PeoriaStory

ICC candidate Lamb responds to PJS story

PEORIA -- Candidate for the Illinois Central College Board Diane Lamb has responded to a story in the Peoria Journal Star regarding tuition increases at ICC:

Re: Journal Star article of March 28, 2013: ICC tuition going up for fall semester

The rationale for tuition increase discussed: “Community colleges were set up to be funded primarily through tuition, property taxes and state dollars. Property tax revenues are flat, and state funding has declined from 33% in 2002 to about 12% in FY 2014…...” “One leg of our three-legged stool has been cut in half.” The discussion continued “When the state gets their business straight, maybe we can stop raising tuition.” “Besides reduced state funding ….. delayed state funding also is a problem. The state currently owes ICC $5.25 million…..”

I expect Central Illinois students, parents, or potential students would be sensitive about another education expense increase, while sources for student assistance decline. I appreciate that the article discussed ICC’s rationale for the need for an increase, and especially appreciate the “Regional tuition and fees per credit hour” table that shows where ICC stands compared to other area schools.

That said, ICC is larger than most, if not all the other colleges listed; therefore their tuition base as an income source is potentially higher than a school with a smaller population. But then again there is more property to support with a larger population. It’s a balancing act, but ICC has an advantage in the larger student population, which may allow for lower tuition fees. That could give ICC a competitive edge. If ICC continues to raise tuition, they could lose that competitive edge. Also, the quality of the education is a must. Students want good quality for minimum expense. Education is a competitive business.

I worry about ICC’s solvency and ability of the Central Illinois district to support the school without new revenue sources. I don’t have confidence that the state will “get their business straight.” I believe the business model for colleges, including community colleges, is changing. Not only does the state have reduced and late-paying funds owed to all school districts, there is the uncertainty pertaining to impending pension reform that includes cost shifting to the colleges. Additionally, there is the decrease in property taxes due to lowered assessed property values, in general.

When economic conditions change, it is important to investigate new revenue sources. There are foundations (i.e. NSF) and educational granting sources that colleges can qualify for. Other area schools are taking such measures. Within the last couple of years, Eureka College has hired a full-time grant writer. Heartland Community College has received a five-year, $1.2 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education TRIO Student Support Services program to subsidize its support services to first-generation and low-income students and students with disabilities. Other special purpose funding sources listed on-line, as part of HCC 2013 Budget:

--Department of Education - Paraprofessional Pre-service Program = $148,510

--IGEN TAACCCT Grant = $319,139

--NASA -CMSI/Mission To Mars = $41,404

--National Fish and Wildlife Foundation-IL Buffer Trees Forever =   $2,000

--USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant = $99,000

(source: http://www.heartland.edu/customizedTraining/grants.jsp) ( http://www.heartland.edu/mpi/press.jsp?year=2010&month=October&id=1329)

Grants are competitive, require tedious paperwork, but can be substantial, certainly add up, and some are renewable. In reviewing ICC’s 2013 budget, it is not evident that they are pursuing new revenue sources.

Thank you for your time,

Diane Lamb, MS, LPG

PSD 150 Board meeting drones on and on

PEORIA -- The Peoria District 150 School Board must be made up of slow learners. 

Despite pleas from many, including the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria, to

• expand their agenda to include some real information for citizens;
• end the so-called committee of the whole meetings, which are no different from regular meetings but take place at different schools, some not really set up for such a meeting, and occur at a different time from the regular meeting;
  
• move the public comments back to the first of the meeting, as well as web streaming the comments;
  

nothing changes.

The March 25 meeting continued all of the above sins. Plus there was a 2-hour presentation from special education administrators and teachers, and even a few students, something that could have been cut to a few minutes with a page of statistics for each program. 

Some of that material was interesting: homeless students now number at least 635, up from 422 last year, likely from better reporting and hard times.

And special ed students now make up 20 percent of the student population, an astounding number when you think about it.  One-sixth of the staff is now involved with special education, though it was not made clear whether that included administrators.

That's it.  Afterwards board members praised the presentations, but while they were taking place, board members were web surfing on their tablet computers (when did they agree to buy those for themselves?). 

The agenda items, on the consent agenda, included raises for non-union employees, with the raises not specified, and contracts for principals, assistant principals and office staff, also no figures given. So anyone who wants to know will have to file a Freedom of Information Act request to find out.

