PEORIA, Ill. – A former challenger for Peoria’s top job is endorsing its current holder, with the consolidated election just weeks away.
2nd District Councilman Chuck Grayeb endorsed Mayor Rita Ali on Monday at the Pere Marquette Hotel in her bid to win a second term as mayor.
Grayeb came in 3rd in February’s primary election behind Ali and At-Large Councilman John Kelly. Ali received more than half the vote, while Grayeb finished around 130 votes behind Kelly.
Grayeb began by speaking about the COVID pandemic’s effects in 2020. He spoke of the uncertainty on how it would affect government operations, and the panic it caused. Grayeb says without knowing how much money was coming in, the city was looking at a “crippling” economy.
Grayeb says it was Ali at the time who urged the city to fund basic core services; such as police, fire, and teachers. He says Ali was one who stood by those services, and notes that whatever differences they have, their philosophies on government are the same.
“Government has its place in our society, and our teachers, our firefighters, and our police officers, and those people that drive those big yellow trucks, my allegiance will always go to them,” Grayeb said. “Because without them, we cannot have strong business in our community.”
Grayeb says he and Ali share a vision of reducing crime, supporting core services, and bringing rail service to Peoria.
Grayeb did not clarify whether he had a conversation with Councilman Kelly about an endorsement. But he also came out against “ad hominem” attacks, and says he is “hopeful” that both remaining candidates do not lie about the others’ record. Grayeb alluded to misrepresentation of a vote on a tax levy at a city council meeting.
Ali says the endorsement came after she and Grayeb had a conversation to discuss their visions for the city. She says the conversation started when they needed to clear the air about some things said on the campaign trail, but found they shared a lot in common.
“The reality is that Councilman Grayeb and I have more in common than not,” Ali said. “We just sometimes have different approaches to achieve our mutually desired results.”
Ali says Grayeb’s campaign tenant of crime spoke to her, specifically wanting to reduce crime and violent crime, reducing youth crime, making parents more responsible for crimes their children commit, and reforms with the SAFE-T Act.
With the endorsement in hand and only a few weeks left in the campaign, Ali says she’s looking to campaign on issues she says she has not talked about so far. One of those is how to address housing in Peoria.
Ali says the city needs to expand housing inventory for not just homeowners, but for tenants. She says that involves attracting developers to build new housing, as well as finding land to build on.
