Dr. Rita Ali is the first woman and first person of color elected mayor in Peoria's history. But after the celebration is over, there's a lot of work to be done.
Tim Shelley spoke with Mayor Ali about how she was feeling on inauguration night — and some of the major tasks ahead for the Peoria City Council in the coming months.
TIM SHELLEY: This is a historic day for Peoria. You talked about that a lot during your campaign.
RITA ALI: It is a big day, it's a change. After, you know, 16 years of having the same mayor, it's a different look. I don't look like past mayors. I'm the first woman to assume that role. I'm very excited about that. I'm the first African American or person of color to assume that role. So, you know, I'm very excited about breaking those glass barriers.
TIM SHELLEY: What do you think that says about Peoria, that Peoria has put not only a woman, but the first African American woman into the mayor's office?
RITA ALI: I think it says a lot about Peoria. I think it says the Peoria is open to diversity, open to change, open to a new type of leadership. And I plan to bring that to Peoria. I plan to prove that a woman, that an African American or person of color, can can lead in this position.
TIM SHELLEY: And one of the first things you have to do is actually pick your replacement in the at-large seat. So how do you plan to go about that process?
RITA ALI: Sure. And that will be a team process. We'll open up the process for individuals interested and qualified to apply. And we'll actually talk about that process in closed session next week, but we'll agree on a process and we'll begin to vet candidates, and then we'll begin to whittle it down, you know, to probably, you know, two or three candidates, top candidates that we'll have to make a decision on.
TIM SHELLEY: What kind of person do you hope maybe takes that seat, or applies for that seat?
RITA ALI: I really, you know, I was the one who was elected to that seat. Overwhelmingly elected, I would say, almost in a landslide manner. So I'm interested, and I think the public that elected me is interested, of someone of similar mindset, similar values. So, you know, somebody like me.
TIM SHELLEY: And you talked last week, I think, at the Senate redistricting hearing, because that whole process is going on right now. And you talked about how important it is to have make sure there's representation, especially for the South Side. So if you could just talk maybe a little bit about that.
RITA ALI: Sure. I think in in everything that we do, we have to make sure that we're being inclusive, and representing all people, you know, within the city, whether its geographic, you know, whether it's looking at the demographics of those individuals, but being, you know, far more inclusive, I would say, than we have in the past.
TIM SHELLEY: And the council's also got a decision they make with their own, you know, redrawing the council districts. So what do you what do you hope that looks like?
RITA ALI: Yeah, so I've asked about that process. And corporation counsel has given some information, I would say, what that's going to look like, but we have to wait until the new census data comes in. It's expected to come in maybe it's sometime in September. So the council will actually go through a process of looking at the numbers to see whether there needs to be any additional districts based upon the census numbers.
TIM SHELLEY: And I know, there's been some talk of, you know, do we keep it five at-large [and] five district seats? Do we change that format?
RITA ALI: Well, I certainly hope not. I prefer the at-large type of system that, you know, I think that is less divisive, to have the at-large, five at large. And then five districts, I think is more representative of the and more balanced, you know, with the city. So my preference is that we keep the at-large seats.
TIM SHELLEY: One big thing you're also going to have to address here in your first days as mayor is the budget. The budget was hard last year, it's gonna be hard again this year. Where do you hope to lead the Council on this?
RITA ALI: Well, it's always gonna be hard. And we always have to make those hard decisions. I think we have to look at...while we're looking at budget, at the same time, we have to look at new revenues, new ways to generate revenues. We can't just always look at at cutting, cutting, cutting.
So you know, that's the focus that I want to have is, while we're looking at, you know, where we have to streamline and believe me, we have a very streamlined budget, we have to look at how we're going to bring in new revenues.
TIM SHELLEY: What kind of revenue options might be on the table?
RITA ALI: Well, you know, external funds, raising money, it's not out of order. I think bringing key stakeholders to the table, those financial experts can help us also in terms of new ideas, you know, thinking outside the box and doing things differently.
TIM SHELLEY: We also talk about the police and fire a lot. And I know that was something you had talked about in your campaign. Are those at potential risk of more cuts again?
RITA ALI: Well, I certainly hope not. We've cut to the point where any more cuts could create life endangerment. And I think this is actually International Firefighters Day, or Firefighters Week. We've had a tough week. We've had a tough week as it relates to crime, we've had a tough week as it relates to some deaths that have occurred due to auto accidents, due to other shooting incidents.
So, you know, we have to make sure that we have an adequate supply of public safety employees to handle crisis situations. So that's what we've been handling this week. And we need to support those that are handling those situations.
TIM SHELLEY: Anything else you want to add, or you'd like to tell the people of Peoria right now?
RITA ALI: I'm just, you know, I was elected by a little bit over half the voters, but I want all the voters to know that I'm going to hopefully gain their confidence and represent them. I'm going to...just as I worked hard to campaign, I'm going to work even harder to govern.
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