Peoria Mayor Rita Ali looks forward to the next four years of working with her recently elected colleagues to guide the city in a positive direction.
“Each and every one of you, I want to thank you for loving Peoria, for the leadership role that you’ve been playing, and for what we’re going to do together,” Ali told members of the newly seated Peoria City Council during Tuesday night’s two-hour special meeting.
“The 11 of us over this next four years, what we’re going to do together to make a difference in terms of improving the quality of life, addressing this housing crisis issue that we have. We’re going to address this housing crisis issue. We’re going to address the quality of life, and we’re going to do it with the help of an amazing staff that we have.”
Ali’s remarks came after she joined the five district council members, and other newly elected City of Peoria officials selected by voters in April, in taking their oaths of office before a large crowd in the council chambers.
Four years after a narrow victory in her first run for mayor, Ali received more than 60% of the vote in the general election against at-large council member John Kelly.
“It’s the honor of my life to serve in this role, and I’ve been blessed by the voters of Peoria to serve a second term,” she said, echoing a desire for collaboration that re-elected council members stressed during their comments.
“We’re all here because we love Peoria, and each one of you have so many talents individually. But just think about us putting these talents together and how much we can accomplish together, and that’s what I look forward to over these next few years.”
End of an era
The first half of the meeting represented the close of District 2 council member Chuck Grayeb’s 24 years on the horseshoe.
“When you’re first elected, you think you know everything, and you really don’t know very much. But if you’re smart, you’ll learn and you’ll listen,” said Grayeb, who started the first of his three at-large terms in 1995 and spent the last 12 years in the District 2 seat.
“I had the pleasure of working with 12 different city councils and five different mayors, and I don’t know how many city managers. And every two years, if you think about it with the way our government is structured, the city council changes. Even one person can change the chemistry of the council, and I trust that we’ll keep Peoria growing.”
Grayeb passed on another re-election bid and instead chose to campaign for mayor. He failed to advance from the three-way primary in February and ultimately endorsed Ali’s candidacy.
Ali read a resolution in recognizing Grayeb’s council tenure and presented him with a plaque and a framed picture of City Hall.
“A lot of people will look at us and they’ll see our differences. They may even see us interact and see some differences. But what they may not realize is that we have a lot in common. We share a lot of common values,” she told Grayeb.
“I appreciate that we may go about things a different way, but we’re going in the same direction. We want the same things most often. So I want to thank you for your mentorship and for your leadership and service for so many years.”
Each of Grayeb’s colleagues at the meeting also commended him for his commitment to making Peoria a better place, noting his passion for his constituents and his vast institutional knowledge.
“I’ve learned a significant amount from you, and it’s really been an honor to work with you,” said Zach Oyler. “We’ve had many very heated arguments across the chamber on issues, but we’ve always been able to walk out of the room and figure out a solution in the true definition of working together in a bipartisan fashion to get the job done and do what’s best for a community.”
“I do not look forward to you being gone, but I do look forward to continuing our relationship,” added Kelly. “There may be a few things — like, a lot — that still you know better than I about this city.”
The final item of business for Grayeb and the concluding council was approving a package of 65 neighborhood mini-grants totaling close to $200,000, coordinated by the city’s community development department and using some remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds.
“One of my favorite departments is the community development department because the strength of our community is in its neighborhoods,” said Grayeb. “It delights me that I have a chance to sign documents awarding funds to the worthwhile organizations in District 2.”
Carmona joins council
The lone newcomer among the five recently elected district council members is Alex Carmona, who is taking over Grayeb’s vacated District 2 seat.
“I moved here from Colorado 5½ years ago with my family, and it’s not anything I ever thought about doing,” said Carmona. “But I’m proud to be a part of this horseshoe, proud to be a part of this city. I think that we have the best days ahead of us in this city, and we’re all going to work together — I know we are — to make sure that that happens.”
Carmona edged fellow political newcomer Estrella Diaz by just 47 votes in the race to succeed Grayeb.
“I want to thank everybody who voted for me, and I want to also thank the people who didn’t vote for me,” he said. “I want everybody to know that I’m going to treat you fairly, with respect, and I’m going to do whatever I can to help you out and be your liaison between you and the city.”
Incumbent district council members Denise Jackson, Tim Riggenbach, Andre Allen and Denis Cyr all renewed their oaths of office.
Riggenbach, who enters his fifth term and becomes the council’s senior member with Grayeb’s departure, championed the push for increased collaboration.
“It sounds kind of trite and it sounds kind of silly, maybe, but we’ve got so much going on in this city. There’s so many things that we’ve accomplished in the years that I’ve been sitting around this horseshoe, working together with all of these people. And as we look to the future, we see so much more to be done and so many opportunities to take us to the next level,” said Riggenbach, who ran unopposed in District 3.
“We all have different views of how we think Peoria needs to be, but we’re all sitting around this horseshoe because we love Peoria. So I think that should be our challenge tonight. That’s what I’m going to strive for, is that as we work together, that we will be collaborating, and we will see really cool things happening in our city.”
Also sworn in during the meeting were incumbent city clerk Stefanie Tarr, township supervisor LaTrina Leary, and former city council member Jim Montelongo as city treasurer.
“The mission that I have for treasury is simple but essential: maintain fiscal integrity, modernize systems and ensure that our financial practices reflect the values of everyone in our city,” said Montelongo.
“I see this office as a bridge connecting city government with the people we serve. I will open up communications with the residents of Peoria in multiple channels, in person, electronically and by postal mail. The residents deserve to know the details of how their hard earned tax dollars are collected and used.”
Outgoing interim city treasurer Chet Tomczyk was honored for his service, and incoming township assessor Andrew Couri was recognized for his election win, but he was not sworn in because his term doesn’t begin until Jan. 1, 2026.
