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Post by father of two on Apr 9, 2015 10:04:27 GMT -6
People could have been like me and not vote for mayor because he was unopposed. Yes the 3rd place person was only 17 votes behind. He is a city employee who from what I saw thought the city was doing a good job. I didn't see where he disagreed with things being done did he?
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Apr 10, 2015 11:55:59 GMT -6
People could have been like me and not vote for mayor because he was unopposed. Yes the 3rd place person was only 17 votes behind. He is a city employee who from what I saw thought the city was doing a good job. I didn't see where he disagreed with things being done did he? You seemed to be trying to say that the voting results showed that the community supports our current Council, but I don't agree that the voting being so split for a challenger, even though he seemed to indicate that he agrees with them, shows that the community supports the direction that they have been heading us for years. Does it really matter how you spin the election results though? You aren't trying to imply that the community has now spoken (with a lack luster 20% turn out) and I no longer have any right to continue to talk about the problems that I see and continue to ask for better for our community, are you? As I've said before, I really don't care who is sitting in those seats, as long as they start doing things differently and producing better results. As I've also implied before, I think that maybe they are trying to start doing things differently. Here are some interesting clips from today's paper: The budget proposes a 50 percent increase in liquor license fees over the next year, from $1,000 to $1,500, due to the cost of law enforcement follow-up. The fees are billed in two six-month periods, so a partial implementation would be effective in October, with full implementation effective May 1, 2016. City Manager Scot Wrighton acknowledged the rates are higher than Ottawa and Pontiac, where fees are $900 and $800, respectively.
"On liquor licenses, we have a lot of direct and indirect costs (in administration)," City Manager Scot Wrighton said. "A liquor license fee is a small fee in operating a business."
The proposed increase would generate an additional $13,750 in the first year and an additional $27,500 in the second year.
Council members Bill Phelan and Tara Bedei expressed hesitancy in increasing the fees, fearing it would promote an unfriendly attitude toward businesses.It seems that they have recognized that the bars have been creating law enforcement expenses. Since the increased revenue doesn't seem to even be enough to hire another officer to babysit the bars, maybe they will increase the pay for our liquor commissioners so that they can start actually enforcing our laws instead of just rubber stamping the license renewals every year? Considering the huge expenses that they put business owners under to even try to be able to comply with their ridiculous snow removal ordinance that they are dragging their feet on changing, why would they worry about looking unfriendly to business by adding just $500/year to liquor license fees? Are bars the only businesses they are worried about appearing friendly to? Aren't many of them able to easily afford the increase with the income from their untaxed illegal gaming operations? A $35,000 pilot project was proposed for surveillance cameras downtown that are less expensive and have a lower profile compared to the cameras in city park.Now there is a good idea. I would prefer that they not have such prominent red and blue flashy lights like the park, but I think this could be a very good change. TIF 2 funds include the demolition of the Mushro Building, a revised facade program and diagonal restriping on Main Street between the Vermilion River and Wasson Street.There are some more good ideas. Maybe talking a lot about the problems that I see and want changed is not such a bad thing? It is after all, my Constitutional Right. Maybe they are trying to start doing things differently, and Anything could be Possible for Streator?
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Post by dog on Apr 11, 2015 9:14:39 GMT -6
Maybe talking a lot about the problems that I see and want changed is not such a bad thing? It is after all, my Constitutional Right. Maybe they are trying to start doing things differently, and Anything could be Possible for Streator? You are probably right, but 160 pages of talking here, doesn't seem the most productive way to accomplish your mission. I am sorta disappointed you didn't take that time and effort and use it to run for Mayor. It would have been a one on one contest and would have put you in the best position to make the changes you want. I know you will say that nobody would support you because you were declared illegal, but people don't care about that. Look at Hillary Clinton. She has all sorts of people making major accusations against her, and yet she is going to be running for the most important office in the country.
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Post by oldtimer on Apr 11, 2015 10:26:26 GMT -6
Majestic-
Isn't the anniversary of when you were declared illegal coming up?
Will you do something special to commemorate this infamous date in Streator's history?
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Post by helencrump on Apr 11, 2015 11:40:48 GMT -6
Since this has been bumped up again, i thought i would mention that just a few days ago, i was asked by a group of people that were discussing Facebook posts, what you are referring to when you keep posting that you were labeled illegal! So, your dogged attempts at making it appear that what you feel was an attack on you and the reason for your difficulties still hasnt reached the masses. I would surmise that after you stating it in 161 pages here, and on post after post on Facebook, that people REALLY didnt hold it against you. What they do note, is your repeated outcry against their community.
This community is and always has banded together. Despite your negative influence.
