Exclusive
PARK DISTRICT ENDS MARKETING
The marketing department and all of its employees at the Peoria Park District are gone. It was done with one swipe of the management dismissal brush. That includes the head of the department, we’re told, Cyndy McKone who was appointed to the position after years in sales at WEEK-TV. The official word regarding the demolition of marketing is, “That department is undergoing a change.” The unofficial word is the district believes it’ll save money by “farming out” marketing projects to advertising and marketing agencies. That’s not unusual, but unfortunate.
NICE TRY, BUT NO CIGAR
The Peoria Journal news staff did its best to try and get Councilman Jim Montelongo to run for mayor against Jim Ardis. They did it by printing three non-stories. The first was about how Montelongo was thinking about opposing Ardis complete with criticisms about the city’s mayor. A second story, complete with a big, black, bold, banner headline, said Montelongo was still thinking about a campaign for mayor. Finally, and not a bit surprisingly, a third story announced the councilman’s decision not to oppose Mayor Ardis. Instead, Montelongo will spend his time and money seeking to save his seat on Peoria’s council. Word is someone is planning to run against Montelongo.
Meanwhile, for whatever reason, the 4th District representative didn’t win any friends on the council when he cast the only nay vote against the two year budget. His last minute opposition was based on a desire to increase the balanced budget with additional money for road improvements. He lost and took some heat, too, from Casey Johnson of the 5th District. Johnson reminded Montelongo that he had personally benefited by last year’s road improvement program in WeaverRidge for the street where Montelongo lives. Look for more sparring on the city council in the future with Montelongo in the center.
A HEAD SCRATCHER
Zach Oyler is running for city council and he’s doing it with some heavy political artillery. He had Dave Leitch and Congressman Darin LaHood standing nearby when he held his news conference in front of City Hall. He even used a lectern rented from the city for remarks before a relatively small group of supporters on Fulton Street. No big deal unless you work at the local newspaper. They admonished Oyler for not covering up the City of Peoria logo at the front bottom of the lectern. Talk about silly. For the newspaper photographer and TV people, just “crop” the picture, video, and no one would know, as if anyone really noted or cared.
SHOCK RUNNING AGAIN
Former Congressman Aaron Shock is running again. This time it isn’t for Congress, but for his reputation and future. After the FBI conducted 19 months of investigations, pouring through files and boxes and tax returns and who knows what else, federal prosecutors were able to convince members of a second grand jury to indict the Peorian on 24 charges. All of them, while serious, are minor compared to what FBI director James Comey said about former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. However, she was never charged or indicted because Comey said she did not intend to violate the law(s).” Hmmm. Will that work for Shock? Doubt it.
HISTORIC SURPRISE
Speaking of Clinton, there’s no question the victory by Donald Trump will go down in history as the biggest upset ever in presidential elections. The national and local media laughed, mocked and smeared Trump like no other candidate for the White House. Late night television hosts, comedians on the left, were so biased, one could hear the sound of TV remotes switching to the movie and sports channels to get away from the political bigotry. From “Poopie” Goldberg to CBShost “Stepin’ it” Colbert, the insults were vicious and frequent. In the end, it was Trump and his supporters who had the last laugh. The meltdown of the anti-Trump people was predictable. They thought their candidate had it won six months ago. They were wrong and so were the polls.
OTHER SUPRISES
On the local scene there were at least two election surprises. Judge Jodi Hoos defeated Judge Tim Cusack for circuit judge. Observers thought Cusack, a native Peoria with a well-known family name, would defeat Hoos who came to Peoria from Nebraska some 15 years ago. However, Hoos made a name for herself serving as an assistant state’s attorney for the popular Jerry Brady who worked hard on her behalf along with other Democrats like Steve Sonnemaker, county clerk, and Phil Salzer, county board member, knocking on doors up to and including election day. Incumbent Peoria County coroner Johnna Ingersoll lost to political newcomer Jamie Harwood, a nurse. Ingersoll has served as coroner since 2004. Some were not surprised she lost, but were by the 5,000 vote margin. As I predicted, Republican Mark Kirk lost his re-election bid to Tammy Duckworth. Kirk, like Hillary Clinton, has no one to blame but himself.
The funniest and perhaps the most ridiculous prediction came from a local radio host who reportedly said Democrat Junius Rodriquez would give Republican Darin LaHood a run for his money. “That will be a close race,” he asserted. LaHood won with over 70 percent of the vote. I’m proud to say that since we started our morning show in 2002 on WOAM, we’ve invited candidates for both parties and for any office, to come on our show to discuss their reasons for running for political office. No other radio station in Peoria has done what we do and we did again this year on WAZU-FM 90.7.
IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME
This is a beautiful time of the year. The decorated streets, businesses, the parades, music, church services, all contribute, if we let them, to a joy felt no other time of the year. At least for a time, we can forget our differences and focus on family, friends, and the real meaning of Christmas in the Christian world. And that’s His gift, the baby Jesus. I wish for each of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!