I have given much thought to running for the office of Mayor of Canton in the next election. I feel that the current administration is out of touch with mainstream taxpayers, panders to the rich and powerful, leads the City with no established course of action, and is not serving the best interests of the citizens. With this in mind, I am offering an outline, and brief explanations along the way, of the issues I feel are important to the taxpayers and how I would deal with them. I have been told by people currently in city offices that it would take around 12-15 thousand dollars to wage an effective campaign to unseat the current Mayor. Effective campaigns are not just yard signs and soup suppers. Advertising in the print and electronic media is crucial and VERY expensive. I cannot bankrupt my family to wage this campaign. I MUST have many supporters willing to work HARD and long hours collecting funds for the campaign. Without this support, I cannot even consider running. In this vein of thought, I will now outline my list of campaign promises that I WILL do everything in my power to accomplish no matter who is disadvantaged by my policies.

• Immediately confiscate all computers, files, papers, records, and any data collected at taxpayer expense from the City Attorney's office and terminate her the first official day in office. I will ask the Chief of Police to head the confiscation team. She is innefective, overpaid, and does nothing to warrant her exorbitant salary. We will go back to having a lawyer on a monthly retainer to handle the city's legal problems.

• Immediately begin a city wide clean up of junk cars, trash, garbage, abandoned houses, slum rentals and any other blight that creates an unsavory image to visitors to our fair city. One example is the situation on Old West Locust that has been cited over 50 times for various violations and has not been in court over an hour and the situation lingers to this day. This type of situation will be prosecuted as soon as we can get them cited and get on the court docket for trial.

• I will ask the new City Attorney to draft an ordinance to crack down on absent and slum landlords. ALL rental property in Canton WILL have to pass inspection by a team of code inspectors for compliance with electrical, plumbing, structural integrity, and health codes before it can be rented. These inspections will be held annually or more often if complaints are received and will be funded by a charge of $100 for each inspection. EVERY unit will be inspected separately and be billed separately. For example, if the owner has a 4 unit apartment complex, his fee will be $400 every year for inspection. This may sound excessive, but a fee of $100 is not even $10 per month. Any landlord can raise his rent $10 a month without losing renters. If the property is not inspected and approved, it cannot be rented until it is brought into compliance. Furthermore, the names of all occupants of rental property will be given to the police department. This will insure that persons such as sex offenders and other felons cannot enjoy a greater degree of privacy than a taxpaying citizen can. The safety and well-being of our neighborhoods is too important to not do this.

• Sever all ties with SRPED as soon as possible. The $85,000 we give Rothert every year is far more than the value of his services. When SRPED can demonstrate that they can either save us 85 grand a year or obtain us 85 grand every year in grants, then their value to us is nothing. Also, why should TAX dollars go to support the Chamber of Commerce, which is housed in the same building as SRPED and whose Director was hired by Rothert? Since when are our tax dollars used to support Wal-Mart? Let businesses either sink or swim on their own business expertise.

• Immediately open liquor licenses to anyone who wants one and can pay the annual fee. Let the free market determine who stays in business and who closes. No other business is controlled by numbers alone, why should liquor serving establishments be any different? Healthy competition is good for the business community. Any entity, like a church, that doesn't like this idea can start paying taxes and then they can have a voice in how they are spent or raised.

• As soon as possible, either bring the Code enforcement officer up to speed academically, or hire a qualified Code Enforcement Officer and put them to work on cleaning up our city. We will have zero tolerance for the junk, trash, weeds, vermin, or other nuisance no matter whose property it is, no exceptions. We will grant a 60 day grace period after the Code Officer is hired for citizens to voluntarily clean up their property. On day 61, the gloves come off and the citations will fly like confetti. We will keep the new City Attorney VERY busy.

• The office of City Administrator will become an ELECTED office. If the taxpayers are going to pay the type of compensation he gets now, he, or she, should be held accountable to the entire electorate, not just the Mayor and Council.

• Abolish the office of Comptroller. The Treasurer, an ELECTED official is held accountable every four years by the people he/she serves and is not controlled by the whim of the Mayor. Less control by the Mayor and more control of City government by the PEOPLE is what we want to establish.

• Immediately hire a Fire Chief. There is NO EXCUSE to leave such an important job empty for so long. We have qualified applicants serving now who may have the skills to be the Chief, maybe not, but we WILL have one. There will NEVER be a volunteer fire department as long as I am Mayor. I will not allow MANAGEMENT training for either fire fighter or police officers to be paid for by the taxpayers. If you want to be a manager, take classes on your own time and money.

• Immediately stop all pandering to Bill Cook and his company. No special favors such as building a hotel on land he doesn't own, no more control of the city services by his whim, and no more concessions to a company that does not have the best interests of Canton citizens at heart. Examples: Cook Medical>> Promised 350 new "good paying" jobs. Reality: about 39 people work there at slightly above minimum wage and very near the poverty level. The benefits are very good at Cook Medical, but a person needs cash to buy food, gasoline, utilities, clothing, and the rest of their living expenses. The new Cook hotel>> Will not be managed by a Canton resident and no top jobs will go to a Canton resident. The only jobs that will be available to our people is housekeeping at minimum wage. Another false promise. I am getting a little tired of Cook using his fortunes to dictate how our city is managed.

