BUILDING a better Blue Island

I have made Blue Island my home for almost thirty years now and have seen its peeks and valleys. Clearly we have been in a valley for a long, long, time for many "justifiable" reasons ...or excuses. We are seeing the results of economic conditions to be sure but also lack of planning execution and leadership within our city.

It is easy to decry others for our current situation but each of us has a responsibility to get involved to help right the ship!

Do YOU want to make a difference?

This post is to ask for your ideas - not to target or deride politicos or groups.

What do you see as the top 3 issues to be addressed by our city?

What are your top 3 ideas to revitalize our community? Be creative, imaginative and constructive.

WE can do great things TOGETHER - let's build on our diversity and learn from past mistakes or inaction.

Let's BUILD a better Blue Island!

Build BI wrote:

I have made Blue Island my home for almost thirty years now and have seen its peeks and valleys. Clearly we have been in a valley for a long, long, time for many "justifiable" reasons ...or excuses. We are seeing the results of economic conditions to be sure but also lack of planning execution and leadership within our city.
It is easy to decry others for our current situation but each of us has a responsibility to get involved to help right the ship!
Do YOU want to make a difference?
This post is to ask for your ideas - not to target or deride politicos or groups.
What do you see as the top 3 issues to be addressed by our city?
What are your top 3 ideas to revitalize our community? Be creative, imaginative and constructive.
WE can do great things TOGETHER - let's build on our diversity and learn from past mistakes or inaction.
Let's BUILD a better Blue Island!

I gave all my ideas twice to the Center Neighborhood Technology, you know that group? They are a Political Action Committee. They twice came out just before the Mayoral election and help Mayor Peloquin get elected. To add insult to injury all those good ideas, Mayor Peloquin and his group ignored them! And now this city is in worst condition then it has ever been in. The only sin is limitation.

Joliet to explore plan for forensic audit
November 6, 2011 5:28PM
Reprints

Councilwoman at large Jan Hallums Quillman asks Ken Mihelich, Director of Management & Budget, a question during the Joliet City Council meeting Monday afternoon August 1, 2011 in Joliet, Illinois.| Art Vassy~Sun-Times Media
Updated: November 6, 2011 6:52PM

The Joliet City Council gets back to the business of the 2012 budget at a special meeting at 4:30 p.m. today.

Topping the agenda is a proposal for a “forensic audit,” which came from Councilwoman Jan Quillman at last week’s council meeting. Quillman said a story in The Herald-News about the budget showing the city with $16.2 million more in reserve funds at the end of 2011 than what was expected when the year started has raised so many questions that a forensic audit is needed to restore “public trust.”

City Manager Thomas Thanas pointed out that forensic audits typically are done to detect wrongdoing, such as stolen money.

Oddly enough, in this case it would appear the city would do a forensic audit to find out why the city is gaining money, not losing it.

Whatever reason it would be done, Mayor Thomas Giarrante expressed some dismay at ever getting a budget completed if a forensic audit is started.

“This council has been complaining that we’re dragging our feet on this budget,” the mayor said.“If we’re going to have a forensic audit, we’re not going to pass a budget this year.”

Chin up

Rebecca Barker became a casualty of Joliet budget cuts last week when her job as the city’s media and communications manager was eliminated.

Always upbeat, Barker sent The Herald-News a statement expressing pride in her work for the city, how much she enjoyed the job, and her enthusiasm for the future.

“I do look forward to devoting more time to my growing family,” she said, and (Here’s a plug.) current marketing and consulting business Pachyderm Marketing & Communications.”

Midwest Generation wins

Will County Board Member Kathleen Konicki, R-Homer Glen, has been making a case against expanding the Des Plaines River Valley Enterprise Zone to give state tax breaks to Midwest Generation.

Konicki was at last week’s Joliet City Council meeting, arguing that the energy should not get the incentive for pollution control upgrades mandated by regulators.

The council, however, voted in favor of the Midwest Generation request, noting the company’s estimate that the project should create between 200 and 300 construction jobs at the Joliet and Will County stations.

Lockport also voted for the enterprise zone expansion, and so has the Will County Board.

