Peoria approves $9.9 million mixed-use warehouse development with 16 luxury apartments

if everyone would please take their seats we're going to get started with our meeting for good evening everyone it is 6 o'clock pm.

on Tuesday February the 13 2024 I'd like to call the meeting of the Peoria city council to order I'd also like to welcome everyone that's here in our city council chambers as well as our audience listening on uh wcbu I'd also like to welcome the audience watching on cable channel 22 Madam clerk Council mics are open please call the rooll mayor Ali council member Allan council member sear council member Gordon young council member graab here council member Jackson here council member Kelly here council member Oiler here council member riggenbach here council member velpula and council member vesa here you have a quorum present Madame mayor thank you madam clerk everyone please join me and stand for a moment of Silent prayer or silent reflection followed by the Pledge of Allegiance Al United States stands Nation God indivisible withy andice for all Madam clerk I have a special notice I want to read uh this is a notice to our Township electors pursuant to Public Act d761 if you desire to have an item considered on the agenda at the annual town meeting to be held Tuesday April 9th 2024 at 6 6:00 p.m.

you are required to bring a specific request signed by 15 or more electors to the township clerk's office no later than Friday March 1st any group of registered voters May request an advisory question of public policy for consideration by the electors at the annual meeting by giv written by giving written notice of the specific advisory question to the Township Clerk in the same manner as required for an agenda item under section B of section 30-10 of the Township Code Madam clerk we are at proclamations okay before we actually go into proclamations I have a recognition we have a city council a former city council member that has passed away and I would like to acknowledge Le Lester bergston tonight we send our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of councilman Lester D bergston who served 20 years on the Poria city council and was known for dedicating his life to this community he served our country for 37 years in the United States Air Force Reserve with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel he served for 29 years as the US Air Force Academy's local aison officer he worked as an engineer for 40 years with caterpillar the company that brought him to Peoria after his early upbringing in the farmlands of Concordia Kansas and it was in Peoria where he knew he could make a difference serving the city from 1973 to 1993 he was the first fifth district council member as local government transitioned from mayor to 10 District District Alderman to Mayor with three at large and five district council members the surviving 1973 city council celebrated its 50th Anniversary last year and remarked its achievements in public projects projects like the Civic Center fire training academy and Public Works facility to name a few council member beron filled his 20 years with work on the wage negotiation committee City County Recycling committee the pioner park economic development committee and he was known for being accessible and proactive with the public he served but he was best known as Mr public works for the advocacy of streets curbs gutters and his efforts on Street projects like uh such as Allen Road and North University Street and the annexations of Pioneer Park and willo's Court his advocacy was so renowned that the Public Works building was renamed the Lester D bergston operation and maintenance facility in May of 1993 to coincide with his retirement retirement from the council didn't mean he would stop serving the public he became the city's longest serving commissioner berston was first appointed to the solid waste landfill Committee in 1975 and served as the chair of that Comm committee from 2004 to 2017 he continued to serve on that committee from 2017 until his death when he retired from the council in 1993 he told the peia journal star people asked me if I had fun my response is I found it very interesting the community members of Peoria are thankful you found it so interesting ing councilman bergston we thank you for your service and for the impact your work will have on our city for generations to come thank you I'd also like to thank Miss Stacy Peterson for putting together that tribute thank you Stacy we have two proclamations today the first celebrates Black History Month that's presented by the city of Peoria whereas the city of Poria celebrates Black History Month and recognizes that people of African descent have been a part of our community since 1773 when Jean Baptist Point disbo purchased land here according to historian Romeo B Garrett and whereas in recognizing the need to ackn knowledge and celebrate the achievements of black Americans historian Carter G Woodson developed negro history week in 1926 and this expanded to become Black History Month and whereas since n 1976 every US president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month February was chosen primarily because the second week of the month coincides with the birthdays of both ABR abam Lincoln and Frederick Doug Douglas Lincoln was influential in the emancipation of slaves and Douglas a former slave was a prominent leader in the Abolitionist Movement which fought to end slavery and whereas the theme for this year's Black History Month as chosen by the Association for the study of African-American life and history is African Americans and the Arts this is especially relevant to Peoria and our Rich history of Black black artists including the renowned artist Preston Jackson who was named a Lincoln laurate in 1998 by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois an organization which celebrates outstanding individuals across a variety of fields whereas this month is a time for all Americans to reflect on the rich history and teaching of black Americans whose contributions to our economic cultural political and Social Development are vast and whereas the city of Poria is proud to honor the history and contributions of black Americans in our community throughout our state and Nation now therefore I reita Ali mayor of the city of Peoria Illinois and on behalf of the Peoria city council do hereby recognize February 1st through March 1st as Black History Month in Peoria Illinois our final Proclamation recognizes National Engineers week and we have Miss Heather oric president-elect of the Society of women Engineers Central Illinois and Karen Rob chair of the Outreach committee if you would both come forth I just seen you earlier