• Shift the cost of medical coverage more to the people who use it. Major companies, Caterpillar for one, has done this and it is something that the taxpayers cannot be responsible for much longer. The average taxpayer in Canton does not enjoy the same medical coverage that city employees do. To level the playing field, costs MUST be contained. This will be an arduous task and not one done overnight, but it MUST be done to keep the city solvent.

• Immediate pension reforms will be put in place. Huge pensions and insurance will no longer be given to retiring department heads. A ceiling of 60% of BASE salary will be the maximum a non-union city worker can earn on a pension. If the worker wants to supplement his pension while he is still working, we will offer a 401k with a match of up to a maximum of 6% of their contribution.

• Immediate reforms in salaried personnel compensation. We will survey the compensation given to salaried personnel in cities similar in size to Canton and adjust salaries accordingly. This should NOT be taken as a program to CUT anybody's wages. This is just an attempt to bring compensation in line for FUTURE salaried personnel.

• Immediately freeze all hiring and wages. No new personnel may be hired until all steps have been taken to provide the services we are accustomed to and deserve with the people we have now. Only after excessive amounts of overtime or curtailing of services warrant another person will one be allowed to be hired. All new hires after the first day of June in the year I am sworn in will receive NO pension upon retirement. Caterpillar has established this policy and if it's good enough for a multi-billion dollar company, it's good enough for us. To offset this, a 401k program will be offered to the new employees with a matching contribution of 100% or dollar for dollar, unlike managers who will have a 6% match as stated above. If this is unacceptable to new hires, they are free to seek other employment.

• No budget will be passed unless it is BALANCED. No longer will the city run on red ink on the balance sheet. This can be accomplished by an incentive program for the various department heads. If the department can cut its expenses by 5%, the department head will get a 5% bonus as a one-time payout. This will be repeated every year the savings can be proven. No savings, no bonus. This will not be at the expense of cutting city services, rather by good management that can cut waste effectively.

• The ordinance concerning tall grass, weeds, etc has been, and will continue to be, a troublesome problem. While we all want our neighborhoods to look nice, often the wrong people are punished for violations. Example: An elderly person who can't afford to have their grass cut, can't find anyone to do it, or are too infirm to do it themselves. I propose that lawn service people perform the necessary mowing, raking, and other upkeep for compensation by the city. This does NOT mean you can just quit cutting your grass and have the city do it free. Persons who make application to the city to have their lawns tended must supply proof of age, over 70, or proof of illness that prevents them from doing it. The lawn service people can register at the city building to perform this service and receive a list of clients. For every lawn they elect to service, the city will reimburse them for fuel alone. This will be a set amount, depending on the current cost of fuel at the time of service. If this program leads to outright fraud by the service providers, they can, and will be prosecuted. If a service wants to risk jail time for fraud just to get a few dollars in gas, they will be sorry they tried. This program has MANY problems and may not work, but something MUST be done. What we are doing now isn't working.

• Any new project that requires matching funds by the city will be explored using the ROI method of examination. Return On Investment is the tried and true method to evaluate any expenditure. If we cannot get a dollar for dollar return on our investment, either in services or goods, then we really need to examine why we would want to embark on this venture at all. EXAMPLE: New street lights and signage for the Streetscape program. This is entirely too costly, not researched well, and not needed. It produces no long term employment, no taxes, and no real benefit to our citizens. The proposal to open Chestnut street in front of Goodwill is another project that is unnecessary and wasteful in light of the fact we can't balance next year's budget. Frugality in spending is vital until we get back on our fiscal footing. Only then can "wish list" items be considered.

• To assure that all research into spending has been done before money is released, I propose that NO new spending over $100,000 can be authorized until the issue has been researched and discussed in a minimum of (3) three council sessions. Only then can a vote be taken to spend the money after all possible alternatives have been explored. Of course, emergency spending to preserve the safety of the city would be an exception.

• All credit cards issued to personnel will be canceled at once. New cards, issued in the name of the city, will be acquired and be available at the Mayor's office for use. The person signing the card out will be responsible for its use and be held accountable to provide the purchase information to the appropriate personnel for payment.

• The Mayor's secretary has done a very good job and will be retained, if she so desires. If she elects to terminate her employment, another secretary will be hired as soon as possible.

• The taxpayers have spent a small fortune on video and audio equipment for the City Hall Depot. To not use it is a disgrace. EVERY time a meeting is held in that chamber, whether it is a Council meeting or a Committee meeting, the cameras WILL be on. Also, at the end of every Council meeting, an open mike opportunity will be given to any person wanting to address the Council. There will be no advance notice required nor placement on the agenda for a person to speak. All participation will be held to a 5 minute time limit due to the need to hear everybody.

