Addressing an omission in Journal Star coverage

Billy Dennis

First, I applaud Peoria City Manager Scott Moore for moving to an older Peoria home in an older Peoria neighborhood and fixing it up.
Second, I was annoyed that Moore had to go before the Peoria Historic Preservation Commission and ask their permission to demolish the old garage at the site and build a new one.
I strongly suspect that the persnickety commission might NOT have agreed, had the request come from Scott Moore, ordinary citizen. The commission is, after all, a group that gets worked up if you want to put up vinyl siding or modern replacement windows.
But that is not my point.
I’m wondering about something else.
Here’s what happened: Just the older day, I went on a leisurely drive through that neighborhood and remarked at the wonderfully well-kept homes in this neighborhood.
I wondered, reading the most recent Journal Star article on the issue, exactly where this house was. Was it one of those wonderful old buildings I has just that day admired and thought would be a great contribution to the city if it was just fixed up a bit?
I would not be given a chance to find out.
The address wasn’t given in the article. I looked in the previous article. It wasn’t mentioned there, either.
I don’t recall any previous article about commission decision-making that spared property owners the mention of their address in the city’s one and only daily newspaper of record. It was included in every article I could find that discussed this sort of thing.
Suspecting skulduggery at its worst, I sent an email to the reporter, regular city hall beat reporter John Sharp.
(Note: I like and respect John. I almost never make snarky comments about his stories).
So what was it, I asked? A request from city hall to keep the top city employee’s address out of the public eye? Was Scott Moore being shown special treatment?
John replied with an email and then a phone call.
Actually, John said, the decision to not include it was his. Neither Moore nor anyone asked that it be kept out. It wasn’t really a huge issue at the time he wrote either story.
John and I talked about it briefly. I told him that at times I have kept police officers names and addresses out of the paper when I might have otherwise included them.
I said I probably would have included the address, simply out of fairness to those who addresses were printed when it was their turn before the commission.
And the press routinely prints addresses of elected officials, like the city council members, who are Moore’s bosses. And the press doesn’t hesitate to print salaries for government employees, like Moore.
I also noted that some of the comments on the PJStar site were assuming (as I did) that Moore’s request probably would be treated more favorably than others’ have in the past. Leaving the address out might add to conspiracy theories.
John noted that the information is a matter of public record and anyone wanting to know the address could find it.
And I did. The commission meeting agenda says his new address will be 1108 N. Flora.
I’m familiar with that neighborhood, having once lived in the 1100 block of North Ellis, one block over. I used to watch drug dealers ply their trade from the apartment house across the street,
So, it’s safe to say that it just might be a benefit to have a resident with some clout in City Hall.
So, for various reasons, I am of the opinion that Moore’s address should have been printed, but I don’t think it was a nefarious omission.