Let’s get this straight: The Pekin City Council censured its mayor John McCabe for a phone call he made to a council member’s boss. Then McCabe apologized for his bad judgment.

But Peoria mayor Jim Ardis has not apologized for sending police to arrest a guy for a Twitter post. Nor has he been censured by the Peoria City Council for violating the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guaranteeing free speech, even though he swore to uphold the Constitution as mayor.

Talk about bad judgment . . . has Peoria now become Iran on the Illinois?

The resulting lawsuit cost the city $125,000 to settle the case, plus legal fees to pay lawyers to negotiate with the American Civil Liberties Union attorneys, who had filed suit for the defendant. The total: likely a quarter of a million taxpayer dollars.

In addition, the tons of bad publicity for Peoria, including a comedy sketch on a popular cable TV show, now on YouTube likely forever, and international news coverage, made Peoria look stupid, evil, or both.

So it’s funny, but it’s not. And the supposedly non-partisan city council’s non-reaction to the mayor (who should have resigned in disgrace instead of announcing he will run for another term) implies that the Peoria City Council has become like the Illinois General Assembly and the U.S. Congress – backing the party against all reason and good judgment. Sad, even frightening.

Iran on the Illinois indeed.

Elaine Hopkins

Peoria