Ironic honor

Ruth McCartan, wife of the late Romeoville Village Trustee Edward “Doc” McCartan, said the village’s new veterans memorial plaza named after her husband is “unbelievable. I’m so proud of him.”

McCartan, however, noted an irony when talking to The Herald-News at a Friday ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Edward “Doc” McCartan Veterans Memorial.

When Doc was a village trustee, he was a stickler on village expenses, she said. The memorial plaza cost $467,000 to build.

“The way he watched the money on the board all the time,” McCartan said,“he probably would have said,‘You spent too damn much money.’”

Bob Okon contributed to Pulse.

Northeast Snowstorm Power Problems: Tens Of Thousands Still Without Electricity
Connecticut Light & Power workers tend to a high voltage power line in Windsor Locks, Conn., Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011. Over 90% of the town has been without power since the October 29, 2011 snowstorm.
STEPHANIE REITZ 11/ 6/11 09:13 PM ET Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn.— Tens of thousands in the chilly Northeast remained without power Sunday, eight days after a rare October snowstorm knocked much of the region into the dark.
Many spent another day without lights or heat, lingering at shopping malls, hitting the movies or bunking at friends' homes as they faced the possibility of another day without power.

The storm, which hit Oct. 29 and 30, hammered the Northeast and cut electricity to more than 3 million homes and businesses throughout the region. Many communities postponed trick-or-treating for youngsters.

At a news conference Sunday night in hardest-hit Connecticut, the state's largest utility announced that it wouldn't meet its goal of restoring power to 99 percent of its 1.2 million customers.

Jeffrey Butler, chief operating officer for Connecticut Light & Power, apologized, saying that about 88,000 customers still remained without electricity and that it would probably be Wednesday before everyone had power restored. About 6,000 of the outages were new and unrelated to the freak October snowstorm that cut power to 800,000 Connecticut residents, he said.

New Jersey and Massachusetts each had a few hundred customers still waiting for the lights to come back on, and utilities there expected to have power restored by midnight.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has launched an independent probe of the utility companies' response amid a torrent of customer complaints, including a local fire department that said CL&P jeopardized safety by not quickly clearing roads of downed power lines and tree limbs.

Malloy said he assigned state Attorney General George Jepsen to work with a consulting group that would investigate the storm outage response.

"I want to ensure the state preserves its legal options on behalf of itself and on behalf of Connecticut utility customers," Malloy said. "I'm not prejudging anything, but it's clear that CL&P's response to this storm has been inadequate."

Malloy added that the general election Tuesday remains on track, but some municipalities might consolidate voting at locations with electricity if other polling places were still in the dark.
In Somers, a northern Connecticut town on the Massachusetts border, First Selectman Lisa Pellegrini said a team of supervised crews of minimum-security inmates from nearby state prisons were dispatched to clear town property of trees, limbs and other debris so power restoration could move more quickly.

She said CL&P president Butler called her Saturday, but wasn't confident then that the utility would have most of the power restored by Sunday night.

"(Butler) asked me how I was doing and I said,`Pretty lousy, but I think you're having a worse day than I am,'" Pellegrini said.

Some still without power turned to Facebook, Twitter and email to express their frustration. A few were especially unsympathetic to Butler. A Facebook post Sunday with the utility president's picture read: "Rumors that my gold-plated residential backup generator runs on the refined tears of orphan children are totally unfounded."

Lets just focus on fixing the leaf vacuum.

De Nial wrote:

