Boone County Watchdog

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Belvidere on PBS: Growing Jobs in Small Towns and Small Business-How to Fix Economy

A segment of PSB’s Nightly Business News for Wednesday featured Belvidere and its familiar downtown sites—The Brick, The Sweetery, and Manley Motors and the Mayor’s Office.

Here is the PSB transcript of the interviews and commentaries:

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

TOM HUDSON: President Obama wrapped up his tour of the Midwest today, announcing he will unveil a new jobs program after Labor Day. But he also said that Washington cannot solve everything.

We continue our series, "How to Fix the Economy," Diane Eastabrook tonight talked to small businesses in Belvidere, Illinois, about the best way to create jobs on Main Street USA.

GARY SIMON, OWNER, THE BRICK: OK, these are ready to go out.

EASTABROOK: Gary Simon is barely able to keep up with the lunch crowd at his restaurant, The Brick, in Belvidere, Illinois. Still, Simon thinks business could be a whole lot better.

SIMON: There`s a lot of homeless people in Belvidere. There`s a lot of people that are on food stamps and stuff, and we don`t get those people in here anymore. We used to.

EASTABROOK: In Belvidere, a scrappy factory town in northern Illinois, jobs, or the lack of them, are a huge issue. Unemployment here is nearly 13.5 percent. At city hall, word that the president plans to propose a new jobs program got a muted response from Mayor Fred Brereton.

MAYOR FRED BRERETON, BELVIDERE, ILLINOIS: Sure, that sounds good. I tend to fall on the side that government can`t be creating those jobs. They need to create the environment that other jobs can be created by the private sector.

EASTABROOK: The problems plaguing Belvidere really aren`t dissimilar from the ones plaguing every other community across the country, and many of the businesses here say the best thing that Washington could do for them is really do nothing at all.

That may seem odd coming from a town that`s Chrysler plant got saved a couple of years ago in a government bailout, but not to the owner of the world`s second-oldest Ford dealership.

Kevin Keesee thinks if Washington wants to create jobs, it should lower taxes and let businesses decide what jobs should be created.

KEVIN KEESEE, MANAGING PARTNER, MANLEY`S FORD: Technology changes everything on a daily basis, so we don`t know what jobs we may need two days from now, three days, 10 years from now. For the government to think that they have the ability to create a program knowing what jobs people need, I find detrimental.

EASTABROOK: Terry Orcholski, president and CEO of Orbital Tool Technologies, goes a step further. His company makes components and provides service to power generators. He thinks the government needs to either stop piling emission regulations onto utilities or allow them to raise rates.

TERRY ORCHOLSKI, PRES. & CEO, ORBITAL TOOL TECHNOLOGIES: It`s hundreds and hundreds of thousands of jobs that make the utilities work. Now if you want to shut these power plants down, what are you doing, ultimately? You`re shutting down hundreds of thousands of jobs.

TOM SNYDER, OWNER, THE SWEETERY COMPANY: We have Boston baked beans.

EASTABROOK: Tom Snyder, owner of The Sweetery Company, has an entirely different take. He thinks if Washington really wants to create jobs, it should prod banks into lending more to small businesses.

SNYDER: They just don`t want to lend money out anymore unless they have a guarantee that they`re going to get it back.

EASTABROOK: Many of the businesses along Belvidere`s State Street (NYSE: STT) are confident the U.S. economy will improve in time if only Washington would get out of the way.

Diane Eastabrook, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Belvidere, Illinois.

The video tape of the Wednesday television program maybe still available at: http://video.pbs.org/video/2097354685

A new Gandhi: Anna Hazare to fast at Ramlila Maidan from tomorrow?

After two nights in Tihar Jail and hard bargaining, Anna Hazare and government reached an agreement early this morning under which Delhi Police removed all restrictions and allowed him to carry out his hunger strike for a fortnight in the spacious Ramlila Maidan here.
The breakthrough in the battle of attribution between the two sides came in the wee hours of the day after top aides of Hazare met Delhi Police Commissioner B K Gupta and reached an agreement.
The deal marks a major climbdown from government and police's earlier insistence that the fast would be allowed at JP Park, a smaller venue, only for three days with maximum of 5,000 protesters besides a number of other conditions.

