Where mayoral candidates stand on housing, pension
Peoria will see a new mayor in 2021 — the first time that’s happened since 2005. Five candidates are vying for voters’ support to replace four-term incumbent Jim Ardis, who decided not to seek reelection: Andres “Andy” Diaz, Rita Ali, Jim Montelongo, Sid Ruckriegel and Chama St. Louis.
The top two vote-getters in the Feb. 23 primary election will square off in the April 6 general election. The Journal Star provided a seven-question survey to all three candidates. Their responses as submitted are provided here in the order in which they appear on the ballot.
Andres “Andy” Diaz
Website: DiazForMayor.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PeoriaMayorDiaz
What does Peoria need to do (or stop doing) to attract new and diverse businesses?
First, the City must have a plan for development and reinvestment in the community. Without a plan, neither residents, developers, nor city staff will know what we are doing and what our goals are for growth. Without that plan, it is difficult to convince people to invest their money in Peoria. Once we have a framework in place, we must work with City staff to view their work as customer service representatives: responding to residents and developers in a timely fashion with helpful answers. Our priority should be to help those doing incremental development here in town instead of spending resources to attract outsiders to do development. We must reduce the red tape, simplify processes, and find ways to say “Yes” to help our residents and businesses find success in Peoria. Once we have a plan, improved our processes, and tapped our local opportunities for development, we can begin to work on larger incentives and development in the community.
Peoria has one of the highest property tax rates — and, in some of the city, sales tax rates — outside of Chicago. What measures does the city take to keep coffers full but also promote growth?
We must have a plan and vision to begin to raise the value of our community as a whole. We should begin with business development and reinvestment in our heritage neighborhoods and the people of our community. Over the years, we have seen a decline in home values, which directly impacts our tax revenues. We have the opportunity to use policy to address how we utilize the incoming state and federal dollars that are available to the city. Focusing on our current residents, we can begin the cosmetic makeovers in our heritage neighborhoods. These cosmetic changes will help lead to a positive forward momentum that we can build upon and increase the value of these neighborhoods. These changes will also encourage private citizens to invest in their neighborhood. Increasing the value of the homes in the heritage parts of our community, growing new small businesses in the neighborhoods, and having a qualified workforce will help us maintain a budget that doesn’t rely on additional fees and taxes in the long-term.
What specific plans to you have to address declining housing values in the city?
As stated in the previous question, we have the opportunity to draft policy that directs incoming state and federal dollars back into our heritage neighborhoods to aid our struggling residents with much needed repairs. We have the ability to redirect HUD funds to our heritage neighborhoods, increase the partnerships we have with agencies like Peoria Opportunities Foundation, PCCEO, and others to direct dollars where they will have the greatest impact.
Additionally, we must address our crime issues. We cannot expect to see significant improvements or reinvestments in parts of town that have a bad reputation or rampant crime issues. Residents must feel safe in their homes and know that actions are being taken to address petty crimes before they result in more dangerous issues. With the hiring of a new police chief, and the election of a new Mayor, we are in a position to set a new direction and improve our community on a greater scale.
What specific things does the city spend too much on that should be cut, or what taxes and fees should be raised?
Historically, our elected officials hire consultants to develop plans for Peoria which are never implemented nor completed. (i.e., Heart of Peoria Plan was adopted in concept). One recent example is that in 2019, our current City Council spent over $50,000 on a consultant to put together a plan for MacArthur Highway. This plan included business development, enticing a grocer to the area, and a commitment of $1M in city funds to aid in the implementation of the plan.
Then, in 2020, the First District Councilwoman proposed spending over $500K on a community center which later morphed into a grocery store with annual costs to the City of Peoria exceeding $100K and is less than a mile away from the plan made for MacArthur Highway. Our city then spent tax dollars on a purchase option for that building and wasted staff time. Our leaders have to be better at adopting a plan and following through on the recommendations instead of wasting our scarce resources chasing every shiny thing.
With a focus on community engagement, we can get buy in from our residents, local businesses and developers to aid in the redevelopment of Peoria prior to greenlighting the expenditure of city funds.
We must also be better stewards of the revenue and fees we do collect. As an example, each year we collect over $750,000 from our rental registration program. Yet, we do not have a single staff member dedicated to resolving rental housing issues or working with landlords to make them part of our housing solutions.
Taking a new approach to how we work with landlords could lead to their reinvestment in our community and helping renters in the community have housing that meets their needs. We must make sure that anytime we spend money, it is done with full transparency and accountability. The city should not choose winners and losers, as our leadership has a poor track record at doing this. The citizens of Peoria are tired of seeing the waste and mismanagement of funds, especially when new fees or taxes don’t address the problems they are meant to resolve.
To the second part of the question, I don’t believe that we can add more taxes and fees and expect people to move into the city. We must learn to live within our me
ans. There will be a non-binding referendum on the ballot in April to ask taxpayers their appetite for an additional tax to cover our pension shortfalls in the years to come. If the referendum does not get enough support, we must take a hard look at the budget and see what items can be cut for the short-term to balance the budget. If we must enact additional fees to pay for our police and fire, we must engage the police and fire unions to help educate our citizens on how their tax dollars are being spent and what the impact will be on services without an additional fee. Ultimately, we must meet the expectations of the residents of Peoria and offer a realistic vision of what we can accomplish with the revenue dollars we have available to us as a community.
