Pete Saunders is on his second week leading the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. He says one top priority is to build relationships with local municipalities in Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford counties with planning projects:
“Help them in any way that they need. If it means assisting them in writing grants to help them with specific projects, that’s the kind of assistance I think we can offer.”
Saunders says some smaller cities might pass on grant writing because of the resources and time it takes to apply for funding. He says he also wants to boost awareness about trends already popular in large metropolitan cities. Saunders says those include bike and pedestrian networks, public transit issues and exploring ways to make local government more transparent.