• Since the City Clerk is charged with keeping the City Seal and the City Records, her office will be held inviolate by any city employee or entity. This policy will insure that only ONE person will have access to the city records and will insure that persons with no reason to have access will NOT have it. The city clerk will be instructed to process every FOIA request with all due haste and diligence with the assurance that she will not be encumbered by any interference by any other city employee.

• Starting in the second year of my term, a survey will be mailed to every household that uses city water. This survey will be in with the water bill. It will ask for either a "Yes" or "No" vote on one question, "Do you approve of the job the Mayor is doing?" If the response is overwhelmingly "No", I will return my salary for that year to the City Treasury and promise to do better the next year. If the response is "Yes", I will publicly thank the voters and promise to continue quality service to the city.

This is a brief outline of what I would try to accomplish if I were elected Mayor. If you would like any further explanation of any issue, just post it here and I'll reply in this uncensored and public forum. If my ideas receive luke-warn interest, I will forget the whole thing. Like I said, it will take a MASSIVE effort to defeat Meade and Cook at the ballot box. I think I am up to the task at taking him on in a public forum. Are you up to the task of defeating him and his deep pocket friends? The future of Canton may just hang in the balance. Thanks for listening!

So it’s Friday and I should be happy since it’s the end of the work week, a short one at that with the snow storm, but frankly I’m just pissed. I guess I’ve just had my fill of stupidity for the week, and for that matter a lifetime. I like to keep up to date on what’s happening in my community, my country, and the world as a whole, but I’m beginning to dread all news lately. Why? Well first off, any issue of any importance gets overshadowed by the mindless drivel of the so called journalists. They need to report the facts and get on with it, not weave conspiracy theory into every freaking story. Second, I’m appalled with the complete lack of common sense by seemingly anyone who holds any government office. Mindless spending, unchecked power, and a complete disregard for what the public wants…they all make me want to puke. And third, I’ve totally had it with the erosion of our constitutional rights, not the least of which is freedom of speech. I’ve had my fill of being told what I can say, when I can say it, and to whom it may be addressed. I don’t care if people don’t agree with my opinions, that’s the whole point of having open dialogue. If I offend somebody, well that’s the way it is. Frankly I’m offended on a daily basis by the same people who continue to shove political correctness down my throat when they’re really trying to sell me on the idea of abandoning my freedoms in the name of tolerance. I got news for them, I ain’t buying. I appreciate you putting this site up for people to have a place to express their opinions. God knows we can’t turn to our local paper. I often wonder if the ledger runs each story over to the city building for review before they run it. Hell, maybe they are now on the city’s payroll. At this point, nothing would shock me. Thanks for giving me a place to rant, you just may have saved my sanity.

I'd heard from a very reputable source that a portion of South Main Street, from Elm to Pine, was blocked off this morning in order for the city to be able to "tidy up" every visible molecule of snow along that area in preparation for a very very special guest scheduled to arrive in Canton today. Who was this very very special guest? None other than the same person who, apparently, doesn't like the looks of the generator from his newly remodeled Lewis Emporium building. Yep,....Canton blocked off customer and worker access to the businesses located on South Main between Elm and Pine to clean up the area for none other than Mr. Cook himself!

Ain't that just freaking swell?

Whether it was for 5 minutes or 5 hours, I feel sincerely sorry for those businesses who had access to their store fronts denied because of this inexcusable action of the city. This isn't a slam against Mr. Cook, this is a slam against just a little more stupidity coming from our city building. Mr. Cook is a businessman. Businessmen open and run businesses with hopes of turning a profit from those businesses. The people who run the businesses located on South Main between Elm and Pine ALSO open and run their businesses with hopes of turning a profit. All of these businesses pay taxes and provide incomes for their employees. None of these businesses are any more, nor less, valuable than any others....including anything owned by Mr. Cook. For those powers that be who run this city of Canton, Illinois to take it upon themselves to elevate the status and importance of one businessman over another is, quite possibly, the biggest slap in the face they could give to the other businesses and owners in this town.

Will the city close down each section of the square in order to commit equal time to tidy up the rest of the downtown areas? I doubt it, but at least then everyone would be given the same treatment which, unfortunately, includes denying access to their businesses for a while. The irony to this story is that Mr. Cook never made it today anyway, so the road was blocked and man hours dedicated to cleaning this area in front of one of his businesses/properties for absolutely no reason.

Seriously, now, why on earth does ANYONE at city hall feel like this sort of stupidity is necessary? I doubt very highly that Mr. Cook would base his visiting his own property on whether the road was cleared or not and, if he DOES demand this sort of treatment, then perhaps many of you were correct when you've stated we should change the name of Canton to "Cooksville". I know that Mr. Cook may or may not like the looks of the generator at city hall, located directly across from his building, but I sincerely doubt that our spending $50,000 on a brick wall to hide it was anything he "demanded". In truth, I think this, and cleaning the road for one of his visits, is simply a little more ass-kissing from the Mayor.

God, man....is it really necessary to pucker up on a daily basis?