Question: Do you have any solutions to ease the financial strain caused by the cost of city pensions?
We have to review every line item in the budget. We must know what costs are required immediately to keep our city running, what line items can be put off for future years, and what things we are currently doing that don’t fit within the scope of offering public services and safety to our residents. I have proposed a blue-ribbon commission of CEO’s, HR and Accounting Professionals, and residents to help review the city budget and make recommendations on items that can be cut. This would need to be done with transparency to ensure accountability to the taxpayers. In the short term, we have to right size the budget.
In the long term, enacting policies where we improve the tax base will lead to higher revenue. Once we begin to see higher revenue as a city, we must act in a fiscally responsible way to shore up our basic city services before spending on other items or projects.
What measures can the city take to curtail violence?
I propose a neighborhood engagement program for our officers to lead. In conjunction with our Resident Police officers, we must make officers a more engrained part of the community. We should enact an Urban Advocate Program, where we utilize former gang members and ex-offenders to help mentor our youth. Some of this is currently happening with Male Mentor Mondays and the Growth & Development Urban Ambassador program.
With a focus on community engagement, the city can help fund programs like these and ensure their long-term success. This framework has been used successfully in Oakland, California and is built upon a “Don’t Shoot” framework. These Urban Advocates have the ability to speak directly to the youth as credible messengers and be intermediaries for the community and law enforcement. The funding for these Urban Advocates can be found in our Community Development Block Grant funds as well as utilizing the police department budget where they currently have multiple open positions that cannot be filled due to the long lead time from cadet to officer.
If elected, you will be deciding how to redistrict council boundaries. Should the city keep five at-large seats and five district seats, move to 10 council districts, or reduce the number of at-large seats and increase the number of district seats?
Our council framework is built upon a court case that resulted in a consent decree to provide more equitable representation in the city. My understanding is that the surviving members of the class-action lawsuit may need to sign-off on a new plan to change our current council structure. That being said, if we can resolve that issue, I do believe that we need to review our current system and move toward more council districts, while maintaining some At-Large seats.
Working within our current framework, I would use my professional experience and contacts to utilize GIS (Geographic Information Systems) technology to draw new districts that better represent the demographics of Peoria. As it stands, we have grouped the most economically depressed parts of town into one district. This makes it difficult to have the needs of our poorest citizens fully represented. We should work to give adequate representation to all citizens of Peoria.
Ultimately, all of our council members (District and At-Large) must take a holistic view of the community. Too often, we hear council members say that an issue isn’t in their district, or that they will defer to the District Council person where the issue resides. This is detrimental to our community. If we are only considering the opinion of one council member, we lose the benefit of having an entire council engaged and offering their advice to make our community a better place. The decisions being made by our City Council have city-wide implications. We must have a plan in place and make decisions that get us closer to achieving a desired end state for the City of Peoria.
Rita Ali
Website: https://ritaali.com/
Facebook page: facebook.com/ritaaliformayor
What does Peoria need to do (or stop doing) to attract new and diverse businesses?
First, Peoria must create a strong workforce having the skills and credentials that current and potential businesses need. Workforce is key to business success and serves as required criteria for businesses considering moving to an area. Research shows that a strong economy requires that 60 percent of the adults in a region should have a credential beyond high school.
This credential or skill may be a certificate or degree, completion of apprenticeship training, or proven competency in a specific skillset, or documented experience. We must work with workforce training providers in our area – the construction trades, colleges and universities, and other training providers to help unemployed and underemployed individuals to obtain the skills needed to attract new industries and fulfill the requirements of current job openings within our region.
Secondly, the city of Peoria must get back into the business of economic development. This responsibility has been left up to other entities within our region. The city must participate within the regional workforce development initiatives, but it must look out after the interests of the city of Peoria. We can no longer leave this to other entities. When the last economic development director took a job elsewhere, the city did not refill this position. As mayor, I will be directly involved in economic development activities and initiatives. If elected, I will retire early from my Vice President job at Illinois Central College and work full-time to lead and lift Peoria without additional cost to
taxpayers or the distraction of another full-time job.
Peoria has one of the highest property tax rates — and, in some of the city, sales tax rates — outside of Chicago. What measures does the city take to keep coffers full but also promote growth?
Revenue generation is critical to Peoria’s growth and will reduce our reliance on property taxes. I will not support any increase in property taxes as the easy approach to balancing the budget. We must do things differently in order to get different results. My recommendation is that Peoria become a Smart City like Columbus, Ohio, the fastest growing city in the Midwest and one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. Smart Cities use digital technology to protect and connect citizens, businesses, transportation and healthcare systems.
I will build the city’s capacity to apply for large scale competitive federal, state, and private foundation grants. We can no longer rely on the current city budget to deliver the services that we need and want. External grant development falls within my area of expertise and I have secured more than $50 million dollars in external funding for education and workforce development projects for Peoria and our region.