Northeast Snowstorm Power Problems: Tens Of Thousands Still Without Electricity
Connecticut Light & Power workers tend to a high voltage power line in Windsor Locks, Conn., Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011. Over 90% of the town has been without power since the October 29, 2011 snowstorm.
STEPHANIE REITZ 11/ 6/11 09:13 PM ET Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn.— Tens of thousands in the chilly Northeast remained without power Sunday, eight days after a rare October snowstorm knocked much of the region into the dark.
Many spent another day without lights or heat, lingering at shopping malls, hitting the movies or bunking at friends' homes as they faced the possibility of another day without power.
The storm, which hit Oct. 29 and 30, hammered the Northeast and cut electricity to more than 3 million homes and businesses throughout the region. Many communities postponed trick-or-treating for youngsters.
At a news conference Sunday night in hardest-hit Connecticut, the state's largest utility announced that it wouldn't meet its goal of restoring power to 99 percent of its 1.2 million customers.
Jeffrey Butler, chief operating officer for Connecticut Light & Power, apologized, saying that about 88,000 customers still remained without electricity and that it would probably be Wednesday before everyone had power restored. About 6,000 of the outages were new and unrelated to the freak October snowstorm that cut power to 800,000 Connecticut residents, he said.
New Jersey and Massachusetts each had a few hundred customers still waiting for the lights to come back on, and utilities there expected to have power restored by midnight.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has launched an independent probe of the utility companies' response amid a torrent of customer complaints, including a local fire department that said CL&P jeopardized safety by not quickly clearing roads of downed power lines and tree limbs.
Malloy said he assigned state Attorney General George Jepsen to work with a consulting group that would investigate the storm outage response.
"I want to ensure the state preserves its legal options on behalf of itself and on behalf of Connecticut utility customers," Malloy said. "I'm not prejudging anything, but it's clear that CL&P's response to this storm has been inadequate."
Malloy added that the general election Tuesday remains on track, but some municipalities might consolidate voting at locations with electricity if other polling places were still in the dark.
In Somers, a northern Connecticut town on the Massachusetts border, First Selectman Lisa Pellegrini said a team of supervised crews of minimum-security inmates from nearby state prisons were dispatched to clear town property of trees, limbs and other debris so power restoration could move more quickly.
She said CL&P president Butler called her Saturday, but wasn't confident then that the utility would have most of the power restored by Sunday night.
"(Butler) asked me how I was doing and I said,`Pretty lousy, but I think you're having a worse day than I am,'" Pellegrini said.
Some still without power turned to Facebook, Twitter and email to express their frustration. A few were especially unsympathetic to Butler. A Facebook post Sunday with the utility president's picture read: "Rumors that my gold-plated residential backup generator runs on the refined tears of orphan children are totally unfounded."

What in God's name does this have to do with Blue Island? Anybody?

The first place to start for a better Blue Island:
An outside audit on the city's finances.

Pendulum Phylosophy wrote:

<quoted text>
I gave all my ideas twice to the Center Neighborhood Technology, you know that group? They are a Political Action Committee. They twice came out just before the Mayoral election and help Mayor Peloquin get elected. To add insult to injury all those good ideas, Mayor Peloquin and his group ignored them! And now this city is in worst condition then it has ever been in. The only sin is limitation.

.

BUILD BI. I have heard, from various sources, that there have been many great plans - sitting in the Mayor's office or planning department collecting dust - for a variety of reasons. Which is why I thought it of value to open this to a forum discussion given the possible changing political landscape. So here are my conversation stsrters. Top Issues: Economic condition of BI - what is it? Economic business climate - high rents, property taxes and lack if incentives to attract businesses or spur development (the county and state have a play here) ; Workabe short term / long term plans - what are they? What is being done to "market" BI?There is no core theme to BI beyond "hiistoric" - no character to Western Ave .

BI has a Railway legacy for example which could be capitalized on; a strong multi-ethic founding basis;

Opportunities - BI needs a recognized "anchor" store - such as a Meiers or other known store; leverage the vacant Jewel property store (how did we let them get away with that codicil to keep the property empty?) ;

BI has many experienced executives, managers and others that could participate in developing workable plans - a new and refreshed mindset needs to be developed

What are Blue Islands strengths - location, housing stock, others?

What are Blue Island's weaknesses - image, location, schools, lack of businesses /business mix; lack of incentives for start-ups or business development; stagnant leadership

Some thought starters for comment or adding too

Today is pick-up day for yard waste and recyclables.The containers are to small and do not have lids therefore i have to pick up the "recyclables" that are all over my yard.This happens every Tuesday for the last 10 years.Why would we not have larger containers with lids and put them in the alley with the regular garbage and yard waste ? Not only would this keep the front yards cleaner but it would stop the garbage trucks from blocking the streets. And yes i have brought this to the "aldermen and women" they all say how wonderful this idea is but are to afraid to "rock the boat" at city hall. Don Peloquin has them shitting all over themselves.

