CapitolFax.com - Latest Comments in Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Little Egypt — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:24:12 -0000

NIEVA - "And yes the sewers were inoperable along with no power." Well that answers one of my questions. The employees will not be able to flush or drink. Now that's the kind of building I want to work in for the next several years. One that has water in the "back door" but it's a concrete floor so there's little damage. Right. I prefer not to work in a stinking cesspool and I would bet there's no one else who would want to either.

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

NIEVA — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:20:20 -0000

And if any went in through the rollup doors that area is all concrete floors so it would have done little damage.

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

NIEVA — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:18:12 -0000

This all happened so quick there was no time to sandbag. Again there was no water on the building and no cleanup afterward.

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Gregor — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:05:21 -0000

Song to go with that picture:

"One of our submarines is missing" -Thomas Dolby

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Can't Use My Nickname — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:58:34 -0000

Neiva - thanks for speaking out. Can you tell me if they were sandbagging inside the building by the back garage doors?

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

lets make it easy — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:14:28 -0000

more info if the building has been cleaned powerwashed to one of the telephone poles and get a laser level an shoot it at the building then go measure where the laser hits the building make a mark take a picture and again send it to rich

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

lets make it easy — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:12:02 -0000

would someone please go out to this buiding with a yardstick and a camera there has to be a visable water mark, place the yardstick next to the building and then take a picture of the yardstick and the water mark and send it to rich i am sure he will be more than willing to post the picture please remember to have the yarstick numbers facing out with the 1 inch mark at the botoom this will settle this once and for all lets make it easy and quit fighting about something that for one side or the other should be easy resolve

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

NIEVA — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:04:04 -0000

The water did not get in the building but it rendered it useless for several days. I sat out in front of it for several shifts and it was very close. And yes the sewers were inoperable along with no power. Across the street a strip mall with a Kroger and several other stores all went under to the tune of several million dollars in damage!

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Little Egypt — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:03:52 -0000

It's all so very interesting. Blago is treating the State offices like they were private industry. Since we are losing private jobs, he thinks he can play musical chairs with State agencies and fill a void in other parts of the State. He thinks it's his responsibility to make sure that every impoverished portion of the State sees an increase in employment, even if it is doing in the strangest manner I have ever seen. Hey Rod, here's a news flash. You can save a heck of a lot of money if you outsource every single State job to Mexico - including your own. That won't help the unemployment numbers in this state, but it sure will save a heck of a lot of money.

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Can't Use My Nickname — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:47:01 -0000

The Traffic Safety move to Southern Illinois is for economic development. What statutory authority does IDOT have to do economic development in areas other than building and maintaining highways? I also thought, and I could be wrong, that CMS is charged with purchasing or leasing buildings. What statutory authority does IDOT have to purchase a building?

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Yellow Dog Democrat — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:24:55 -0000

The water is clearly up to the window sills. Maybe the water only got up to 3 inches deep inside, but ANY standing water inside the building is a very, very bad sign.

Mold, mold and more mold.

And what about the next time it rains?

What does the insurance report say?

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

618er — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:12:12 -0000

Egypt,
I don't think I can give the His Excellency that much credit.....

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Cheswick — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:52:49 -0000

Thanks for replying. Little Egypt, true about Cellini, himself. But, what about the other property owners he represents. Do you think he cares about them enough to keep quiet to protect their interests from Blago's reorganizing of state offices? For instance, this part owner of the Traffic Safety building:

http://www.rumseyrancheria....

"The Tribe is the largest landlord to the State of Illinois through its ownership of several buildings in Springfield, Illinois."

I'm not necessarily pushing this theory and realize it's pretty far fetched.

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Ghost — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:14:36 -0000

Cheswick, I think the Cellini angle is very far fetched. It appears this move is payback for not supporting the recall amendment.

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Little Egypt — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:00:38 -0000

618er - rational scenario; however, I believe by now everyone in Illinois sees through Blago and his feud with Madigan and would not point fingers in the direction Blago would want us to.

Cheswick, I wouldn't bet on Cellini NOT talking to the Feds in order to protect his income generated during a Dem administration. At this point, Cellini (as well as any other unindicted, possibly indicted, future defendants) would be trying to save his own hide. Cellini is diversified enough that not collecting another dime from the State for leasing one of his properties will hardly make a dent in his lifestyle.

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

618er — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:37:07 -0000

Let me get my tinfoil hat on straight here....

OK there might be an interesting political scenario here.

Imagine if you were to move jobs with the very real motivation of saving money. Getting out of an expensive lease seems to be a good idea. Moving them to a depressed area of the state seems like a good idea on paper, pumping money into the local economy. Of course one would expect the local legislators, mayors, to sound off on either side, that would be expected.

