PEORIA, Ill. (25 News) – About the time Noah Palm plans to graduate next spring from Illinois State University, he also wants to take a seat on the Peoria City Council.
Palm is announcing his candidacy for one of the Peoria’s five at-large council seats that are up for election next year.
In a release, Palm said the city council should do more than maintain the status quo that favors large corporations and developers and leaves out the working class.
“For far too long, city leadership has thrown resources at large corporations and developers. As a result, regular Peorians like you and I have been neglected,” Palm said.
“Peoria taxpayers have lost millions to bad business deals, our public services are underfunded and predicated on low wages for workers, and our racial disparities remain among the worst in the nation,” he added.
The “pillars” of his campaign, said Palm, are affordability, safety, housing, and education.
Palm is a former community impact director at Peoria’s Neighborhood House, and plans to teach at Peoria Public Schools as part of the district’s “Grow Your Own” teachers’ program.
He said he is in his final year as a “non-traditional” ISU student, majoring in History and Social Science Education. He is also working on the side as a bartender in Peoria.
Palm is the third person to announce plans to run for city council next year. Longtime Council member Chuck Grayeb is coming out of retirement to run for an at-large seat, and Peoria Porch Pantry owner Kelli Martin recently announced on her Facebook page that she too is a candidate.
Incumbent at-large council members John Kelly, Zachary Oyler, Kiran Velpula, and Bernice Gordon-Young have not announced their political plans. Incumbent Mike Vespa is running in this year’s election for circuit judge.
(Reporting by Howard Packowitz, 25 News)
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