January 2019

Even if you don’t live in the City of Peoria, the Peoria City Council affects our regional environmental quality of life. Who gets elected to the Council really makes a critical difference. Think about it: would you like Peoria to be a city with a plan to cut greenhouse gasses? That could be a City Council initiative. Have you ever used the Keller Branch Line Trail or enjoyed open space at Riverfront Park north of the RiverPlex? Those were both battles that took years of citizen efforts to overcome opposition within the Peoria City Council. Having pro- environment council members makes a difference on a wide spectrum of health and well-being issues.

Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Club and the Peoria Branch NAACP are co-hosting a Peoria At-Large City Council candidates’ forum Wednesday, January 16th from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Carver Community Center, 710 W. Percy Baker Jr. Ave., on the south edge of downtown Peoria. NAACP President Marvin Hightower will be moderator for the event. Fifteen individuals are running for five At-Large Council seats, which are intended to be responsive to citizen concerns across the city. Written questions will be taken from the audience. Opening questions will be from HOI and NAACP.

There will be a primary election on February 26th which will reduce the number of candidates to ten. Voters will select their final representatives at municipal elections on April 2nd. Heart of Illinois Group sent out candidate surveys the last week of November, 2018, and will be evaluating candidates for possible Sierra endorsement consideration after the forum and if survey responses are received.