Okay,....somebody help me out with this. Just saw in the CDL that we've just got to get rid of that unsightly blight of a generator next to the city building by covering it up with a wall that will match the brick of the city building. This is nothing new. This wall was discussed a few months back and everyone went ape over the bids that came in at $57,000 and $58,000. People knew this was grossly overpriced and, after all, you could almost build a house for this amount of money. Why, please tell me, is a bid of $49,200 acceptable today? Why, please tell me, does Meade think that his "deciding vote" in the matter needs to reflect the wants, needs or desires of Mr. Cook?

Three of our Aldermen wisely voted against this wall, siting the high ticket price as the reason for their votes, and I'd like to personally thank Mr. Pickel, Sarff and Schenk for having the balls to let the voice of reason guide them in their decisions.

I'd like to personally tell Mr. Meade to either A) Get a grip on reality when it comes to the cost of construction projects, or B) quit throwing his ass around and using his "deciding vote" to skew decisions that affect the entire community towards the wishes of Mr. Cook. This generator has been sitting in that spot for years and I've never heard anyone throw a fit about it before but, now that Cook owns the Lewis Pharmacy building directly across the street, all of the sudden this "monstrosity" MUST BE DEALT WITH...apparently with no real regard to price. Meade even had the audacity to say that the monies that Cook will be paying for the lot at the corner of Main and Locust, $40,000, will be used to pay for a good portion of this wall. This whole thing is wrong on so many levels.

What say you?

NEW RANT!!! Today 1/31/11, I went to our local hardware/sporting goods/furniture/etc store, known as Farm King, to buy a power snow shovel. They had a TORO brand shovel priced at $119.00. As I went to get a cart to put it in, one of the stockers went to the display with new price stickers and changed the price to $129.88. When I asked him what was going on with the price, he said, "DUDE, there's a BIG storm coming. We gotta get all we can, while we can." It took all I could muster to not knock DUDE on his ass and then go after the store manager. Instead, I let cooler heads prevail and left the store and headed to Pekin to shop at Menard's. Lo, and behold, after getting directions to the snow blower display, by a VERY nice lady clerk, I got my TORO power snow shovel, exactly the same model..........for $79.00!!!!! Now, gas is around 3 bucks/gallon today. My car gets over 30mpg and Pekin is about 24 miles away. Assuming I burned two gallons of gas, round trip, I still saved about $44 and had a chance to get out of the house for a while. Dennis Crawford and Mark Rothert just can't understand WHY we don't shop in Canton. GET A FREAKING CLUE YOU FLAMING MORONS!!!!! Hell, even Jesse James used a mask to rob people because he was ashamed of what he was doing. Farm King will rob you and grin like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland and call you DUDE on top of it! Home town shopping is a thing of the past for me. I'll either shop in Pekin or Peoria or do without before I get held up by a Canton merchant again.

I have a topic I would like to see discussed.
The topic being a small part of our(so called) Fulton County legal system.
The question I want answered (and would like to see others opinion on)is why is it when someone has a standing warrant,say for "Failure to Appear" they can just go to the police department or the County Sheriff's office and pay just a small fine and walk away free to fail to appear again? It looks to me this is just a way to make a little more money. Now I'm not a criminal nor have any warrants out on me but I think if I did,this would be a good way to "escape"from the penalties that my crime deserves.
This just one of my pet peeves (I have many) of our "Justice System's"ignorance.

So there's a new proposed federal standard for school lunches. Yippee. Is this really so hard to figure out? Back when I was in school (and I didn't exactly go to school with Lincoln) they served lunches. Back when I was in school it also seemed like half, or more, of the children got free or reduced lunches. Maybe it was the neighborhood I lived in, but nobody seemed to be rich, but all of the kids seemed quite happy and, for the most part, physically fit. There were very few overweight kids and even fewer kids, if any, that you would actually call obese.

I guess my point is this; poverty and obesity do not go hand in hand as many seem to think. I understand why people think this is true because, quite honestly, they started offering "options" in the school lunches back when I was in Jr. High in the 70's, so anyone younger than I wouldn't remember the days when "junk food in schools" wasn't available. In other words, the "junk food" available in schools today is the perfect excuse for "obese" children.

Back to my story. So, when I was in grade school we would either take a sack lunch or eat the basic lunch that was available at school, which would be comparable to the "basic" lunch available now,...and most of us would eat "poor people" food the rest of the day. I don't recall many of us going hungry, but it seemed like there was quite a few macaroni and hot dog type meals,.....and maybe one or two "big" evening meals a week. None of us were really "fat"
Once in Jr. High,...the point where most children really start to shoot up in size, we had options at lunch. You could get some real crap. Hell, if you wanted 5 puddings with whipped cream you could just get that. There was even a candy machine filled with crap. My crap of choice was Corn Nuts, by the way. (They even used to give you Corn Nut seeds in the package for a while.) At any rate, even in Jr. High, with crap available left and right, obesity still wasn't an issue.

I, like many concerned parents, am shocked by the amount of overweight children I see these days. It's incredible. So what's the difference?

