It’s the usual gang of idiots for Peoria City Council

So, who’s running for re-election on the Peoria City Council?

According to Jennifer Davis in today’s Word on the Street, only Eric Turner will commit, that’s not a surprise since he’s extremely reluctant to cast an unpopular vote. John Morris and Chuck Grayeb won’t say either way. Newly appointed George Jacob won’t say either way, but considering how many neighborhood meetings, police ride-a-longs, litter cleanups, etc., he’s gone on, I’m assuming he’s going to run.

So who are the other folks thinking of tossing their hats in the ring: There’s Mary Ardapple, chair of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce. You know, the group that endorsed David “The Liar” Ransburg over Jim Ardis and Gale Thetford (remember her) over Bob Manning. There’s Jim Montelongo, who lost last time he ran for the 4th District seat. There’s Patti Polk, who I belief is a member of the zoning commission. Both Ardapple and Polk were on the list of folks who applied for the at-large seat vacated when Ardis was elected mayor (Jacob was picked). Angela Anderson was on that list too, having applied after losing to Thetford and Manning in the primary for 3rd District. But the article says her husband is being transferred to Miami, and won’t be in the city much longer.

My two cents: I’m unimpressed. It’s just the same list of names we always see. Peoria needs a better pool of candidates.

Here are my suggestions: David Schwab. He’s a landlord in the city, one of the good ones. He doesn’t have much sympathy for scofflaws. He’ll be able to cut through the b.s. on code enforcement issues. Yes, he applied for the at-large seat, too, so he’s “on the same list,” I suppose. But I think he’d bring a unique perspective to the council. And why not some folks directly involved with their neighborhood organizations? Just off the top of my head, there are LaVetta Ricca, Rose Sullivan, Nancy and Bill Mitchell, Jim Combs, Paul Wilkinson, June Moore. And why not tap the Blogosphere? Peoria bloggers Laura Petelle, C.J. Summers and Scott Janz are certainly well-versed in the Peoria scene.

What I’m saying is that Peoria needs not so much new ideas, but people who are dissatisfied with the status quo and aren’t willing to shrug their shoulders and say “well, that’s the way it works.” Because it’s NOT working and we need to make changes at the City Council level because there aren’t enough votes on the council yet for making real, substantive changes in how the city does business.

peoria,LaVetta Ricca,Rose Sullivan,Nancy Mitchell,Bill Mitchell,Jim Combs,Paul Wilkinson,June Moore,David Schwab,Laura Petelle,CJ Summers,Scott Janz,at-large races

* The “Usual Gang of Idiots” is a reference to this magazine.