this week or last week last Friday wasn't it okay and whereas the Society of women Engineers s founded in 1950 is a nonprofit educational and service organization that is the driving force that establish engineering as a highly desirable career aspiration for women and whereas s empowers women to succeed and advance in their aspirations while receiving recognition and credit for their life-changing contributions and achievement Ms as engineers and leaders in our community and whereas the central Illinois section ofu comprised of 260 members has focused in Outreach professional development advocacy and work life integration for the past 32 years and whereas in 1951 The National Society of Professional Engineers created National Engineers week to draw attention to the contributions the engineers make on our society and whereas this year National Engineers week will be held February the 18th through February 24th the central Illinois section of s will partner with the Poria Riverfront Museum on February 18th 2024 to celebrate National Engineers week with an open house for students from elementary school through high school with an interest in science and math several professional societies will also participate now therefore I I Rita Ali mayor of the city of Peoria Illinois do hereby recognize the central Illinois section of the Society of women engineer Engineers for their support and advocacy of national Engineers week in Peoria [Applause] Illinois thank you mayor mayor Ali for that great recognition and Proclamation National engineering week is a astounding um event for engineers across the country not just here in Pur Illinois but it's not just a week it's everything we do central Illinois um section goes and mentors to over, 1600 children throughout the year through events with Girl Scouts um U ofi extension our local grade schools across the city and many other organizations this week is just one week of many I items that we have and so for that we thank you for recognizing us and giving us the proclamation to kick off our events this coming Sunday thank you very much welcome thank you madam clerk we at the approval of the minutes riggenbach thank you Madame mayor I move to approve the minutes of the city council meeting held on January 23rd 2024 as printed seconded by council member graab any comments or questions please cast your ballots motion passes unanimously Madam clerk we have one town item 24-30 is a request from the town officials to approve the January 2024 actual expenditures and to approve the February 202 for anticipated expenditures for the town of the city of Poria truste grup uh Madam chair Lee I move to approve as outlined by our city clerk seconded by trustee Jackson any questions please cast your ballots motion passes unanimously Madame clerk we are at the consent agenda 24-3 1 is a communication from the city manager incorporation council with a request to approve the Labor Day picnic at Riverfront Festival park on September 2nd 2024 sponsored by Poria area community events Inc subject to their filing of the necessary permits and approval as required by city code 24-32 is a communication with request to approve a resolution to appoint the human resources benefits administrator Rachel cook as the authorized agent for the Illinois Municipal retirement fund and on your desk there is a handout with a revised resolution and attachments 24-33 is a communication with request for the following a to approve a contract with gyx landscape LLC for the demolition of 3560 Southwest Adams Street utilizing Illinois rebu Grant funds in the total amount of $805 44 B approve a contract with gyx landscape LLC for the installation of fencing and a parking pad at 3560 Southwest Adam Street utilizing rebuild Grant funds in the total amount of 100 $1 181,182 24-34 is a communication with a request to approve an intergovernmental agreement between the city of Poria and greater Poria Sanitary District for cleaning and inspection of selected city sewer segments and the lower bid amount of 50,52 7.50 and an an additional authorization of $1,527 for contingencies for a total project amount of6 55802 24-35 is a communication with request to approve an intergovernmental agreement between the city of Peoria and Greater Peoria Sanitary District to line selected city sewer segments in a low bit amount of $164,200 and an additional authorization of $1 16,42 for contingencies for a total project amount of $180,600 24-36 is a communication from the city manager and Corporation Council with a request to approve a resolution regarding the approval and release of closed session minutes and 24-37 is a communication with a request to approve the 2024 utility assistance program and that concludes our consent agenda thank you madam clerk are there any items to remove from consent council member Oiler thank you madam choman I don't need to pull this but I just need an exstension recorded on 24-33 due to a perceived conflict of interest due to a current uh contract relationship okay thank you are there any items to actually uh other items to pull can I get a motion to approve the other items moved by council member Allan seconded by council member Gordon young please cast your ballots motion passes unanimously Madam clerk do we need to read 24-23 okay 24-33 is a communication from the city manager and director of Community Development with a request for the following a approve a contract with gyx landscape LLC for the demolition of 3560 Southwest Adam Street utilizing Illinois rebuild Grant funds in the total amount of $805 B approve a contract with gyx landscape LLC for the installation a fencing and a parking pad at 3560 Southwest Adam Street utilizing rebuild Grant funds in the total amount of $ 181,182 $ 1,865 I get a motion moved by council member Gordon young for item a item a okay seconded by council member Allan any questions on item a comments please cast your ballots motion passes with one abstention Oiler counc member Gordon young I move to approve oh I'm sorry okay now you can I move to approve uh item number or item letter B seconded by council member Allan okay please cast your ballots motion passes with one exstension Oiler council member Gordon young I move to approve item letter C seconded by council member Allen okay any questions comments please cash your ballots motion passes with one abstention Oiler thank you madam clerk we are at regular business 24-38 is a communication from the city manager and chief of police with a request to approve funding for the Illinois Department of Human Services special allocation in the amount of $365,000 for the following a award youth violence prevention grants to the Boys and Girls Club Dream Center and minority