Special Treatment In Peoria, Public vs Private Personas, et cetera

In today's PJS, the one columnist who has been accused of trying to channel the writing style of the deceased Rick Baker, has a column about a former city council person receiving a parking ticket for parking too far away from the curb. Boo-hoo.

Through the piece, the poor person receiving the parking ticket seems to be wanting special treatment even though he or she was wrong.

Now this is what gets me: anyone who has followed this particular person in the public life knows this person is a stickler for the letter of the law, day in and day out. Frankly, it's irksome someone like this would cry foul when he or she was clearly caught not complying with a parking ordinance.

It's sort of like when those folks that scream and holler about speeders in their neighborhood are able to get the police to enact a speeder dragnet to catch them. Invariably, the complainers will end up being some of those caught speeding in the dragnet themselves, only to then complain they are the ones who complained in the first place and "by the way, why aren't you catching the real criminals."

So in other words, if you are going to complain, whine or bitch and moan about others and their seemingly violation of petty regulations, then you better make sure you can walk on water, heal the sick and cause people to worship at your return. Otherwise, learn how to park correctly.



On to Paul Sherwood, the arrested singer picked up outside of local, downtown eater. I'm sorry, but the local community needs to decide what it wants from its local police. Does it want the little things to be examined and enforced or does it want them to be ignored? I do not know what brought the initial interest of Sherwood to a police officer's attention, but most likely it was a complaint from someone else. So it could be he is actually a lousy musician, a man who spits goobers on sidewalks or someone with a terrible bout of BO. But it all comes down to, what does this city want and expect from local officials?

And if no one looks into the backgrounds of these folks, what do we really know about them and their past?

Just drive around Peoria and look at the local characters seen day in and day out and then ask, "what is really known about him or her".

Take the man with the fifties style haircut, flood water pants and boom box, who is seen singing along all over the city. Does anyone know if he is a threat or not?

Or how about the man who seems to resemble the lost love child of Willie York? He is usually wearing a yellow and black parka and carrying a couple of backpacks and walking some where with great determination?

Or the tall skinny black man with short spikes of hair seen rummaging in ash tray containers all throughout downtown Peoria?

Then there is the heavy set black man who wears a winter parka pretty much all season long and has a face devoid of emotion at all.

My point is, what do we really know about these folks?

So a strange musician arrives in town, his credentials are checked and it was discovered he had a warrant for some sort of "petty" offense. Well, too bad for that. But imagine what people would be crying about if this man was discovered to have a warrant for something like sexual assault or reckless homicide and it was not discovered for months. Then what would people be bitching about? Yes, the police not doing their jobs - again.

So, Peorians, make up your frigging minds. Do you want minor traffic regulations ignored when someone with a little influence violates them, or do you want them evenly enforced? Do you want strange people looked into or do you want them to remain ghosts? Whatever it is, make up your minds.