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Post by cityslicker on Dec 19, 2014 12:32:53 GMT -6
I thought the manipulated unemployment numbers said UE was down. Apparently they do took disgruntled and non employed off the reportable list. They do not report the real number of unemployed, employable or not actively seeking any more. Politicians took care of that a couple of years ago, before elections. Most of the gains were in low paying,unskilled, food service sector. Thanks Frank from Spring Valley for raising income taxes and employer taxes, and chasing business out of Illinois. Maybe we can put more Dumbacrats on the curb in a couple of years. Frank included.
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Post by willy on Dec 19, 2014 19:03:59 GMT -6
There's an industrial park out north and one out south by Vactor.
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Post by willy on Dec 19, 2014 20:02:44 GMT -6
Well the properties have the availability for someone to come in and start up a business without worrying about the utility hook-ups and the city also offers loans to business. Just recently they've started a program to fix buildings in the uptown area or central business district. But what you're suggesting may not be that easy financially for the city. There's plenty going on and huge infra-structure upgrades that need to be done.
But I'm no longer the person to be asking, I'm out of the arena, and that's closing in on nearly two years. I'm not in the circle anymore, I try to keep up as well as possible. Tara would be the one to ask, not trying to pass the buck off on her though.
When ALM landed their big contract with Chicago, we were able to help them with their storage problem. They were able to fulfill their contract and store for delivery to when Chicago wanted their stuff. They used the old Murray cabinet building for storage out on Oakley that the city was given. That may sound small, but was huge to ALM.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2014 6:10:25 GMT -6
I travel around some for my work throughout North Central Illinois. Almost everyone seems to be affected by the same ills we have been here in Streator. Loss of good paying jobs from huge employers. That loss of huge payrolls decimates a community, not from just the workers payroll, but the ripple effect from those payroll dollars as they are spent in the community and supports all the small local businesses. Anyway, I noticed a few communities that seem a little more resilient than our own. I have seen more entrepreneurial activity. I have observed that Sterling has a small industrial park that includes an 'incubator'. I think it is some sort of inspected factory for producing food. It's small. It is used for very small start up companies to get a toe hold for a reasonable price. I know a few years ago a frozen pizza business started there. They are now out on their own and a little popcorn business is now in their place. I think it's great they can offer and encourage that type of activity. Can we do the same sort of thing here? Wasn't that what the area out North of town supposed to be? I think they offered some kind of incentives to new companies to get a start. Are we doing as much as we can to encourage small start up business in town? Does our zoning work in our favor for it? We have a lot of empty buildings, but are they the right kind of buildings and are they located in an area that fits the zoning maps and can be used? I really think Streator has a lot to offer. We have some good people, a good work ethic, cheap real estate, good proximity to almost all the Northern Illinois market for distribution, plentiful water supply, and lots more. We should be working hard to get some little factories going to supply Vactor. I know there is a place out on the Katydid blacktop that makes all the aluminum pipe. What about hydraulic hoses or high pressure rodder hose? Gotta' news flash for ya'. We keep closing schools and laying off educators and other staff members and we'll scare off outside investment. You people who think you can gut an educational system and expect extensive business expansion here are delusional.
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Post by super on Dec 20, 2014 7:25:46 GMT -6
Only 160,000 have left the state, no big deal lol
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Post by willy on Dec 20, 2014 10:27:39 GMT -6
I'm not certain that the educational system is the number one factor in anyone that wants to come to Streator. BUT, it most certainly is a determining factor for the attraction of professional people moving into Streator. Our community in the next few years is going to be losing two very fine surgeons due to their retirement. Some might say big deal, but believe me it is serious. Good young doctors are sorely needed in this community. Young folks tend to have children and if they plan on living in our community they do want a sound educational system.
I often thought how for generations of people, we were told if Owens ever closes or lays off Streator will dry up and blow away. We're still here and we will stay here UNTIL our educational system goes down the tubes. It is the very core of this City and all cities accross this country. Without good schools there is absolutely no reason for families to stay or relocate here. And I believe that to the bottom of my heart.
Twenty years ago, my brother-inlaw who is an engineer, got transferred from Rochester to Pekin. He drove back and forth for 5 months before he could find what he wanted for his youngster. He didn't look for a house first which would have been easiest. He checked out every educational system in the area that was going to be best for his little girl to learn in. He settled on Morton. Number one reason, educational opportunity, and he's only a family of three.
Masked Man, a company coming to this area certainly wants a good work force but I sure would want most of their big shots living and spending their money in Streator.
If any of you can still remember when Marseilles voted down their referendum for their schools. They lost their high school, they're now sending the kids to Ottawa by bus and the tax rate they're now spending is higher than it would have been if they had passed their own and kept their high school.
Shrinking the number of schools we have in Streator isn't creating a better learning experience for those of you that still have kids in school. Class sizes do determine how kids learn and it doesn't hurt the kids in the top half of the class as it does the ones on the lower end.
