Peoria has a problem.
“Affordability, Housing, Safety, and Education are the four issues we are fighting to be on the debate stage by February,” says 27-year-old Peoria City Council candidate Noah Palm.
I’m also a native Peorian, a 25-year old college student, and I joined with other Peoria residents to form Noah Palm’s election committee. We developed these platforms because they connected to the difficulties our working people face.
In Peoria, we’re unfortunately used to being overlooked to appease large developers and corporations. In 2023, the owners of the landmark Pere Marquette Hotel downtown embezzled $29 million in grant money and $7 million in loans distributed by the city of Peoria. That same year, the building was sold off to a Texas-based firm, Shreem Capital, that for the next 20 years will retain 53% of the taxes meant to aid in redevelopment of the property.
These corporate profiteers are stealing from the people of our city, upwards in the amount of $14 million. Fourteen million dollars could have gone towards renovating vulnerable neighborhoods, where slumlords buy up broken-down homes, then leave renters to live in squalor. It could have gone towards K-12 schools where children lack funding for the arts. At Elise Ford Allen Academy, where I learned to play viola, the orchestra program was dropped years ago due to lack of funding. The $14 million could have gone towards technical certification programs; it could have gone to free bus passes; or public libraries. But instead it’s going towards a developer from another state.
To directly address the public good, we need a city council that prioritizes us. That is why last Saturday, on a warm and sunny October day, I found myself at the Lincoln Branch library, a historic library on the south end of Peoria. Years ago, I came to this library for after-school programs. Now, I was here with a purpose. We snapped our petitions onto clipboards, formed teams, and got our precinct assignments. The marching orders were clear: “Get folks to sign.” 918 signatures of registered voters are needed by October 19 to put our Noah on the ballot for the February 23, 2027 city council election.
A few productive hours later, our group of 25 reconvened at Martin Luther King Park for lunch after the first canvassing drive of the day. Under the shade of the central pavilion, we grabbed sandwiches, discussed strategy, and shared stories. I saw a nurse from Saint Francis Hospital, a bartender, a welder who works at the Caterpillar plant, a union carpenter, several retirees, some unemployed friends, and students from Bradley and Illinois State University. Friends from across the state joined us. There was diversity in age, ethnicity, and identity; all there for the struggle to get City Council candidate Noah Palm on the ballot.
Noah’s a young working-class Peorian. He grew up in a single-parent household; his mother worked third shift at the giant East Peoria Caterpillar plant. She was one of nearly 1,000 workers at the plant who lost their jobs during the 2009 mass layoff. Noah’s father was incarcerated for most of Noah’s childhood. He suffered from dyslexia and was unable to read until after he was incarcerated. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noah himself lost his job and struggled to make ends meet.
Fighting for the power of working people
Noah says his experiences taught him that quality of life is related to investments in the community. Noah was, in fact, the one who introduced me to organizing. Noah told me he sought to dedicate his life to improving the community through fighting for power for working people. When he invited me to the election committee for this campaign, I knew he was the man for the job.
Before we announced the campaign, we spent months planning. Our platform items were based on survey information we gathered from outreach. We researched optimal precincts for the upcoming petitioning drives, and we looked at successful campaigns in the past to refine our social media presence.
As my friends from across Illinois sat under the gazebo that afternoon, they had a lot to say about my small city, both about our campaign and what it meant for Peoria. They noticed the income disparity in the neighborhoods where they spoke with people, the political apathy some of the voters felt when they saw eager canvassers knocking on their doors.
A cure for apathy
One canvasser couldn’t wait to share his story. He had come upon a trio of grey-haired friends hanging out on the porch in one of the many low-income neighborhoods of the city. The elderly friends were friendly, but openly skeptical that their vote would change anything for them, since politics hadn’t worked for them before. It took until after explaining Noah’s working-class politics to them that a fire was lit. As soon as the trio heard “people before profits,” one exclaimed, “Hell Yeah!” and they all signed.
Our city’s contradictions are not unique. Corporate greed is driving the cost of living beyond what is sustainable. Our call to action is “We Deserve Better.” We spark enthusiasm in the forgotten Peoria residents who don’t see themselves represented in government. By taking our petitions directly to people’s homes, we spread that message of optimism. I believe that if we can bring hope to a small Midwestern city like Peoria, it can be a blueprint for the whole nation to uplift worker power.
I want everyone reading this to keep a pin on this movement in central Illinois, because this is the story that reflects the dedication and discipline of grassroots campaigning. The progress we make now will inspire generations away from political apathy and towards engagement across the nation, just as we are inspired by victories of people-over-profit candidates in previous cycles.
If you know anyone in Peoria, urge them to reach out to us at palmforpeoria@gmail.com. If you would like to make a financial contribution to our campaign, make it out to “People for Palm” at 809 North Garfield Ave, Peoria, IL, 61606.
In Peoria, we have a saying: “We Deserve Better!”
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