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Post by father of two on Apr 11, 2015 15:11:50 GMT -6
I would never imply that you should stop talking about your rights. It doesn't matter what the turnout is, only the ones who care chose to vote. I think some of these things you talk about daily are coming about because the newer council members care and it takes a year or 2 to get comfortable understanding the process of being a council person. Some of this may be a result of Mr. Wrighton also, bringing his experience back to Streator. Despite what some nut job from India would have us believe. Mr Wrighton was city manager back when my Dad was on the council. They were tough on bar owners for nuisance calls. Good things will happen for us in time. Threads like this and the soapbox in the paper do nothing to help us or in changing our reputation.
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Apr 11, 2015 21:36:05 GMT -6
Maybe talking a lot about the problems that I see and want changed is not such a bad thing? It is after all, my Constitutional Right. Maybe they are trying to start doing things differently, and Anything could be Possible for Streator? You are probably right, but 160 pages of talking here, doesn't seem the most productive way to accomplish your mission. I am sorta disappointed you didn't take that time and effort and use it to run for Mayor. It would have been a one on one contest and would have put you in the best position to make the changes you want. I know you will say that nobody would support you because you were declared illegal, but people don't care about that. Look at Hillary Clinton. She has all sorts of people making major accusations against her, and yet she is going to be running for the most important office in the country. Gee dog, what way do you think would be more productive? I think I should have been able to just go to my elected official and ask them to solve problems and try working WITH them. I tried that for years and years, but they didn't take any action other than becoming very vindictive and attacking my family. That is what has led to the 160 pages and many other threads and letters to the newspaper. You go right ahead and be disappointed, I don't care. Not running for Mayor had nothing to do with not putting in time or effort. My family does not want to be in Streator and my job is not here either, those two factors are what kept me from running. I certainly wasn't going to quit my job and be away from my family to keep from disappointing you and certainly don't need to run for any office to be able to talk about what I want from my elected officials. You can't really expect me to believe that you know what all people care about, can you? I think that many people do care whether others are following the laws or not, particularly someone who is asking for their trust to do business with them. You may think that it is acceptable for people to be in violation of laws, but why even have them, if nobody cares? Obviously our City leaders cared deeply about it, with the way that they jumped at the chance to declare all downtown residents illegal, except for the Thedor and Tyjax buildings which had Special Use Permits, instead of just addressing the individual problem causing the complaint. Obviously from my son's sales figures, the public also cared deeply about doing business with an illegal owner. It sure must be easy to sit on the sidelines, not being involved in the situation, and make your claims that you somehow know what all people care about. However, being directly involved, there is no way you will convince me that nobody cared, so you might as well just stop trying. Really? Comparing me to Hillary? I certainly have been subjected to some low attacks and rude name calling here before. I have always seen them as signs that my campaign has been having an impact. Thanks for the encouragement to keep it going!
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Apr 11, 2015 21:36:35 GMT -6
Majestic- Isn't the anniversary of when you were declared illegal coming up? Will you do something special to commemorate this infamous date in Streator's history? I'm open to suggestions. What did you have in mind?
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Apr 11, 2015 21:37:32 GMT -6
Since this has been bumped up again, i thought i would mention that just a few days ago, i was asked by a group of people that were discussing Facebook posts, what you are referring to when you keep posting that you were labeled illegal! So, your dogged attempts at making it appear that what you feel was an attack on you and the reason for your difficulties still hasnt reached the masses. I would surmise that after you stating it in 161 pages here, and on post after post on Facebook, that people REALLY didnt hold it against you. What they do note, is your repeated outcry against their community. This community is and always has banded together. Despite your negative influence. Negative influence? What are you talking about? I have been asking for positive things for our community. Just because a few people didn't hear about the City's attack against my family doesn't at all indicate that it wasn't an attack or whether or not people held it against me. Their attack against my family was wrong irregardless of how many people you may think heard about it or held it against me. My "outcry" as they call it, is only against the negative things that do happen here and to ask for more positive things. Do they also see the heroin billboards as a repeated outcry against their community too? The reason that I have to keep posting 161 pages plus the other threads and letters to newspapers is because there are so many people who keep trying to make things that are illegal, such as grown men urinating and fighting in public, seem acceptable here and many who constantly argue against the positives that I want. Speaking of that fun, upbeat facebook page and those who work against what I want for our community, it seems that sales of the Streator Violence Wear were quite brisk there. You know, the garments being sold that indicate that people from Streator can't be scared because they come from a place that is so scary. Doesn't that campaign pretty much tell people not to come here unless they are prepared to deal with scary elements? Do you think maybe they will make one that just comes out and tells people to bring their guns when they visit? Will they have a version with a student laying at the bottom of some stairs? I bet they are making a lot of money promoting Streator's violence. Good old capitalism, right greek? I wonder if they have them on sale at the Naperville Tourism Commission too. How fun and upbeat do you consider a page that sells shirts to tell others that Streator is a scary place? Others keep promoting what they want, talking about people needing playground style, treated like a Timex, attitude adjustments, talking about preferring to see grown men urinate in our streets over something positive for the community, etc. They can talk all they want to, and I can also keep talking about wanting the problems corrected and wanting positives for my community. You can see my not wanting there to be so many drunken street brawls and people urinating in public as negative if you want to, but I really do think that it is others who are creating the negative influence on our community.