That's transparency for you. (Not!)

By 8:30 p.m. when the public comment time arrived, only Terry Knapp remained. He questioned the book inventory, which has been a mess, as detailed by a Peoria Journal Star story. Stacks of books were hidden by the stage curtain in the room, he noted.

Activist Sharon Crews questioned this expensive bar coding inventory a month ago.  In response Supt. Grenita Lathan said more books were discovered than anticipated, which is why the inventory and bar coding is needed.The schedule has been revised, she said.

Knapp also questioned why the DLC room at the administration building has been turned into a storeroom, and why the houses on Prospect, purchased years ago, are still sitting there vacant, off the tax rolls. Lathan responded that the houses are being maintained and a decision will be made later on what to do with them.

Here is an audio recording of Knapp's comments and the responses.

Dist 150 3.25.13

  -- Elaine Hopkins

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PHA's new trespass list policy: better but not great

PEORIA -- The Peoria Housing Authority Board at its March 25 meeting OKed a new trespass list policy that inproves the current one but lacks due process for the accused.

The board approved the policy to be posted 30 days for comments, a requirement of HUD rules.

The new policy requires written documentation for someone to be placed on the list, a big improvement. It provides guidelines for offenses, such as domestic violence.   Almost anyone working at the PHA can list a person.

There's an appeals process for getting off the list, which involves a written request to the security administrator or top PHA police officer.  But that's likely the person who listed the individual.

The officer decides whether to remove the person.  There's no hearing or appeals process from his decision, not to the PHA board or better yet an independent committee.  Thus there's no way to challenge the evidence or statements that caused the individual to be listed.

In short, no due process.

The PHA board didn't question the lack of due process.  Instead comments were made about the possibility of overwhelming the officer with paperwork.

Anyone on the list can be arrested and jailed for criminal trespass if they set foot on PHA property, even though they may have been falsely accused of the crime that got them listed.

There are reportedly 1,500 names on the list, name lacking documentation and many duplicates and some deceased, though officer Jerry McKean said he is continuing to "whittle down" the number of names.

He also said documents and police reports will be required to list someone, and the paperwork "says how long you stay off the property," a detail not mentioned in the policy.

Because it requires written documentation, the new policy is an improvement, but it's not enough. It needs an independent appeals process.

I plan to submit a comment to the PHA, and I hope others will do likewise.

 -- Elaine Hopkins  

Peoria candidates forum reveals issues

Update, 3/25/13:  See audio recordings, below, now posted.

PEORIA -- Here's the great, fun thing about candidate forums:  you never know what's going to come up, or be said.

The candidates may be droning on then suddenly -- wow. 

That's what happened at the March 23 League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria forum, which featured candidates for the Peoria City Council, Peoria Township Supervisor and Illinois Central College Board.

Let's begin with the City Council.  League rules don't allow debates with empty chairs, so only candidates with opponents participate, though others can introduce themselves, so as not to totally penalize them if their opponent refuses to participate or cannot appear.

Chuck Grayeb, in the 2nd District was without his opponent, incumbent Barbara VanAuken, so he spoke briefly, saying the district needs safe neighborhoods and good schools "or people will leave" and move elsewhere. He also stands for historic preservation, he said, and will "ramp up" the ordinance.

Grayeb is a former council member and lost a close race for an at-large seat two years ago.

Some of the other candidates in the forum didn't know what he was talking about.  When asked a question about historic preservation, only Tim Riggenbach of the 3rd District could explain what has happened.

The council has allowed property owners to veto placing their property on the historic register, he said.  "We want to respect private property but there needs to be a balance between property ownership and community interests," he said.

He suggested criteria, and if a property meets, say four of five, it's protected.  More discussion is needed, he said.

His opponent, Chad Grimm, said private property rights trump everything. "No discussion," he said, adding "property taxes are rent to the government." Hummm.

The other two candidates, John Kunski and Jim Montelongo running for the 4th District both claimed not to know enough to comment, amazing for city council candidates.  Kunski recently retired from the city's inspections department, which he ran, and Montelongo was a council member previously.

Other questions brought more information, and again Riggenbach explained it best.  Asked about plans to allow condos or apartments to be built on the Peoria Riverfront Parkland, Kunski and Montelongo ducked again.  Kunski said he was not aware of the project, and Montelongo said he needed to hear the details, but he "may not be in favor of it." (They should be reading this blog. Scroll down for a story on this issue.)