contractors in the total amount of $250,000 and B award youth violence prevention micr grants to products of the projects Junior Achievement EXO Peoria K hand up Boys to Men my mother's Community Garden Mount Zion church and mother's war and violence in the total amount of 150 $15,000 Mr manager uh thank you Madame mayor I'd actually like to ask the police chief to come forward and walk through the recommendations that we have here with regards to the um the both the violence prevention grants and the uh micr grants um if you recall this is money that we have to spend by the end of June uh and it's from the Illinois Department of Human Services well I'm going to pass the mic on to Jenny oriza who's really done a ton of work behind the scenes and in front of the scenes with this so Jenny so it was super exciting for us we received 11 applications for regular grants with three grants that were chosen in the total amount of $250,000 so we were awarded to the Boys and Girls Club Dream Center and minority contract contractors we would like for you to approve that and then in the micro grants we actually had 23 applications and we awarded 115,000 total to Junior Achievement product of the projects exop Oria K hand up Boys to Men my mother's Community Garden Mount Zion church and mother's war on violence mothers war on violence was a partial award questions council member Allan uh thank you Madame mayor um I just want to applaud you all for the work you did on this I know that it was a quick turnaround when you were notified that you received the funds from DHS and so I appreciate the work that you did jny along with looks like our chief diversity and inclusion officer Chief green and city manager uck and staff from the Community Development Department were part of this scoring process uh when I look at the list of those who were awarded the uh triage that we're about to vote on here in a second but then and specifically when I look at B um and I recognize some of these organizations and many I don't and that is a good thing because I think the council really wanted to ensure that this next round of funding went to what I like to call the unusual suspects those who have been doing the work at the grassroot level often in the shadows but it doesn't lessen their impact to our community so again thank you all for Shining Light on those who are sometimes the unsung heroes in our community uh those who applied and who didn't get awarded this time continue to fight the good fight I know we have some grant writing workshops coming up led by the police department enrolling those so that way you can have the infrastructure and the capacity to be awarded hopefully in future Grand Cycles but again thank you all so much and I look forward to supporting this tonight thank you council member Gordon young thank you Madame mayor I Echo those sentiments one of the things that um I was really uh delighted was to again see some names that I'm not familiar with and that's so important I talked about a few sessions ago how you know we don't want the same organizations or the larger organizations because there are so many people that are invested in this community that's doing the work I I do have a question in terms of because that's a long list 23 applicants like that's a beautiful thing did they receive any type of feedback in terms of what they can do differently not yet okay so my next steps are to actually call all of the those organizations invite them to come to our next grant writing Workshop which is March 5th and 6th if they want to attend that and then with the winners I'm going to do a mini workshop with them just so that they have all the paperwork they need oh that's great thank you yeah thank you madam mayor you're welcome council member riggenbach thank you Madame mayor and not to sound like a stuck record but this is really exciting stuff and as as we allocated money from the arpa funds for violence prevention I think we tried to be very um deliberate in how that money was spent and then to get this additional Grant just opened up the gates for this this Avenue the micro grants as as we've talked in the past I think are a really exciting um experiment for us if you will and I see some familiar faces in there of some of the recipients so I would I would just encourage you and the police department that keep keep in close contact with these because a lot of these organizations this is probably the their first foray into something like this so giving them the guidance to walk through the process as the funds are expended I think will be critical as well thank you for your work thank you for us we really are invested in this succeeding because I love micr grants I think they're just amazing for really small organizations so I am going to meet with them and walk them through the whole process because it is really daunting wonderful thanks again thank you madam mayor you're welcome council member Kelly thank you madam mayor I I don't have much to uh add uh my colleagues have done a very good job thank you uh but I would just like to thank you for listening to the council trying to get into some of those smaller organizations that don't have big administrative help Etc good for you and uh some of those will maybe uh work a little that we're going to find one or two that really uh does something Innovative creative and that's wonderful so thank you very much for all that work thank you Madame mayor welcome and kudos to the entire team I I love the strategy I love that you're getting down to the Grassroots that people that are you know on the streets doing the the tough work and you know not just the big organization so this is a great strategy congratulations thank you and with that I will entertain a motion moved by council member Allan seconded by council member Gordon young to approve um any other comments questions please cast your ballots sweet passes unanimously Madam Clerk I believe we need separate motions on both of those we need separate motions okay a uh move by council member Allan seconded by council member Gordon young that we've just voted on a so now move by B second it for B please cast your ballots motion passes unanimously Madam Clerk 24-39 is a communication from the city manager and chief of police with a request for the following a approve a soul Source purchase for one Ford Transit wagon from National Auto Fleet in the amount of approximately $100,000 which includes all necessary equipment to be ready for patrol B is approve a soul Source purchase for a one Ford Explorer Interceptor for a no bid procurement Source in the amount of approximately $90,000 which includes all necessary equipment to be ready for patrol and C adopt an ordinance amending the city