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Apr 11, 2015 21:37:55 GMT -6
I would never imply that you should stop talking about your rights. It doesn't matter what the turnout is, only the ones who care chose to vote. I think some of these things you talk about daily are coming about because the newer council members care and it takes a year or 2 to get comfortable understanding the process of being a council person. Some of this may be a result of Mr. Wrighton also, bringing his experience back to Streator. Despite what some nut job from India would have us believe. Mr Wrighton was city manager back when my Dad was on the council. They were tough on bar owners for nuisance calls. Good things will happen for us in time. Threads like this and the soapbox in the paper do nothing to help us or in changing our reputation. So are you saying that the older Council members don't care? Are you sure that threads like this and my soapbox letters talking about the problems that I want corrected do nothing to change our reputation? I kept going to my elected officials privately for years and years to ask that the problems be corrected and there was no action (other than attacks against my family) and our community's reputation just continued. Now after talking publicly about the problems "daily", changes seem to be happening. When we get the increased license fees to fund better enforcement of our laws and surveillance cameras to provide more evidence, I believe our reputation could be greatly changed. We might even be able to support a movie theatre then. You can have your opinion that you know what is best to try to change things here if you want to, but I know from my many years of trying very hard, what I think has been producing the best results.
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Post by father of two on Apr 11, 2015 21:55:11 GMT -6
You can have your opinion that you know what is best to try to change things here if you want to, but I know from my many years of trying hard what I think will has been producing the best results.
I don't have the opinion I know what is best. I leave that to you. What does your last sentence mean? Trying hard what I think will has been? Is that like entity?
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Apr 12, 2015 8:55:59 GMT -6
You can have your opinion that you know what is best to try to change things here if you want to, but I know from my many years of trying hard what I think will has been producing the best results. I don't have the opinion I know what is best. I leave that to you. What does your last sentence mean? Trying hard what I think will has been? Is that like entity? Gee FOT, thank you for pointing out my error. I apologize, I have been very busy working on other projects and really haven't had as much time lately to respond properly to all of the posts. Threads like this and the soapbox in the paper do nothing to help us or in changing our reputation. Statements like this make it seem to me like you not only have an opinion, but feel that it is some kind of fact. What that last sentence was supposed to mean is that from my experience of what has and hasn't provided the results that I have been wanting, I will decide for myself whether or not my talking about the problems is creating positive changes. Thanks again for pointing out my error. I have never been afraid to admit when I have made a mistake and try to correct myself. It seems that some of our City leaders absolutely refuse to ever do that though. They seem to feel that they can make their false public claims, not back them up, and then just ignore them, hoping that they will just go away. Then their supporters keep arguing for 161+ pages to try to defend what they do, and just keep it going. I think my error is a little different than "entity" though, where greek was hounding me to respond to every last sentence of his long silly post where he was trying to imply that I wasn't even smart enough to think that I might need to plan for reasonable snow removal costs in Illinois or understand the process to enjoy my fundamental Civil Rights. Do you think I have been being too harsh on poor greek? Are you standing up for him because you feel that he should be able to attack my intelligence with his claims that I wouldn't know that it snows in the midwest, without me standing up for myself? Since after I responded to every last part of his lengthy and silly post, he didn't even answer why he thought that I wouldn't respond and implied that there was some diabolical reason that I was avoiding answering something and people on here all understood why. Did you think there was some good reason that I wouldn't have responded to any certain part of his post? It's not like I don't routinely stand behind what I say (or admit if I am wrong). Are you standing up for greek just because he doesn't seem to have the balls to stand behind the claims that he makes? Certainly you couldn't be standing up for him because you think he has any type of valid input on the issues being discussed, could you? It's not like he had anything constructive to add to the snow removal ordinance conversation, did he? Does it really matter whether or not I had budgeted enough money for reasonable snow removal when coming to Illinois, considering that any reasonable amount of snow removal does not allow businesses here to be in compliance with their ridiculous ordinance, making them still be illegal and subjected to daily fines? For years I asked my City leaders for a reasonable snow removal ordinance, without talking publicly about it. The current ridiculous, overly restrictive ordinance that requires business owners to go through huge expenses or be illegal and subjected to daily fines is the result. Even you indicated that you think business owners should be able to leave snow piled on the sidewalk, although that is clearly not what the ordinance allows. Do you really think that my now talking publicly about my opinions that this ordinance is bad for our community and pointing out that I think that it keeps people from wanting to invest in our commercial properties is worse for our community than their creation of the ordinance? Do you think they will leave it on the books as it is? It really does seem to me that I have a much better chance of getting the positive changes that I want by being very public about what I see that I think is wrong.
