Whatever 2020 throws at us, your government leaders are finding a way to grind it out. Springdale Cemetery Authority met Aug. 18, using Webex. Manager Mark Matuszak reported the number of burials and cremations is up considerably over last year.…
Author Archive for Terry Bibo
The Watch | Technical difficulties
by Terry Bibo • • 0 Comments
Zoom and its cohorts enable groups and governments to meet despite COVID-19. But virtual meetings are not the same — what is? — and can be difficult, at best. Springdale Cemetery Management Authority, for example, didn’t meet in March, April…
The Watch | Budget woes
by Terry Bibo • • 0 Comments
Your government officials are still Zooming, still adapting, still dancing backward around COVID-19. And the bills are just starting to arrive. All members of the Peoria County Election Commission met via Zoom on May 12 to confront a knotty problem:…
The Watch | Voting and COVID-19
by Terry Bibo • • 0 Comments
A few months ago, if you said public officials were zooming, it might have been an insult. During a pandemic, some public bodies aren’t meeting at all. Springdale Cemetery Authority Board, for example, cancelled its meetings for March, April and…
The Watch | Public meetings during the pandemic
by Terry Bibo • • 0 Comments
At every government level — from Washington D.C. to Springfield to Peoria — COVID-19 is changing the subject, the format and the outcome of public meetings. When the Peoria County Board held its March 12 meeting, for example, Chairman Andrew…
The Watch | Mailed ballots
by Terry Bibo • • 0 Comments
Peoria County’s first vote of 2020 returned via Singapore, according to Local Government Observer (LOGO) reports from the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria. By the time Peoria County Board of Election Commissioners met on Feb. 11, about 150…
The Watch | Keeping an eye on housekeeping
by Terry Bibo • • 0 Comments
Early spring cleaning and preparation for a long election season apparently dominated the agendas for several local governments recently. According to Local Government Observer (LOGO) reports from the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria, the Peoria County Election Commission…
The Watch | Cemetery and housing reports
by Terry Bibo • • 0 Comments
There’s a bit of a winter lull for many governmental bodies. Budgets are finished or far off. Meetings are cancelled for holidays or bad weather. Key volunteers are down south for weeks or months at a time. But this is…
The Watch | Politics 2020
by Terry Bibo • • 0 Comments
Despite a shiny new year — new decade even! — many of us despair at the prospect of Election Year 2020. Don’t give up just yet. Ask and you may receive, even from your elected officials. For example, Jim and…
The Watch | PHA meetings
by Terry Bibo • • 0 Comments
Several months ago, attorney John T. Brady read the local government observer reports in his League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria monthly newsletter. It reported PHA meetings had been moved or cancelled, often without notice. Agendas and basic information…