Well, to be quite honest, when we were kids, we did things that kids don't do any more. We played outside. We played football, baseball,....shoot a few hoops in the drive way. We'd play tag, army....even superheroes if you had a vivid enough imagination. (There was more than one garbage can lid in our neighborhood that doubled as Captain America's shield). We had paper routes, we went skating every Friday and Saturday night, we'd play in the snow till we couldn't feel our knee caps. We were kids.
We didn't sit in front of a computer 12 hours a day. We didn't sit in front of the television 6 evenings a week....until after we had done our homework and after we'd played outside until it was dark and time to come home. Then we'd watch a quick show or two as the night was winding down,....and hit the bed without spending an additional hour or two playing video games. We had video games, archaic as they might have been, and we actually had some great television shows back then, but that wasn't where our priorities were. We wanted to spend time playing with our friends, riding bikes.....being social the way kids are supposed to be.

I have no issue with "options" in a school lunch line. I guess I do have a problem with fast foods as an option, though. I don't find it necessary to have a Taco Bell, McDonalds or Little Caesars pizza in school. The corporate world of fast food has enough of a foothold on our kids without intensifying the situation by waving a Big Mac in front of a teenager every day of the week. The schools should have regular ol' lunches.....and a few options as well. Have some cookies available, cake, even those delicious chocolate pudding bowls with a pile of whipped cream. Nothing wrong with it at all. Will this solve the problem of our nations children being overweight? Nope. Not one teenie tiny bit. You know what? It's not my place to solve that problem.

It's also not Michele Obama's place to solve it,....nor any other part of our government. I'm tired of our government feeling obligated to be my brother's keeper. You know why? Because if your child is overweight, it's YOUR problem. I'll be quite frank with you. If your child is overweight and it's not a medical condition,.....it's your responsibility. It's your FAULT, as far as that goes. I'll go one better. If your child is overweight and it's not a medical condition, you are a bad parent. At the very least, you're a lazy parent. It's just too much work to take even the slightest precautions to make sure your child doesn't sit on his or her ass for 12 hours a day drinking pop and eating snacks all the while. Oh, and let me remind you again, although it's certainly not the healthiest thing in the world, a Hostess Ding Dong and a Mountain Dew 3 times a day isn't going to make your child grow a snout and start digging for truffles....as long as the kid is a kid and participates in normal activities rather than sitting at a computer or watching television until their legs atrophy.

Worried about your child? Worried about a weight problem in your house? Unplug the computer when you leave for work,...take the cord with you. When you come home, wait until 8 to hook it back up. Tell your kids to get off their asses and shut the boob tube off for a while. Send them outside. Make them STAY outside, or go ride a bike, or go skating, or go to the Y. Make them DO something for a change. Be a good parent! Not only will your kid end up getting a little smaller but, with a little luck, you might even see your electric bill drop a couple bucks.

Q. How many people does it take to run a county?
A. How much money do you have?

We've got a new county accountant. $60,000 a year,....48 weeks of work. That's over $30 buck an hour, for those of you counting. Gosh, I hope we can hire somebody else,...maybe a math teacher or something, for an additional $60,000 a year to double-check his work.

Okay, so we've just experienced an incredible 66% state income tax hike. How's that working for you? Had enough hope and change yet? Personally.....I'm hoping the state will at least let me keep my change.

Okay, so I've been to the Joe Berardi web pages and, quite frankly, I don't get it. Is it really necessary to have one or two lines of an article followed immediately with a "click hear to read more about (enter headline)"....only to find that the click takes you to the exact same thing you were at.....with like maybe another line or two? Sorry Joe, I don't get it. Make it a little easier to follow along.

Mr. Berardi's website list several of what he calls "so-called Democrats" as supporting a "Republican" (Kevin Meade) for mayor by contributing dollars to his campaign. Two things come to mind in his rantings.
1: Local elections are SUPPOSED TO BE non-partisan. Meaning nobody runs as a Democrat or a Republican. Voters should pick the best man for the job regardless of his political views in other matters where partisanship may prevail.

2: I find this exactly the reason Mr. Berardi should be viewed as a raving lunatic who thinks he can bully people who oppose his self-serving views. He criticizes several of the "so-called Democrats" for supporting a "Republican" for Mayor of Canton. Yet, he was seen by more than a couple of people putting up signs for the recently elected State Representative Candidate Mike Unes, who is "A REPUBLICAN"!!! I understand he supported REPUBLICAN UNES because of his dislike of Mike Smith. That's fine. But, don't criticize those who vote the way they want in a NON-PARTISAN election if you do the same thing in the two party election. That is just being a hypocrite.

Maybe Mr. Berardi should look in the mirrors of his glass house before he critisizes others for their views and opinions.

I noticed today that SRC recently recognized some of their distinguished alumni. Among those listed was one Kevin Meade. Nice that he's been noticed for all of his achievements including, as he pointed out in the article, pool, foosball and pitch. All talents effectively used in his appointment as Mayor, no doubt.