Grimm said, "if it's not being used and out of my district, let them (developers) buy it."

Riggenbach explained that the land in question was involved in an open spaces grant, and that led to the city purchase of Rocky Glen, a worthwhile project, to compensate for loss of land on the riverfront.

"It's coming up," he said of the condo project, but didn't discuss his stand on the issue, and whether other alternatives to sacrificing the city park could be found.

The garbage tax proved another complex issue. Only nobody called it a tax, and instead referred to it as a 'fee.'

"We are discussing including it in the property tax bill," Riggenbach said, since the new billing system is very unpopular with the public. People don't like the billing being done in Decatur, though that company was the low bidder.  "I don't think they'll get it again," he said.

Other complaints include people wanting to cancel it if they're on vacation.  But it costs the same to send the truck down the street, whether it stops at your house or not, Riggenbach said.

(Oh really?  Doesn't the work get done more quickly if a house whose owners are snowbirds, is skipped?  That didn't come up.)

A plus is that people now know what it costs, Montelongo said.  Again that may not be the case. Is the $13 for every house, whether a shack or a mansion, really the total cost?  What does the billing cost each person? What about tipping fees, based on the weight of the garbage, surely different for the shack with one occupant and the mansion with a half-dozen?  No discussion of these details occurred.

Kunski would put the garbage cost back on the property taxes, as would Grimm.  Even though he doesn't like those property taxes.

Answering a question about police chief hiring, Riggenbach said the city has hired five new officeers to live and work in certain residential areas including the East Bluff, West Bluff and South Side.  Someone donated a house, he said.

A question about outsourceing city inspections to a private firm led to a discussion about oversight and accountability.  The city has sent out a request for proposals to outsource city inspections, Kunshi said. "You lose a sense of ownership and control.I'm not in favor of that."

"We're a long way from making that decision," Riggenbach said. Grimm said he needed to hear more details, and Montelongo said he favors city employees doing it.

Here's the recording of the City Council candidates.

Peo CC candidates 3.23.13

 

The Peoria Township Supervisor race pits a long time incumbert, Joe Whelan, against Clyde Gulley who is leaving the city council.

Gulley said the council has "identified problems in the office but it's not discussed, it's confidential. Look at the findings, come up with solutions. This is why I'm running."

There is also duplication of services, he said. "We need to look at options that could be more efficient." He also said "it's unclear where the money is going" and called for a better financial report.

But Whelan said there are "no major issues" with the audit, and the office is "running fine.  If it's not broken why fix it."

The township office has a $1.6 million budget. It receives no state funds, and spends money on welfare services.

Here's the audio:

Peo Twp Sup cand 3.23.13

 

The Illinois Central College Board has four candidates for two seats.  They are Adam Herrman of Eureka, a science teacher in McLean County; Bob Ehrich, a retired Pekin dentist who has been on the board for 37 years (this would be his last term, he said); Diane Lamb of Hanna City, a teacher at Lincoln College in Normal, a geologist and accountant; and Gale Thetford, a former Peoria City Council member and lawyer recently retired from the Illinois Department of Aging.

Their session was harmonious, with no major issues in contention. Lamb questioned some spending, for example $46,000 in the budget to upgrade the Founders Room.  "Why? It's a beautiful room," she said. She also suggesed that ICC seek more grants to cover budget shortfalls from the state. 

Audio recording of ICC candidates:

ICC Board cand 3.23.13

 

 -- Elaine Hopkins

 

Dirty coal

BARTONVILLE, IL -- Environmental activists are organizing a campaign to retire the Edwards coal burning power plant.

A public meeting has been set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 18 to discuss the transition to retirement.

Central Illinois Health Community Alliance activists met in Bartonville on March 23 to discuss their plans and knock on doors to raise awareness about the Edwards plant and the meeting.

It recently was sold to Dynegy, Inc., along with four other Ameren plants for no cash, only the assumption of $825 million in debt. That raises red flags that the plant could be shut down abruptly with the public forced to assume liability for its problems.  The site includes an 89-acre coal ash pond on the banks of the Illinois River filled with harmful pollutants.

The Edwards plant operates with outdated pollution controls.  Its emissions pose health threats, which a study identified as including asthma attacks, heart attacks, chronic bonchitis, even premature deaths.