Growth will require jobs and economic development, investing in our greatest asset – our people. It will require aggressive outreach for attracting new industries. I plan to engage the brain trust of our talented community to assist in many activities to grow Peoria. We have many talented individuals that are willing to volunteer their time on specific projects. I plan to engage these individuals as an extension to our small city workforce. People want to be involved and we need a structure to engage them and allow their participation. I plan to create such structure.
Again, we must do things differently if we want different results. We must have a comprehensive strategic plan and vision that everyone is familiar with – one that key stakeholders help to create and one that holds us accountable to established goals.
We should have a clear vision of what Peoria should look like five, ten, and twenty years from today. Passenger rail (or Amtrak) should be a part of that vision as it connects people and places. This meets the expectations of younger generations that we want to retain and attract to our area.
We live in a great city. We must tell our story and create the foundation for population growth, job and economic development, and equity.
What specific plans do you have to address declining housing values in the city?
The trend of declining housing values in Peoria must be addressed in short order. Assets decline when supply increases relative to demand. The 2017 reorganization at Caterpillar created an increase in the number of homes on the market as a significant number of Cat employees were laid off or relocated. The current situation with increased unemployment has also impacted home sales and a downward pressure on home values.
Home values in Peoria will increase when our economy stabilizes. It is important that additional mortgage funds are made available for new and current homeowners. The factors shaping housing values are the same factors shaping our economy overall. We must increase jobs and economic development, population growth, and depressive situations. We are experiencing a domino effect. We currently have a buyer’s market. Sellers lower prices to be competitive and housing values decrease.
In Columbus, Ohio, housing values significantly increased with the increase in population. It is important that as Peoria grows, we must maintain a balance between housing values and housing affordability. My goal is to address issues that contribute to housing devaluation, grow our city, grow our workforce, and grow our population. Peoria has great amenities. We need the right leadership to bring about change – business as usual does not get us there. As a member of the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), I am learning a great deal about housing value, options, and possibilities.
What specific things does the city spend too much on that should be cut, or what taxes and fees should be raised?
First, we should not add any additional property taxes or fees. Peoria residents are weary with these taxes and not always getting what they are paying for in terms of basic core services (due to cuts). The only tax that I am currently exploring is an additional alcohol tax. Such a tax has helped cities like Indianapolis, Indiana and Gary, Indiana to supplement their budgets without severe hardship to business. This is still under exploration and I intend to seek additional information and input.
The city budget is lean and mean. Staff have been cut severely. Hence, services have been reduced. There truly is no fat in the budget. Our only solution is to grow revenues. We must grow external funds and we must grow population.
Do you have any solutions to ease the financial strain caused by the cost of city pensions?
While the city pension issue must be addressed in collaboration with state legislators, I believe there are strategies that the city can implement. This includes a fundraising mechanism with an endowment. We have not engaged in sufficient out-of-the-box thinking on how to address the pension issue creatively. I will bring together the best minds to assist this effort.
Question: What measures can the city take to curtail violence?
We must strengthen our neighborhood associations with the tools and resources they need to assist in crime reduction. I also believe we should wrap a Safety Net (S-NET) around the most vulnerable, high crime areas of our city. Crime (homicide, theft, burglary, assault) occurs in neighborhoods and residents, out of fear, do not speak up. We need a system that more effectively allows residents to report crime without the risk of exposure or retaliation.
We need an adequate level of police and those that can spend the time needed to solve crimes – this is not a luxury, it is a necessity and important to crime reduction. The more effective we are at solving crimes, the more effective we are at reducing crime. Unlike other large cities, Peoria does not have excessive police personnel or big police budgets. We operate on shoe-string budgets.
We must empower residents to assume more responsibility for addressing issues of crime in their neighborhoods. I am not talking about giving citizens authority to operate as police – I’m talking about communication systems where neighbors communicate with neighbors, advocate for increased lighting in their neighborhood, install cameras, and have a system for reporting suspicious behavior or incidents. It is about being a good neighbor.
If elected, you will be deciding how to redistrict council boundaries. Should the city keep five at-large seats and five district seats, move to 10 council districts, or reduce the number of at-large seats and increase the number of district seats?
I strongly support retaining five at-large seats and five district seats on the council. At one period, before joining the council, I thought that 10 districts would provide for more diversity and broader representation on the council and this would be good for the city. However, after joining the council for the past 20 months, I have developed a different point of view based on my experience on the council.
District council members advo
cate strongly for their district. Although they may weigh in on issues affecting other districts, their primary focus is serving and supporting the district they were elected to represent. This sometimes creates silos and divisions or “horse-trading”.
At-large members, by their charge, take a more city-wide or global view of issues considering they represent the entire city. This helps to balance decisions and cut down on “horse-trading”. Ultimately, the five at-large and five district seat structure is best for the city. I believe that diversity and broader representation can still be achieved under the current structure in Peoria.
Jim Montelongo
Website: www.jimmontelongo.com
Facebook page: JimMontelongoForMayor
Question: What does Peoria need to do (or stop doing) to attract new and diverse businesses?
We need robust economic growth policies, to stop raising taxes, reduce crime and focus on providing quality basic city services.