Click on the following for more details: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Anna-Hazare-to-fast-at-Ramlila-Maidan-from-tomorrow/articleshow/9645206.cms

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Non-profit hospitals baffled over losing tax-exempt status

The Illinois Department of Revenue denied long-pending requests from three prominent institutions: Prentice Women's at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Edward Hospital in Naperville and Decatur Memorial Hospital in that Downstate city, according to one-page rulings from the department.
Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20110817/NEWS03/110819886/non-profit-hospitals-baffled-over-losing-tax-exempt-status#ixzz1VKp6gwY8
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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Township voters table buying Eagle’s Club building

The following is taken from: http://www.belvideredailyrepublican.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6857:township-voters-table-buying-eagles-club-building&catid=106:belvidere&Itemid=508

Note: it now appears that the Town Hall “could not” request a referendum.

Wednesday, 10 August 2011 15:47 Bob Balgemann

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Bob Balgemann photos. A standing room only crowd packed the basement of the Belvidere Township building Friday for a town meeting on purchase of the Eagle's Club on Locust Avenue.

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Meeting moderator Dave Gallano (left) listens as township Supervisor Pat Murphy gives an overview of the purchase.

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BELVIDERE – On the surface it seemed like a slam-dunk.

The Belvidere Township board had voted unanimously to buy the 7,000-square-foot Eagle’s Club building on Locust Avenue. The Belvidere YMCA was eagerly awaiting the acquisition so it could expand programming for youth.

Letters of support had come from Belvidere Mayor Fred Brereton and state Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford. All that was needed for the purchase to happen was approval from the township’s electorate.

That meeting was held Aug. 5, but township officials didn’t get the vote of concurrence they had sought. Instead, they were hit by a barrage of questions and concerns that they had not done their due diligence before agreeing to buy the building for $150,000.

Ultimately, those present voted to table action until there could be a referendum on the purchase, either in the March 2012 primary election or sooner. By a show of hands 38 of the approximately 66 registered voters in the room wanted the delay.

Before the vote it was stressed that no one among the more than 70 people who packed the basement of the township office building was against the YMCA or the good it had done for the community. Their concerns lay with the lack of knowledge about the building and possibility that renovations could become very expensive.

Questions also were raised about the absence of a cap on how much money would be spent, whether government should be spending tax dollars to support a private organization, why the township’s offer was $10,000 more than the assessed value of the property, why the building wasn’t tested for asbestos, radon and mold and why a feasibility study wasn’t done first.

Murphy and attorney John Mayville responded to those questions.

Murphy said a “matter of timing” led to some of the decisions to move ahead quickly. The board felt the property was worth $150,000 and he called it a financial investment as well as an investment in the city’s young people. “We feel strongly as a township that there is a need for more opportunities for youth.”

Overview of proposal

Before the vote township Murphy presented an overview of the proposal. The YMCA’s new executive director, Jennifer Jacky, and board President John Kaufield talked about all the good that could be done with the additional space.

After-school programs, fitness classes and activities for “tweeners” were among the plusses extra space would bring, Jacky said. “We want to work with other not-for-profits,” she said. “This building would be good for the community.”

Kaufield asked voters to approve the purchase for the good of the community. “You’ve always come forward to help the community,” he said.

“Youth programs are very much what townships are all about,” Murphy said. “We did not do this hastily.”

Mayor Brereton said the downtown “needs help, it needs investment.” He said that upon learning of the proposed purchase of the Eagle’s Club building and collaboration between the township and YMCA he applauded the effort.

Concerning the purchase price being more than the assessed value, he said, “I think Realtors will tell you that is common practice. I encourage you to move forward.”

Township board member Debbie Carlson said she was “baffled” by all the negativity. “The Y needs the space,” she said. “The township board has five people and we don’t often agree on much. But we agree on this.”

Referring to the audience, she said there are some people who are negative about everything. “Shame on you,” she said.

District 3 Boone County Board member Terri Glass had stern words for the township. “If we don’t know about the building why are we buying it?” she asked. “I want to know the names of the people who made this agreement. It smells, all the way around.”

Les Reid called for a feasibility study. “If there’s asbestos in the building forget about the $150,000,” he said. “This is about the unknowns; this is about an expansion of government at a bad time.”

Another county board member, Cathy Ward from District 2, was the first to call for a referendum on the purchase. Ultimately, that’s what the township electorate decided was best