I received an e-mail from a concerned citizen the other day that I found interesting. I haven't had a chance to look in to it, but perhaps some of you have. It read as follows:

"In reading the lengthy article on the Navistar lawsuit,did anyone notice that the "city borrowed over $900,000 from Cook Group to complete all required remedial action on the development block" for the Cook Medical project? I don't seem to remember seeing any vote on this. Maybe I just missed it."

I must have missed it too. Anyone have any comments about this?

I know that our Mayor, along with all of his other attributes such as "pool, foosball, and pitch" certainly seems to enjoy making sure everything uptown is full of wonderful eye candy so that he can have a good view from his office (he just adores a penthouse view), but wouldn't you think all of that "free grant money" could be used for better purposes? Know what we saw the other day? You'll like this. We were heading down to Springfield and stopped off a a quick mart for a drink and gasoline. Hanging up was a tee-shirt with a picture of a wind farm windmill with the caption "Porta's Biggest Fan". When I asked the gal behind the counter what that meant see informed us that Porta had received a grant that they used to erect one lone windmill. That single windmill powers their entire school. Are ya listening, Meade, grants can do so much more than buy flowers and curbs and lamps...OH MY!

Our group, Canton Area Citizens for Environmental Issues, Canton Lake and its Watershed, applied at HyVee to distribute their coupon books to earn money for the expenses that our group will incure with the hiring of a hydro-geologist and an attorney to represent us at our hearing. The coupon books say on the front of them HyVee Fun Raising and we purchased 500 of these books from HyVee. We distributed them in front of their store for 9 hours and again at the Friendship Festival for 4 days as well as to our family and friends.

This Fund Raiser is available to any not for profit organization and we qualify in that catagory completely. On Monday, October 4th, after we had been distributing these coupon books for 5 weeks or more, we received phone calls from the manager we had been dealing with at HyVee that he was recalling the coupon books, "for the good of the store". They had received several phone calls, all in just a short period of time, from people objecting to our distributing the books and saying that we were telling folks that HyVee supported us. At no time did we indicate that HyVee supported our group or what we are working toward. We merely offered the coupon book to whoever wanted one for a donation of $5.00 which is printed right on the front of the book. We are being discriminated against by some very small minded people. We have every right to work toward a goal that we feel is for the good of the community, just as others have the right to work for whatever they believe. According to the people that we spoke with at HyVee, they do not know the names of the people that they spoke with, nor do we know exactly what was said to them.

One might assume that there was some sort of warning or threat but that is nothing that we can prove since HyVee has not been forthcoming in what was said to them and by whom. The Chamber of Commerce sent emails and faxes to their members and the newspaper stating that HyVee does not support our group making it sound like we had done something wrong. This is a COMMUNITY PROJECT that HyVee has available for organizations that qualify to use as a fund raiser. We were participating in that COMMUNITY PROJECT. Joe Ginger was also called several times in a short period of time asking him to remove our monthly meeting notice. This deliberate act on someone's or some group's part denies us our fundamental right to participate in a community fundraiser project. We intend to continue to work to acheive our goal as it is very important to us.

Betty, a member of CACEI

So I was paying my water bill a couple weeks ago and saw something on the bill I had not noticed before. We all know that Canton has this policy that says "A 10% late charge will be added to accounts paid after the due date." Kinda steep for a late charge for a water bill which charges you twice for everything anyway, dontcha think? I mean, just reading down the bill you get charged for D. Improvements (ha) D. Water, D. Sewer, R. Garbage, S. Sewer (they change the letter code so we won't notice) and W. Water...(again with a different code. Maybe we get two different waters.)

At any rate, so the bills are ridiculous as is, then if somebody happens to be in dire straights, they'll tack on another 10%. Anybody knows that the way to get out of financial trouble is to pay MORE for the bill that you were having a problem with in the first place, right? So after the 10% statement at the bottom of the bill it continues with "Accounts not paid by the 25th of the month will be charged an additional $20 fee for water and $10 fee for garbage." Garbage is right. That means that somebody in dire straights gets popped a penalty not once, but twice for the same problem! S'matter Mayor, got your eye on a new car?

My bill is, typically, due on the 10th. Maybe they all are, I don't know. So, as an example, if my bill is $40 and I miss the 10th,..it's now $44 dollars. If I don't pay it by the 24th, let's say I break my neck and am in the hospital, then the "City Of Friendship" adds another $20 for water...boosting my bill to $64, then another $10 as a garbage penalty...flinging my original bill of $40 to $74,...all in only 14 days!

So, when does the whole "City Of Friendship" ever kick in?

In January of 2001, Jones called Complainant into his office to review some of the Church's finances. During the session, Jones told Complainant that he knew of ministers who are having affairs from women who seduce them, and that he wondered why that did not happen to him. Complainant replied "well you know you're married,"

In the spring of 2001, Weaver, who had been working overtime at the Church office, indicated in the presence of Jones and Complainant that she was going to lunch because she needed a break. Jones responded, in the presence of Weaver and Complainant: "I'll give you a break. If you want a break, get under the desk and give me a blow job." Weaver then told Jones: "Is this what Jesus would say? He can hear what you're saying." Complainant also stated: "I don't appreciate that."