Our schools are the core of this town.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2014 13:30:36 GMT -6
I have never said education or our kids are not important. I don't think closing a school to meet budget is the end of the World. (I bet we have far fewer Students than we did in the 60's and 70's....thus fewer school buildings should be ok) I am not even saying it's great that Oakland closed...just maybe we needed to do it. I don't think throwing ever more money at a broken system is going to automatically heal the system...especially if most of us don't have more money to throw. It's pretty hard to say do it for the kids when you see salaries that are up there at 70-100k and more that are being paid for by some folks working 2 and 3 part time jobs for little more than minimum wage. Some folks might be bringing home about $1500/month and trying to make ends meet. I don't see many big shots left. (Country Club disbanded) The factories we do have are mostly owned by Corporations that have just a few 'local Executives'. Maybe a plant manager and a couple of mid managers. I am sure it is hard to recruit top Doctors or Lawyers. Truth be told, I bet it always has been in our Town. Our STRENGTH has been and always will be our hard working Blue collar workers, our Farmers out in the Country, just plain folks. And they have been taking it on the chin for decades, but they are still here, still strong and I think still committed to our kids even if it is difficult to fork over yet more money. Education is important Willy, I fully agree. I guess where we differ is the COST of Education and how that money is spent. We have only so much, and it has to be spent wisely. It isn't fair to the taxpayers to just foot the ever increasing bill, and then keep going back time and again wanting more. You and many others in this town really resent having to compensate educators at the level they are currently at, let alone offer a cost-of-living increase. Correct me if I'm wrong in your view...but much...if not all of your argument rests in work/salary comparisons between the high school educated "plain folks" and those "high falutin'" college educated people who DARE to ask to be compensated as professional educators. The monetary sources for education professionals' compensation packages is none of their doing or choice, is it?
We have ALL kinds of teachers at the junior high teaching subjects they are unfamiliar with, in small rooms packed to the gills with students sitting on top of one another. Combine those issues with kids who couldn't care less - coming from teacher-hating families and a non-existent school disciplinary program! Talk to a non-a$$ kissing junior high teacher sometime about the working and learning conditions...you'll get an earful. They're earning their money over there and then some!
Let's add the Common Core educational fiasco to this mix, too! (I know...snipe could handle it with ease...cough, cough...) .
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Post by OutlawwithaSnipeSniper on Dec 20, 2014 17:50:03 GMT -6
Butters, give it a rest.
We do not need a Masters educated teacher to tech the first grade, nor do we need to incur the expense.
Hate to tell you this bud, but I AM College "Eddycated", and I know what it is all about.
Perhaps YOU believe you need a Surgeon to dig a ditch, but the rest of the world knows better.
We also can not afford to give a retirement package of 78.6 percent of the highest 4 years salary, PERIOD.
You want to know what will keep business form locating here?
Try $ 35,000 annual taxes on the building I work in.......... And we are tiny compared to many others.
But hey, "its for the chillens"
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2014 18:03:48 GMT -6
Butters, give it a rest. We do not need a Masters educated teacher to tech the first grade, nor do we need to incur the expense. Hate to tell you this bud, but I AM College "Eddycated", and I know what it is all about. Perhaps YOU believe you need a Surgeon to dig a ditch, but the rest of the world knows better. We also can not afford to give a retirement package of 78.6 percent of the highest 4 years salary, PERIOD. You want to know what will keep business form locating here? Try $ 35,000 annual taxes on the building I work in.......... And we are tiny compared to many others. But hey, "its for the chillens" I noticed you have no argument...just an attitude of disdain...like the rest of the teacher-haters. PERIOD.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2014 18:37:30 GMT -6
What argument would you have us make? We both feel education is important. I am sure there are discipline problems. I am sure there are obstacles to trying to teach the kids.(largely complacency in the Student) We are mostly in agreement. I think it would be awesome to pay them all 250K, pay the garbage guy 175k, tip the pizza delivery guy $100 and we could all join hands and sing KUMBIYA around a fire pit. The problem is we are broke and can't afford it. The money has to come from somewhere and we here in the community can't afford to give ever more. The State isn't paying their share. So what can we do? Can we rally the troops and make the State more accountable? Can we lift up the entire community by the boot straps and conjure up some better paying jobs for everyone? Until we can, we have to start living within our means, and that means trimming more fat. I am not asking the Teachers to eat rice and beans every day, but they might have to make due with a pork chop instead of rib eye once in a while. You mentioned overcrowding. It's too bad...it really is. I bet you ask most people that work in the private sector and you will find colleagues have been cut and the ones that remain have to do more work, pay more of their own benefits and often times for less money. It's just the way it is, and it has been for a long time. I don't like it either but you have to take the blinders off and at least accept the conditions that exist in today's economy. You get no argument whatsoever from me about this.
Let's sit back and watch what happens. It ain't gonna' be no fire pit and kumbiya, that's for sure. You're going to see people at each other's throats and see this town's educational system and social fabric come apart at the seams in the next couple of years.
