The History of West Peoria 1991 - 1995
On November 3, 2008, West Peoria will celebrate its fifteenth anniversary as a city. Were it not for the West Peoria Residents’ Association’s persistent campaign to replace sidewalks in our neighborhoods, West Peoria would still be only a township governed by Peoria County laws and ordinances, thus unable to control its own destiny.
Starting in January 1991, the minutes of the WPRA Board of Directors and the newsletter reveal a steadily increasing effort to find a way to replace West Peoria’s sidewalks, most of which were installed in the 1930’s as a project of the Works Progress Administration, the largest New Deal agency created in 1935 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to provide jobs and income to the unemployed during the Great Depression.
The initial focus involved overtures to the West Peoria Township government to help defray the cost of repairing and/or replacing the deteriorating sidewalks. The 1991 and 1992 communications between the township and the WPRA involved a constant back and forth effort to find out if the township even had the authority to allocate funds for such a project.
By April 16, 1991, the determination was that the township could only carry out a sidewalk project by levying a tax. Nevertheless, WPRA Board Member Bryant DeFrance and Peoria County Board Chairman Sharon Kennedy continued to research the possibilities. As a result, Kennedy presented a proposal at the West Peoria Township meeting in April, 1992. Endorsed by the WPRA under the leadership of President Gary Dutro, this proposal asked the township to reimburse homeowners—on a strictly voluntary basis--50% of the cost to replace unsafe and deteriorated sidewalks and curbs. The township’s matching funds would be expended from the Township General Fund in a reasonable amount on an annual basis.
By April 21, 1992, Illinois General Assembly Representative David Leitch introduced a bill that would give the township authority to tax for sidewalk replacement. The bill was in committee--waiting for an opinion from the attorney general--and the township had set aside some money for sidewalk replacement.
During this delay, WPRA leaders began to have a more monumental aspiration—a desire for the people of West Peoria Township to have more than just new sidewalks; they wanted to control their own destiny, no longer dependent on other units of government for services that taxpayer money originating and remaining in West Peoria could buy.
Actually, this new dream—incorporation— was a dream revisited because in 1957 there had been a short-lived effort to create a city of West Peoria. The revitalized effort began at a WPRA meeting on June 16, 1992, when County Board Member Gary Stella from Peoria Heights spoke about the advantages and disadvantages of West Peoria’s becoming a city.
Stella pointed out the possibility that incorporation could bring about a raise in the tax rate. Another financial disadvantage was that as an incorporated city, West Peoria would have to either hire police officers or pay the Peoria County Sheriff’s Department to provide police protection.
However, on the positive side, incorporation would allow West Peoria not only to institute a sidewalk replacement program but also to establish and enforce its own ordinances, to have control over zoning issues, to receive state sales taxes, income taxes, and motor fuel taxes, to apply for federal or state grants, and to maintain sources of revenue by stopping further annexation of businesses by the city of Peoria. Peoria had already annexed Jumer’s Castle Lodge, McDonald’s, and Super Liquors on Western Avenue.
On June 16, 1992, the West Peoria Residents’ Association unanimously voted to pursue means of incorporation of West Peoria Township.
By December 1992 both the proponents and the opponents of incorporation were making their positions known and presenting their arguments to the residents of West Peoria. However, most of the opponents came from outside of West Peoria. In West Peoria only the proponents were making headlines.
The WPRA set up a task force led by Bryant DeFrance to study information from other municipal governments in order to prepare a hypothetical budget for the proposed city. Presenting the information to a December WPRA meeting, DeFrance, Dutro, and Emil Jones—a certified public accountant who worked for West Peoria Township and sixteen other units of government—postulated that a new city of West Peoria could collect about $390,000 in revenue and expend about $262,000, leaving a surplus of about $128,000 per year.
One big obstacle to incorporation—Peoria--soon surfaced. Illinois state law stipulated that an unincorporated area with a population of less than 7,500 could not seek incorporation without the consent of neighboring municipalities (specifically, within 1 ½ miles of a municipality). West Peoria had a population of 5,300 and was contiguous to Peoria. Permission was also needed from Bellevue and Bartonville.
Two solutions to the problem existed: either to work with state legislators in an effort to change the law or to convince Peoria to give its blessing to a new city of West Peoria.
Some members of the Peoria City Council—led primarily by Councilman Edward Glover--saw this as an opportunity not just to prevent West Peoria from becoming a city but rather to sway West Peorians to consider annexation instead of incorporation. Even though Councilman Gary Sandberg agreed that annexation was a good idea, he—according to the Peoria Journal Star--warned that West Peorians generally distrust the city’s motives.
A Peoria Journal Star’s December editorial weighed in on the side of annexation—actually, declaring that West Peoria owed their tax dollars to Peoria because “most of the people in West Peoria work in the city, shop in the city, and play in the city. All geography, all demographics, all logic says the neighborhood should be part of the city.”
By January 6, 1993, West Peorian Dan Kern’s letter to the editor made a very convincing argument—point by point attacking the PJS editorial’s line of reasoning. Kerns answered the argument about West Peoria’s “debt” to Peoria by stating, “This assumes that only the city of Peoria has employers for whom our residents can work. What about all the other non-city residents who work in the city? Ought their homes be annexed too? Pretty silly. Moreover, those nonresidents who shop and play in the city pay dearly to do so—with restaurant and hotel taxes, parking fees and user fees. Peoria ought not think they are doing anyone a favor. We could easily go elsewhere, too.”
