January in Peoria can be frigid, and not just the weather.
A couple of city commissions that can be decent harbingers of growth in local business, retail and entertainment sectors had a quiet month.
The Peoria Liquor Commission and Planning and Zoning Commission canceled their regular January meetings because of a lack of cases.
It’s not unusual for either commission to cancel their monthly meeting. But for both to do it in the same month isn’t common.
In fact, the Liquor Commission didn’t meet in December, either, also because its services weren’t necessary.
The group recommends the City Council approve or reject sites for restaurants, bars, etc., to serve alcohol. New establishments usually are featured. Existing liquor-license holders who want to change their terms — say, by adding a beer garden — must check with the commission first.
Planning and Zoning makes recommendations to the council regarding land-use changes — rezoning to accommodate new housing developments or businesses, proposed annexations, etc.
Last January, each commission met and heard three cases.
The absence of cases this year doesn’t necessarily mean the pace of new-business development is slowing in Peoria. But it also might show it isn’t necessarily robust right now, either.
January 2015, after all, is when Caterpillar Inc. went before the Planning and Zoning Commission with its vision for a new corporate headquarters Downtown. Come to think of it, that might not be the best example to illustrate our point.
Anyway, it’s best not to read too much into the commission inactivity, according to city Community Development Director Ross Black. The winter months usually are slow on the development front, because of weather and the holidays.
The deadline for Planning and Zoning submissions for January is the second week of December. “By then, everybody’s thinking about something else,” Black said.
Streamlined city development procedures also have resulted in fewer cases requiring a public hearing, according to Black. He termed 2017 not a good year for residential development in Peoria and OK on the commercial side.
But cases already are in the Planning and Zoning hopper for the next few months, evidently.
“If we went two or three months in a row with (nothing), I’d start to wonder, ‘What’s going on here,’” Black said. (N.V.)
Can you cancel if you never meet?
By the way, the last time the joint city-county Metro Peoria panel designed to help local governments find efficiencies and share resources (as a taxpayer, read: cutting red tape and saving money) held a meeting appears to be last January.
Perhaps it might be good if this once-vibrant group met more than annually? (C.K.)
A not-uncommon wait
It has now been almost one year since President Donald Trump took office, and more than a year since Jim Lewis, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of Illinois, stepped down. Yet an official replacement is still not in place — or even nominated.
After Lewis stepped down, first an acting head to the office that covers about one-third of the state including Peoria was tapped. Back in November, John Childress was named interim U.S. attorney — but that designation lasts only 120 days before expiring.
We know that the state's federal lawmakers have forwarded candidate names to the White House for an appointment.
Though Trump's administration has been slow in making appointments for vacancies (and, notably, naming some judicial nominees who appeared barely qualified enough to dress themselves), this delay is only slightly longer than normal for the Central District position.
The Obama administration was fairly swift — but that's only because they kept a George W. Bush appointee, Rodger Heaton, in place until September 2009. He quit when U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin forwarded a list of possible successors to the White House, and Lewis was in place within six months, by March 2010.
But before that, Bush didn't nominate a prosecutor until nine months after taking office, selecting Jan Paul Miller in September 2001.
Bill Clinton took 10 months before sending Frances Hulin's name to the Senate for consideration in October 1993.
So 12 months is just a little out of the ordinary, rather than wildly so. But a longer wait for someone to head an office that's prosecuting former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, and that is investigating alleged tax irregularities by Caterpillar Inc., threatens to become awkward. (C.K.)
A bit outdated
Last week, city officials gathered to talk about the number of shootings in Peoria last year and to provide an update on the Don't Shoot program, which is marking its fifth anniversary.
But in addition to providing updated figures, they may wish to consider providing updated promotional material.
A gander at the website set up for Don't Shoot is like a trip in the Wayback Machine. To wit, the video on the homepage features Steve Settingsgaard, the police chief who resigned nearly four years ago.
Officials may not be comfortable with that, but until someone bothers to update the site, we suspect they'll have to be OK with it. (C.K.)
Chris Kaergard (C.K.) can be reached at ckaergard@pjstar.com or 686-3255. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisKaergard. Nick Vlahos (N.V.) writes "Nick in the Morning." He can be reached at nvlahos@pjstar.com or 686-3285. Follow him on Twitter @VlahosNick.