PEORIA, Ill. — Public services in Peoria, such as the fire department, police department and snow removal crews, have struggled in various ways since the beginning of the pandemic.
For Peoria Fire and Peoria Public Works, they have been at the mercy of budget cuts made by Peoria City Council in order to balance a budget impacted by COVID-19.
Those budget impacts were brought to life Monday night during the Peoria City Council meeting when a report was given on hiring inside Peoria Fire and Peoria Police.
Assistant Fire Chief James Bachman said nine people have resigned since 2019.
“In the 10 years prior to 2019, we had just one resignation,” said Bachman. “The Peoria Fire/Rescue Department has not on-boarded since 2018.”
The one common thread among the resignees, Bachman said, was job insecurity.
“All of them are concerned about their employment,” said Bachman. “Pretty much since they’ve joined the department — their job has been in jeopardy.
“A second common theme we’ve heard is not feeling valued as an employee.”
On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the worst, Bachman said morale in the department is at an eight.
In addition to resignations, the fire department had 15 employees retire in 2020. Due to retirements, resignations and budget cuts, a total of 177 employees represent the department, down from a high of 214 in 2014.
Bachman said that’s something not being seen in comparable markets.
Many of the firefighters who resigned in 2020 have decided to move to other departments, according to Bachman.
For the Peoria Police Department, there are fewer and fewer aspiring police officers, according to Assistant Chief Doug Theobald.
Peoria Police administer the written exam to become an officer at the Peoria Civic Center, and Theobald said the number of participants has dropped drastically.
According to Theobald, they used to fill up the Civic Center with test takers. Now, they barely get 150 to show up.
Council member Chuck Grayeb addressed the issues being had by the departments, saying a majority of the problems are from the people on the council and the priorities placed on core basic services.
“Whether it’s our valiant men and women in blue, who are under attack by radicals right now, or our valiant fire/rescue personnel who are under attack from other folks — who seem to think the almighty dollar is more important than the constituents in their homes,” said Grayeb.
Grayeb complimented Peoria Public Works on their snow plowing in the last couple weeks, praising them for getting it done after the City Council decreased the number of snow routes from 21 to 17.
“The people in this community will not tolerate this,” said Grayeb. “All of this is within the mix of those people who supported an $8 million boondoggle with the Pere Marquette and continue to waste money on outside consultants.
“The people of Peoria will assert themselves.”