of Poria 2024 2025 by annual budget relating to the general fund for use of fund balance for the purchase of vehicles in an amount of $190,000 will need individual votes on all of these and no less than six votes for each one okay uh Mr manager uh thank you mad May I'm actually going to turn it back over to the police chief uh to give you the the background and the reasons why we're asking asking for this uh agenda item yes and and good evening again in the cost of doing business every once in a while our our our vehicles that are driven 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year uh often times there are accidents that occur uh we have two vehicles that were totaled in accidents and you know all PD vehicles that require lights and Sirens need to have special options ordered at the time of build to ensure that the uplift of aftermarket equipment works with the base Vehicles electrical systems this is one of many of the reasons why police vehicles need to be special ordered and they take longer to obtain uh than other department Vehicles this is also one of the reasons why police vehicles cannot be purchased directly off a standard dealership lot the police prisoner van would be obtained from the National Auto Fleet group this is a government contract sourcing base sales team the reason we go this route is we can still order the police specific options on the vehicle and can work off a general Municipal price guarantee contract rather than be tied to a state contract and put on the wait list or put be put last in line the police interceptor SUV we are asking for a non- bid procurement approval the reason we are asking for this is moral Brothers Ford currently holds the Illinois State contract for the Ford Explorer interceptors uh we haven't had an order since 2022 that arrive down time so we're still waiting for police interceptors they were ordered January of 2023 uh from them as is the state and other municipalities National autof flea group has not opened slots for the intercepted purchases as of today we have the option to purchase non bid we can make calls to three other four dealerships in Illinois that we know have these vehicles on order the first one of those three dealers that obtains a unit to sell us would get the sale basically we're asking for this to reduce the possibility of being without another police unit for more than a year that's it questions can I get a motion moved by council member Oiler for item a is there a second seconded by council member Kelly any questions comments please cast your ballot from item a motion passes unanimously council member Oiler thank you madam chairwoman move to approve Item B seconded by council member Kelly please cast your ballots motion passes unanimously council member Oiler thank you madam chairwoman move to approve item C seconded by council member Kelly please cast your ballots motion passes unanimously Adam clerk 24-40 is a communication from the city manager and assistant city manager with request to adopt an ordinance approving the Redevelopment agreement with 825 Adams LLC for 89-83 Southwest Adams Street to develop a commercial and residential mixed use development in the warehouse District Mr Man uh thank you Madame mayor uh with us this evening is our economic development manager Debbie vanle and I'm going to turn the floor over to her to let her walk through this Redevelopment agreement good evening so this proposal is for the Mixed use development on Southwest Adams just uh south of Zion coffee it's the proposal for approximately 30,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor with uses ranging from restaurant and retail to Fitness and Recreation the the Upper Floor will be 16 uh luxury apartments um the development will also include parking for the residential and Commercial components of approximately 100 spots which exceeds the warehouse District um requirements of would be about 48 in the current plan um the total project cost is estimated at 9, 866624 with approximately 9 m I 641 and $124 in Tiff eligible costs the reimbursement of the Tiff increment for the eligible cost over the life of the Tiff is approximately 2,595 48 so this would be about 63% of the uh total increment generated over the life of the Tiff the annual reimbursement payments will only commence when the project construction is is completed and certificate of occupancy is obtained um during the first 5 years when the increment is generated um the redeveloper is eligible for 100% of the increment for those five years and then year six on they'll be eligible for 50% of the increment and I'm happy to answer any questions okay I don't see any questions so I'm going to turn to you uh council member Jackson since this is your District thank you Madame mayor I uh just had a quick comment I just wanted to uh say this is an exciting sounds like an exciting uh project and I just a quick question uh Mr manager do you know what this will bring us at our housing goal for down town um I know I asked that question a while back well I think that we're we're looking here at at at roughly about 16 additional Apartments I think as we've looked at all of the apartments that have been approved uh or that are in construction or under construction in the warehouse District uh this will put us over 525 Apartments so um this is obviously in the last 10 years we've really made great strides at making the warehouse District a true neighborhood so sounds good well with that Madame mayor I would like to make a motion that uh item number 24- 04 be approved as so mentioned thank you council member Jackson that was seconded by council member Oiler do you also have a question or comment comc member or comment comment please okay thank you madam chairwoman I just wanted to make a couple comments on this project first of all I think we have one of the developers standing in the doorway over here so thank you for your continued investment in the warehouse district and I also wanted to take a minute to thank uh the manager and the economic development department staff for the thorough work on this I know that I have uh helped push both sides to the Limit here to try to get another deal done in the warehouse district and this is going to allow us to see an entire block be finished over the next couple years I had the opportunity to tour the facilities across the street from this that the same developers are doing and it's very impressive to see what's been accomplished inside and all of the investment that we're going to be able to take advantage of in the next couple of years so thank you to everybody for the diligent hard work on this and look forward to seeing how this project materializes thank you you're welcome council