The Illegal alien rip-off

The children they bring with them get educated and those who don’t speak, read and write English fluently cost 20-40% more to educate than fluent English speakers cost. The children they have here also get educated for free and often aren’t fluent English speakers either. Children from low income families, regardless of legal status here, get two free meals every school day plus free books and free language tutoring when necessary.
They benefit from working at our jobs (driving up unemployme

­nt and driving down wages) and using our natural resources, like clean water and (mostly) healthy food. They get to our jobs by driving on our streets or using our public transporta­tion. They go to emergency rooms rather than going to doctors because they’d have to pay the bills at the Doctor’s office and we pay the emergency room bills. They really don’t help pay for much of any of the services they use every day because many work off the books and those who work on the books don’t earn enough money to pay much in taxes.

They’re not coming here to help us, they’re coming here to benefit off of us and that’s how it works out. They come illegally in their own self-inter­ests but we’re not allowed to enforce our own laws in our own self-inter­ests. There’s no real meaningful dispute of the facts so you general claims that they’re not eligible for benefits or they pay as much in taxes as everyone else (neither are true) and when we post data regarding total costs then some call us hateful names.”

Offer to post any candidates Comments.

I want a fair elections in Joliet so again I am offering the mayoral candidates the opportunity to post their thoughts here. Many offers have been sent out but only one has answered the call. Email me your submissions to jolietjake2008@gmail.com

I have personal preferences but I set them-aside for the chance at a fair election, unlike the Herald News, and other Joliet papers we do not edit submissions to this blog, so what you want to say…even if I don’t agree I will post for my readers.

 note this..I will not edit comments to your submissions, our readers are tax payers and they have gripes. So let the Elections begin and let’s get ready to rumble. Very little time to get your message out to the voters.

Joliet City Manager is a $463,000 leach on tax payers.

 By Adam Andrzejewski
In 2008,  Joliet hired a new City Manager. His starting base salary was $189,000. For 2011, the base salary increased to $196,500 and the City Manager out-earned every governor of the 50 states. In addition to this lucrative salary, $7,500 of taxpayer money goes into a “deferred compensation” retirement plan. The deferred comp plan is in addition to what the taxpayers pay into his pension plan: $28,800 into Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) pension. Contractually, Joliet taxpayers are required to fund lucrative perquisites: $6,000 in estimated annual car allowance; an estimated $4,000 in continuing education, fees and costs to maintain the Managers’ personal law license; and an estimated annual $17,500 of taxpayer funded premium payments for life, health, and dental insurances.

Click here to review our overview of Joliet City Manager 2011 Compensation Analysis. Then the City Manager became a “banker”. When the City Manager was hired in 2008, he negotiated a “vacation bank” and a “sick bank”. His “vacation bank” of 4 weeks is valued at $15,100 and his “sick hours bank” of 1,500 hours is valued at over $141,300. In 2011, the taxpayer liability associated with these two “banks” totaled approximately $156,400. As Donald Trump said, “You’re fired.” Ahh, think again- taxpayers.

A lump sum severance payment for this City Manager could be as high as- $375,900! The City Manager has the “financial insulation” of a friendly severance clause. If terminated for any reason except felony conviction or official mis-conduct or manager ‘abandonment of office’, taxpayers are on the hook for a lump sum payment equal to a full year of base salary and “any other benefits paid by the city’s fringe benefit ordinance”. The lump sum severance liability is calculated as follows: Base salary ($196,500), Insurances ($17,400), Car Allowance ($6,000), Vacation bank ($15,000) and Sick hours bank ($141,000). Despite the incredibly lucrative employment contract terms described above, this City Manager successfully negotiated for even more “dollars”. The City of Joliet agreed to file form IMRF 6.05 and back the manager’s claim that he was owed an additional 9.5 years of extra retirement credits. This would have added 9.5 credit years and $760,000 of credit “earnings” to the calculation of the City Manager’s future pension. Taxpayers would have been on the hook for this new massive lifetime pension liability. Thankfully, the application form 6.05 was rejected by IMRF administrators. But, the City Manager wasn’t finished with his claim. He appealed it to the full IMRF Board of Trustees. The full Board then issued a final rejection saving Illinois taxpayers an incredible amount of money. The City Manager of Joliet is re-defining “public servant”.  You serve Him.

Mayoral candidates and only one stood up.

Mad about Caterpillar may be leaving

Well here is to the Mayoral candidates, If you want to bitch me out for supporting Andy Mihelich then where the hell was you when the call went out by Joliet residents for a news conference about losing Caterpillar..You sat in your nice little offices and “DID NOTHING”..So you have the damn gall to ask me to support you now. I offered everyone the chance to post to my blog now that it is close you want to jump on the band wagon..not now. Don’t post your comments to my email say it here on the blog or facebook. Cuss me at least I would respect you more…?!?