We need to stop wasting money with gifts/grants and loan guarantees for private development with taxpayer funds. In the crucial vote in 2010 on the Pere Marquette “deal,” I voted no with Council members George Jacob, Dan Irving, and Gary Sandberg. City government has no business “investing” in some private businesses, and employs no experts like an investment bank to properly evaluate business opportunities and values. The Pere Marquette $36 million dollar deal (now $37 million or more with accrued interest) has already cost Peorians at least $8 million with another $26 million on the line. That the “deal” was not competitively bid is all the worse. It was a colossal disaster. Under a Montelongo Administration every major contract will be competitively bid, and no public money will be put on the line for the private benefit of insider interests.
We have so much going for us—incredible research and development facilities from the Ag Lab, CAT, to Bradley University, to the U of I College of Medicine, ICC, to OSF’s Jump Training Center for research and more. We have quality higher education. We have a community with a complete and enviable transportation network, including highways, river, airport, rail lines and public bus service. Compared to other cities it doesn’t take long to get anywhere. Our housing and food expenses are lower than other metropolitan areas with the services expected in a city. Area recreational opportunities are second to none. But we have to get our financial house in order.
We are drowning in debt; have massive pension obligations; are among the very highest taxed cities in the state that has the highest overall tax burden in the nation; have cut our police and fire protection to the bone; have decrepit road conditions; have continuing high profile crime; have an underperforming school system; and in 2019 Forbes reported that Peoria lost the most in home values in the NATION and also had one of the highest foreclosure rates. Finally the Journal Star has twice reported that Peoria has the most residents moving out among large cities in Illinois. We need systemic change. The past 16 years can be characterized as the Era of Stagnation. It has to end, lock, stock and barrel.
First, we need a mayor who is a business person. Secondly, there is no time for on the job training for the next mayor. Regarding the latter, I have almost twice the city government experience as all my opponents combined—12 years. I served four years as an at-large council member which gave me the perspective of representing the whole city. Then for the past eight years I have served as the District 4 Council Member, which required an attention to detail, responsiveness and an outlook like that of a mayor of a council district. The unique combination of my experience is unmatched by any of my opponents. I would also say, that CAT, OSF, Methodist, or ICC would not promote anyone to president, chair or CEO with only two years of experience in the field.
Regarding business experience, I started my company—Advanced CAD/CAM—29 years ago on my kitchen table. This was after earning my engineering degree at Bradley and then an MBA also at Bradley. My company competes daily with the best and brightest high-tech engineering companies in India and China and yet we have thrived with hundreds of high-wage employees, right here in Peoria over those 29 years.
To outcompete these tough international competitors I constantly take a look at every line item in our budget and find the most cost efficient method for every single thing we do. If my company didn’t stay on top of costs, we would instantly lose price competitiveness for our products and services and be out of business in a heartbeat. As the leader of my company, I can never get lax about innovation, utilizing advanced technology, or best business practices that exist. We have had to constantly reinvent and rise to constant new challenges. I have succeeded in doing so for the past 29 years.
The combination of these skills are exactly what we need as mayor in this financial crisis we face for the foreseeable future. I have developed expertise in budgeting that will allow me to lead our Council and local financial experts to develop a financial work around plan to deal with our radically rising pension costs and find the funds necessary for funding basic city services.
I have also studied the economic growth policies of successful cities with a growing tax base. I know what works and what is counterproductive. It is essential that Peoria stop hemorrhaging residents and employers and instead starts attracting new ones. Economic growth is essential if we are to sustain an adequate level of basic city services and social services in our city.
Growth does not have to mean sprawl. The handheld calculator which became available to consumers around 1970 replaced crude computers that took up a whole room in the 1950s. That is also economic growth. Filling in empty or decrepit land and buildings in our older neighborhoods is really called renewal and that too is economic growth. I have steadfastly supported tax abatement and other forms of economic growth for Peoria. I now want to lead an effort to deregulate the city for potential job creators. We need to stop penalizing employers who want to open up in Peoria. I would do away with building permit fees. Instead, we should get across to builders — we are glad to have you here. Welcome to Peoria.
I believe Peoria needs to have a focused economic team, with business consultant resources, available to meet and help every small and medium size business grow new customers and reach new markets. When we help the hundreds of small and medium size businesses grow, they will need more employees. This economic team will also give expense reduction techniques. This method is c
alled economic gardening. When hundreds of businesses start hiring new employees our population will also be positively impacted, as will our local taxes and the city budget, just like when Rochester, New York started this approach it grew over a 1,000 new jobs and millions of more dollars in revenues.
We need to continue helping start-up businesses by providing help in applying for grants, and networking opportunities.
The Federal Government is the largest consumer of goods and services and purchases $550 billion dollars annually. I believe the city economic development team should also work together with the Greater Peoria Economic Development Team to build a consortium of businesses that can work together to respond to federal government contract opportunities.
I would create a special medical industry team and committee: There are jobs available which are not being filled today in our medical community. The City of Peoria needs to have a special committee made up of the economic development team to work specifically with the medical community and businesses to gather economic information and data to help attract talented professionals and to grow and expand additional support jobs. We need to work with Community Development to create a layout where it makes sense for these businesses to grow and expand. We must have a very good study of the supply and value chain and where we can help to grow and expand.
