I have dream that one day, the City Council will actually address and discuss the crime people here are dealing with instead of backing private projects with taxpayer money and voting new fees and taxes and raising the ones we have while telling us we are broke.
That one day, the Council will actually act on the wishes and concerns of the citizens who elected them and for once, tell a developer we are broke.
I have a Dream…
That one day or Council will say “Sorry no more projects. We have other pressing concerns that affect our way of life and we are going to address the crime and how we can improve our streets as the people who elected us would want us to do.”
That one day, our council will stopping acting like they are better than us ordinary citizens, the ones that elected them. The ones they are sworn to represent, not to ignore. This town wasn’t built by 11 people. It was built by many ordinary hard working peoples over generations. Stop ignoring the wishes of the public! It was the public and their ideas and dreams that built this city.
I have a Dream…
That our city council will recognize that we are overtaxed and stop handing out our money for fly by night fixes and dreams of how new buildings will bring growth and then tell us there is no money but we will build it anyway. We have enough empty new buildings.
That out city leaders will see that clean streets, properly staffed police, and an excellent fire department, with good schools will bring people back, not a museum, nor a walkway to an auditorium.
I have a Dream…
That one day, our schools will hold parents responsible for the actions of their children. That having a child is a lifetime commitment and a parent has to understand they are held responsible for that person.
That one day, kids may actually understand that respect is earned and not given and that even though you have Rights, they will come to play when you break our laws. That schools are for learning, not for lunch or baby sitting or for teaching your kid morals. The parent is responsible for the proper feeding and clothing of your child. Can’t handle it? Close your damn legs. Respect yourself first.
I have a Dream…
That this city council will vote down this hotel project. That the morals they claim they have will not allow taxpayer money to build a millionaire a strip club and make a millionaire out of a suspect developer while they claim prayer is the answer and holding their values up high.
That the Mayor will not ask again for 40 days of prayer to fight crime and then bend over backwards to keep a strip club and continue to cheat the citizens of Peoria through the Garbage Fee while handing out bibles and preaching of values, two blocks from a strip club they help to build.
I had these dreams and I ask that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. forgive me for using his theme, but as Eddie Murphy once said: “We are in deep shit!!”
8 comments:
Well written, you are the man.
Love this and everything else written by this talented, insightful blogger! We appreciate his writing and style of expression! Foxcat
http://tellpeoria.com/news/2011/10/30/is-occupy-peoria-targeting-peoria-city-council-over-pere-marquette-expansion/
From yesterday's Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203687504577001780712273626.html about how the capitol of Pennsylvania was lead into bankruptcy. From the article: "The Harrisburg case raises fundamental questions about the way cities and states increasingly use debt to finance speculative development that private investors or lenders won't touch. From minor league stadiums to arenas, museums, downtown redevelopment and waste plants with unproven technologies, billions have been spent on schemes of questionable value. Some projects are backed by unrealistic economic projections, which leave taxpayers on the hook for bond payments or operating subsidies."
WOW. Doesn't that sound JUST LIKE Peorai?
BRAVO!
Regrettably, keep dreaming ... talking about roundabouts, hotels, museums, ball stadiums and continuing to avoid the topic of combating crime tells us the sad story that 'stuff, glitz and sizzle' are more important than 'citizens, basics and saftey.' That's Peoria!
It's kind of difficult to be excited about a NEW museum when I have to consider is it worth being in Peoria and dealing with people getting mugged while walking, working in your yard, driving your car; shootings everyday; large group fights everyday; high rates of domestic violence; high rates of STDs in school age children; babies having babies; housing projects being run by the criminals who live there; run down homes with boarded up windows; run down homes with wild weeds; CRAZY taxing schemes; failing schools... need I go on?
Peoria is a scary place these days. I find the scariest thing to be what is happening in the schools. Who really is going to come to Peoria when there is such a small area of homes which will put there kids in the "decent" schools? It is really sad there are only three or four schools which might be deemed decent. Private schools are expensive and not everyone can afford to send their kids there.
I don't know why a SAFE school and classroom is something the administration feels is not important enough for the East Bluff or South end kids. This fact breaks my heart.
Every Peoria child is worthy of an education. Every parent should be able to expect a safe environment in the school for their child. Every student should have the same rules to follow and if the rule is broken, the punishment should be administered. At this point, I think some of the teachers would just appreciate any sort of punishment. Instead, there is NOTHING happening.
The teachers are miserable because they are receiving no support, no books, no curriculum, classrooms are stuffed, and the president of their union sits up on Wisconsin seemingly helping only himself. But, at the end of the day, the true losers in all of this.....are the students who are losing the one place in their life where there might be a bit of discipline to set them back on the right course.
Post a Comment