The 11 member Peoria City Council gets four new district members next month. Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis says it will be a significant learning curve for the new members, but it will help that two of the newly elected councilmen have served previously. Ardis says still, for those who are new to the council it may initially feel like they’re drinking water from a fire hose.
The mayor says “the huge majority of the council, especially the members who have been here are going to reach out and try and help those folks. It’s not going to be ‘hey learn it on your own.’ It’s going to be very helpful, very cordial. The group functions best when everybody has the same information, all the information and is able to debate it accurately.”
Ardis says it can take up to two years for most council members to get fully acclimated to the role. He says the most disappointing part of Tuesday’s election was the exceedingly low voter turnout.