent on general fund revenues).

PDC has appealed the County Board's refusal to site the landfill expansion to the Illinois Pollution Control Board, with that decision still pending. It also applied for a renewal of its current permit and included a proposal that would allow it to take additional waste without siting approval. That proposal also is pending with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

April 26 update: Jean Roach, an outspoken opponent of the compromise, said "it will be a sad day for the activist community if people are so intimidated (they) sell out for lawyers's fees and protection from lawsuits."

Compromise opponents are especially incensed about the $100,000 in legal payments, of which $25,000 reportedly is supposed to go to Dave Wentworth who has represented the activists.

They also discount the possibility that PDC will sue the activists. When Pioneer Rail Corp sued Kellar Branch trial activists a few years ago, the courts threw out the case and ordered Pioneer to pay their legal costs.

Peoria County Board member Lynn Pearson, who chairs the health and environmental committee, said a special meeting of the board could be called to decide whether to accept the compromise. She's not sure how the board members would vote, and hopes a day-long hearing will take place before a vote.

It has not yet been discussed in her committee, she said, but could be brought up in the executive committee, or just taken straight to a special meeting. It can be called at the request of only six members, with a 48-hour notice to the public and press.

She and others have expressed concern that a decision requiring months last year with several days of public hearings could be overturned so quickly, setting a bad precedent for local government decisions.

Comments can be emailed, and will be included in a future story if appropriate.

--Elaine Hopkins

Great music for kids

PEORIA -- Thousands of children listened attentively on April 24 to a concert by the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, designed especially for them.

There were no visuals, no video games, no lyrics, rap or otherwise -- just lush classical music, played with the symphony's usual energy and verve.

The children from around 70 schools attended three 45-minute concerts at the Peoria Civic Center Theater. Some came from as far away as Normal.

They filled the theater for the first two concerts, but there were were some vacant seats for the third concert, and attendance was down a little this year. Students pay $4 to attend.

Conductor David Commanday introduced the pieces and talked about the instruments in the orchestra.

The music selected for the children made no concessions to their youth. The pieces included "The Ride of the Valkyries" from Wagner's opera The Valkyrie; a movement from Handle's Water Music; a dance from Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird; a movement from Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93, and "In the Hall of the Mountain King," from Grieg's Peer Gynt.

A 17-year-old violinist, Hannah Dremann, winner of the Peoria Symphony Guild's 2007 Young Artist Competition, performed as a soloist with the orchestra.

She played well and look great in a lovely red satin gown.

The concert concluded with movie music from a pirate film, showing the pervasiveness of classical music in our culture.

These concerts have been taking place since the 1950s, have introduced thousands of children to classical music, and inspired them to become performers and listeners. What could be more worthwhile?

--Elaine Hopkins

ACLU honors student editors

PEORIA -- Two former student journalists at the Illinois Central College student newspaper the Harbinger will be honored at the 46th annual meeting of the Peoria chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The event takes place beginning at 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 5 at the Hotel Pere Marquette in Peoria.

The students, Dawnell Zeine and Brandon Hagan, spoke out for freedom of the press last year when college officials tried to control the content of the newspaper. They will receive the Belfer Award, for non-ACLU members.

Their efforts led to ICC declaring the Harbinger a public forum free from censorship.

The annual meeting features presentations of awards, election of officers, and a guest speaker, state Sen. Dave Koehler. He will speak on health care as a basic right for all.

The event is open to all members and friends of the ACLU. The dinner costs $30 each. Information on the dinner is available by calling 309/688-1409. Reservations with payment can be sent to ACLU, 608 E. Swords Dr., Edelstein, Il. 61526 by April 29.

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Electric cooperatives?

PEORIA -- The Illinois General Assembly supposedly is working on ways to lower the sky high electric rates.

Meanwhile state Senator Dave Koehler, in a recent talk to Peoria Democrats, advanced an interesting proposal: cooperative purchases.

The city of Peoria and other entities can today form cooperatives to allow residents to buy electricity from a supplier other than Ameren/CILCO, presumably at rates lower than Ameren is charging. Or a discount deal could be made with Ameren.

Businesses are doing that now, but residential customers are not able to buy individually. A supplier would be enticed by a group sale, Koehler, a Peoria Democrat, said.

Peoria has explored setting up its own power plant on Darst Street, he said, a location near the Greater Peoria Sanitary District. That would be a coal gasification plant to produce electricity, he said.

If that happens, let’s hope strict environmental controls are in place to prohibit emissions.

Cooperatives likely would form only if the rate freeze doesn’t become law, Koehler said. “The freeze is not the solution,” he said.

