Archive for May, 2008
May 30th, 2008
John Miller of Rockford called me a couple of minutes ago with an interesting idea on how to save gasoline.
Miller proposes tripling the fine for speeders. Motorists surely would decide to slow down if they thought they’d be fined $350 rather than $150 (Miller and I don’t know what a speeding ticket costs so these are hypothetical). If the idea was implemented nationwide, quite a few barrels of oil could be saved as motorists started to drive closer to the speed limit.
If motorists continued to put the pedal to the metal, they would pay the consequences.
Miller’s idea uses existing laws and would cost nothing extra to enforce.
Miller said he thought of the idea when a Humvee passed him going about 15 miles over the limit on Alpine Road. Haven’t we all had moments when a speeder has passed us and we thought that person should pay for his recklessness and wastefulness?
Miller said he’s run his idea past a couple of lawmakers.
What do you think? Would increasing speeding fines help slow people down and consequently help conserve gasoline?
May 29th, 2008
This morning the Tribune’s Eric Zorn wrote that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan should announce she’s running for governor ASAP.
Coincidentally, Madigan called me just a few minutes ago to thank us for this morning’s editorial about lead in toys. She had called me Friday to persuade me to write about the issue.
One of the biggest differences between Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Madigan is how they handle the media. Madigan doesn’t have a boatload of handlers who screen her calls and protect her from we meanies in the press. She makes calls herself, makes her case and when she does visit, she comes alone. She comes to talk to the editorial board once or twice a year and answers any questions we have.
She respects our intelligence, has a great sense of humor and is generous with her time.
The governor, however, has been avoiding the media, sends others in his place, shows up late when he does visit, and controls the conversation in a way that makes it difficult for us to ask, let alone get answers, to our questions.
The guy can be charming, in a hyperactive schoolboyish way, and you get the sense that he’s performing more than informing.
Madigan is genuine. What you see (hardworking AG, loving mother, etc) is what you get.
Should she run for governor? She’ll only say she’s thinking about it.
A few months ago when someone on the editorial board asked whether she’d run she said she was enjoying her job as AG. She’s done that job pretty well. It’s time for her to think about a promotion.
May 28th, 2008
The failure of the bill that would have allowed Rockford and other communities to install cameras to catch those who run red lights is not the worst thing that could have happened.
I see folks run the red almost every day and I think the cameras may have made a few of them reconsider their decision to gun it as the light turns red. Studies that I cited a while back show that accidents decrease in communities that have the cameras. I think we would have been better with the cameras, but at least we’re no worse.
Now that we have the red out of the way, it’s time to think green.
A group called, for now, the Green Communities Coalition will visit with members of the editorial board tomorrow.
From Julia Vadez, spokeswoman for the city of Rockford: The city is moving forward in signing the US Conf. of Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement. In developing an agenda for a “green” community, we have pulled together not just the needed conservation efforts such as recycling and focus on reducing our carbon footprint, we are also building companion programs in regional planning, adaptation of building codes, and organizational practices to better “practice what we preach”.
May 23rd, 2008
There always seems to be a proposal to “do something” about distracted drivers, like Chicago did when it banned hand-held cell phone use.
Not a day goes by that I don’t see someone nearly cause an accident because the person was holding a cell phone in one hand and trying to steer with the other. Sometimes the person isn’t paying attention and nearly swerves into me (bike or car). Sometimes its a little thing like failing to signal, which also can be dangerous.
Although I think it’s a problem, I’m not sure I would support a statewide ban on cell phones while driving simply because I don’t know how you could enforce it consistently. Do we want police and state troopers watching for everyone with a hand to his or her ear?
You could make the argument that having a law, and the threat of punishment, would be enough to get some people to hang up or use bluetooth. That would cut down, but not eliminate the problem.
What do you think?
May 22nd, 2008
Yesterday I had one of those “wow, that was nice” moments.
My wife and I drove up to Dairy Queen to get a couple of treats. When we arrived at the cashier’s window we asked how much we owed. “The person in front of you paid for it.”
Now, I’ve heard stories about generous people paying for the folks behind them at groceries, tolls, etc., but I’ve never had it happen to me.
Last year at the Starbucks in Marysville, Wash., 350 people bought coffee for the people in line behind them.
I kept the line moving at Dairy Queen by paying the tab for the guy behind me. I don’t know whether he kept it going. I hope so. I also don’t know if the person who paid my bill was the first in the line or if someone ahead of him/her paid that bill.
