Posted on Thursday, March 11, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

From Dana Loesch's blog: A peaceful event, though cameras did capture the four different incidents where Obama supporters tried to pick fights with real reform supporters, even leaving their designated protest area.

Click here to read the entire story.

Dana was in Quincy last September. She was the really loud one. :)

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Posted on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

From hotair.com: Not exactly a shocker, but Dick Durbin gives the nuanced explanation that they’re looking to slow down the rate of increases, not stop increases altogether. Unfortunately, that misrepresents what the CBO has already said about premiums under ObamaCare — and ignores what has already happened to premiums without it.

Click here for more.

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Posted on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

Why not say the Pledge of Allegiance before the City Council meetings? Just because it was someone else’s idea? 

And why must there be a screening process to come before the City Council? The City administration claims they could possibly violate the Open Meetings Act if someone speaks to something on the agenda without notice. How can a citizen violate the Open Meetings Act? Here's your answer: They can't. The citizen cannot take any action at the meeting and if the citizen has a great idea then the council has to wait to take action on the idea.

Why can’t they just sign their names and speak? Put a list at City Hall with a finite number of slots, tell them they have 3 minutes or whatever and be done with it.

A few people gathered at a hastily thrown together meeting (there was proper public notice though) following the Council meeting Monday night to discuss open forums. Mayor John Spring said if the Council was to allow an open forum, it could increase costs by needing to have more police on hand and by having a need for a timing delay on the currently-live Council meeting broadcasts.

Those sound like straw man arguments to me.

The Council currently has public speakers. Why do you need a delay-system with an 'open forum' if there isn't a need for one now?

And more cops? Really? C'mon.

The mayor also said he needed to know what the people wanted to talk about ahead of time. Other governmental bodies have no problem with people coming up to talk. As a matter of fact, if the city wasn't doing backflips to stop it, people would just do it or not do it and the issue would go away.

For an administration that claims to want openness and transparency, it sure has a funny way of showing it.

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Posted on Monday, March 8, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

From politico.com: Legislation that would force government and Hill staffers to pay back taxes or lose their jobs was pulled from House committee markup after Democrats hit the brakes.

In 2008 alone, 447 House employees and 231 Senate workers didn’t pay their taxes, according to figures from the IRS, Office of Personnel Management, and Department of Defense. Federal employees in the U.S. House of Representatives owed more than $5.8 million in unpaid taxes in 2008. The Senate employees owe more than $2.46 million, according to figures.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

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Posted on Friday, March 5, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

I have a new contributor for Counter-Revolution since Our Man Flynn left us for more pageviews and more money. We still appreciate all that Mike has done for us here at QNO.

But a friend of mine has decided to try his hand in this. His employer might not like what he has to say, hence the nom de plume, but I hope you will like it. You don't have to agree with it to like it.

Click here to go to Counter-Revolution and the debut of Coco Letterman.

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Posted on Thursday, March 4, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

So far, Adams County voters will have choices for sheriff, judge, regional superintendent of schools and, now, county clerk/recorder in November.

I firmly believe most voters want to pull the curtain and have a choice. Of course, political party diehards want who they want and that is their wont.

The newly-elected Democratic Central Committee Chairman for Adams County, Nick Peters, said he will work to fill the other vacancies as well, with finding a treasurer candidate to face Republican Terry Asher to be at the top of his list. County Treasurer Jean Reddington, a Republican, is retiring after two terms.

We are poised for some intriguing matchups this fall, but the race for county clerk/recorder has all sorts of crossover implications that have already emerged.

Former County Board member Jay Schaefer asked to be placed on the ballot at Wednesday night's Republican Central Committee meeting. He was placed on the ballot, but it was not unanimous as some Republican members of the County Board (many of whom served on the board with Schaefer) and county employees who also serve as precinct committemen either voted 'present' or opposed Schaefer's nomination.

Newly-elected Adams County Republican Central Committee Chairman Randy Frese, who is the county's circuit clerk in his day job, discussed the need to fill the empty slots on the ballot before the vote was taken. Frese voted to put Schaefer on the ballot as did the retiring chairman, Larry Ehmen.

But a few Republicans decided not to toe the party line. After the vote, Schaefer made an impassioned plea to leave the room as Republicans and he once again asked for the support of the party leaders in the room.

Volm said "it's a free country" when told of Schaefer's bid. When called for a reaction to Schaefer's nomination immediately following the GOP meeting, Volm said she had already been told of the vote totals.

"If an individual wants to step up and try to make a difference, I'm all for that," she said. "But I think I've made a difference and I've made the County Clerk's office better for the taxpayers."