Grow knowledge-based Jobs: Build an incentive program to help companies recruit knowledgebased employees. Knowledge-based jobs are those which typically require a higher level of education, such as architects, engineers, software developers, marketing professionals, and attorneys.
The City of Peoria needs to continue hosting events which train small businesses, along with women and minority owned businesses, on the process of doing business with the city and other bodies of governments: a program I started in my first term as an at-large council member.
As the 4th District Council Member, I helped create the Business Roundtable for the 4th District. I started by bringing together some of the fiercest business competitors who agreed to work together on a comprehensive Uptown District vision to improve the business climate and attract new businesses. We focused on area safety upgrades, transportation upgrades, better code enforcement, rebranding, area beautification and an agreement to work together instead of against each other. I want to do this now for the whole city.
Peoria has one of the highest property tax rates — and, in some of the city, sales tax rates — outside of Chicago. What measures does the city take to keep coffers full but also promote growth?
First, stop wasting taxpayer money on private development deals with public funds.
Secondly review every single line item in the budget on a continual basis. Look at our successful businesses for state-of-the-art new ways of providing services at the lowest possible cost.
Then as I outlined in my previous answer, I wholeheartedly support pro-growth policies across-the-board.
My previous answer also gave my views on the absolute necessity on getting a much better hold on cost control, reinventing our way of operating, innovating, more rapid integration of new technology to reduce costs and then just plain budget prioritizing. Like every household and every business, the city needs to live within its means by rightsizing and prioritizing.
What specific plans do you have to address declining housing values in the city?
First, stop raising taxes by not spending lavishly with public funds for private development. If you tax something you get less of it. If you increase taxes on work, saving, and investment, you get less of it. If you increase taxes on property you decrease the value of that property.
Second, as I have indicated in my two previous answers, Peoria needs across-the-board pro-growth policies that are decisive and bold. All based on economic models that have worked in the cities that are growing in our nation.
Third, get a hold of crime, which I outline my view on in a question below.
Fourth is the need the improve the academic achievement of Peoria Public Schools, but that is outside the statutory ability of the mayor and city council—except that when the City raises taxes it causes more people to leave the city, further shrinking our tax base which severely impacts schools. If the City is able to turn around the hemorrhaging of its residents moving out and instead start attracting more residents, the schools will benefit from an enlarged tax base.
Housing values are determined by supply and demand. To increase the demand for property in Peoria we need to increase the number of people who want to live here and employers who want to operate here. The key considerations for people and employers deciding where to locate are: jobs and the business climate; the quality of public schools, tax levels, and perceived crime. Economic growth policies are also vital because no one is going to buy a house or business or land if they perceive it will be lower in value in several years—for whatever reason.
What specific things does the city spend too much on that should be cut, or what taxes and fees should be raised?
The most prime example is the $36 million deal with public money for the private developers of the Pere Marquette “deal.” Beyond those types of “deals,” with the city budget so tight, nothing should be spent outside of basic city services.
Do you have any solutions to ease the financial strain caused by the cost of city pensions?
The crisis is so monumental that the new mayor and city council need to engage the most talented group of outside financial and business experts to develop a financial work around plan to address this pension cost crisis.
Secondly, as I have said in several previous answers, we need a robust, proactive pro-growth mindset and policies.
Third, again, as I have also said in previous answers, we need to restrain spending to basic city services and not go out on a limb with public funds for private developers like with the Pere Marquette deal. Just the $8 million already lost would have covered additional pension costs for the next couple years. It was an easy to see, fatally flawed business plan to begin with, relying on totally unrealistic average daily rate and occupancy levels. As the Journal Star Editorial Board said in the past—it was doomed to failure from the beginning. Which is why I voted no.
What measures can the city take to curtail violence?
Most of all I wish we had not wasted so much public money on private deals and also lived beyond our means for the past 16 years. The biggest answer is we need more police and we were safer when we had more police around a decade ago.
A new police chief should be selected with city council, public and department input.
Our police officers are stretched and are usually first on the scene by themselves. This creates a dangerous situation for the police officer until backup police officers show up. This situation also creates morale issues for the police officers in this situation. I would like to see two police officers in a car in high crime neighborhoods so that a team approach is used for safety.
Because of a shortage of staff and support there is not enough time for police officers to develop
relationships with residents in neighborhoods. When we can afford it I would prioritize more community or neighborhood policing.
Attacking crime takes a multidimensional approach along with adding police.
- Create a neighborhood-by-neighborhood plan and rating to address all of the “Broken Windows” in neighborhoods. My approach includes working with Community Development and Neighborhood leaders to resolve the issues.
- We must continue to create neighborhood associations and ensure they are all functioning. This is why I have started or helped start several new neighborhood associations in the 4th District I currently represent.
- We also need to create or revive neighborhood watch programs, and utilize programs like the Ring Door Bell on every door step that can deter crime and certainly be a source to identify the offenders. In response to a spate of violent crime I helped lead the Ring Door Bell program in the 4th District that I represent.