member riggenbach thank you Madame mayor this is another exciting example of of what's happening in Peoria and I hope everybody um can wrap their arms around the the energy that's building in the warehouse District I do have one question though um for director sickle if you could just W help us wrap our arms around the the percentage on the increment being 100% for the first five years since that's a little bit out of the norm it is out of Norm um we really tried to frontend some of it because of a lot of the demo costs that they have if you'd been by there before they started um the project there was a lot of um pieces falling down so they had to start that just to make it a safe safe place so we did front end a little bit heavier for them to recoup some of the develop the demo costs and then scaled it down to um move through the rest of the term I think those of us who have had pizza at the place across the street from this have looked at that building longingly wonder what the potential could be so we're excited to see that potential becoming reality so thank you to the devel velopment team and I will be supporting this as well thank you you're welcome it's going to be a great project uh council member Allan uh thank you madam mayor just a question of inquiry um because we have been uh approving some exciting developments in the warehouse District using the economic tool that is a tiff um is there a certain amount of I guess quota or allowance like we get to a point where there won't be any more eligible developments um eligible for the Tiff within that District are we because it seems like we're approving a lot in that area so are we getting into a certain threshold I know that's kind of a novice question but just kind of wanted to kind of learn the parameters are we are we at a a tiff limit per se I I really don't think that that um we're going to hit necessarily a limit I think that there's enough um buildings still in the warehouse District um that are eligible for redevelopment work or there's vacant lots that could be developed that I don't think that there's that really I think we would ever hit that limit necessarily and I think uh it's been a great success know when there's still room to get occupancy and when that slows down they'll know it and then they're less likely to continue at that point Thank you thank you madam mayor welcome council member gr I think it's exciting because of the spin-off impact that the development will have on on our entire downtown including the warehouse District whenever you have folks living in a neighborhood they're going to be investing in that neighborhood and in this country we have um the Invisible Hand of Adam Smith that helps to allocate resources and Investments how people can make money and this is where I think government needs to step back and let the free inter rise system work and so maybe grocery store downtown Warehouse District maybe um a pharmacy um it's endless but we all know that within a couple three years we're going to have 6600 people living downtown including those um in congregant settings this is exciting going back many years the downtown was primarily a retail Center and after the shops closed everybody disappeared it was it was moving though when the shops were were open but uh back in those days we didn't have a sharan village we didn't have a Northwoods Mall we didn't have a shops on the Grand Prairie but now we have our downtown that is a commercial office legal and now neighborhood unto itself and it's developing in that direction years ago people would say you know you could shoot a cannon downtown and hit nobody well we're turning that around there and actions of the sort that we're taking tonight are Paving the way to a better and brighter future for all of us and um I hope we continue with this um energy thank you very well said Thank You council member Kelly uh thank you Madame mayor uh Mr manager I I want to make sure I get this right but uh uh council member Allen spoke about running out of of increment and if I'm not mist mistaken in the warehouse District each project each Tiff increment is is uh development or that item that building gets its own increment okay it isn't spread around so the now there are tiffs that that operate on that General basis okay but in in the warehouse house district if I'm not mistaken uh it's projects specific that that increment goes to so it's you could say it's unlimited if we want to build 300 story buildings but um that increment is always going to flow from that that development and that development alone thank you Madame mayor thank you and thank you to the developer for bringing this project thank you for the economic development team for working with the developer to bring this to fruition it's it's very exciting for Peoria uh we have a motion on the floor and a second so if there's no other questions comments let's vote passes unanimously Madam clerk we are at unfinished business and we do not have anything okay um so the next item should be a new business it is out of order on this agenda and actually should be next thank you uh new business council member grup today was a historic day in the history of Poria uh today we had the official blessing of the new cancer center in the Third District serves the entire city serves the entire region people will be coming from all over the country because of the proton be machine that will enhance cure rates for cancer today will go down in history as an important day and the continued development of the city as a worldclass healing and medical center and Research Center um I know councilman rigin box working hard to get some tours set up for those of us who couldn't make it for the blessing of this facility today about a quarter of a billion dollars worth of investment along just right off our Knoxville Corridor but uh today we just have to be very thankful for what's been happening in our community we're moving again mayor in the right direction thank you thank you for U making that acknowledgement uh councilman grab I was able to take a a sneak peek about a week ago and it's just an amazing huge facility and that proton beam piece of equipment I was tons and tons and tons it's just you know it just stays with you and you know what it's going to do to save lives and preserve lives throughout the region and people will come throughout the region here and perhaps throughout the country so yes it's it's outstanding thank you council member uh vesa thank you Madame mayor um well for the benefit of our listeners at home we have a packed Gallery tonight um seeking to address the Gaza conflict um I've heard from many of of my constituents um who have good faith concerns and I appreciate the Civic