Peoria will soon have a new City Treasurer, with Jim Montelongo and Brooke Petty Sommerville each hoping residents will choose them for the role.
Both candidates point to their public service experience among their qualifications to serve as treasurer.
“I have a love for serving our community, and found that out when I was serving as a city councilman,” said Montelongo, who served a single term as an at-large Peoria City Council member followed by two terms as the District 4 representative. “My background and my resume matches up perfectly for what is needed for this position.”
Sommerville, the current chief deputy in the Peoria County Clerk’s office, credits her parents for inspiring her interest in government.
“Public service is all I've known and is all that they have taught me our entire lives,” said Sommerville. “You have to be a part of a solution; you can't just complain, and so we have to get involved. So I run for those that won't run, I run for those that can't run.”
Montelongo, who narrowly lost the mayoral election to Rita Ali four years ago, says during his time on the council, he gained an appreciation for city finances through the annual budget process.
“When it was budget time, it was more like budget season,” he said. “We went through that budget line item by line item [and] we scrutinized everything. We cut the fat out of everywhere we could, and we went through by each department. So I got a good chance to understand how our city does business, and knowing those details to our financials.”
Sommerville notes that in addition to serving as the city’s bill collector, the treasurer also oversees the office’s staff.
“That is something that I'm responsible for as well in the county clerk's office; I manage a staff of 15 right now,” she said. “My job works closely with the treasurer, even at the county; we're hand in hand. “The systems that the city uses, the software systems, are the same exact systems that we use at the county. So the transition will be seamless.”
Montelongo and Sommerville are vying to fill the position being vacated by Chet Tomczyk, who agreed not to seek election when he was appointed to fill out the unexpired term left following the resignation of Stephen Morris last May.
Sommerville has identified better accessibility, more transparency and improved responsiveness among her goals for the treasurer’s office. She wants to make it easier for residents to get in touch with the treasurer's office, and she intends to put forth a 90-day plan to accomplish certain goals.
“Not everyone has the opportunity to make it down to City Hall to pay a fine, to pay a fee, or whatever the case may be. So sometimes we may have to meet people where they are, and I'm OK with doing that. It's a necessity, especially in today's world,” said Sommerville, who suggested the ideas of developing a cell phone app and kiosks around the city.
Montelongo also said the treasurer’s office needs to do better in communicating with Peoria residents.
“I go around and ask people, ‘when was the last time you heard from the city treasurer of Peoria?’ It's dead silence,” he said. “Nobody knows when the last time they've heard from the treasurer's office is. So I want to change that. I want to make sure that we are communicating with the people, and they deserve to know what's going on with the city's finances.”
Montelongo says his top priorities would include going after outstanding money the city is owed, increasing communication with the public, and participating in discussions on pushing back the deadline to have public service pensions fully funded.
“A good portion of our budget in the real near future is going to be consumed by paying the police and fire pension, and seeing that 90% of $360 million has to be fully funded by 2040,” said Montelongo. “I know there's some stuff in the works; I did go meet with the fire union and heard that there's some discussion going on right now with some of the state policymakers to move that back another 10 years."
“I think that sets us in a better position, so absolutely I would be wanting to make sure that I'm involved with that discussion to see where we end up at, something that's going to be that can work with our budget.”
Noting that as an elected official the treasurer works for the people, Sommerville said city officials need to work together in determining a solution to the looming pension problem.
“The collaboration piece is what is big, because although the treasurer's office is not an office that does policy, being able to collaborate with different city leaders, with leaders that are on the state level and leaders that are on the federal level as well, is very, very important,” she said.
“I will be able to sit at the table and have the difficult conversations that need to be had about this deficit that we have.”
Election Day for the Peoria County Consolidated Election is Tuesday. Early voting is already underway.