- I would like to research expanding using more precinct offices in areas of high crime.
- I would also like to open another substation in the Grand Prairie area as well as I was successful in doing for Northwoods Mall in the 4th District.
- We need to explore more options such as camera technology.
If elected, you will be deciding how to redistrict council boundaries. Should the city keep five at-large seats and five district seats, move to 10 council districts, or reduce the number of at-large seats and increase the number of district seats?
As one of two people I know who have served as both an at-large council member, and as a district council member, I think we have the right balance with five and five.
The perspectives of at-large members representing the whole city are essential. So too are the perspectives of the district council members focusing directly on the needs of the people of their districts.
The current combination provides Peorians with a unique set of representation.
Sid Ruckriegel
Website: sidformayor.com
Facebook page: facebook.com/SidForMayor
What does Peoria need to do (or stop doing) to attract new and diverse businesses?
Peoria has the present capacity to attract and help grow new businesses with the many public investments made during the past decade. Many of the city’s recent investments help to grow our urban core attracted investment from locally owned businesses like Rambler, Zion Coffee, and Whiskey City Architectural Salvage; or help to expand corporate leaders like Farnsworth, Distillery Labs, and OSF Health Systems.
Peoria’s urban core, with a river running through it, has endless possibilities to be leveraged for recreational, business, and residential purposes. Public investments into infrastructure and added green space preservation help pave the way for private investments into additional supporting services and residential expansion in the 1st and 2nd Districts. Both sources of capital help add vibrant possibilities-dollars to help our local economy grow and flourish.
Of course, a well-protected riverfront green space along the Illinois River represents boundless opportunities to attract recreation and healthy lifestyles to energize our citizens with year-round activities. Because these things exist, they require better promotion and active attention from the Mayor to help distinguish central Illinois from other possibilities for investors.
If we want to move forward and be able to leverage Peoria’s investible assets for economic growth, we must move past our blame game about why taxes are so high; and make decisions that create lasting structural changes in how revenue is created for our city and how funds are expended for our citizens. To be attractive for more investment we must stop putting band-aids on our problems and apply lasting solutions.
Peoria has one of the highest property tax rates — and, in some of the city, sales tax rates — outside of Chicago. What measures does the city take to keep coffers full but also promote growth?
I will work for a sustainable budget that provides the essential services that the citizens of Peoria deserve and expect with every department of City Hall. But our city must live within its means. Skyrocketing pensions for public safety have decimated our rainy-day funds and led city council to add new fees, fines and charges just to pass a one-year budget. I have voted against these so-called pension fees and parcel fees because they are wrong and fall short of solving the underlying problem.
Property and sales tax rates are some of the leading factors in driving residents away. The truth about property taxes paid by homeowners is that the city of Peoria receives only 13 cents of every 100 cents of property tax billed and collected by the county treasurer (the school district, park district, ICC, and the county form the remainder). Soon, public service pensions will consume virtually 100% of the property taxes collected by the city for operations.
Local option sales taxes have become a last resort measure for municipal governments since property taxes can no longer support the cost of municipal operations (police, fire, public works). As a business planner, I will work to lead the manager and council to find a pathway to resolve the pension issue which is the most destabilizing factor to our community’s future.
What specific plans to you have to address declining housing values in the city?
When you buy a home, you are making an investment. We all work to ensure our investments are smart and sound. I want home buyers in Peoria to feel confident and secure when purchasing property. When a homeowner thinks about improving a home, they usually make smaller, planned investments until they complete the project. This should be our example as we tackle the city’s capital needs in front of us. Why, because this is a more affordable solution than tackling an entire street until it hits the next council district.
Sometimes City Council rushes into expensive fixes with large price-tags; and then it takes years to accumulate the funds to begin them. When I think of revitalizing a neighborhood or a corridor, I think of making small, sustained improvements in our neighborhoods. And I truly believe the homeowners will respond accordingly.
We must revitalize and promote neighborhoods throughout the city. In doing so, we must also promote affordable housing regardless of zip code. As a homeowner in a diverse he
ritage neighborhood, with plenty of housing stock needing improvement, I have seen up close what happens when the city fails to enforce compliance with the housing codes. I have seen this problem across the city serving as an at-large council member, too. As mayor, I will enforce the housing code and other initiatives to help reverse our declining property values.
What specific things does the city spend too much on that should be cut, or what taxes and fees should be raised?
We spend too much on capital costs that have a longer expected life usage than what we originally book them for. We are continuously replacing this equipment before its life expectancy is up. This practice is a heavy burden on our budget.
Peoria pays far too much in interest costs. This really means that we carry too much debt. Instead of rightsizing and balancing our budget in a true fashion, the quicker, more short-term decision has been to increase our debt load.
I do not support additional taxes, fines, and fees. This is why I opposed the vehicle wheel tax, parcel pension fees, and business registration licensing fees. Our city’s taxpayers are fed up with the non-stop fees, fines and charges the council has imposed in recent years due to bad short-term planning and weak prioritization. I support growing our economy and appropriately using those revenues to support the cost of government. We must all balance spending with revenues during times such as now.