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Post by OutlawwithaSnipeSniper on Dec 20, 2014 20:19:32 GMT -6
Butters, give it a rest. We do not need a Masters educated teacher to tech the first grade, nor do we need to incur the expense. Hate to tell you this bud, but I AM College "Eddycated", and I know what it is all about. Perhaps YOU believe you need a Surgeon to dig a ditch, but the rest of the world knows better. We also can not afford to give a retirement package of 78.6 percent of the highest 4 years salary, PERIOD. You want to know what will keep business form locating here? Try $ 35,000 annual taxes on the building I work in.......... And we are tiny compared to many others. But hey, "its for the chillens" I noticed you have no argument...just an attitude of disdain...like the rest of the teacher-haters. PERIOD. No ARGUMENT? How about the exorbitant Taxes? How about the EXCESSIVE, UNSUSTAINABLE benefits package? I only have disdain for idiots who cannot see the light, clearly that includes you.
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Post by cityslicker on Dec 21, 2014 11:24:34 GMT -6
Why doesn't the city of streator encourage young people to come back and work for them. They gave the city inspector job to a retired city employee and dashed the prospects for a younger person .. Good old boys theory. They then bring retreads back to continue failed ways of the past in the city's administration. I can only wonder and wait for the big change in January.
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Post by willy on Dec 21, 2014 14:20:16 GMT -6
This is the way I see it Masked Man, not trying to create a bigger argument, but to tell a different side. Years ago a lot teachers worked in the summer time to make ends meet. Very low wages, some health care and a promise. That promise being you will have a pension. Not all pensions are as huge as some would have you think. Yes, some are, administrators do make a good buck. And not all teachers get the most out of the benefit because they didn't get to the maximum amount of years required for the maximum pension to be earned. But in this country so many people got screwd out of their pensions and jealously begins to set in. I don't have so why should you. And I get that why people become jealous of the fact they lost theirs and teachers still have one.
But the teachers didn't create this problem. Back in 1992 I was bargaining a contract with the high school teacher's union. I told their president they better start worrying about their pensions and not as much on the dollars going into the salary schedule. I saw it was in trouble back then, but the teachers paid in every cent that was required of them. Some teachers unions had that contribution negotiated into their contracts. Either way the contribution was made into the retirement system. The state did not pay like they were supposed to. That promise of a pension was broken illegally by the state of Illinois. Pure and simple and now it has been ruled on by the highest court. Quinn's law was illegal. But in the mean time they (legislators) managed to put a two tier system in that requires a greater length of service to an employer and a different benefit level to the newer system.
The economy hit the tubes and interest rates went to hell and that hurt all pension systems. Yet the state still didn't contribute and some governor even gave out the "pension holiday" where for a year no contribution had to be made by a dumb law. Guess what, that went into the unfunded liability. Now, some will ask what happened to the gambling money that was supposed to "help" educational funding in this state. Oh, the money went into education, but the state didn't use it as an augmentation to their funding. They reduced their obligation by the amount that was brought in by gambling. They screwd us again. And none of this is the fault of a teacher or any one school board in this state.
Someone comes up with an idea, let's call it a mandate to all school districts, we'll fund it for awhile and then stop the funding. Real brains have been running this state. Who gets screwd again. You and me. The state has got to stop with the mandates, fund to the levels they pledged and stop giving to those who haven't earned a thing other than the air they breath. It's not just happening in Streator, it's all over. Here in Streator we have lower property levels, lower EAV's than most and higher taxing rates.. Go north of I-80 you'll have more expensive homes, higher EAV"s and a lower tax rate. The people that have the power to change are in Springfield. Everybody knows the way we fund schools is wrong (property tax). Most would argue schools should be funded on personal income. But too many people with the power are afraid of the outcome, no re=election.
My last bit to offer. For years we bargained with ourselves (firefighters and police). We asked for more and had no binding way to get any increases in pay. In the '80s we were given the right to bargain collectively over wages, hours of employment and conditions of employment. And, we were given the right to arbitration. For that right we gave up the right to strike. Now you can't come to an agreement, into arbitration we go and somebody else decides. If the employer has the money and there are outside comparables out there to back up your claim, you (union) may win the case. But it allows both the employer and employee to bring in comparables. That's important to the process. Some say our teachers are overpayed compared to other districts. If you do the study you'll find that our teachers arent' over paid compared to what others are getting. Benefits may be different, but salary schedules will be similar. But I believe a big mistake was made when the law allowed educators the right to bargain collectively as well. Not only were they given the right to arbitration, which usually only is used for them in grievance arbitration, AND they were also granted the right to STRIKE. That tips the scale in their favor and shouldn't have ever been allowed and I've argued that for a long time with reps of teachers unions. You can't have your cake and eat it too. The scales of justice should be balanced and they're not as the law sits.
Do I believe the referendum will pass? Not a chance. Don't sit out there and think there's a lot of fat to cut. There isn't and I haven't even looked at the budget. I've just been there. Whack and whack and not only do those cut get hurt, but those that are left in the building are also affected. Larger classes aren't the answer. Those with a lessened learning ability pay the most. The smarter kids alway will be smart, it's those like me that had a hard time learning pay the most. When Butter says it will only get worse, I tend to agree with him.
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Post by chevypower on Dec 21, 2014 19:21:48 GMT -6
Willy, you are a wise man, no mistake about that.
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Post by chevypower on Dec 22, 2014 12:16:17 GMT -6
I'd say ask the State how they can fix these problems MM but then again.............
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