Volm also said she believes she has made the office more efficient during her nearly eight years in office.

Volm's initial bid for the office was an even later entry than Schaefer's. She was the Democrats' pick to replace George Scharge III after he pulled out of a re-election bid in the July 2002 during an investigation into his conduct in the office. Schrage pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft in 2003 for using county funds for personal reasons.

Volm defeated Republican Loren Wallace in November 2002 and did not have a general election opponent in 2006 following a primary challenge by City of Quincy employee Eric Carper where Volm won by a slim 238 votes. Many Republicans publicly supported her in 2006, hence no opposition in November.

So how many of the 1,764 people who voted for Carper in the 2002 Democratic primary will support Schaefer? Randy Reis, Democratic County Board member, former chairman and current vice-chairman supported Carper as did his brother, Richie, another County Board member who is now listed as an independent following a paperwork snafu in his last re-election bid for the County Board. They are also fellow city employees of Schaefer's.

If Volm has mended party fences and still has support among select Republican County Board members, she should be a heavy favorite to win re-election as she has proven to be a tireless campaigner.

But if Schaefer finds Democrats who still oppose her and Republicans who are ready for a change in what is expected to be a rough November for Democrats, it is certainly possible for him to pull off an upset. 

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Posted on Thursday, March 4, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

Two things from my friend Bernie Schoenburg of sj-r.com:

JESSICA TRAME, 39, who has been with the state since 1993 and who has been state police chief of staff since 1997, now makes $87,108. Capt. SCOTT COMPTON, a state police spokesman, said her recommended new salary is $105,000 annually.

And...

A former aide to Gov. Quinn in the lieutenant governor’s office is now deputy chief of staff in the governor’s office. RYAN CROKE, 26, a Wheeling native, moved into his current role in November. Croke will manage the the governor’s Springfield office. He makes $90,000 annually, up from $65,000 in his previous position.

Click here to read it all.

We're still paying people in the Lt. Governor's office? We don't even have a Lt. Governor.

Silly me. I thought this state had something like a $12 billion deficit. Don't know why we wouldn't be freezing salaries or anything.

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Posted on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

Plucked from a commenter to provoke discussion:

The cities tight restrictions and the way Bevelheimer and Steinkamp treat small business' that aren't box stores, have a lot to do with downtown's current shape.

Drive through other cities and you will notice things that draw attention to business like signs on sidewalks, product on sidewalks, and brightly lit signs. These things aren't allowed in the downtown (city code).

Drive through Quincy's downtown and you can't tell the open stores from the empty buildings. No excitement or shopping atmosphere.

Any store that has attempted to create exitement and a shopping atmosphere can except "gestapo tactics" by Bevelheimer or Steinkamp.

The only excitement that I see downtown is the big light show in front of the "empty" theatre. This sign according to code isn't suppose to be allowed.

The city needs to review its regulations in the downtown. They need to cater to small retail shops or the only thing left downtown will be government and lawyer offices.

So what do YOU think?

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Posted on Monday, March 1, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

What a great run by the QND Lady Raiders this weekend. I was lucky enough to catch some of the second half of Saturday's title game via the IHSA Network. Kudos to WTAD for carrying the game on the radio as well.

I found out over the weekend that WGEM Radio wasn't carrying the game and I talked to a couple of people who were surprised at that. After thinking about it for a bit, I decided that as long as one radio station was covering it, it wasn't a big deal that WGEM didn't cover it. They already had obligations for QU's GLVC tournament games.

Being basically a one-person shop, I try to post as many scores and a couple of stats for Quincy and QND games. The colleges are very good about sending information and I gladly post that.

But when people want to hear the games (television coverage of high school sports died here a couple of years ago), there is room for improvement by the local radio stations and it is an easy fix...but it requires working together, so it will never happen.

Most radio station managers claim they lose money by carrying high school sports once they pay for the travel and announcers. Quincy High School boys basketball and Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball are the only two sports that have two radio stations covering all of their games.

So I have the following proposal, which my friend Jeff Dorsey of Y-101, has talked about for years:

We don't need two stations covering most boys sporting events and zero stations covering most girls sporting events. How about throwing all of the local sports in a hopper and dividing who covers what? The college coverage is a more difficult proposal as I believe WGEM still has an exclusive deal with Quincy University. Heck, throw the Gems and John Wood in there too. The price tag for Gems coverage has to be going up with the Prospect League expansion and greater distances to travel.

The stations could alternate schools and sports from year-to-year. I would be willing to prominently post the game times and schedules and I believe The Herald-Whig already does that.