Do you have any solutions to ease the financial strain caused by the cost of city pensions?
Peoria has had difficulty managing the rising costs of public safety. Public safety capacity is essential, but pension and legacy costs add 92 cents to every dollar paid to public safety professionals. Until recently, revenues from past fees coupled with harmful personnel and service reductions in city departments were used to balance the budget, but city deficits continued.
Many of our public safety employees cost taxpayers $150,000/year or more, while the median household income in Peoria is $50,688/year. The city cannot tax, fee, fine or charge its way to maintain current levels of service. Peoria’s public safety wages and pension costs must be renegotiated because Peorians simply cannot afford them anymore. We need to collectively go to Springfield with other cities and fight for true pension reform, including rolling amortization and a stop to additional unfunded burdens in our pension coverage.
I also believe that we set the example. This is why I brought to the council floor, the discussion of removing council members from the pension system.
What measures can the city take to curtail violence?
Peoria will be tasked with hiring a new Chief of Police under the next administration. I believe it is important to find qualified candidates who will be invested in our community, bring new and innovative solutions to our problems, and will approach each issue with an open mind. Our next Chief must foster a bridge of communication between law enforcement and our residents.
Resident officer programs are effective in creating a fabric of trust between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve. I am a supporter of their ability to place officers in high-risk neighborhoods to deter violence. Peoria benefits when law enforcement and the community are integrated and have open lines of communication.
Re-entry programs for offenders leaving the jail or Illinois Department of Corrections are essential. Before release, offenders are introduced to programs that help them prepare to re-enter our communities and become successful. Sheriff Asbell, and Helping Hands’ Ron Valle, have demonstrated that a small investment into helping bridge an ex-offender’s access to housing, healthcare, and transportation can lead to increased success rates, lower recidivism, and reduces crime. Job training is part of these programs, too. When fully supported by area employers, like Ron Valle, ex-offenders become contributing members of our community, and we should take note of these outcomes.
It is difficult to be a successful high school student, work a full-time job to help their family with household bills, and still have the capacity to take on other roles in the community. This is why I partnered with community organizations to start a paid internship program for the most vulnerable students in Peoria. This program allowed for two things to happen. First, with all the internships being paid, it gave the interns the freedom to step away from the current jobs they were in, and enter into a new, more skilled, field. It also provided those who are disenfranchised to fully realize their potential and conceptualize career opportunities that they may not have known existed. This work doesn’t just happen on the council, it is done in ways like my helping to raise over half a million dollars for scholarships for Peoria Promise. If we want to temper the violence in Peoria, it starts by opening the door to other options for our youth.
If elected, you will be deciding how to redistrict council boundaries. Should the city keep five at-large seats and five district seats, move to 10 council districts, or reduce the number of at-large seats and increase the number of district seats?
Determining our council boundaries and at-large seats is vital to ensuring that all of our citizens have equal representation. While there currently are some legal restrictions to our ability to make this strictly a council decision, it will be important to hold public meetings, educate the public, and listen to the thoughts and concerns of our citizens. After seeing several attempts to produce a fair mapping system for the State of Illinois, I know the importance of this subject matter, even as it relates to the local level. This determination of council districts and council makeup effects our city for a minimum of ten years.
Prior to me joining the Peoria City Council, this was brought up by the council to consider putting this important question before the public as a referendum vote, where it did not reach the ballot. The option for redistricting only comes after each Federal Census. I believe that our city government should be reflective of the demographics of Peoria, so that we truly have proper representation. It is imperative that we make all Peorians part of the process when adjusting the landscape of our council.
Chama St. Louis
Website: chamastlouis.com/
Facebook page: facebook.com/cstl2021/
What does Peoria need to do (or stop doing) to attract new and diverse businesses?
Peoria should focus on supporting current scalable and startup businesses before we focus too heavily on attracting new businesses to the area. We have a lot of t
alented individuals with entrepreneurial dreams who need support and great businesses that already exist that could use help building their capacity. We can attract new and diverse businesses more easily by showing that we welcome diversity and by already having an environment conducive for businesses to thrive.
Currently, being labeled as the worst place for Blacks to live, as having the most segregated schools in the country with 1 in 4 Peorians living at or below the poverty level does not say that we welcome diversity(in race, income, or business ideas) and isn’t ideal for attracting businesses.
In order to attract new and diverse businesses, we need to work to repair systemic harms the local government has placed on residents and businesses. We should ensure that our priorities center on racial equity and what benefits our residents above all else.
Elected leaders and others with influence should stop asking for solutions to combat these issues but dismiss outside of the box, more progressive ideas when presented. Peoria should stop saying “those are ambitious ideas, but Peoria isn’t ready for that.” It’s clear that the current way things are being handled doesn’t work for ALL of us and isn’t advancing our city in the right direction.
Peoria needs a Mayor who is unafraid to economically empower its residents and really work to end poverty and crime. Working to repair systemic harms will make Peoria a more desirable place for businesses.
Peoria has one of the highest property tax rates — and, in some of the city, sales tax rates — outside of Chicago. What measures does the city take to keep coffers full but also promote growth?