Furthermore, in early January 1993, West Peoria’s dreams moved forward one more step when the township board, under the leadership of Township Supervisor John Seabeck, approved paying up to $15,000 for legal services to study the issue and to prepare the petitions needed to put the incorporation question on the November ballot. DeFrance saw the township’s approval as an encouraging sign of support and stated, “I think it’s great. We’ve had new people at every (WPRA) meeting, and no one is walking out of these meetings saying we can’t do it or we’re not going to do it.”
The February WPRA newsletter informed residents that a subcommittee--called West Peoria INC—would be holding informational meetings through May 1993 to present both the pros and cons of incorporation. The main opposition, of course, came from the Peoria City Council. According to an earlier January Peoria Journal Star article, one Peoria City Council member had asserted that a sizable group of residents secretly longed for annexation to Peoria. That sizable group never surfaced in spite of Councilman Glover’s visit to speak on Peoria’s behalf and to present the “balanced view” that he believed “reasonable” West Peorians would embrace.
Meanwhile, West Peoria’s registered voters were being asked to sign petitions showing their support for the issue of incorporation to be placed on the November ballot. Non-registered voters were asked to come to a WPRA meeting to register to become eligible to vote in this crucial election.
By July 6 petitions with more than 1,000 signatures from West Peoria’s 3,000 registered voters were ready to be presented at the public hearing conducted by the Peoria City Council to decide whether or not to permit West Peoria to place the referendum for incorporation on the November ballot. Bartonville and Bellevue had already agreed to allow West Peoria to pursue its own destiny; only Peoria stood in the way.
At this meeting WPRA Attorney Sandra Birdsall, who had replaced Tim Bertschy due to a conflict of interest, presented the petitions to the Peoria City Council and predicted a November victory for incorporation. Bryant DeFrance, and Mary Matthews--president of the Moss-Bradley Residential Association—also spoke at the meeting.
According to the Peoria Journal Star, in the end Glover--still disagreeing and wishing for annexation--stated he would not stand in West Peoria’s way. Peoria Mayor Jim Maloof agreed with Glover even though he stated that his conscience was against it and that annexation, not incorporation, was right for Peoria. The two “no” votes were cast by Councilwoman Camille Gibson and Councilman David Koehler, who stated, “In the long term I think it’s much better to be part of a whole than separate pieces.” Sandberg was absent and did not vote.
When the 8-2 Peoria City Council vote was cast, the West Peorians--who packed the council chambers—applauded this decision that paved the way for the final steps toward incorporation.
On August 6, 1993, Peoria County Judge John Barra granted the petition to place the referendum on the November ballot when the final decision would be made by West Peoria residents. A few WPRA resident members, present in the courtroom, shook hands as DeFrance announced, “In November, we’ll have the city of West Peoria.” WPRA President, Gary Dutro, predicted that 90 percent of voters would approve incorporation.
Between August and November, the WPRA held informational meetings, as Dutro stated, “to tell people that taxes won’t increase to run the city and that incorporation is probably the only solution for a brighter future.” Preparations for victory were well underway with community meetings to discuss the legal aspects and mechanics of running a city and to gather the names of those residents interested in becoming officials of this anticipated new city of West Peoria. The weekend before November 3, incorporation supporters were out knocking on doors, reminding residents to vote.
Then came victory at last! “West Peorians woke up Tuesday morning as rural Americans and went to bed residents of a brand-new city. By more than a 10-to-1 margin, residents of the 1 ½ square-mile area west of Western Avenue voted Tuesday to incorporate as a municipality. The vote was 1,480 to 144,” announced the Peoria Journal Star.
Soon after the November 1993 victory that made West Peoria a city, the leaders of this new community settled down to the hard work of governing.
There could be no elected officials until 1995; therefore, a committee of citizens appointed the interim mayor and aldermen. Rewarded for his tireless work in bringing about incorporation, Bryant DeFrance was appointed as the city’s first mayor. On Tuesday, November 9, 1993, Peoria County Judge Barra swore into office this new mayor and eight new aldermen/alderwomen: Joseph Cooper, John Couden, Charles Howard, Dan Kerns, Linda Capps, Mark Lang, Verne Powley, and Dennis Kroll. Michael Mohr, the city’s first treasurer, and Nancy Powley, the city’s first city clerk, were also sworn in. In the spring and winter 1994 issues of the West Peoria newsletter, Mayor DeFrance outlined the following first-year accomplishments of these appointed officials:
- Established working committees and set their goals and objectives.
- Adopted ordinances to address the immediate concerns of citizens.
- Reviewed planning, zoning, and building code issues.
- Appointed a seven-member citizen commission to create a more comprehensive body of ordinances that would meet the needs of the community for the future.
- Established a City Street Department, purchased road equipment and materials from the Township, purchased a new Elgin street sweeper, leased garage and office space from the Township, and hired a Street Department Manager.
- Hired a part-time city administrator.
- Studied options for a sidewalk replacement program.
- Purchased the 2506 W. Rohmann building to serve as city hall.