"Now is the time to retire it," said Katie McFadden of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal project.

"Closing is inevitable," said activist Tracy Fox, since the plant does not meet standards in the Clean Air Act. The transition should protect the workers there, include a clean up of the site, and steps to remedy the loss of tax base to the community, she said. "We want to be a part of a just transition," she said.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

 

 

 

Interesting event

PEORIA -- From a news release:

Food film

PEORIA -- From a news release: 

Next week, join us at Bradley Hall for our screening of "The Future of Food" to learn more about genetically engineered food and how it has found its way into your life.

"The Future of Food" — A Documentary Screening
Hosted by Food & Water Watch Local Coordinators

Tuesday, March 26, 2013
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Bradley Hall Room 126
819 North Glenwood Avenue, Peoria

"The Future of Food" distills the complex technology and consumer issues surrounding major changes in the food system today — genetically engineered foods, patenting and the corporatization of food — into terms we can all understand. It empowers consumers and voters to realize the consequences of these foods for our future. 

Do you care about your right to know what you're eating? Come to our event and find out how people in your community are defending your right to decide, and how you can help!

RSVP and let us know you're coming.

Hope to see you there!

Jessica Fujan
Illinois Organizer
Food & Water Watch

The arts and business: $20.4 million in Peoria area

PEORIA -- A new study of the impact of the arts on business shows big money generated by non-profit arts groups.

The other news: fears that development will make Peoria's Warehouse District so pricey that artists will be driven away to cheaper digs.

But first the biz information. Arts Alliance Illinois, an advocacy group, met with Peoria officials and arts advocates at the Peoria Riverfront Museum on March 21 to release the information. Arts Alliance was part of a national 2010 survey of not-for-profit groups which included those in the Peoria Tri-county region.  

In Peoria, they found the arts to be a $20.4 million industry, based on responses from 30 organizations out of 50 contacted. Over 349,000 people attended the events, with 850 jobs generated in these groups alone. They also generated $2.2 million in taxes to governments.

In Illinois, the figure rises to $2.8 billion overall, 78,000 jobs, $314 million in taxes.  "Arts are big business," said Randy Cohen of America for the Arts, which coordinated the research.

In Peoria, beyond ticket prices, each person spent almost $16 on the event if they lived in the area, and double that if they came from beyond the Tri-county area. Of the non-locals, 55 percent said they came to Peoria for the arts events. And 46 percent of the locals said they would have gone elsewhere (Chicago?) to see such an event, if it didn't occur locally.

These are conservative figures, since not all organizations responded, and some schools, colleges and universities were not included, Cohen said. 

A panel discussion included assistant city manager Chris Setti who discussed the Warehouse District and its development, to be built around the arts.  But there's a problem, he said. 

Speculators have bought up the property, and want so much money for it that developing affordable living spaces for artists may not be possible, he said. He's been in touch with a national group, Art Space, which uses tax credits to overcome this problem.

The Warehouse District is needed to attract young people to Peoria, said city council menber Ryan Spain, also on the panel.  Surveys show they want to live in downtown settings, he said, but they need "affordable environmnents."

He added, "this is our challenge. I believe the arts will play a leadership role in this development."

 -- Elaine Hopkins

Health care coverage details emerging, being debated

PEORIA -- What will be the impact of the new Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, on small businesses and the economy? How will the state exchanges, also known as marketplaces, affect what happens?

Here are two stories on these issues. The first is from the Peoria Journal Star, by veteran medical reporter Dean Olsen, who now works for the Springfield daily.

The second is from free lance writer Ginger Wheeler, who has been studying the issue.

Obamacare and Its Possible Effects for the Small Business Owner

By Ginger Wheeler

The landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) aka Affordable Care Act (ACA) or simply "Obamacare" is now the law of the land after having survived a Supreme Court Challenge (National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius) on June 28, 2012, and the 2012 fall federal elections when Barack Obama and the democratically controlled United States Senate were reelected by the American people. Many people and business owners fear the many unknowns that implementation of the law brings. Yet many experts are urging business owners, especially small business owners (under 50 employees), to learn more about the law before passing judgment.

Almost everyone agrees the law and its upcoming online health insurance exchange marketplaces (for the purpose of this article we will just refer to these entities as simply "marketplaces") have unknown details and unknown unknown details–and unknown costs. Every state or group of states must work out their own marketplaces, according to the law, or the federal government can set up a marketplace for them.

