Call to Participate


231-8805

Your Candidate for 1st District Councilman

David J. Berry
Candidate Platform – Peoria City Council – 1st District


CLEAR GOVERNMENT
Transparency is rare in Peoria politics. Vital information and important decisions are often discussed behind closed doors. City Council members have even signed non-disclosure agreements while conducting public business. This is illegal in the state of IL. The Illinois Open Meetings Act is the cornerstone of our transparency laws and needs to be vigorously enforced.
It is the public policy of this State that public bodies exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business and that the people have a right to be informed as to the conduct of their business. - Illinois Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120/1.


ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE FOR ALL PEORIA RESIDENTS
A city wide raise in the minimum wage will help the working poor stay out of poverty and off public assistance. This raise can be adjusted to our local economy. This necessity will provide more money for residents to spend in local stores and on local services.
A large portion of Peoria’s 1st District is marred by vacant homes and empty lots. The city contributes to this blight by simply demolishing homes, at taxpayer cost. An array of solutions exists. Tax dollars used to bulldoze homes can instead be used to encourage home ownership in one of the most economically disadvantaged communities in the state. TIF allocated dollars are a prime source to sponsor these programs. TIF funds also need to be allocated to job training and continued education to fill any jobs that spring from the blossoming Warehouse District.


BASIC SERVICES
Health and safety is government’s first responsibility. To this end, maintenance of roads, sidewalks, streetlights need to be priority one.
Affordable, safe drinking water is essential to life and business. Our city council has long neglected this part of everyday life. The city needs an honest, public discussion of the buying back of our water supply from the publicly held corporation, which now owns it.


PUBLIC SUPPORT OF THE PEORIA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Recent events have shed light on the issue of proper policing. An honest and fair relationship needs to be re-established between the PPD and residents. The extensive use of police body cameras would be a great start. Body cams help protect residents from excessive policing. These devices also protect police officers and the city itself, from false claims of excessive force. Body cameras are a silent witness to all police activity. They can provide valuable evidence in many criminal cases; ensuring that the guilty are prosecuted.


PRESERVATION OF THE ILLINOIS RIVER
The IL River is the lifeblood of the city. Peoria rose as trading hub, 300 years ago, from this link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. It is now choked by an Asian Carp invasion. A practical and profitable solution to this takeover exists. A positive resolution will result in a revival of the outdoor recreational economy on the river.
The City of Peoria also needs to continue to ensure that the riverfront remain a public green space, free from overdevelopment.