Net worth somewhere around a quarter billion dollars, not counting the $100 million trust set up for his five sons. Offshore investments. A beach house in La Jolla, Calif., a town house in Belmont, Mass., and a summer compound on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.
….proof of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous line about the rich: “They are different from you and me.”
Saturday, July 7, 2012
New details about Romney's wealth confirm F. Scott Fitzgerald's quip about the rich - CSMonitor.com
City Barbs: Mt. Vernon Group Presents Petition to Revoke Home Rule
Interesting story about Mt. Vernon voters wishing a referenda to revoke an earlier referenda allowing home rule. Belvidere became a home rule community with the 2010 census.
Mt. Vernon Group Presents Petition to Revoke Home Rule
Posted by yinnJun 28
Illinois communities automatically receive Home Rule powers when their populations reach 25,000. Mt. Vernon is not one of them because it’s too small (about Sycamore-sized). The city’s residents had to vote for Home Rule, and they reportedly did it in order to finance a sewer project in the 80s.
So what’s the problem? According to one of the current petitioners, Steven Casper, Sr., Mt. Vernon approved Home Rule without understanding the residents would lose their power to vote on tax increases.
Casper and three other Mt. Vernon residents organized a petition, which collected 1,031 signatures from registered voters, to revoke the home rule.
“I don’t know why somebody did not do this before now,” he said. “[We] just don’t like the idea the city has the ultimate power to raise taxes for whatever they want, whenever they want.”
The group only needed about 365 signatures, Casper says.
Supposedly the city council will vet the petition before it can go on the November ballot. This does not sound right to me. The council had its chance to put the question on the ballot themselves. Since they did not — this is the reason folks had to collect signatures — my understanding is that the city clerk should certify the petition for placement of the question on the ballot unless the petition is challenged by one or more individuals. And challenges are adjudicated by election panels, not city councils.
I (Yinn) hope the Mt. Vernon group has competent legal counsel.
Illinois EPA orders Garden Prairie Organics to reduce stink - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
the business now has 45 days to respond to the notice or it could request a meeting with the IEPA within 60 days. The two will then enter a compliance commitment agreement stating the corrective action that will be taken.
Photos from the firm’s website: http://www.findacomposter.com/listing/detail.php?id=919#info
Rockford unemployment 30th highest in nation in May - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
The Rockford metropolitan area's 10.4 percent unemployment rate in May was tied for the 30th highest jobless rate of the nation's 372 metropolitan areas, according to Labor Department statistics released last week.
Click on the following for the entire story: Rockford unemployment 30th highest in nation in May - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
Boone County reconsiders electrical aggregation vote - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
The Boone County Board is encouraging residents to call their board representatives about whether they feel an electrical aggregation referendum should reappear on an election ballot.
County Board Chairman Bob Walberg proposed the idea this week to gauge other board members’ interest. When it was presented to voters last March, the measure was rejected by 110 votes.
Click on the following to read all of the story: Boone County reconsiders electrical aggregation vote - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
The issue was not passed by the county until just before the deadline for placing the issue on the ballot. Here is a previous posting which has a wealth of knowledge regarding the issue.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Voter Reference Sources for the Electric Aggregation Referendum
As of yet neither the city of Belvidere nor Boone County has provided citizens much information on the electric aggregation referendum. Below courtesy of City Barbs is a reading list regarding the issue. In addition I recommend City Barb’s posting of “Municipal Electrical Aggregation and You” at: http://www.citybarbs.com/2011/12/28/municipal-electrical-aggregation-you/#more-10472
Click on the following sources:
CUB Facts: Community Aggregation
Why municipal aggregation does not maximize savings:
Municipal Aggregation in Illinois: Five Things You Should Not Ignore
Shocking electricity prices follow deregulation
Municipal Aggregation & Retail Competition in the Ohio Energy Sector
The Case (for and) Against Multi-Level Marketing
Beware the “Main Street Bubble” of Multi-Level Marketing groups without U.S. Government Protection
For more information on Rock River Energy/Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative (NIMEC) the aggregator which would have provided provided electricity in the last referendum. Go to: http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2011/09/nimec-presents-to-belvidere-city.html
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