Many reports out there have indicated that small businesses should see their health insurance costs go down over time. But it's difficult to predict how marketplaces will trend.  One thing is certain: the law is complex and there are exceptions to many rules. Also the law has many built-in sliding scales to consider when one is attempting to determine what new healthcare costs will be incurred under the law.

That being the groundwork for the discussion, the theory goes because the new law regulates more tightly the insurance companies, specifically how much of every premium insurance companies must spend on delivering healthcare, costs should go down. In addition, since Massachusetts implemented a very close, if not, similar version of healthcare for its citizens, many have looked at it as the testing ground on the marketplaces. A lot has been learned, which should keep costs in check for health insurance premiums.

Additionally, theoretically with a huge influx (tens of millions) of new customers coming to private health insurance companies for mandatory insurance as of 2014 healthcare costs too should start to come down. Reasons? There are more customers to share the burden of coverage, in addition to more regulations to keep permium costs (and health insurance company profits) in check and fewer uninsured patients showing up for last minute, last ditch (read: very expensive) health care services. Plus with more people having insurance and more services required to be included in the coverage (such as preventative care services) fewer people will get so sick as to require the last minute, last ditch, very expensive services. The nation will theoretically get healthier.

That is good news for business. In practice, businesses with more than 50 employees really won't see much of a difference in the way they insure their employees. Ninety-nine percent of large businesses (200+ employees) already offer their employees insurance and will continue to do so under the new law, or face stiff penalties.

Small businesses (under 50 employees) will probably want to continue to offer their employees health insurance as a benefit for the same reason they do now. It's not mandatory now. It's not going to be mandatory. But it's a good way to attract and keep the best talent, so why would they want to change that? Plus the cost of their health insurance premiums–which have been rising on average 9 percent per year for the past nine years–should go down under Obamacare over time, hopefully.

Smaller business (under 25 employees in most states, but under 100 in some, possibly) will see the most improvement. These businesses now struggle to offer health insurance because of the costs. It costs much more to insure a small group of people than it does to insure a larger group. Smaller businesses that choose to offer health insurance could be eligible for some nifty tax credits. Studies have shown that many small business owners are unaware of the new tax benefits they could be entitled to if they do decide to offer health insurance to their employees[1].  Small businesses will also purchase health insurance through the marketplaces and studies show that when business owners learn this, the likelihood that they may decide to offer health insurance to their employees almost doubles[2].

Of course individuals, even hard-to-insure individuals, will be able to purchase their own insurance through the marketplaces in their state of residence. Many of the details of these marketplaces, which must be set up by 2014, are still sketchy, but should be in the process of being worked out about now.

Some have compared the coming change in the way we will be purchasing health insurance to the change in the way we now purchase airline tickets versus the way airline tickets used to be purchased through travel agents. Remember those days? But as soon as airlines became deregulated and started offering tickets directly to passengers, competition drove prices down. It also drove a lot of travel agents to change the way they did business and the services they offered. The same thing is probably going to happen to health insurance agents.

When you understand more about the coming changes because of Obamacare, it eases some of the fear. For more information, readers are encouraged to research www.smallbusinessmajority.com, http://www.irs.gov/sbhtc, and download the following PDFs:

 

 

For Small Businesses: The Facts on the New Health Care Law provided by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

 

and Good Business Sense: The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit In the Affordable Care Act provided by Families USA and the Small Business Majority.

---

[1] http://www.ocregister.com/articles/credit-498531-small-businesses.html

[2] http://www.smallbusinessmajority.org/small-business-research/healthcare/small-business-opinions-on-exchanges.php

 

Farmers market begins

PEORIA --From a news release:

It's back:  the farmer's market in the Methodist Medical Center Atrium.

It takes place on Thursday, March 21, 3 to 6 p.m. at Methodist Medical Center Atrium,900 Main St., Peoria.

 

Remember those unbelievable carrots Lyndon Hartz was selling last fall? He'll be selling carrots again at Atrium Farmers Market Thursday, March 21, 3 to 6 p.m. He'll also have potatoes and bundles of herbs. It's been a cold start to the growing season so he won't have greens . . . but maybe he will at the next market April 4.

Organic carrots looking good.