PEORIA, Ill. — Newly-elected Mayor Rita Ali spoke Wednesday evening at Dozer Park on her vision for the future of Peoria.
The event was organized by the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce (PACC), with the intention of having Ali convey her vision as the first new mayor the city has seen in 16 years.
PACC President and CEO Joshua Gunn spoke before Ali, reminding those in attendance how important her election was.
“Many community members of color, since I have arrived in Peoria, have reminded me how important it is just to see me in this role,” said Gunn. “To put it simply, representation matters, and representation makes a huge difference.”
Ali became the first person of color and first woman to be Mayor of Peoria when she was elected to the seat.
“Thanks to our keynote speaker, the nearly 60,000 women in the City of Peoria — and 30,000 Black people in Peoria — now know that it is possible for them to ascend to the highest heights of leadership in this community,” said Gunn.
“All people in Peoria can believe — if we just give them a chance to find their wings — they, too, might be able to fly.”
Ali spoke about the great history of Peoria before talking about her election as mayor and what that means going forward.
“I don’t want history just to remember me just because I’m a woman or just because I’m a person of color,” said Ali. “I want to be part of a rebirth of this great city — a rebirth that provides opportunities for a good life for all our citizens.”
Ali mentioned the strong industrial base the city has to start with in Caterpillar and Komatsu, as well as great agricultural industry.
She also mentioned new, innovative businesses in the area with Distillery Labs and Natural Fiber Welding.
“Our past and our present are truly great foundations to build Peoria’s future,” said Ali. “Going forward we need a new comprehensive strategic plan that takes these current strengths and builds upon them and identifies new areas for growth.”
Ali said her top four priorities as mayor are as follows:
- Population growth driven by job creation by supporting current businesses and attracting new businesses.
- Revenue growth through large-scale collaborative grant acquisitions.
- Transformation of Peoria’s most distressed areas.
- Putting Peoria on a path to become a smart city.
Ali noted many benefits of smart cities, including an increase in employment rate, a decrease in cost of living, and a decrease in crime rate.
Smart cities use different technologies and electric methods to collect data that is used to manage assets, resources, and services more efficiently.
“ABI Research predicts and estimated $5 trillion per year could be saved by governments, enterprises, and citizens throughout an aggregated 75 smart cities by 2022,” said Ali. “Cities will first have to invest significantly in technology projects.”
To build jobs, Ali’s focus is on building what Peoria has and bringing in new business.
“I envision a future where we grow our economy around our core strengths in manufacturing, medical, and bio-sciences,” said Ali. “Where we attract new investments in the emerging biomedical space with research, development, and production.
“It’s possible that our medical treatment facilities become so renowned that we attract patients from all over the world.”
Ali continued on to say how ready she was to get to work, especially coming out of a tough year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“COVID-19 threw us a curveball — but I believe with all my heart — if we all work together for the benefit of this city — that we will knock it out of the ballpark,” said Ali, standing on the pitching mound of Dozer Park.
