This is just a letter from a Peoria Independent reader to let you know what I think of your reporting on our Peoria city government and the Peoria Unified school board.
Throughout last year's election cycle of city officials and candidates running for school board, I found your reporting to be top notch. Election articles presented the facts and stayed middle ground when presenting the bios and policy stands of all the candidates.
Now that the elections have come and gone, there is the ongoing business of city government and the school board. Once again, I applaud you for presenting the facts of where the new mayor stands and any opposition of any city council members, stating the pro and con of each side. At no point do you try to sway the reader to one side or another.
The school board issues over the last few months have mushroomed. Most school boards are constantly battling operating leveys and bond issues. But lately the PUSD school board has been in heated debate over bathroom privileges and what was taught and said in an advanced physiology class. Once again, you did a really good job at providing the facts and accusations of both sides fairly.
I surely hope it is not coming to a point where we need to have the added expense of two adult teaching staff in the classroom, or video taping every session in the classroom.
The internet is not a dependable source of factual information. The "news" channels on TV again are not always factual, but more of the anchor, moderator format, with "guests" or a panel giving their biased opinions, and most times, the producers force the outcome of the news, CNN and FOX "news" being polar opposites.
Thank you for reporting the facts as they are and letting me make my own opinion.
One last thing. It seems that our new mayor wants a bigger and better expansion of Peoria. The only way to expand is to the north. I live in Trilogy and I can see what expansion has done here in the last five years. With rapid growth, there is a strain put on the infrastructure, roads, schools, city services, police, and fire. Our schools are currently overcrowded, our roads are slowly getting clogged with traffic, we need more police and firefighting equipment, fire and police stations. With all this expansion comes the sad thing no one wants to talk about - crime.
The city wants to expand its budget and says that COVID-19, supply chain issues, labor shortages, and the increased cost of labor are to blame. If I remember correctly, didn't the city of Peoria get a good chunk of federal money from COVID relief?
The schools are in the same scenario. It is getting to the point that the tax base can not keep up with the increased budgets before they will need to increase taxes. How long will the world continue to blame COVID-19 for all its woes?