Re-regulation also won't work, he said, because Ameren has sold off its generating plants to its subsidiaries. They would have to be repurchased at a tremendous cost to the ratepayers, and the regulated rates likely would be as high as the deregulated rates.

Cooperatives for residential users have not yet developed in Illinois because of uncertainty over the freeze and therefore the prices for electricity, he said.

But cooperatives carry extra benefits for their customers. Like rural electric cooperatives, they can be investor owned. They also could eventually produce their own power, he said, as some municipalities, such as Springfield, already do.

That would be a way to put electricity companies in the hands of the rate-paying public, he said.

Koehler also wants to see rate relief for all-electric houses. These houses were promised rate discounts years ago which were suddenly withdrawn.

He predicted that if the rate freeze eventually becomes law, it will generate an immediate federal lawsuit from Ameren, further delaying rate relief.

--Elaine Hopkins

Want to comment? Send an e-mail.

New Illinois Constitution?

PEORIA -- A presidential election will dominate the ballot in Nov. 2008 but voters also will decide whether to proceed with a constitutional convention, to rewrite or revise the Illinois Constitution.

Jim Nowlan, an expert on Illinois government, spoke to the Greater Peoria League of Women Voters on April 21 regarding whether or not Illinois voters should approve a constitutional convention. A similar vote failed in 1988.

Nowlan is a senior fellow with the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs and a former state legislator and aide to two governors. He's also a prolific author and publishes a small newspaper.

If voters approve the ballot measure, the General Assembly must set up an election for delegates, which is likely to take place in 2010. After a convention, voters also must approve a new constitution or any changes to it.

"A good constitution allows (government) to function and be responsive to the electorate and be amended effectively," he said.

A convention will open the entire constitution to changes, he said, though changes also could be limited. He and others have identified several "hot button issues" that might motivate voters. They have partisans on both sides, and include:

Gay rights.
Reproductive rights.
The make up of the General Assembly and a return to cumulative voting.
The death penalty and governor's power to pardon.
Merger of offices such as comptroller and treasurer.
Merit selection of judges.
Restriction on home rule taxing power for cities.
Tax issues from a graduated income tax to limits on property taxes.
School issues including financing, school choice, charter schools.
Popular referendums.
Pension guarantees.
Term limits.
The governor's veto power.
The governor and lieutenant governor running together in the primary.

Arguments for a constitutional convention include improving the present constitution and engaging citizens in debates on the issues, he said.

But those who oppose it say "beware of what you wish for. The convention could be controlled by a singular interest group such as conservative Christians, which are better organized than most citizen groups," he said.

A convention may become an expensive exercise in futility, resulting in a document that will be defeated.

"I'm open minded," Nowlan said, about how to vote on this issue.

The resolution for a convention can pass only if 3/5ths of those voting on the issue approve it, or a majority of those voting in the election approve it, he said. For those who want it, "an organized effort, beginning now, will be necessary."

Readers who want to comment can send an email for a follow up story on this emerging issue in Illinois politics.

-- Elaine Hopkins

Zanfel and its developer

The poison ivy remedy Zanfel has grossed $20 million in sales in the decade since Peoria resident William Yarbrough developed it.

For the inside tale of Zanfel, and where the money has gone (hint: politicians have enjoyed huge contributions!) see the Associated Content story.

April 17 election

PEORIA -- Only four days until April 17, an important local election.

How to choose between the many candidates?

At the candidate forums – I have attended three – the contenders speak in generalities and stress their family connections. (Married for 35 years, four children. Lifelong resident. Attended local schools.) These are worthless criteria.

How do they stand on the issues? Can they think clearly? Are they subject to outside pressure? Can they stand up to the powerful when necessary?

Do they blindly follow religious or free market ideology when these ideas are harmful to people?

When they’re asked serious questions by the audience they often duck.

At an early, pre-primary League of Women Voters forum, city council candidates were asked about their support for the Kellar recreational trail. Only seven said ‘yes.’

Four said ‘no’ and one changed her mind at the end of the meeting. She lost in the primary. The rest didn't know how to answer.

Of those who survived the primary, Ryan Spain, who answered 'no' now says he supports the trail, but Gary Sandberg continues to oppose it.

In fact, Sandberg is the only candidate of the 10 in the city council race still opposing the trail. That’s too bad, but a victory for common sense and high level persuasion on the others.

Otherwise Sandberg is a knowledgeable council member, often a lone voice of clarity on many issues.

Meanwhile Spain hooked up with Mayor Jim Ardis on April 11 for an unannounced and unconventional campaign event, which he afterwards said he plans to pay for. (See story below.)

At that event, and at an April 12 candidates meeting, audience members asked sharp questions and mostly got mushy answers. But not always.