‘Keep Cat in Joliet’ – Andy Mihelich Rallies for Jobs in Joliet

WATCH THE CBS 2 NEWS STORY:  http://video.chicago.cbslocal.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=5698050&at1=News&h1=Joliet Worried Caterpillar May Leave&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

(Joliet, Illinois) – Joliet Mayoral challenger Andy Mihelich organized a rally in Joliet on Sunday afternoon as a show of support for the Peoria-based manufacturer and to call on Governor Pat Quinn and the General Assembly to respond to the concerns raised by Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman in his March 21 letter to the Governor.

“Illinois cannot afford to lose Caterpillar and Joliet cannot afford to lose Caterpillar,” said Mihelich, who has made job creation and business location the main thrust of his mayoral campaign.

“This is a wake-up call for the state and for our community.  I want to show Caterpillar that at the local level we want to do everything we can to keep them here and that includes pressuring our legislators and elected officials in Springfield to pursue policies that keep Caterpillar in Illinois.”

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Andy Mihelich Statement on Caterpillar
3/27/2011
Contact: Andrew Mihelich @ 815-630-5142, andy@andyformayor.com

We are here today to send a message of support to Caterpillar and echo the wake-up call Caterpillar issued to Governor Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly.

We want Caterpillar to stay in Illinois and the 1,400 jobs at the Caterpillar facility in Joliet to stay in Joliet.

We recognize that Caterpillar is a global business and that we need to make our community and our state attractive to businesses that have options in terms of where they choose to locate and where they choose to expand.

Joliet is an ideal site for this facility.  We have a quality transportation infrastructure, a local workforce with a good work ethic, a vibrant local business community and chamber of commerce, and educational institutions like Joliet Junior College that support the manufacturing sector.

There is always more we can do at the local level—and I have outlined a number of initiatives I would pursue as mayor to make Joliet more business-friendly.

However, as Caterpillar CEO  Doug Oberhelman made clear in his March 21 letter to Governor Quinn, the State of Illinois is not holding up its end in terms of making the Land of Lincoln hospitable for business.

It is a jarring statement from one of the world’s leading manufacturers in a state where agribusiness is the number one business sector.

Unfortunately, Mr. Oberhelman is exactly right.  The State of Illinois—and the City of Joliet for that matter—spends too much and taxes too much.  We have become increasingly hostile to businesses—and businesses like Caterpillar do not have to tolerate such hostility.

According to the Tax Foundation, in 2009 Illinois has the 9^th highest state and local tax burden per capita in the nation.  With the recently passed tax hike, we’re now squarely in the top 5.  This is not where we want to be or can afford to be.

1400 jobs are on the line in Joliet and 23,000 across the state.  And that doesn’t include the ripple effects that would be felt if Caterpillar left—the hundreds of second and third tier suppliers who provide parts and services to Cat.

Furthermore, if Caterpillar leaves or even if the company simply continues to disinvest in Illinois, others will follow suit.

Joliet is ready to do its part.  I am ready to do my part.  And it’s time our elected officials at the state level did their part to protect the working families at Caterpillar, the small businesses that depend on Caterpillar, and the potential economic opportunities Caterpillar could bring to Joliet and the State of Illinois if we make this the great state in which to do business that it can be with the right leadership and the right policies.

Thank you.

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MEDIA ADVISORY: Mihelich to Hold Rally for Caterpillar TODAY

(Joliet, Illinois) –  mayoral challenger Andy Mihelich has organized a rally in front of the Caterpillar facility in Joliet for Sunday afternoon as a show of support for the Peoria-based manufacturer and to call on Governor Pat Quinn and the General Assembly to respond to the concerns raised byCaterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman in his March 21 letter to the Governor. “Illinois cannot afford to lose Caterpillar and Joliet cannot afford to lose Caterpillar,” said Mihelich, who has made job creation and business location the main thrust of his mayoral campaign. “This is a wake-up call for the state and for our community. I want to show Caterpillar that at the local level we want to do everything we can to keep them here and that includes pressuring our legislators and elected officials in Springfield to pursue policies that keep Caterpillar in Illinois.” Mihelich’s “Rally for Cat in Joliet” Details: WHO: -Andy Mihelich, Independent candidate for Mayor -Caterpillar employees who work at the Joliet facility -Joliet residents and small business owners WHAT: Rally to Keep Caterpillar in Illinois WHERE: Outside of Caterpillar facility in Joliet 2200 Channahon Rd Joliet, IL 60436 WHEN: TODAY, Sunday, March 27 @ 3:00pm