First District city council member Denise Jackson wants city leaders to help persuade the Peoria Housing Authority to improve security and upgrade lighting in an effort to combat criminal activity.
Jackson shared her thoughts during Tuesday’s unusually succinct City Council meeting, referencing the Feb. 2 shooting at the RiverWest public housing complex that wounded a 9-year-old boy.
Jackson said she brought up her concerns about inadequate lighting during a recent meeting with city manager Patrick Urich.
“I have been hearing from residents for a couple of years about dark areas in and around RiverWest, and unfortunately, with things being as dark as they are, people are kind of concerned about coming out,” said Jackson, adding she received a call after her meeting with Urich from a woman whose daughter lives in the area and saw people trying to break into her car.
“I still believe that if we could do something to try to create a situation where maybe some of these property management companies would be required to have security on premises, especially in areas that are vulnerable to these types of incidents, I think we would do ourselves a lot in the long run in terms of preventing future incidents like this,” she said.
Second District council member Chuck Grayeb, who has frequently decried violent crime in the city during his mayoral campaign, noted that improved lighting would not be a “panacea,” and echoed Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria’s caution for residents not to engage with people attempting to steal a vehicle.
“If you hear something going on outside and you see people who are potentially car burglars, do not confront them on your own,” said Grayeb. “Call the police because some of these folks are armed and very dangerous.”
Action items
A meeting that ended in less than 45 minutes featured only three items of regular business.
The council unanimously approved a $100,000 sole source purchase of Econolite Traffic Control Cabinets, deferred a vote on updating stormwater management policies and procedures, and received and filed the unaudited financial report for December 2024.
Finance director Kyle Cratty noted the report did not constitute the final annual numbers for 2024.
“There are additional revenues and, to a lesser extent, some potentially ... additional expenses that will come in as we start preparing for our audit,” said Cratty. “Our audit is going to be starting here at the end of February, and kicking off heavily in March.”
Cratty said that the pre-audit year-end expenses are down 4.7%, while general fund revenues are down 13.8%.
“That number, obviously, would pop off and would cause some concern,” he said. “But really, looking at where some of that revenue is down, those are sources that we anticipate receiving funds over the next couple months. That will alleviate that and put us in line with what we had anticipated during the budget process.”
No Feb. 25 meeting
Noting the next scheduled council meeting will fall on the same day as the primary election, Mayor Rita Ali cited a lack of agenda items in making a motion to cancel the Feb. 25 council meeting.
However, she did ask the council to approve meeting in a closed session that day to complete Urich’s performance evaluation. Both motions were approved unanimously.
