Committee Meetings Tonight

First up is a 1st Quarter Review for the current fiscal year.

Then what appears to be a look back at a 2007 Hotel and Motel Accommodation Tax Rebate
Financing Agreement.

A discussion regarding a fire district follows, Alderman Roessler mentioned some discussions he had on this topic at the lats council meeting.

Then an executive session update on the June court filing against Aaron Griffith for 75% of the costs for his police training paid for by the city totaling somewhere in the neighborhood of $16,000. The agenda notes a settlement offer discussion. I would assume the discussion would maybe also include if the legal expenses are worth the possible amount of money we may recover.

The city website also seems to be missing meeting minute postings from August till the present.

In Case You Missed The Announcment....

Taken from Columbia's City Website.

September 28, 2010

PETITIONS FOR OFFICES OF ALDERMEN AVAILABLE AT CLERK'S OFFICE

Petitions for the City of Columbia offices of Aldermen Ward I, II, III and IV may be obtained at the City Hall Municipal Building, City Clerk's Office, 208 S. Rapp Ave., Columbia, Illinois between the hours of 8:30a.m. to 5:00p.m., Monday through Friday and on Saturday between the hours of 8:30a.m. to 12:00 noon. This is for the Consolidatd Election to be held on Tuesday, April 5, 2011.

Petitions may now be circulated. The first date to file petitions is Monday, December 13, 2010 and continues through Monday, December 20, 2010.

Any questions, call the Clerk's Office at 281-7144, ext. 104.

J. Ronald Colyer, City Clerk
Local Election Official
City of Columbia

Funding From Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Also Wednesday, the department announced that Rock City in Valmeyer will get

Story from the News Democrat found here.

I think solar and wind power are vital to stopping our dependence on fossil fuels. The in-kind donation as their match is smart and should be used more often in these situations. Would be interesting to see how large the panels are and what their break even time period is.

The bid story for us is the last paragraph in that story which is not even mentioned in the headline.

"Also Wednesday, the department announced that Rock City in Valmeyer will get a $750,000 grant to create 30 jobs at the National Archive and Records Administration storage facility and to support other businesses at the abandoned limestone quarry."

I wonder if we'll be seeing a good breakdown of how these funds will be spent. Glad to see the facility is being used and possibly growing.

I Was Taught About The Pitfalls Of Group Think In School.......Was Anyone Else?

It has been just over a week since you could throw those yard signs up for your favorite candidate(s) this fall.

I appreciate and like how people will place a sign for a candidate in their yard that they believe in. It shows everyone who your voting for and who your backing. Its a public stance on an issue that many people keep private. Its a choice that lets the general public "guess" at some of your most core beliefs simply by who your backing. Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice, Big Government vs. Small Government, Guns vs. Less Guns and all the success or failures of the incumbent can be things people "guess" you support or don't simply by whose sign you have on your lawn.

I just have one issue with yard signs and how people use them.

There are a few instances where someone has gone down to the campaign HQ for either party and has opted for the party assortment package. It includes a sign for every candidate your party is backing for that election. I cannot fathom how any one party has the best candidate for every job opening or how someone can think their party has the best candidate for every open office. It simply does not make sense.

It illustrates in my mind that you may not have any knowledge of the candidates but "blanket faith" in the party. Say Quinn is better than Brady since Brady has released no budget plan other than he will fix it the first year in office, does that mean you should vote for Alexi over Kirk since Alexi and Quinn are in the same party? Is it rational to think that way? Is one party always correct?

The fact that the two parties go to war in Washington along party lines distorts what I feel the system was put into place for. A person elected from our district to Congress should do what is best for us locally and what we want, regardless of what their party is doing or not doing. I know many people who vote party lines and don't even worry about who or what these candidates have done or plan to do. Do a little research before you vote.

Keep putting up those yard signs as a statement to endorse the people you support, just make sure you know what they stand for and not just what party they are in.

Could Always Be Worse

Continued Trouble in Cahokia

Even with the complaints I have about how our council fails to communicate you do not have to travel very far to see how it could get worse.

This voter fraud thing has been lingering there for a while, too bad they can't figure this out a little faster.