Subsequent to comment mentioned in Finding of Fact No. 6 but also in the spring of 2001, Jones stated to Complainant in the presence of Weaver in the Church office: "Cheryl, you can give me a blow job." Complainant replied that she did not appreciate the comment.

Shortly after September 11, 2001, Jones and a member of the Church (John Grant) were in Jones's office discussing a picture of a Middle Eastern woman. Either Grant or Jones described the picture as a "Middle Eastern woman wearing a thong, who was not shaven" and invited Complainant to come into Jones's office to view the picture. Complainant declined the invitation.

in the fall of 2001, Brooks was at her work station when Jones, in the presence of Complainant, stood over Brooks's shoulders and told her that MapQuest is a program that allows you to obtain driving directions to individuals. Jones then used as an example an individual whose first and last names were "Dick" and "Head," who lived on "Blow Street." Jones laughed at his example.

During the winter months of early 2002, Brooks and Complainant were talking in the Church office about an incident that Brooks experienced while staying at her grandparent's home the prior evening. During the conversation, Brooks stated that she was reading in her bed when the headboard made a loud noise as it unexpectedly fell apart. Jones, who had overheard the conversation, stated: "Well, what were you doing to yourself in bed?"

In late spring of 2002, a member of the Church (Carol Haggerty) spoke to Jones about an outfit Complainant had worn, i.e., a pair of shorts and a form fitting knit top, that a friend of Haggerty's believed was inappropriate for the Church office. Jones seemed embarrassed about having to speak to anyone in the office about the issue and eventually asked Haggerty to speak to Complainant about her outfit. Haggerty told Complainant the next day that there had been complaints about Complainant wearing shorts in the office. After Haggerty left the office, Complainant became upset and spoke to Jones about her conversation with Haggerty. At some point during the conversation, Jones stated in front of Complainant and Brooks: "Well, I guess I can make the dress code miniskirts, but that really wouldn't help things, would it?"

Subsequent to the late spring 2002 miniskirt remark, Jones made periodic statements to both Complainant and Brooks, which continued to at least October of 2003, that the dress code in the office should be miniskirts and halter tops. Both Brooks and Complainant were offended by the comment.

In June of 2003, Complainant came into work and discovered an icon on her computer that contained a video of a man passing gas and lighting his rear-end on fire. Jones and another member of the Church (Mike Russell) thereafter came into the office laughing and one of the men stated: "We downloaded this from the Bob and Tom Show. This is Mike Russell lighting his bottom on fire." Complainant left her desk, and both Jones and Russell played the video several times.

In the summer of 2003, Complainant was preparing to leave the office when Brooks told Jones, who had come out of his inner office, that she was going to be working overtime that evening. Complainant overheard Jones tell Brooks: "The only overtime you're going to be working is under my desk on your knees." Jones then left the office.

In the summer of 2003, Jones made a comment in front of both Complainant and Brooks about the bad mood of Wilma Smith, who was working at the time as the Church's parttime Children's Director. Specifically, Jones stated that Smith would be much happier if she had "six more inches at home."

Complainant also told Anderson that Jones had a practice of throwing a foam "stress ball" and flinging rubber bands at her. She also stated that there were times when Jones would stand a few feet away from her and throw the stress ball in a hard fashion at her and say, "Are you getting mad?'

In September of 2003, Tammy Hamilton (the Church's Director of Music), Complainant and Brooks were in the Church office discussing Hamilton's recent weight loss associated with her bypass surgery. After Hamilton made the observation that, because of her weight loss, she needed to find a date, Jones stated: "Well here, Tammy, let me introduce you to Jack," an individual who suffered from schizophrenia who occasionally came into the Church office seeking assistance. At that time everyone in the office construed Jones's comment as a joke. Brooks then stated: "I thought Jack had a girlfriend." Jones then replied: "The only girlfriend Jack has is Rosy Palm with five fingers that he visits every day."

In October of 2003, Complainant and Brooks was having a conversation about Curtis Scaif, a Church member who had dropped off certain paperwork related to his upcoming wedding. As Scaif was leaving the office, Brook mentioned to Complainant that she had a picture of Scalf when he was a child standing by a horse. Complainant responded to Brooks: "You got a picture of him standing by a horse?" Jones, who was also standing in the outer office and heard the conversation between Complainant and Brooks, said: "Well Cheryl, what's he doing—what do you think he's doing with that horse?" Complainant responded: "I don't appreciate that comment." Jones then replied: "Oh Cheryl, your mind's just as filthy as mine." Complainant then stated: "No, Keith, it's not."