With Chuck Mahon's retirement as WGEM's Blue Devil basketball play-by-play guy, this is a perfect time for WGEM, Double O Radio and STARadio to discuss a joint coverage agreement that would ensure at least one radio station is covering the major team sports for both high schools...girls and boys.

Split the profits and split the costs. I'll bet the bottom line impact will be small and you will generate tons of goodwill.

And somebody ought to go back to carrying some of the other Adams County schools' games as well. 

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Posted on Monday, March 1, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

From former VP's Al Gore's New York Times Op/Ed:

Simultaneously, changes in America’s political system — including the replacement of newspapers and magazines by television as the dominant medium of communication — conferred powerful advantages on wealthy advocates of unrestrained markets and weakened advocates of legal and regulatory reforms.

Some news media organizations now present showmen masquerading as political thinkers who package hatred and divisiveness as entertainment. And as in times past, that has proved to be a potent drug in the veins of the body politic. Their most consistent theme is to label as “socialist” any proposal to reform exploitive behavior in the marketplace.

Click here to read all of the column.

So what is the former vice-president trying to say here?

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Posted on Thursday, February 25, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

From the always spot-on Billy Dennis, aka, the Peoria Pundit:

After years of complaints by teachers, parents and just about anybody paying attention, it looks like Peoria School District 150 is going trim the administrative fat...

How many are getting the heave-ho? Well, 25 of them were notified, but I strongly suspect a lot of them are staying as jobs get combined.

But any reduction is non-teaching staff is welcome. The next step is getting rid of the damn consultants, and making sure none of the people who lose their jobs get hired back as consultants.

Click here to read his blog.

We hear the same stuff in the Gem City. Next week's special meeting of the Quincy School Board may have a bigger turnout than Budfest I.

I'm working on some things leading up to that meeting. In the meantime, I'll be in Springfield today on some business and a taping of Capitol View on WQEC. You can watch Friday night. I'll track down the time later.

This week's program will not be for the weak. I feel the need to bring my A game.

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Posted on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

Not gold star commentary by me...even though we all know that to be the case on a regular basis. :)

But check this out from "Publius":

All of us have questions about where the Obama administration is taking us, and we salute the Tea Party for asking some of them?

But where is the Tea Party on local issues like the hydroelectric project? Why is it that a project of such magnitude - $200 million, which the mayor claims to have been so extensively studied and planned, appears to be changing with every news story? And why isn't the local Tea Party asking local questions? Why aren't Quincyans asking?

The City Council late last year voted a $6.6 million bond issue, part of which was for licensing and part for a project to prove its commercialization. After defending the effort to test a small number of turbines on Lock and Dam 21 to make sure they'll work, Klingner Engineering, the hydroelectric project's consultant, now says that's unnecessary. What has changed?

The decision appears frivolous and demands explanation. The test project was the best risk management tool taxpayers had to assure we could cut our losses before jumping into the deep end of a $200 million pool. What if it was learned the turbines did not work? Better to eat the cost of four turbines than sixty. What if the power generated by the completed project cannot be sold to the grid? (There is not a single power purchase agreement in place.) The test project at Lock and Dam 21 would (a) assure the French turbines would work and, if so, (b) assure that power generated by them would be sold. The city could use the power the four turbines at it wastewater treatment plant.

Last year, the city's project administrators told us the cost of the project at Lock and Dam 21 would be $81,638,765. The newspaper now reports the cost at $100 million, a 25 percent increase within six months. How does that impact the project's budget? And where's the list of risks Quincy taxpayers face for failures?

Those years of planning began before there was a stimulus program. Now the project appears to depend on it. And the city had to set up a private corporation - although city staff and contractors make up its majority - to be eligible.

Where is the business plan the city promised during this phase? Although it will have to be amended to reflect these recent major changes, Quincy taxpayers still deserve an opportunity to see the numbers that justify the project.

Where is the independent commission the mayor said he would consider appointing?

Where is the Tea Party on this?

Publius

Pubby...I expect you'll get a response or two.

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Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

Regarding former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) and the ridiculous $1 million budget he still recieves:

From chicagotribune.com: One reason Hastert's no longer speaker: People grew tired of Republican talk that wasn't matched by reality. When Republicans controlled Congress, they spent and spent and spent. They preserved Washington's gross sense of entitlement.

Click here for the entire editorial.

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Posted on Thursday, February 18, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

Congratulations to Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goldman for having the stones to say no.

From kntv.com: Mayor Oscar Goodman has refused an invitation to meet with President Obama when he arrives in town on Thursday. Mayor Goodman called President Obama a slow learner after he told Americans not to blow money on a weekend in Las Vegas if they were saving to put their kids through college.