engagement that said I want to make one thing clear hate does not play in Poria I hope we can all firmly reject any effort to denigrate any human lives from the Israeli hostages being held captive in underground tunnels to the displaced Palestinians who are living in tents in Rafa all people of good conscience should be praying for all of these poor souls who must be terrified all need to make it out safely their hopes and dreams mean no less than yours are mine when we fail to recognize the humanity in each other we lose the humanity in ourselves thank you thank you [Applause] councilman I also have a statement that's uh pertaining to this matter but I'm not going to read it tonight uh at the council meeting but I will release the statement uh following the council meeting and it will be published on porag go.org uh the homepage City's homepage under new Under U the news section and also released to the media at this point Madam clerk we are at citizens opportunity to address the city council okay okay we have quite a few speakers tonight I'm counting 29 cards so we are going to start uh with Osama alre i i as uh Mr Ral Ray comes to the podium I just want to make everybody aware of our format for public comment um you can speak up to five minutes and then after all the public comment is over our format is that we don't respond to the public comment that's just our standard procedure and I just want everybody to be aware of that yes thank you very much I was looking at it and I saw that it was four minutes and 30 seconds I said I already lost 30 seconds I did not start talking but it's right now back to five minutes thank you very much so um yes it is Black History Month and the genocide the indigenous people and the African-Americans have faced should never be forgotten for me every month is a Black History Month Dr Mar Martin Luther King Jr Malcolm X and all great leaders of the African-American Community their contributions Are Much appreciated and we are indebted to all those who struggled in the path of Liberty and freedom I appreciate and applaud you Madame mayor for celebrating the Black History Month Madame mayor honorable city councilman today we are experiencing another form of genocide in Gaza as an example my friend who's a humanitarian Aid worker lost his beloved wife four of his beloved kids actually all of them he had only four kids his wife's brother his wife's brother and his wife and his wife's sister and her husband their kids two of his wife's uncles their wives and their kids the number I could count at that moment was about 30 yes we are far away from them and my think that their Affair does not impact us here in piia well I believe it does I am here calling for a ceasefire to issue a resolution by the city of piia to call for a ceasefire it is a message that we need to send to our elected Federal officials who are distancing themselves from the public the public who are calling for ceasefire the city of Poria in my heart it is my town and it is as big as Chicago Chicago has followed Pursuit we need to follow pursuit of Chicago Chicago is calling for a Seas fire so I am calling for the Madame mayor and The Honorable City Council over here to issue a resolution calling for a seiz fire thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak our next speaker is IM man Mazer [Applause] mmud greetings of Peace esteemed members of the city council tonight I come before you with a heavy heart compelled to address the dire situation unfolding in Gaza the gravity of this matter demands our attention and action the occupation known as Israel expressed remorse when they shot three Israeli hostage in Gaza they called it friendly fire when these three Israeli Civ civilians were raising White Flags they were shot at and killed brutally but you know what the catch is Honorable members hundreds and thousands of Palestinian children women and men are butchered by this occupation in their alleged War which is nothing but genocide and this is done without remorse some honorable members here today and a personal level they've expressed that they don't want to be divisive in their approach in calling for a ceasefire as they represent all residents of Poria and this is a foreign Affair however this in reality is irrational as well it's as equivalent as saying that we will not condemn the murder of the late George Floyd because there are people who actually till today support the corrupt officers who committed these atrocities let's go even further back and say that by this standard people won't condemn the slave trade and the genocide that was done against the native indigenous people and the africanamerican people who are heroes of this land by this standard of divisiveness or divisiveness the international court of justice and their positions would be divisive as well with 16 to1 voting against the crimes of Israel and that one judge who also voted in favor of Israel also being condemned by her country I also ask you if you did not want to be divisive my honorable members here our leaders then why did you light up the mck luggage bridge in Poria blue and white in solidarity with people who are now the killers and butchers why didn't you even think for a moment about those who have been massacred in Gaza this senseless genocide has everything to do with Poria it is not a foreign Affair rather a local and a gloal affair because it is our tax dollars funding the illegal apari and the occupation in their genocide over 30,000 people have been massacred since October 7th with Millions displaced without food water and medical Necessities that they need to live mid I.E mosques churches indiscriminately bombed universities hospitals on to the ground the occupation known as Israel told people from the north to flee to the South and then from the south to further south at while now they are in ra even further south they've been bombed and killed at every juncture at every juncture the plan has been known my friends since the establishment of this apari state that they are there for one purpose and one purpose only and it is an evident fact through the maps and this is none other than the annexing of moreand something that nobody here my friends would accept for their own people for Americans for your family and for your community you would not want to lose your home and have people kicked out making you leave your home many have stated my friends while there are still hostages kidnapped in Gaza the almighty tells us in the Quran and I am a man of Faith Allah says meaning when you speak be just yes just as there is hostages in Gazza there are 10,000 plus hostages in Israel prisons in the form of women and children who are being tried within military courts