I’d like to think the line kept moving for the rest of the night. I’ll try to find out.
May 21st, 2008
No way, no how, no matter how hard they try to justify it, Winnebago County’s elected officials should not get a pay raise when their constituents see their paychecks and their spending power declining by the day.
The average person in the county makes just 80 percent of what his or her national counterpart makes. Only 14 years ago, county residents made 100 percent of the national figure.
It’s not fair that elected officials want more when the folks who pay their salaries with their hard-earned tax dollars have less.
We’re sure some of the elected officials work hard and deserve a raise, but so does the factory worker who did a good job for more than 20 years only to get laid off and then have to find employment at a lower-paying service-sector position — if he could find employment at all.
In the Rockford region, which typically has unemployment rates higher than state and national averages, the jobless rate has gone up for eight straight months.
Those who are fortunate enough to have a job have a median household income of $44,776. Many of the officials who are in line for raises would make almost twice that.
According to Heartland Alliance’s Mid-America Institute on Poverty, 14.8 percent of Winnebago County residents lived in poverty in 2006, up almost 3 percentage points from 2005.
So we’ve seen spending power decrease and unemployment and poverty increase. How can elected officials, who supposedly wanted the job so they could serve the public, even think about asking for more when so many of their constituents are suffering?
There’s no good time for elected officials to seek more pay, but this seems like a very bad time indeed.
We understand that competitive salaries are needed to attract and retain good people in public office, but from what we’ve seen, the salaries elected officials are making today are more than competitive.
Let’s start with County Board members. They’re paid a base salary of $5,000. Board member who chair committees get an extra $1,000 and $250 for chairing a special committee.
Under the pay raise proposal, they would maintain the base rate and see their $100 per diem increase to $200 per board meeting up to $5,000. Under the new salary structure, no extra pay would be given for chairing a committee.
Not bad for part-time work.
The county auditor would get an increase from $76,052 to $81,473; county recorder, $76,052 to $81,473; county coroner, $76,052 to $95,000; circuit clerk, $76,344 to $81,473; and County Board chairman, $78,525 to $95,000, plus a cost-of-living increase over the next four years.
We think that’s very competitive, considering what others are getting paid in the Rock River Valley. There’s an argument that the salaries of county elected officials aren’t keeping pace with similar positions in comparable urban areas. Maybe that’s true, but other costs of living are lower here, too, especially housing costs.
The proposed salary changes would take place after the November election, starting Dec. 1 and continuing through Nov. 30, 2009.
On Tuesday, the board’s Democratic Caucus voted to freeze County Board member salaries until 2010, but left open the possibility of increasing wages for other elected officials.
The County Board is expected to talk about pay at its meeting tonight.
You can go and let board members know they should say no. If you can’t go, remember who how they voted when you go to the polls in November.
May 21st, 2008
‘nough said:
May 20th, 2008
It has always seemed strange to me that we elect coroners, auditors, treasurers, etc., positions that should have specific requirements and not be up to the whims of voters.
How are voters to know who can deal best with dead bodies or count money? Shouldn’t these positions have some kind of test administered and graded by the County Board or whoever is in charge?
I also don’t think they should be government jobs. I think those offices could be handled by the private sector on a contract basis. That way the county could save the increasingly expensive pension and health-care costs.
I don’t begrudge anyone a decent salary , but why should taxpayers have to pay for these folks to have cushy retirements? Most of the elected positions listed in today’s story would get paid about twice as much more in retirement than the average Winnebago County resident makes while working. And the county resident pays for that retirement with his or her tax dollars.
Does that seem fair?
May 19th, 2008
A message on my voicemail this morning complained about Sunday’s cartoon. He said the cartoon is inaccurate because the first escape was from a courtroom and not the jail. He said the second escape was from a holding cell and not the main complex.
He said the guards in the main complex are doing a good job (I agree) and that cartoons like the one published Sunday distort the facts.
May 16th, 2008
Today’s is national Bike to Work Day and it’s a beautiful day to ride a bicycle.
I didn’t see any new faces on my ride today. That doesn’t mean there weren’t new folks who decided to pedal instead of drive; I just didn’t see any.
When the weather is nice like this, my car will sit at least two days and usually three or four without being driven at all. That’s been the case for me for almost 30 years, even when gas was cheap. The high gas prices are incentive for me to try to add a day or two for my car to take a break.
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