If it succeeds, no matter what the cost, you have successfully helped a depressed area of the state. Yeah!!! If this committee of seemingly do nothing legislative representatives blocks it, well then one has a press conference stating that he is trying to help all the people of Illinois, but the big mean General Assembly doesn't want to help poor southern Illinois... Yeah!!

Just a thought....

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Anon — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:11:52 -0000

Wordslinger, bonuses are a device this administration has used to replace the majority of real merit increases--not an add on. In essense, they prevent cumulative growth of non-union state salaries and reduce pension liability. If they were a good thing for employees, the unions would be asking for bonus programs. They aren't.

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Cheswick — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:50:45 -0000

There was at least one article in the SJ-R that said the state is going to purchase one-half (48%) of the building from the Foundation. Do any lawyers here know how that works? Does the building go condo, or what? Just curious.

Also, should we consider that while the governor has the affected employees and many of people of Springfield and beyond all up in a frenzy about him "dissing" Springfield, that maybe that's a only a byproduct of his real motivation for this move? Just a theory: I'm thinking that maybe what's really happening here is the governor sending a message to Bill Cellini that if he talks to the feds, the gov will pull more offices out of Cellini properties. Obviously, this wouldn't bankrupt Cellini. However, many of the properties are owned by other entitles and Cellini (and Somers) only manages them. Is this too much of a leap?

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

iPhone — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:48:47 -0000

The Working Man strikes again... and that guy isn't even on the air down here in Carbondale anymore.

If the water didn't actually penetrate the building, I'd sure like to see some photographic proof of that. That still leaves the question of how the employees would get to work if the levee gets breached again.

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

curious george — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:12:42 -0000

Why would the taxpayers want to buy a building in a flood plain???
I and many others have viewed the disastrous Harrisburg 2008 flood photos at:
www.harrisburg-il.com/photo...
These show a multitude of businesses and residences in flood conditions...many along the 400 to 700 block of Commercial Avenue in Harrisburg including the old Wal-Mart/SeICF property. Even if the water didn't get within "3 inches" of this building it is very easy to see that many had more than three feet of water encroaching upon them. What would prevent it from happening again? I believe Harrisburg residents and businesses, given the choice, would like to move to higher ground after all the flood damage and no access to flood insurance at that time. Just Google â€œ2008 Harrisburg IL Floodâ€ , there are many locally made You Tube and MySpace video and other personal accounts of the misery of this flood.
As far as the perspective of the aerial photos of the flood and the building in question after the flood there is another website that sheds some light on that for what itâ€™s worth concerning the statementâ€¦
â€œâ€¦But itâ€™s hard to tell that from the aerial photos that have been circulating on the internet. Sites posting the pictures say the building saw flood damage. Wyatt says he wants the truth to be told.
â€œWithout context that aerial photograph of course looks bad but three inches of water can look like three feet of water from the air,â€ said Wyatt.
Take a gander at www.theworkingmanshow.com it raises some unanswered issues.

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Little Egypt — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:11:40 -0000

Hmmmm, just wondering, with the flood waters this high around the building in Harrisburg (even though claims are that the water never entered the building), would the toilets still flush? Would there be water suitable for drinking out of the fountains? Was power disrupted? Wouldn't an emergency generator be needed to at least keep the computer mainframes running? How will the building be protected from looters while it is sitting empty waiting for flood waters to recede?

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

blueinaredstate — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:08:19 -0000

Surely someone has (or can get) a snapshot of this building before or after the flood. A quick comparison of how much wall is underneath those floodwaters will demonstrate how close the water really got to that building.

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

VanillaMan — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:07:11 -0000

This is a political decision made by a politically dying governor. Just as our state legislators await Rod Blagojevich's end of term, many other Illinoians who may be impacted by this man's partisan decisions, are awaiting his end.

Rod Blagojevich is the most unpopular governor in the United States. He has no credibility. Yet, due to his currently held political position, this disliked governor is impacting Illinois families based on political whims. He is destroying businesses, families and governments because of retribution.

People are standing around waiting for this man to give them either a swift kick or a free bus ride. It is time to stop the Blagzilla from taking eveyone else down.

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Little Egypt — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:06:45 -0000

Bill, I'm betting David Phelps (Rep. Phelps' uncle) is richer than Mike Stout and he's also a current employee of IDOT.

Re: Was IDOT building flooded? “No,” says owner

Just My Opinion — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:04:08 -0000

Talked with Larry Bomke yesterday at a car show in Cantrall and asked if the people attending the hearing on July 31 were going to be "screened" like they were in Harrisburg. He said it was his understanding the crowd would be 50/50. How about this for a bet - all supporters allowed in the hearing room, all protesters allowed in the rotunda to watch by closed circuit TV. That's Blago's version of 50/50.