Fireworks Cancelled?

I think this means no sponsored fireworks in Carbondale this Wednesday.  I caught on the news earlier that the Lion's Club would postpost them if less than an inch of rain between now and July 4.

Email Exchange between Fritzler and Adams

The Southern reported the recent flurry of emails betwix city manager Kevin Baity, Mayor Joel Fritzler and Councilwoman Jane Adams.  Here are the actual emails:

Joel,

I take strong exception to your intemperate note that was sent to the entire Council in clear violation of the Open Meetings Act. The issue of raising the City Manager's spending authority is before us tonight on the Council agenda.

I have no idea what you refer to, or what you intend to accomplish, by stating: "Your bullying and threatening manner has become more and more outlandish to the point of being unbecoming of a city council member." 

Your remarks are absurd.

As a council member it is my responsibility to deal directly with the City Manager on issues before us. In this case, I found serious problems with his assertions and told him so. Apparently this does not go down well with you and the city manager. But I want to know where the people's money goes.

And that's not changing.

Jane

Begin forwarded message:

From: Joel Fritzler <carbondaleforjoel@gmail.com>

Subject: Fwd: Agenda item - authorization to increase City Manager's spending limit

Date: June 26, 2012 2:15:15 PM CDT

To: Jane Adams <jane@adamscarbondale.org>, kevin baity <kbaity@ci.carbondale.il.us>

Cc: Chris Wissmann <nightlif@midwest.net>, Don Monty <dmonty@ci.carbondale.il.us>, Lee Fronabarger <pineridgeplace@frontier.com>, Corene Mc Daniel <corene4u@msn.com>, Lance Jack <councilman1970@gmail.com>

Jane,

As you may now be aware, the city manager in Lombard has a spending limit of $20,000. Your bullying and threatening manner has become more and more outlandish to the point of being unbecoming of a city council member. For example, when you didn't understand the city's health savings plan, you said, "I think that Kevin is trying to pull the wool over our eyes.". I'm at my wits end to understand why you think that everything that you don't understand is a conspiracy or a cover-up. 

Please gather the facts before you jump to conclusions. 

Joel Fritzler, Mayor

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Kevin Baity <kbaity@ci.carbondale.il.us>
Date: June 25, 2012 7:24:50 PM CDT
To: Mayor Joel Fritzler <jfritzler@ci.carbondale.il.us>
Subject: Fwd: Agenda item - authorization to increase City Manager's spending limit

See below.

Kevin Baity 

City of Carbondale

iPhone 

Begin forwarded message:

From: Jane Adams <jane@adamscarbondale.org>
Date: June 25, 2012 7:18:25 PM CDT
To: Kevin Baity <kbaity@ci.carbondale.il.us>
Subject: Agenda item - authorization to increase City Manager's spending limit

Kevin,

I have spoken today with authorities in the Village of Lombard and Urbana concerning the spending limits they have established. From these discussions I found that the claims you make to support raising your spending authority are seriously in error. If you do not pull the item from the agenda I will make this a public issue.

Jane

Jane Adams

And here's a comment posted on the Southern's website regarding the exchange, which I would bet comes from former CCTB executive director Debbie Moore:

 

Debbiesliceofpie - June 27, 2012 1:19 pm

Well, maybe Fritzler does see her for what she is. It is too late to save the Carbondale Convention & Tourism Bureau from her lack of knowledge, but maybe Fritzler can save Carbondale.

Campus Beach Facility Gone

As was mentioned in yesterday's blog post, there is quite a bit of construction taking place on campus.  Happened to be at Campus Lake yesterday and saw that the concession stand/shower facility that had stood at Campus Beach for over 20 years had been demolished and cleared away in less than a month. Only a stretch of sale and some concrete remaining.

SIUC Injects Millions

..of dollars.  According to this article in the Southern, the university has spent over $100 million on construction projects since 2012.  Although the article says that money has gone to local contractors, there's no indication how much of it did. 

Why the focus on local contractors?  Money spent locally circulates through the economy, creating more jobs.  According to this, 45% of money spent locally stays within the economy.  Additionally, if you spend $100 on goods and service and spend half locally, it generates another $200 in local income.  If you spend 80% of that $100 locally, it generates $500 in local revenues.

As the largest employer in southern Illinois, it is good to see that Chancellor Chen realizes this and is working to spend SIUC's money locally where feasible.

Fireworks

In case you missed this, Carbondale's July 4th fireworks have moved this year from their long time home near Abe Martin Field on the SIUC campus to the east side of University Mall.

Not sure if fireworks will be a good idea, given the  drought the area (and all of Illinois) is suffering. We have received less than 2 inches of rain over the last 4 weeks and are about 8 inches down from the amount of rain we normally have received by this time of the year.  Even though they are illegal in Illinois, I expect to hear a lot of fireworks going off over the next couple of weeks, with a subsequent increase in calls to the Carbondale Fire Department.

Local Income

Interesting takeaway from this article on the southern Illinois local food movement.  25% of the area's population lives below the federal government's poverty line and manufacturing, typically the source of better paying jobs, does not appear to provide a significant portion of income for families in the region:

...the largest source of personal income in the region comes from public sources such as retirement, disability and unemployment benefits. Government jobs are the second largest source of income, followed by capital income like interest, rent or dividends.About a fourth of the region’s residents live below the federal government’s poverty guidelines...

Small Cities Week

Mayor Fritzler has proclaimed next week Small Cities Week in Carbondale, capitalizing on the overwhelming excitement generated by National Small Cities Month.  Parades?  Fireworks?  A citywide picnic?  Nah, probably just a proclamation read out at the next city council meeting.  Sigh.