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Post by father of two on Apr 12, 2015 9:32:30 GMT -6
When I talk to people out of town and we talk about Streator I tell them all the good that we have here. Then they read your soapbox column or various web sites and they say same old Streator. Sometimes it's better to keep things in Streator instead of letting the whole world see. If potential businesses looking to come here and read these things they may decide to go elsewhere. This town has more serious problems than the occasional street urinator or fight.
Greek is a big boy and can defend himself. What I was pointing out was that "will has been" and "entity" were both a result of keyboard mistakes. I took will out of your sentence and understood what you meant.
You keep saying the council and mayor are wrong and doing things illegal, that they won't admit it or apologize. Why should they? Have they been proven wrong by any court? You say they are but that doesn't mean they are. I believe the law says innocent until proven guilty. They haven't been proved guilty. Did they misspeak when they said everyone living downtown was illegal? Absolutely. Should they have corrected it? Absolutely. Did it cause the demise of your sons business? There is no way to prove either way. Did the trouble downtown keep people away from the theater? There is no way to say for sure. The theater at northpoint didn't have trouble around it and it failed.
Laws that you say are in enforceable and make everyone illegal are subject to the enforcers discretion. How many times do police officers all over the country issue warning tickets instead of writing the real ticket? How many times does the SFD issue warnings for illegal burns instead if writing a ticket?
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Apr 12, 2015 10:14:02 GMT -6
When I talk to people out of town and we talk about Streator I tell them all the good that we have here. Then they read your soapbox column or various web sites and they say same old Streator. Sometimes it's better to keep things in Streator instead of letting the whole world see. If potential businesses looking to come here and read these things they may decide to go elsewhere. This town has more serious problems than the occasional street urinator or fight. Greek is a big boy and can defend himself. What I was pointing out was that "will has been" and "entity" were both a result of keyboard mistakes. I took will out of your sentence and understood what you meant. You keep saying the council and mayor are wrong and doing things illegal, that they won't admit it or apologize. Why should they? Have they been proven wrong by any court? You say they are but that doesn't mean they are. I believe the law says innocent until proven guilty. They haven't been proved guilty. Did they misspeak when they said everyone living downtown was illegal? Absolutely. Should they have corrected it? Absolutely. Did it cause the demise of your sons business? There is no way to prove either way. Did the trouble downtown keep people away from the theater? There is no way to say for sure. The theater at northpoint didn't have trouble around it and it failed. Laws that you say are in enforceable and make everyone illegal are subject to the enforcers discretion. How many times do police officers all over the country issue warning tickets instead of writing the real ticket? How many times does the SFD issue warnings for illegal burns instead if writing a ticket? Yes, it would be nice if I could go to my City leaders with the problems to keep it in Streator, but that only resulted in their vindictive attacks against my family where they failed to "prove" any of their claims. Don't you think that the whole world can go on the City's website to read about their ridiculous snow removal and vacant building ordinances, or the violence reported in the newspaper, or the violence promoted on social media? Don't you think that many people already knew about Streator's rough reputation before I came here and started talking about wanting positive changes? The reason that I feel they should either admit they were wrong and apologize or at least explain why they do what they do, is because I think our government should be "For the People". If they are not guilty of the things that I speak to them about, I feel that they do owe me an explanation and should speak up instead of allowing me to continue. I don't have to prove any of my opinions that the trouble downtown, being falsely and publicly declared illegal without being given Constitutional Rights, or that overly restrictive ordinances do hurt business. I can state that I am very confident that those things are wrong and do hurt business without having to provide any type of proof. You can also try to keep making people think it is acceptable for our City to continue with these practices. It creates even more conversation, which is a good thing. I do feel strongly that my talking about the problems that I see are resulting in some changes here and am very optimistic about Streator's future. Anything's Possible!
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Apr 12, 2015 10:21:07 GMT -6
Laws that you say are in enforceable and make everyone illegal are subject to the enforcers discretion. Do you really think that we should have laws that nobody can afford to follow and then have individuals at City Hall decide who they would like to issue fines to? Don't you think that maybe that is part of why so many good people keep leaving our community? Do you think that our continuously declining population (even while the surrounding area was growing) supports your theory that those practices are acceptable or good at all for our community?
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