An Uplands resident asked about environmental issues, and why Peoria lacks a strong recycling program.

With candor, Sandberg responded, “we had an opportunity to hire a (garbage collections) firm with recycling. We went with the known commodity (Waste Management) because of the good old boy network.”

Patti Sterling-Polk then added, “Peoria is always 10 to 15 years behind.”

Eric Turner then said, “you’ve got to get six votes. Everybody’s got their own agenda.”

George Jacob chimed in, “environmental issues are important but the budget is tight.”

Let’s translate these answers: real recycling is impossible in Peoria because the good old boys don’t want to pay for it. End of story.

But the evening mostly was devoted to crime in Peoria, how it drives out middle class families, and what can be done to reverse that and “stabilize” (their pet word) inner city neighborhoods.

Nobody discussed the elephant in the room: the poverty that drives the crime and the bad school test scores.

Some candidates fell into the trap of thinking that if only the neighborhoods can be beautified, the middle classes will return.

Instead they might look at what creates that poverty: the relentless war on Peoria’s poor by police, the city itself, landlords, payday loan joints, government agencies such as the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, even the lawyers and the courts, all of whom hassle the poor, rob them of money and keep them in poverty.

If you don’t believe me, stroll through the courthouse.

When 70 percent of the children in Peoria School District 150 are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced price lunches, their families face constant financial stress.

A car that won’t start, a $300 city fine for a petty infraction, an investigation by the DCFS, a misdemeanor arrest, any of these can throw a household into turmoil leading to lost jobs, family stress and eviction. District 150 pupils move around constantly, educators know. It even has a name: the mobility rate.

People have been jailed in Peoria for ignoring a summons issued for letting a pet run loose. What is that costing taxpayers? Nobody talks about these issues.

Without good jobs these people will never be homeowners, but they must live somewhere.

In the alternative, if Peoria wants cheap labor to fuel its restaurants and stores, affordable housing and transportation are imperative. Nobody talks about these issues either.

Most candidates speak from the middle-class, business perspective of how to keep taxes low and attract “young professionals” especially “families” to the older neighborhoods.

What about singles? Older people?

Elsewhere cities are using tax credits to rehab elegant older buildings in the inner cities to become affordable housing for seniors. White School comes to mind.

The April issue of the AARP Bulletin describes a school in Indiana rehabbed this way under the title “Living in Affordable Elegance.”

Perhaps Peoria candidates lack imagination. The candidates are too busy playing to prejudices (married, four children, livelong resident, young professionals ) to spend time researching real options to improve the town.

This doesn’t mean people should not vote on April 17.

Voting shows the powers-that-be that democracy still matters, even if the candidates are flawed.

It’s like selecting an apple from a basket. Maybe it has a slight bruise but it’s redder than the rest. You hope it won’t contain a worm, and you can't begin to predict how it will taste.

--Elaine Hopkins

PrairieCelt comments:

That was a good piece you posted today - long overdue. I just don't see the city or the school district facing the real problem here - poverty. The city is not doing enough to attract new business and provide incentives or partnerships to revitalize older neighborhoods, and the school district is not educating the kids - they don't even know how to educate children of poverty (let's tell it like it is). I was very disappointed that the HOP plan didn't address revitalization in the two areas where it is most needed - southtown and the near north side. Why? We can only hope the plan does not send an inadvertent message to the mostly minority residents of those areas - that they do not matter. If that is how the plan is received, it could be a very troubled summer in the inner city.

I am getting tired of hearing that vocational ed is the great panacea - where will all these voc ed kids find jobs? Cat doesn't have many anymore, and Pabst, Walker's and IH are gone. And how does putting the under-performing children of poverty into voc ed deal with their inability to read and do math? I just don't buy it . . .

I'm also tired of hearing demands for the police to get tougher, especially with the kids. It might be an interesting experiment for the PPD to try some prevention strategies and relationship building with some of the children of poverty. Why is the answer to everything to "criminalize"? The "get tough on crime" philosophy is no different than treating cancer with a band aid - it gets us no closer to curing the problem.

New topic - are you following the saga of Terry Beachler on the Chronicle? If you haven't, check it out. Fascinating - over 70 comments posted so far (including more than one by me). One thing for sure - a great many people do not hold the PPD in high regard. The city has a real problem there - one they don't want to deal with. It will be interesting to see just how much influence the blogosphere has on local politics, especially this close to an election.

Speaking of the election, that "political dialog call" you received is pretty strange. You're right - it was a campaign strategy; if it wasn't, all of the city council candidates would have been included. Then it would have had more of the characteristics of a candidate forum, not just a "tele-" version.

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