The Jewel property is being re-inhabited, by Jewel, under the name of Save-a-Lot, and Walgreens is moving to that property also. The question is, What is the plan for the Walgreens building?

once and for all wrote:

The Jewel property is being re-inhabited, by Jewel, under the name of Save-a-Lot, and Walgreens is moving to that property also. The question is, What is the plan for the Walgreens building?

Remember: When Walgreens builds the new building in TIF district #6, Blue Island will lose the tax revenue from the Walgreens, shrinking our tax base and we end up with another empty building on Western Ave This is not a good plan for BI.

a thought wrote:

<quoted text>
Remember: When Walgreens builds the new building in TIF district #6, Blue Island will lose the tax revenue from the Walgreens, shrinking our tax base and we end up with another empty building on Western Ave This is not a good plan for BI.

Now don't you worry about that....Peloquin will tax your dreams.

Isn't the walgreens building that is there now reletivly new? Why is there a need to rebuild again.

You just do not seem to want to comprehend what is happening here. It is being hidden as best they can,it is about Mayor Peloquin making money for his friends. Jewel corporate company, and Walgreens has plenty money to rebuild, build new etc.

Good Luck

The current building was built in 1993

wooden electric pole snapped off ground level 7:00 am today. 123rd st. leaning on metal out building near golf course. several calls made to bipd and bipw. by 1:00 pm officer/building commish dave came to the rescue with his police car, he illuminated his red and blue lights and secured the area and waits for com ed. he sure likes to be the hero letting everyone think he is the guy to git-r-done..
great progress blue island cant wait til this j.o. gets someone killed.

Interesting comments ...

I agree a complete financial audit / forensic audit is in order - has one ever really been done?

The whole Jewel property mess ...we didn't see that one coming? I didn't know "Save-A-Lot" is owned by Jewel. That's the best we can do???

What is the Mayor's connection to Jewel or is this conjecture?

The Walgreen's move is a corporate thing - seems weird to me also. I thought CVS was looking at the Beggar Pizza building (what a hideous cash cow that building is!)

Adding to the mix - the rework of the 127th and Western intersection was done totally without consideration for pedestrians or businesses - and isn't being maintained. Someone, somewhere, in the bowels of IDOT probably got an award for that one.

You can't get anything done with political support - how has Bob Rita helped our town ... for all his bluster and fanfare ... not much in my mind.

Having said that the Mayor was right in floating a referendum to get out of Cook County - we receive little and pay a lot ...

The rising Phoenix statue in the park was premature ...

I understand the Mayor is seeking higher office - are there any other candidates beyond Alderman Vargas and Pam Frasor ?

Managing a city, even a small one like Blue Island, isn't easy. Just look at issues within your own family on trying to get something done.

So what constructive ideas are out there ??

Jobs for Votes wrote:

Today is pick-up day for yard waste and recyclables.The containers are to small and do not have lids therefore i have to pick up the "recyclables" that are all over my yard.This happens every Tuesday for the last 10 years.Why would we not have larger containers with lids and put them in the alley with the regular garbage and yard waste ? Not only would this keep the front yards cleaner but it would stop the garbage trucks from blocking the streets. And yes i have brought this to the "aldermen and women" they all say how wonderful this idea is but are to afraid to "rock the boat" at city hall. Don Peloquin has them shitting all over themselves.

That's why we stopped "recycling". A logical question - use the larger cans and have them picked up in the alley ...has something to do with the size of the recycling trucks or so I have been told. I have always questioned why we only see our elected officials just before election ... Blue Island is not New York City and seems to me we should have more contact with them. Our alderman - Christine Buckner - seems to be trying and at least is opening communications. Bottom Line - the Coalition Party rules ... I get that ...

a thought wrote:

The first place to start for a better Blue Island:
An outside audit on the city's finances.

When was the last audit done - and why isn't a "state of Blue Island" report provided to the residents -which would include a financial report?