Sunday, March 1, 2009

Peru and LaSalle Mayoral Races

It seems like the mayoral races in both Peru and LaSalle are heating up. In Peru there is an anti-Baker movement, but 2 candidates are running. One is an alderman with a long history of responsible opposition to the mayor and one is a self proclaimed union man who ran a losing campaign last time out. He seems to have tapped into a lode of anger and hostility toward anyone in office regardless of past accomplishments. Many of the conspiracy theorists seem to be backing Dave Harl. I guess he took a hint from the Obama campaign, and is running on a promise of change. Of course, he has not said what that means - just that it is change. The alderman is Dave Potthoff who runs the local YMCA, and has many years experience managing what has become a multimillion dollar enterprise. He has often opposed Mayor Baker's proposals, but was usually the lone voice of dissent. He needs to differentiate himself from Harl and Baker if he is to succeed. I was talking to a Harl supporter the other night, and he told me that many of his fellow Harl supporters believe that Potthoff is running to split the anti-Baker vote so Baker can get in. Man -what are they smoking? Whatever it is has led to a paranoia with little or no basis in reality. If a politician is to be judged by those who support him, then we do not need a Harl in the mayor's office. It will be the same kind of circus Dalzell used to be with Carlo Olivero as mayor. Hello! Is that what Peru wants - an ill informed, incapable, ring master. As for Mayor Baker - he has had his time. He has a record of solid accomplishments, but also a record of some failures. Don't we all have that record in our personal and professional lives? He ran last time on a platform of giving him one more chance. He had it, and now it is time to move on. Retire Don. You and Ann need to enjoy your golden years before they become mere tin.

4 comments:

  1. Who is Dave Harl?

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  2. Dave Harl is my first really bad typo on this blog. I will keep it, frame it, celebrate each year on the anniversary of its publication, and form a cult of Dave Harl followers who will eventually take over the entire Illinois River Valley. Want to join?

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  3. Carlo Olivero wasn't a bad mayor; the Town of Dalzell was run by the same group of cronies before Olivero and all they wanted was to regain power. Maybe Olivero should have had a different town lawyer, but at least he was honorable in resigning when it became apparent that the Town was hopelessly committed to the same disaster.

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  4. Communication seemed to be an issue with Mayor Olivero. Maybe it was the way it was reported. But, the stories that were published in the paper painted him as the problem. Just as later the stories that were published in the paper regarding the mess in the Oglesby city government painted Gary Corless as the problem. Everyone makes their own judgement. I don't know Gary Corless - he may be a nice guy - but he certainly seemed to be at the center of all disruption in the Oglesby City Council while George was mayor. Carlo seemed to be at the center of all disruption while he was mayor of Dalzell. I had Carlo as a macroeconomics instructor at IVCC. His methods sometimes seemed different, but I did learn a lot in the class. He seemed like a nice guy then, but communication is sometimes a problem he had even back in the school room.

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