Peoria’s 3rd District Vies for Seats in Primary
The countdown is on to the February 24th primary, and both newcomers and political veterans are campaigning hard for much sought-after seats on the Peoria City Council.
Incumbent Bob Manning will not be seeking re-election to the Peoria City Council this year, opening the door for what should be an eventful primary. Three candidates will run for the 3rd District council seat, not all of whom are new to the political stage. Timothy Riggenbach, Beth Akeson, and Kelley McGownd Mammen are racing to replace Manning. Other district seats—including Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis’ spot—will be decided pending the general election April 7th. Clyde Gulley Jr.’s District 1 seat remains uncontested. Candidates who obtained the required signatures were required to file their petitions at the Peoria Election Commission between December 8th and December 15th of last year. Contenders have since been working diligently to rock the vote in the heart of Illinois.
A Job Well Done
After years of deliberating with city leaders, Bob Manning will be showing support from the sidelines next term. The incumbent announced his intention not to run in a press release stating: “At the end of the day, I simply want more time to spend with my wife and children.”
A financial advisor for a brokerage firm, Manning said he was compelled to first seek election to the 3rd District due to concerns regarding the city. “Instead of sitting around complaining about various issues and our city leaders, I took it upon myself to do something about it,” he said in an email.
Manning defeated incumbent Gale Thetford in 2005—64 to 36 percent—but said he never really thought of himself as a politician. “More like the Citizen Legislator that our founding fathers envisioned,” he continues.
That’s not to say Manning has not enjoyed his time in the ring. “Beating an 8-year incumbent by almost a 2 to 1 margin . . . and carrying every precinct was quite enjoyable to say the least,” his email reads.
Advice for his successor? “Step up to the plate when it’s your turn, do the job to the best of your abilities, remember who you represent, and don’t stay too long.”
In the Running
The District 3 city council race brings a host of contenders to the political scene this year. Assistant vice president bank manager at downtown Peoria’s Associated Bank Timothy Riggenbach hopes to win the District 3 spot on February 24th. He filed his petitions on December 8th, the first day petitions could be filed for the spring election. Riggenbach claims he wants to focus on urban issues and neighborhood stability.
“I’m a big believer in keeping the neighborhoods safe,” he says. “We want to encourage (city residents) to take a look at this part of the city. We want to bring people back to this part of the city.”
Married with three daughters who attend schools in District 150, he says it is important for the school board to work with the city of Peoria to do what is best for the students. “The most important thing we can do is maintain an open door policy on both sides of the aisle,” he says. “Things like crime and safety we need to get a handle on in order to bring people back to the neighborhoods. We need to make sure our families feel safe.”
The city board member was first elected to the Peoria County Board in 2002 and has served on various committees including the Health and Environmental Issues Committee, Transportation Committee, and Executive Committee. He was also named to the National Association of County’s Finance and Inter-governmental Affairs Committee and has spent ten years on the trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Riggenbach claims he would support Manning 100 percent if the incumbent had decided to run again but is happy to step up to the plate. He claims his years of experience working with the Peoria public should draw constituents to vote for him.
“I have a proven record for being a consensus builder and getting things done,” he says. “I’ve shown responsibility working with taxpayers’ money, and I’ve had experience working with a wide array of people. I think it’s important that we sit down and look at the common challenges we face.”
Beth Akeson, former Vice Chair of the disbanded Heart of Peoria Commission, is also up to the challenge. The Commission disbanded in December due to a belief that community work could be accomplished through existing commissions. Having thrown her hat in the ring for the February primary, Akeson may now have the chance to implement some of the Heart of Peoria’s plans by winning a seat on the council.
“The city council was willing and able to have the torch passed to them,” she says.
A doctor’s wife with four children, Akeson moved to Peoria in 1985. She claims her greatest strength is her devotion to “the city’s future from an economic and safety standpoint.”
“I have an unrelenting commitment to this,” she says. “I work well with people. I try to provide a perspective so people gain greater understanding. I do the necessary research, and I love the exercise of learning more and looking at what other cities have done to be successful.”
Akeson says the main focus of her campaign will tout city neighborhood safety and wise use of constituents’ tax dollars. She believes one cannot underestimate the importance of having a council with an agenda in tune with the city’s priorities.
