The drama in the 1st District Council race continues...

as Gary Sandberg is reportedly looking to appeal the Election Commission's decision to remove his name from the 1st District ballot.

From reading comments on this and other blogs, here is what I can deduce at this juncture...

SHEER SPECULATION ALERT!

Supposedly, Sandberg was concerned that Emert can't beat Moore. Before Moore had shown any interest of running in the 1st, Sandberg had encouraged Emert to run for the council and actually seemed to "like" Emert. According to Emert, that has changed, cause Sandberg spent 35 minutes saying nasty things about him the other day and didn't shake his hand before saying them.

Sandberg, sees Moore as just moore of the same (i.e., the status quo). Sandberg, believing that Moore could beat Emert, didn't want to sit by and let her take the 1st (which he really cares about), so he "established residency" and then put his name in put his name in and went about "establishing residency."

Now, allegedly, "the powers that be," (i.e., the Mayor and nem) want Moore on the Council. For that reason, the fix was in at the Election Commission (i.e., LaColis Reed a/ka/ the black guy on the Election Commission) to boot Sandberg from the ballot. 

NOW that Sandberg has been booted, Moore has a clear chance of winning the 1st over Emert (you know, cause Emert is white and the 1st is predominately black). Drama.

Again, this is all sheer speculation based upon comments being made by people who are involved with the situation directly and peripherally.

Notice for filing School Board nominating petitions

click image to enlarge

School Board Member, Martha Ross' term expires in 2013. Mrs. Ross was appointed to the District 150 Board of Education prior to being elected to the Board from District 1 in 2003. It is not known at this time if Mrs. Ross will be seeking re-election.

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The Board of Education, City of Peoria, School District #150, hereby gives public notice that one (1) School Board member is to be elected in the election to be held on April 9, 2013. One School Board member is to be elected from the first (1st) School Election District.

Petitions may be obtained from Joan L. Bastian, Secretary of the Board of Education, at her office at 3202 N. Wisconsin Avenue, Peoria, Illinois, during regular office hours. School Board candidates may circulate petitions beginning September 25, 2012.

The first day petitions may be filed is Monday, December 17, 2012 at 8:00 a.m. and the last day for filing petitions is Monday, December 24, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. Source

Blogger, Randall Emert a/k/a Emtronics a/k/a Peoria Anti-Pundit to run for 1st District council seat

Just a couple of weeks ago, Denise Moore announced that she would be seeking to fill Councilman Clyde Gulley's 1st District seat. Today, blogger, Randall Emert a/k/a Emtronics a/k/a Peoria Anti-Pundit is announcing his candidacy for the 1st District seat with a 1,347 word essay, which is actually free of curse words. It appears that his platform will be consistent with some of the issues that stick in the blogger's craw. 

In a previous post, I chided blogger, Randall Emert a/k/a Emtronics a/k/a Peoria Anti-Pundit, about running to represent the long standing residents of the 1st District:

First up on the 1st District appeasement list...

1st District Councilman Clyde Gulley

Spring Grove, which is the new gated subdivision that the majority of well do black people who live in Southtown reside in. 

At Tuesday's City Council meeting the local newspaper reporter who was live blogging, blogged that the Mayor accused Sandberg and Gulley of grandstanding for the audience. Now we know that Sandberg is always going to speak on behalf of constituents, but Gulley, ummmm, not so much. 

But hey, it appears that this Southtown TIF thingy has revived him.

Check it out he really has a lot to say: 

• 1st District City Councilman Clyde Gulley, who represents the Southtown area, said Urich's office should not "assume" there are no neighborhood concerns before the council tackles items. 
• "If you really don't know whether or not there are any concerns, you shouldn't say there are not concerns," Gulley said. 
• Gulley said the city should focus the TIF district money on projects of importance within Southtown. 
• Gulley cited a street lighting project within the Spring Grove subdivision he says has been needed for years, though the project is not specifically included in the city's capital budget plan. 
• Gulley said some of the passionate calls to keep the money in Southtown reflects the frustrations of residents in that area. 
•  "It's because there have been a lot of promises broken, I think the people in the south side are tired of it," said Gulley.
• There are a lot of things going on wrong in our community. It's almost like the State of the City is what everyone is talking about. But this is a whole different city we are living in, said Gulley.
• Gulley said we have 9.9 percent unemployment (but the city has) the best credit ratings because people with jobs are doing fine. You have people without jobs; they don't have a credit score." Source

Don't worry Southtown Gulley's got your back.

A short conversation with Councilman Clyde Gulley

I am not in the 1st District and for that reason I don’t usually pay much attention to what is going on there. However, as the City of Peoria has become smaller and more crime infested, would it not behoove us all to begin caring about the whole picture and not just what is happening in our own little neighborhoods?

In Mid March the City received stimulus money through the community development block grant (CDBG). Although the City Council had placed sidewalk fixes and the sewer overflow projects on the top of the priority list, the City administration's suggestion was to use the stimulus monies to pay for improvements to fire stations 3 and 8, repair of the Center for Prevention of Abuse's roof, and for more handicap ramps to be installed throughout the city. The Council voted in favor 10-1 with no discussion (At-Large Councilman Gary Sandberg voted against it).

Recently I took the opportunity to express to 1st District Councilman Clyde Gulley, whose District could have seen new sidewalks and sewers, my disappointment in his vote for use of the stimulus monies. When I asked him what his thinking was behind the vote, Mr. Gulley stated “I voted for the CDBG because the deck was stacked and I could not win.” He went on to say “but I have not gave up, what you may know is before the meeting I figured another way to complete the project....stay tuned.” Actually, I did not know that Councilman Gulley had figured out another way – but I will definitely stay tuned to see what he has in store.

I also took the opportunity to ask Councilman Gulley a couple of other questions:

What are your hopes for the 1st District?
The hopes for the first District are clear. We would like this old section of the city to have the same investment as the other parts of the city. That means that people enjoy and want to live work and play in the 1st District. We have continued to attempt to overcome the negative perception /and realities of the blight and crime. However, though it may be bad in some areas it is not the sum of it all. We have great business, people, and properties in the district and we hope to make sure that they have the opportunity to grow and prosper.

What are some of things that you will be looking to make happen?
What I would like to make happen is the first change the perception of the 1st District. I work on this every day. Second to see many of the projects that only for years have been talked about, I like to see them completed. If you follow my comments you can see that I have been working ....a lot behind the cameras to move our agenda forward. Look at where we are with Route 24 a/k/a Southern Gateway ($10 million dollar allocation); Harrison School $20 million dollar project starting next week; Harrison Homes Reconstruction ($4 million stimulus, $1.3 allocation) starting this September; Martin Luther King Reconstruction (under opportunity acquisition); and a developing Project. The Warehouse District and the new street reconstruction are part of the $10 million from the State capital budget, just to name a few projects that we like to see completed.

I also asked Councilman Gulley to comment on the crime levels in the 1st District; and the Parental Responsibility Ordinance. He stated that he did have a comment on both issues, but would have to address them at another time, as he was in a hurry.