How refreshing this is compared to seeing politicans and their ilk plead for pork at the feet of those from the beltway who occasionally grace us with their presence.

Speaking of manna from Washington, our elected and non-elected representatives asked for $50 million for a port and the people from Metro East asked for $6 million for a port? Gee, who was Washington gonna cut that check to first?

The local collective currently has its hand out for the Port Authority, Lock and Dam rebuilding, levee rebuilding, hydroelectric funding, a train/bus/taxi/shuttle station and four more lanes to I-172 built through a floodplain.

I'm betting we don't get a $200,000,000,000 check to cover all of that. Perhaps there should be a focus on the most important/realistic item and making it happen.

But we wouldn't look so busy then, would we?

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Posted on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 by J. Robert Gough

The City of Quincy seems pleased with the work being done by Environmental Management Corporation in terms of managing the waste water treatment plant and handling sludge removal.

Alderman who toured the plant say it is in better shape than when EMC took over about eight years ago. The city's utilities director, David Kent, had some concerns with EMC in the past, but he appears to be satisfied now.

"There is better communication (between EMC and the city)," Kent said. "We're getting monthly reports on maintenance and facilities and a breakdown of expenses." Kent told an alderman that the city is paying for EMC's expertise in this matter.

Wow. I guess the $1.5 million EMC was previously getting every year wasn't enough to get that done before.

There was styling and profiling done by some Republican aldermen, but in the end everyone bought the line that the city would save $1 million over the next five years. I mean the contract passed 13-0, so who am I to dwell on it? I should just go to Mass today and quit paying attention to City Hall for 40 days.

This certainly is proof that the City Council Republicans are not a collective group of rabid partisan dogs. After all, with Aldermen Ben Bumbry out sick last night, a truly partisan group could have put the kibosh on the plan. That didn't happen.

At face value, the process worked. EMC had to "sharpen its pencil" and the city will not pay as much as it previously did (Of course, it should be asked why the city wasn't paying this amount before, but I digress).

One Republican alderman told me Tuesday that the EMC issue was not the fight they should be fighting (he knew it was fait accompli). He said the EMC vote should be used in a way to further encorporate privatization and relieve the city of some benefit and pension burden.

By paying about $750,000 a year to manage eight city employees, is the city really saving money? If this hybrid privatization is so great, then why not do it for garbage pickup and snow removal and let city crews focus on fixing the streets which are taking a beating from the weather and years of neglect.

Kent talked about a concern of union and non-union employees not getting along by having all waste water employees become private employees. If the city can't control that, then there are bigger problems out there.

The city employees involved must like the arrangement. They wrote a letter that was included as part of EMC's proposal. (Click here.)

EMC was doing business in Quincy long before John Spring became mayor, but he has supported and praised EMC and the company in turn has fed his campaign coffers. We're so accustomed to such Chicago-style politics here in Little Chicago that it doesn't register a ripple outside the inside baseballers of city politics.

Spring took obvious offense to the line of questioning from Republican aldermen. But to say any report on this process was "misleading" is itself misleading.

Spring said at last night's meeting his letter of recommendation for EMC written in 2005 was in support of EMC's attempt to get business in another city. Actually, the letter was written in 2006.  Here it is.

But that's not what I was referring to in the Tuesday story which previewed the meeting. I'm referring to this section, which lists Spring as a reference FOR EMC'S BID TO THE CITY OF QUINCY (Click here). Spring is also included in the appendix as a reference for EMC's bid to the City of Quincy along with consultant Jeff Conte's commendation letter from 2005. (Click here.)

Spring also made it a point for Conte (who works for Klingner and Associates) to rattle off his resume. I wasn't questioning Conte's credentials. I was suggesting that someone who the city hired to analyze these proposals was also included as a reference in one of the proposals. If I'm one of the other companies, what do I say about that?

Well, a represenative from one of the companies that bid wanted to know how they were evaluated as he claims his references were not contacted. As a matter of fact, he said he tried to contact city officials concerning the bid numerous times and was rebuffed. He also said by looking at the way this RFP process was handled, his company won't waste its time trying to get Quincy's business again.

Sour grapes or just more questions in an already murky process?

So, as to not be misleading, here are the facts: The mayor who gets campaign contributions from EMC, lobbied for EMC to get a new contract. Of the four people on the committee that recommended the contract for approval, three of them serve at the pleasure of the mayor and the fourth was listed as a reference for the proposal.

Anyone care to dispute these facts?

Does the end justify the means? Apparently the mayor and City Council think so.

Let's see if the citizens of Quincy agree.

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