and some are not even tried and left to rot in prison in prison freedom is not subjective Freedom should be encompassing one and all and it should be generally objective this is not a Muslim thing this is a human thing that is why you see the diversity Pres present here and the pluralistic diversity and background in the in the many millions who are Marching on this Earth calling for Justice Just glance at your hearts my honorable leaders which are sitting here today glance at your hearts and your humanity and make the call that the tens of City councils have made calling for a ceasefire I conclude with a statement of the Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him all of you are Shepherds and will most definitely be accountable for your flock ceasefire now free Palestine free [Applause] Palestine our next speaker is Rami Abdu rabu Ramy good evening everyone my name is Ramy abrau I stand in front of you today not just as a physician but as a witness of a war crimes in Gaza in 2014 War I was part of a medical mission to Gaza where I saw with my own eyes the devastating impact of a conflict on innocent lives the the scenes I witnessed were Beyond any horror once could imagine hundreds of dead or dying children mothers and elderly victim of indiscriminate bombing and the use of internationally prohibited weapons by the Israeli Army it was without exaggerating hell on Earth in my rule as a physician I was confronted with scenes that challenged all my professional training and my expectations I witnessed individuals badly wounded their bodies torn into half and still crying out for help in the emergency department the reality was Grim we didn't even have basic painkillers to offer them a relief in their final moments our only resources was to lay them on the floor praying them they will die in in in in peace and this showing clearly how we didn't have enough supplies tools or medicine to deal with with the crisis we faced every face I saw belonging to a civilian children with their future stolen mothers who who lives were altered and elderly individuals who had survived much only to be chattered in an instant the mag the magnitude of human suffering was overwhelming a Relentless reminder of the devastating impact of the world's silence today I urge you to compare the tragedy of 2014 war with the Ono with the ongoing catastrophe back then approximately 2,100 people lost their lives now the death toll has taken to more than 28,000 innocent lives this is staggering numbers is not just a statistics it represents individual lives families torn apart and community and communities destroyed as someone who served on the front line and with my wife whose originally a a Palestinian and now dedicating at this current moment while I'm talking to you she's dedicating her time as a pediatrician to help children in this very City Poria I implore you to reflect on the universality of childhood children across the world whether in Gaza Poria or anywhere else share the same right to safety to laughter and to a future yes yet we as we speak right now the fundamental right is being denied to the children of Gaza we are at a critical juncture where our Collective voice can be can make a difference it's our moral obligation to call for a ceasefire to stand up against the ongoing violence that threatens to escalate into a genocide in rafah this is not a matter of politics anyone it's a question for a Humanity of a Humanity of recognizing the value of every human life regarding their race ethnicity or religion the situ the situation demands our immediate attention and action we must remain we must not remain silent we must shout out for a ceasefire for the sake of all children for the sake of our shared the humanity the cost of inaction is great and the time to act is now cease fire now and free [Applause] Palestine next we have Yousef borgin after Yousef is going to be Estrella Diaz good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of the city council first we want to thank you for us to be able to come speak with you guys and tell us tell you guys exactly how we truly feel and thank you Madame mayor for taking the time to listen and chief of the police P police thank you for your presence as well I want to reiterate what Mike VBA stated hate has no place in Poria I 100% agree because hate has no place in this world whatsoever and as he said we should be praying for all poor souls and that they make it all out safely in Palestine when we come here and when all the different cities in United States and many different countries ask for a ceasefire they're not simply saying support only Palestine and that we wish any sort of hate on Israel whatsoever when we ask for a ceasefire when we demand to ceasefire we want unity and we want safety for everybody we have seen more than 20 if not 30,000 people innocent may I remind you individuals being killed in Palestine 30 plus thousand people majority of them being kids and women imagine if that was your children out there being bombed indiscriminately simply trying to survive simply trying to find food simply trying to Live Another Day majority of these kids right now they can't even get the basic support they need they can't even get the basic food or water that they need and as you probably all of you know water towers have been destroyed hospitals have been destroyed and ambulances and non-stop M non-stop places that are extremely important for human life have been destroyed and Palestine are we really going to believe that this is all in regards to trying to get the world Target in United States when there is a mass shooting at a school and we want to get to that shooter do we blow up the whole school no use Smart tactics to go room by room to try to find exactly who that perpetrator is who that terrorist is and take that individual out when we hear of Israel saying that oh there might have been some undercover or some Hamas or something like that inside of hospitals so they blow the whole thing up does that make sense ladies and gentlemen that makes zero zero sense on top of that it's been very clear clear that it's a war crime 120% yet no one speaks up for them when it comes to Major countries including the United States of America the Illinois statute says terrorism is a the definition of terrorism a person commits the offense of terrorism when with the intent to intimidate or coers a sign ific portion of Civilian population what do you think that means ladies and gentlemen when we see constant taking over of lands of innocent Souls non-stop taking over their their land just like the United States of America did to the Native Americans we could maybe say that we didn't we couldn't do anything about that today back