So, Chas is now in Florida?

I must have missed the news story about Charles “Randy” Oliver becoming the Escambia, Florida, County Administrator. He started work on November 1, with his maximum salary reported to be $145,000.

Click here, scroll down to page 8 and take a look at all that Randy Oliver accomplished while here in Peoria.

Oliver most recently (2008-March 2010) served as city manager in Surprise, Arizona, a city of 118,000 citizens, 850 employees and an annual budget of $300 million. According to The Arizona Republic newspaper, he was fired on the spot on a 4-3 vote by the Surprise Town Council without giving any real reason.Source

Upon exiting the Surprise Arizona gig:

The four council members that voted to terminate Oliver issued the following statement:

When former City Manager Oliver was hired, his skills and personality aligned with the needs of the City at that time. Over the last two years, Surprise has undergone many dramatic changes and felt the economic downturn that has impacted communities nationwide. As the City has gone through these growing pains, the focus and direction of the City has changed as well. Mr. Oliver has provided adequate service during much of this time period, but our City needs to move in a different direction.

Upon exiting the Peoria gig:
When asked why he’s leaving, he responded by saying, “I have other things I want to do.” When asked “what other things,” he said “consulting.”

Upon exiting the Greenville South Carolina gig:
“I was never asked to resign,” he said. “I was terminated from a technical point of view from Lee County…Frankly, probably, the majority of the board – I’m sure the majority of the board in Lee county – would like to have me back,” he said.

Where would we be without Court Jesters?

As I sat watching CNBC’s, Jim Cramer get eaten alive by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show, I could not help but be a little embarrassed for Cramer. There was no way Cramer could win this argument. What made him decide that he was willing to be the fall guy for all that CNBC had gotten wrong? Stewart paraphrased a Carly Simon quote when he told Cramer “this ass-whoopin' isn't about you”.

The fight was originally between Stewart and CNBC Business News’ on-air editor, Rick Santelli. Santelli was intelligent enough to cancel his interview with Stewart - he was mocked for a couple of days and then people forgot about him. Then, for some reason, Cramer steps in and begins to bash Stewart for mocking CNBC for their so called “objective financial journalisim”.

Stewart made blow after blow at Cramer and CNBC’s “financial programming”, he even clowned Cramer on Letterman – the case was/is solid. So, what in the hell was Cramer thinking when he decided to go on Stewart’s show? Did he actually think he could match wits with Jon Stewart? Doesn’t he know that you don’t start fights with the Court Jesters of society? Certainly not this particular Jester (Stewart), who is much beloved and has beat down many highly placed individuals on his highly viewed television show.

These satirist / comedians / jesters – (Stewart, Fey, Ferrell, and Colbert) don’t have to play by the rules – they will eat you alive. How credible is CNBC now that Cramer has admited to being a “snake oil salesman labeling his wares as vitamin tonic”?

Many think of a Court Jester as simply a clown employed to entertain the King. Oh contraire, the role they played entailed much more than playing music and doing handstands.

Whenever loss of freedoms are at stake, the Court Jester is necessary. The Jester can say anything because it is in jest – he can be frank. Count on the Court Jester to challenge what you see presented before you, by making fun of it. The Jester will trivialize an idea to the degree we are left wondering exactly who is zooming who. He will parody the players involved, so we can see them in a different light.

In the instance of Tina Fey parodying Sarah Palin, Jesters may even reverse thinking, by exposing the audience to the facets of a personality that have been polished so bright you can’t look at them.

In Medievil times, it was a thin line a Jester walked to not be seen as a “fool”, because he had to hold the council of the King. The position of the Joker playing card, which has no fixed place in the hierarchy of King, Queen, Knave etc. might be a remnant of this position of the court jester. This lack of any place in the hierarchy meant Kings could trust their councel more. They had no vested interest in any region, estate or church. (from Wikipedia)

The look of the Court Jester may have changed, but their role in society is just as important. So thank you Jon, Tina, Will and Steven…

Audacity of Illinois politicians - The General John Parker edition

As General John Parker has made clear to the citizens of Peoria that he “will not quit”, his campaign rolls on. A quick look at Parker’s website shows the following events:

February 28, 2009 - Fundraiser for General Parker for Mayor. Join us in celebrating Peoria’s Black History! Keynote speaker is Former Fire Chief, John Parker. Located at the Holiday Inn City Centre. 500 Hamilton Blvd. Cocktails at 6:00pm; Program at 7:00pm. Come share a night with good friends, good food, networking and dancing. Retired Fire Chief John Parker will speak about Peoria’s Black History as he remembers it. TICKETS COST $35.00 each.$350.00 Table of 10 Sponsorships Available from $500 on up. To purchase tickets call: (309)397-3104

March 1, 2009 - Campaign Kickoff

March 2, 2009 - Candidate's Night, Paparazzi's Restaurant at 6:30pm, 4315 N. Voss in Peoria Heights

March 4, 2009 - Candidate's Night Moss-Bradley Resident's Association at 6:30 p.m.
____________________________________
General John Parker, the only other candidate who is running against the incumbent, Mayor Jim Ardis. I suppose I should mention, General John Parker is black and Jim Ardis is white. However, the broader issue is Parker's legal issues:

I have been letting this issue marinate for several days. However, I cannot help but continue to wonder, why is Kevin Lyons taking such a strong stance against General John Parker? We all have known for some time (since December) that Parker is a convicted felon, so why is Kevin Lyons forcing Parker’s hand at this juncture?

Why did Lyons wait until Parker's name was on the ballot? To remove his name from the ballot at this time would be costly. Absentee voting is set to begin at the Election Commission as early as Thursday, March 4.


Other bloggers are also questioning why the State’s Attorney is picking this fight with Parker now. Recently, Mr. Lyons made the following statement in the PJStar about Parker:

"I gave Mr. Parker a courtesy week to withdraw mainly because most people seek public office, you hope, in a sense of altruism," Lyons said. "You would like to afford them the opportunity to self-correct an ineligibility or conflict. I don't think anyone believes Mr. Parker was interested in self-correcting."

Really? Mr. Parker is a politician, just like Mr. Lyons and Mr. Ardis. How altruistic is any politician... really? Why is it necessary for Kevin Lyons to deal with John Parker in such a condescending manner? Is it because Parker is an ex-convict? Is this the type of treatment every ex-convict can look forward to, regardless of how much they may have turned their life around? It looks to me like Mr. Parker has done a lot of self correcting.

According to PJStar.com City Council members have barely commented on the mayoral race and Mayor Jim Ardis could not be reached for comment. However...


From what I understand, anyone could have registered a complaint about Parker's candidacy five days after the election's filing date, which was Dec. 15, 2008, and no one did.

Has some one registered a complaint about Parker's candidacy since then? Did I miss that news story? Oh, I get it, this an example of the State's Attorney, making an altruistic effort, to protect the citizens of Peoria, from the likes of General John Parker?