In the surreal world of Champaign County government, a new sign is going up at the nursing home. Three bricklayers have worked on it for the first three days of the week, and more work needs to be done yet. So the nursing home, which is bleeding hundreds of thousands a year, and which is getting bailed out by the general corp fund for a million a year, gets a nice new sign.
And before anyone suggests that this is a different pot of money, I'll say that is balderdash. Every nickel that was spent on this sign could have been used instead to lower the $300,000 that the County's General Corp fund has to pay toward the $4 million bond that we sold in 2006.
Obviously, reasonable people can agree that a sign on the home is a good idea, although we've done fine finding the place in the year that it's been open without the sign. But couldn't we have found something more modest? This will be the nicest sign on any county building, and perhaps any government building in the county.
Hopefully they'll be using something other than engraving to put the name of the home on the sign.
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Maybe they can add a rider at some point to generate some additional revenue.
Something like, "Champaign County Nursing Home, proudly sponsored by CUMTD?"
Maybe they can run Google Ads on the sign with a modest additional investment in technology.
Yes I saw the sign too today, and it gave me similar thoughts to the ones our friend Mark Shelden express here regarding
the ineptness and disregard for fiscal responsibility and taking care of business.
Unfortunately this puny little sign can't even be seen from Lierman let alone I-74.
Sheesh. These people who spend our money are complete a-holes. They should pay for this stuff out of their own pockets, not mine.
Mark,I was thinking this had to be a joke,,,,,but no. Unreal,,,what the heck do they need a sign for? They have a waiting list already they cant process because they cant afford enough help to take care of them.!! The county board seems to think this is all one big joke that will go away with wishful thinking, No one on that board seems to understand the state can come in and shut the doors on the place at any time, and relocate everyone living there, if they sense the least amount of lack of proper care! There is another fine on the way soon,,,if it has not already been levied, for not reporting an old ladies broken leg in a proper and timely manner. They need a wake up call,,,they are in real danger of not having to make a decison on the nursing home,,,the doors maybe closed for them.
That signage may be a small cost in the overall scope of the nursing home but by golly, it IS something. It light of the dire financial straits, it is ridiculous to build at this particular time. I sure wouldn't be happy if I were a county board member trying to figure out the mess.
Couldn't Bricklayer Beckett have reused bricks from the soon to be demolished courthouse clocktower for the new sign?
The sign should be changed to read "The Steve Beckett Memorial Boondoggle."
Mark,
Why are you complaining about a few thousand for a sign when Beckett just forced through $1.5 million for an addition to the courthouse clock tower?
The clocktower part is paid through private donations.
I don't want to throw cold water on this discussion because I agree this looks like a monumental waste of throwing bad money after bad money. However, if there was already a contractual obligation for this work to be done then maybe the county didn't have much choice except to follow through with that contractual obligation. I really doubt that Denny Inman or anyone else woke up this morning and, "Hey, I didn't think of it before, but let's build a multi-thousand dollar sign."
The clocktower has not been paid for by private donations. As to whether someone had a contract for this work that predated the four million dollar bailout of the nursing home in 2006 I highly doubt it. But I'll check on that. As to whether someone just woke up one morning and decided to do this, it would not suprise me in the least.
What a beautiful world we would live in if folks like Mark Shelden made the decisions. Why not get some stencils and a can of spray paint for making a sign?
Don't you have anything else to complain about?
How about Dykstra's plan to raise everyone's taxes to pay for a school in Savoy that I'll never use? What happened to the Savoy cherry-picking plan of government services?
Anonymous, I think the idea is not that we have a spray-painted sign, but perhaps something less than the Taj Mahal of signs, at taxpayer expense.
Anon, 6:47. Are you on the County Board? You'd fit right in.
The clocktower part is paid through private donations.
Wrong. Only $800,000 has been raised, and some of that is only pledged. The county is on the hook for the rest. But I'm sure you already knew that, and were just trying to misguide in order to deflect critcism of the belltower.
Nice sign. It will help sell the facility.
What exactly are the arrangements for the clock tower? I heard 7 million for the whole project, with 2.1 for the actual clock, the rest would be tuckpointing to restore the tower, and maybe raise the tower to its original height. The installing of the clock was to be entirely through private donations but the rest would be paid for by the ol' .25 sales tax of 1997 renown. True?
The cock tower is a total travesty. Shame and calumny for all who supported this ridiculous idea and pathetic waste.
Can anyone tell me why this sign is illuminated on BOTH sides? So much for conserving energy.
As much as I hate to defend the sign, the illumination on the back side is for the flag pole that will be installed soon.
I figured it was so the people who were leaving the nursing home would be reminded of that fact as they were leaving. In case they were confused. Or something.
My personal favorite nursing home reminder of where residents are going is the Knox County Nursing Home in Knoxville - it is directly across the street from Knoxville Cemetery (my wife's grandfather passed there - her dad was the one to point out the irony to me that everyone has a nice view of their next stop - in fact his plot is in the front row so he really was looking directly at his next stop).
Oh my gosh, you mean they're going to waste even *more* money? :-/
Well they are going to spend thousands more on experts to tell them they are broke. They will need over $400,000 in June to keep the doors open,,,which the county cant afford,,unless they can somehow shift money from the old courthouse/clock tower,,,,and I doubt that will happen,,,,pretty impressive list of notables on the new consulting board,,,I wonder if a one of them has a basic knowledge of the nursing home industry? Hope so, I have known so many experts in my life,,,,,not many of them know how to really operate when the fat is in the fire, like now,,,who can get the state to kick in some payments quickly?? I know,,,,but they dont:)
"As to whether someone just woke up one morning and decided to do this, it would not suprise me in the least."
Local government never ceases to amaze. The attitude of public money being some group's piggy bank is quite pervasive in C-U.