In the past, there has been an aversion to candidates with progressive ideas, but as our city and cities across the country are being hit by devastation due to COVID-19, the need to generate revenue with more progressive ideas and policy, while reducing the burden on working families has become more clear and necessary.
It is imperative for local electeds and communities to build effective political movements in order to save our cities from financial crises. Peoria can evaluate spending decisions based on their impact on both quality of life and the financial return on the investment.
One way to lower costs while promoting growth is through the Smart Growth Strategy of boosting property tax revenues without raising tax rates. Property taxes are the largest locally generated tax revenue source. “Smart growth development can help communities maximize property tax revenue without raising property taxes because research shows higher property values are associated with compact development in established towns and city centers, transit connecting homes and jobs and neighborhoods and streets that make walking and biking convenient, safe and enjoyable. All private development produces property tax revenue, but compact, mixed-use development in established towns and city centers produces more per acre.”
What specific plans do you have to address declining housing values in the city?
I would look to build flexibility into our current zoning and building codes to accommodate the changing needs of the housing market, and implement a policy that makes it easier for contractors to build the types of homes current market demands. I would also seek to make zoning ordinances more flexible and allow multiple uses.
With Peoria being a city with a high population of millennials, I plan to explore accessory dwelling units that could be attractive to millennials because it could be a way to make buying a first home more affordable while increasing population density.
I plan to start the process of addressing current vacancies and potential vacancies because they lead to revenue loss, crime, or lower property value by proposing a Vacant Property Ordinance. This ordinance will allow the city to levy fines on property owners if they don’t maintain or redevelop the unoccupied property.
I also plan to implement an Adopt-a-Lot program as some other cities have. This program allows residents to apply for permits to construct temporary structures, or for temporary uses. Residents or community groups would have access to vacant lots for 3, 6, or 12 months. This idea can be as flexible as we want it to be to allow residents to use the lots for ideas that fulfill a need for the community.
We should also implement a non-profit land bank to make vacant land owned by the city productive. This will lower costs for the city, increase revenue, and add value to the neighborhood.
What specific things does the city spend too much on that should be cut, or what taxes and fees should be raised?
There isn’t much left to cut at this point we are already cutting into our core services.
We should be focusing on core services and growing our local businesses, so any funds for outside developers or companies should be redirected to start and develop local start-up and scalable businesses.
Sit down with the city staff to explore new ways for Peoria to raise money without raising taxes and fees.
We should explore fully staffing the Innovation Team so they can help us explore incremental ways Peoria can increase its revenue without spending large sums of money on big projects before we know if they work or not.
Do you have any solutions to ease the financial strain caused by the cost of city pensions?
Reform is needed at the state level, our options to ease the financial strain caused by the cost of city pensions is to raise revenues or decrease costs. We must meet our obligation to pay the pensions promised to city workers. The city should lobby and work with the Governor and state legislators to find an equitable solution that takes care of the workers and eases the burden on the city to provide services to its residents.
Until reform comes we will need to find new revenue streams. We should work with our Innovation Team, Community Development, and Economic Development to find new sources of revenue without increasing the tax burden on residents who can not afford it. The city should do the due diligence to see if the city can benefit from revenue from ownership of our public utilities. Increasing the population will bring in additional revenue to help pay for the additional infrastructure cost from quadrupling in size the last 70 years without adding residents.
Without reform or increased revenue, our other option is to continue to cut services and have less money to invest in our neighborhoods. We must avoid cutting any more essential services or delaying much-needed infrastructure investment in our core neighborhoods.
What measures can the city take to curtail violence?
Violence and poverty are directly correlated. While I acknowledge that not every individual who grows up in poverty will commit some act of violence, data shows that those who do have increased chances of committing a crime. In order to curtail violence, we need to empower our residents socially and economically. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective and that approach would be to abolish poverty directly with a guaranteed income, or as I have referred to it; a monthly stimulus.
I have proposed in my platform to bring a monthly stimulus pilot experiment to Peoria. Several cities across the U.S. are already providing a
guaranteed income to their lowest income earners and their mayors have established a coalition, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, to offer each other support while they navigate the process. Like some other cities, the experiment would be funded with private dollars, and who should be a recipient would be determined based on the research of our city conducted by a nonprofit research organization for a basic income. We would aim to include irregularly or informally employed residents, immigrants of various legal status, service workers who have been denied a living wage, formerly incarcerated people, and others who have been marginalized by existing benefit systems. Raising the income floor for some of our residents will reduce poverty-related crimes and give our economy a boost.
Another measure the city could take to curtail violence is to start Peoria Empowered (based on the Compton Empowered program). In the program, gang members agree to trade in gang life for a job with the city as an interventionist. They go through a 6-8 week leadership development course and upon completion become hired to participate in the city-funded (through a grant) Gang Intervention Program as community interventionists.
If elected, you will be deciding how to redistrict council boundaries. Should the city keep five at-large seats and five district seats, move to 10 council districts, or reduce the number of at-large seats and increase the number of district seats?
The city should move to eliminate the at-large seats and increase the number of distinct seats to 10. I think it’s easier to hold council members accountable when there’s a specific area they’re responsible for.