At some point during the work week of October 20, 2003 to October 24, 2003, John Grant came into the office while Brooks was on vacation, powered up Brooks's computer and pulled up the web site for the Bob and Tom Show. Complainant was working on the lithograph machine that was besides Brooks's desk and could observe what was on Brooks's computer screen. With Jones standing nearby, Grant pulled up a picture of a semi-nude, topless model lying face down on a picnic table amidst several beer bottles and wearing only thong underwear. The picture contained the following written caption: "Optical Illusion. There are 26 long neck beer bottles hidden in this photo, but they are incredibly difficult to see unless you really concentrate. Good Luck." Both Jones and Grant were looking at the picture, with Grant saying "Count the beer bottles."

I recently came across a small children’s bike park in Peoria. It is on Giles Ave. off of Knoxville.

The park was fenced in and had traffic signs, signal lights, two lane streets, etc. Looked like a great place for children to learn the proper way to ride their bikes on the street. There were several children using it the day I happened to drive by.

This would be a great asset to the city of Canton. Seems like maybe somewhere in the middle of the Wallace Park walking path would be a great place for it or possibly the area deep in the outfield of the ball diamond on the north east corner of the park

DavePickel

Well, a building on South Main had some issues tuesday afternoon. The back sorta fell apart and collapsed. Things like this can definitely happen with 100 year old buildings, especially during years with extensive rain and high humidity. These two factors play havoc with 100 year old mortar. Could anything have been done to prevent it? Sure, as long as you've got bottomless pockets and can predict the future.

In other words, I personally can't blame the owner(s) in this instance for a few different reasons.

First, there haven't seemed to be many businesses too interested in renting the building. This could be a classic example of "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" Do they not rent because the building is in disrepair, or is the building in disrepair because they do not rent?

Second, although there are rental apartments being occupied, the majority of those tenants seem to have little respect for the property of anyone else,...whether speaking of an apartment, the sidewalk, or the park uptown. How much money would YOU dump into an apartment where everything could be (and most likely would be) destroyed, or where you have to chase down the tenants for rent week to week, or you get beat out of every third month rent because the tenants skip out in the middle of the night?

Third, if the owner(s) aren't part of the uptown elite (which I personally don't believe they are) they probably aren't being offered all of the swell incentives to jazz up the front of the building like their neighboring property owners down the road a block. Certainly would make me feel a little isolated if I weren't part of the "in" crowd and all I ever got was flak about how my buildings were maintained while, at the same time, everyone else is getting incentives for superficial storefront work.

I completely understand the importance of having a nice looking downtown area, so don't get me wrong, but I do have a hard time understanding why a facade is more important than the structural integrity of a building. Why are we wasting money on flowers, landscaping, new street lamps, and incentives for property owners to build new storefronts when those same funds should be used to offer incentives for much needed structural improvements? I don't mean "free money" here kids...I mean city loans or what have you.

I do know the owners (at least the managers) of this particular building enough to know that, although they don't necessarily care about how spiffy an apartment might look to the types of renters they have, they also would have never deliberately subjected anyone to potential harm in a structurally dangerous building situation. They may have been aware of a potential problem arising, but did not foresee an immediate urgency, or simply had not been in the financial position to make such expensive repairs yet. Think about it for a moment. Nobody would deliberately wait for a building to suffer collapse when a preventative repair would be much less costly than rebuilding a collapsed wall. Perhaps a city incentive program for STRUCTURAL repairs would make a little more sense than our current "Storefront, Streetlamps and Lillies" program? Just a thought. What do you think?

While driving through Pekin last weekend, we drove by the Dog Park they have. I noticed a lot of people with their furry friends enjoying the facilities and that got my pea brain wondering. Why can't Canton have such a nice place to take our pets? I mean, we do have the "dog park" but it is really nothing more than a fence in the middle of some swamp land. And by that I mean, when it rains, the middle of the "park" has a big mug pit. I'm sure some dogs don't mind the fun of playing in the mud, but I know their parents are all against it.
I assume it's the Park Districts responsibility to take care of the park and I know that it probably isn't high on there list of priorities but why isn't it? Like I said, it IS fenced in, but there are several places that smaller dogs can slide right through and while I'm on the subject of small dogs, why can't vast open area be sectioned off into 2 or possibly 3 areas all fenced in from each other. A double fence to get in without worrying about letting one out. With 2 or 3 areas, the big dogs can play with other big dogs and smaller dogs don't have to worry about getting eaten or mulled over.
Socialization is key to your pets well-being and builds the grounds for behavior for years to come.
We have no water available, a couple trees and a leftover picnic table.
We do frequent the park, but I feel there are lots of room for improvements. I have done a impromptu survey and incredibly there are a lot of people from right here in town that did not know we had a dog park. Incredible!

Regardless of whether for or against the golf course, do you feel it is right for the City of Canton to dictate what an owner of private property should do with that property? Do you feel it was right for the City of Canton to spend taxpayer money on a feasibility study for that private property?

Was it right for the Canton Fire Department to find out that the city would no longer fund the Dive Team by seeing the equipment for sale in a classified ad?

Do you feel it is right that training for the Canton Fire Department might be compromised due to city budget cuts?

Call this an online survey, if you will. Share your thoughts on the current administration.