Not only does Akeson possess the foresight for what needs to be done, she also has the experience necessary to serve as a workable asset on the city council and bring positive change to Peoria. “I’ve been a tireless advocate for the city,” she says. “I’ve worked in the school systems. I believe city makers must be informed, willing to have two way communication, and welcome transparency.”
Akeson also believes in the benefits of having multiple viewpoints in discussion, or “healthy tension.” “People with different points of view can uncover potential errors in judgment,” she says. “It takes more time, but you get a better result. You end up with much more community support and a better outcome.”
Next in line for the District 3 seat is Kelley McGownd Mammen whose steadfast interest in politics led her to participate in several state and federal campaigns over the years, including helping former Congressman Bob Michael and Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn. “I’ve always believed you vote for a person, not a party,” she says.
Aside from working with parents to help keep children drug-free and away from gang violence, her major concern is helping to build up business in her district. “I’ve lived here all my life,” she says. “I want to see (the city) grow and continue down a positive path so that when my grandkids get older they can stay around here and find a job.”
Mammen said she is saddened by the fact that businesses—such as Pabst—that used to thrive in Peoria can no longer be found. “We used to have generation after generation working those businesses . . . We don’t have those anymore . . . We need to get those types of places back,” she says.
A former psychotherapist, Mammen is now a fulltime grandmother and understands the value of family and the necessity of good jobs to support family needs. The mother of three sons and two daughters, she claims most of her children have had to move from the city to find stable employment. “I have a daughter in Pekin and a son who is a boilermaker and travels all over just to have a job,” says Mammen. “(Jobs) help keep a city stable and families more stable and help cities grow.”
Mammen believes her presence on the council will help to bring “cohesiveness.” “I’ve always been able to find a happy medium,” she says. “There’s been too much dissention on the council, too much fighting. But what matters is what the people want.”
The District 3 contender says she plans to win votes by practicing honesty and encouraging constituents to be open about what they feel needs to be done.
No Primary for District 5
Talk of a District 5 primary election accompanying District 3 has quieted down since Douglass P. Crew, a governmental affairs manager at Caterpillar, Inc. and a Peoria Public Library Board member, withdrew his name from the race. Crew, 59, who served on the Chillicothe City Council in the 1980s, claims he has decided to work on helping Republican Doug Whitely, president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, with a potential run for governor in 2010. He withdrew his name from the running on January 8th.
Thomas Bride, executive director of the Peoria Election Commission, says it was still early enough to remove Crew’s name from the ballot. A special meeting was held January 13th to change the ballot. Had Crew withdrawn his name much later, a change to the ballot would have proved impossible, and Peoria would have had to dish out more money to hold a District 5 primary even without Crew in the running. Fortunately, voters will be spared the confusion.
Peoria city council primaries occur when districts have at least three contenders. Two candidates then move on to the general election. Now, only District 3 will hold a primary election come February 24th.
The two District 5 candidates who will face off in the general election April 7th are Gloria Cassel-Fitzgerald, a retired state administrator with the Department of Children and Family Services, and Dan Irving, sales director of major accounts for the Lincoln office and a member of the city’s liquor commission. Both ran for City Council-at-Large positions in 2007.
The current holder of the District 5 seat is Patrick Nichting, owner of Panco Food Service Equipment, who will face off against Gary Shadid, nephew of retired state senator George Shadid and member of the Peoria County Board of Review, to replace retiring City Treasurer Reginald Willis. Willis claims the winning candidate will have a diversity of responsibilities as Treasurer. However, one thing the office is not responsible for is control over taxes.
Others seeking election or re-election to the mayor’s seat and city council district positions on April 7th include:
Mayor: Incumbent Mayor Jim Ardis, General Parker
District 1: Incumbent Clyde Gulley Jr. (unopposed)
District 2: Incumbent Barbara Van Auken, Curphy Smith
District 4: Incumbent Bill Spears, Mark Plebanek
District 150 school board elections to replace Mary Spangler in District 3 will also take place April 7th. Spangler is currently serving the fifth year of her five-year term.
Good luck to all 3rd District candidates in February!
