Daily Archives: April 4, 2011

2011 Election, City Council, City of Peoria

Please vote for me on Tuesday, April 5, and then come to the party!

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Tomorrow is the election. There are ten candidates for City Council, and the top five vote-getters will be our at-large council members for the next four years. I’m asking for your vote so that I’ll be one of those five.

Here’s my radio ad which has played the past several business days on WMBD (1470 AM), WSWT/Lite Rock 107 (106.9 FM), and WPIA/KISS-FM (98.5 FM); it explains what my priorities will be if I’m elected:

[audio:http://peoriachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/Audio/Summers-for-Council-2011_192K.mp3]

I would like to thank everyone who has supported me, those who have already cast their vote for me during the early voting period, those who have endorsed me and given me advice, those who have put my sign in their yard, those who have encouraged their friends and family to vote for me, and all those who will be voting for me tomorrow.

You’re all invited to join me at the G.A.R. Hall, 416 Hamilton Blvd., on Tuesday night starting at 7 p.m. for an election night party. (In the spirit of consolidating services, Beth Akeson and I will be having our election night party together.) I hope you can all attend!

2011 Election

Endorsements 2011 (other than me)

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Obviously, I hope you all vote for me. But besides that, there are a couple of candidates that I also endorse for Peoria City Council: Beth Akeson and Gary Sandberg.

Beth is a former Heart of Peoria Commissioner, school board candidate, and city council candidate. She lost her bid for the third district seat two years ago by just 12 votes. But she doesn’t give up. She’s running again this year — this time as an at-large council candidate. I support Beth because I share her vision for Peoria. She’s not content with the low standard of “better than nothing,” but rather aims for excellence. She’s accessible. She does her homework–often making calls and traveling to other cities to gather first-hand information. Just as one example, when researching the East Village TIF, she not only attended the presentation of a city planner from Decatur, but then followed up by visiting Decatur to see their residential TIF for herself and asking follow-up questions of the planner there. If you’ve been to any of the candidates forums, you will have heard Beth say that she’ll be a “full time council person.” Believe it. I saw how much she poured herself into her work as a Heart of Peoria Commissioner; she’ll do the same as a City Council Member.

Gary has the same philosophy I do about the purpose of municipal government: it exists to provide basic, essential services to taxpayers in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. His votes are always consistent with that philosophy. Having been on the council for several terms, and having been a city employee before that, Gary has a lot of institutional knowledge. He too is accessible and does his homework. The criticism against Gary is that he’s often the lone “no” vote on controversial issues. I think this criticism is misplaced. Given that even his critics concede that Gary is often right on these controversial votes, a critical eye should be cast toward the other council members who mysteriously vote in concert on nearly everything, often without any public deliberation or discussion. I don’t think Gary should be held responsible for the apparent collusion of the other council members. Instead, we need to reelect Gary and replace the other council members with candidates who share a basic-services philosophy.