then but today when we see it going on we can actually say something we can actually do something when we come to the city council to speak with each one of you guys which I must remind you you were elected to be in that position we ask you simply to stand up for people that matter not just in Peoria but in all across the world I want to reiterate when I ask when we say that we want a ceasefire we're not saying just like the leaked email that oh we're going to divide the city of Poria we're not dividing the city of Poria when we speak up for atrocities and for terrorism saying that terrorism is wrong we must say it on all platforms we can't just pick sides each one of you sitting in those chairs today man and woman and Madame mayor when we simply say we want you to call for a ceasefire we just want you guys to represent us as Humanity not Muslims in particular not Christians in particular not Jewish people in particular but Humanity as a total because innocent lives does not discriminate on top of that one more thing I want to add which many people including people in this audience today want to think that it's a religious issue killing innocent Souls is not a religious issue so I don't want you guys to St here and think that we're siding with one religion or one country or anything like that we're siding with what is right up thank [Applause] you next is Estrella Diaz followed by Justin [Applause] Luba hello give me one second all right hi all right as everyone here before me has stated all we're asking you is to support the ceasefire resolution you may say it isn't within our power to pass this or that it isn't a local issue and I understand why you may think that I do understand that this won't affect things on a global scale because we are a small voice or rather a small piece in this Grand puzzle of a country but we still are a piece that completes the puzzle as for local issue well it is a local issue because we have residents in Poria that are Palestinian who have family who have friends who have people that they know along with people that are no longer around due to the indiscriminate killings and bombings because of the Israeli government um all of you sit there in positions of power saying you speak for the people but how can that be true when you decide to turn a blind eye Simply Be simply because you say it won't affect things on a global scale or it's not within your power to do so again we may be small but that doesn't mean that we don't matter because we do we're not telling you or asking you to take sides we're asking you to represent the people to say that we don't stand for this we don't stand for the violence and we don't want to contribute to it and we want an end to the violence that's happening we the people can watch as you are are elected officials right now but if you are not to listen to us we the people have the power to vote you out even if it may not affect you on a personal level it's important for us to Care as humans someone I once no said we shouldn't have to wait for something to come knocking at our door to take action so what are we waiting for thank you next we have Justin Luba followed by Adam katun my name is Justin and I was raised in Poria where I now live and vote and I'm urging you uh to adopt a cease fire resolution I wake up every day and re- realize that it could have been me murdered on October 7th or even taken captive it could also have been me torn apart by 2,000 PB bombs made in the United States and provided to the state of Israel I understand that all of us are here right now not slowly dying with lungs full of dust and Rubble only by accident of birth and Circumstance all life is sacred and cycles of Destruction do not end with further killing the equal and irreducible value of all human life demands that we at minimum bear honest witness there is nothing human in us that can look away from Gaza there is no way to say nothing in the face of this and still walk away with one's own Humanity intact yet so often is easiest to silence what is human in US killing it for the sake of political expediency Israel's current retaliatory assault on Gaza has included the decimation of all life- sustaining infrastructure and the blockading of essential Aid sewage runs in the streets and Israel has salted the fields this demolition includes the raising of most of gaza's domiciles churches mosques schools the besieging of hospitals and un shelters the use of illegal chemical weapons extrajudicial field executions torture of civilians weaponized starvation and a further endless list of war crimes made possible by contributions from us taxpayers continuing to refer to these acts as defense is dishonest propaganda however I am not here to talk about the distortions and popular rhetoric that try to make us believe that investing in cycles of violence will ever bring peace I'm not here to discuss the view that one people's grief could ever justify another's oppression and Annihilation and I am also not here to read out a list of heart numbing statistics or to provide historical context I only want you to imagine a child preferably one who you are close with your own or a niece or a nephew or a grandchild or a loved one's child imagine them playing by the beach with a kite or a shovel calling your name and smiling imagine them being contemplative perhaps outside or in their houses of worship imagine them loving their grandparents speaking intensely with their friends playing a game drawing being momentarily obsessed with something deciding who to become and devising a sense of themselves imagine watching this child's body imploding in bullets imagine that the last image you have of your child is their look of panic as your roof collapses from the force of an air strike imagine them hunched and walking without food or water the 20 plus miles from the north to the south of Gaza only to die painfully of digestive illness in a refugee camp these are the least graphic descriptions nothing could justify this horror that our tax dollars have created all of the children of Palestine are your child our government murders hundreds of your children every day with your taxes they murder these children or leave them alone after murder muring their family at this moment the Israeli assault on Gaza is an orphan Factory and it runs on US military aid if you cannot or will not put your own children in the place of Gaza in the place of the children of Gaza then you are the successful product of a racist dehumanization campaign it should not be controversial to refuse ideologies that demand endless Mass death and tribute it could never be wrong to protest the unseizing parade of mutilated Palestinian corpses that we peorian taxpayers bankroll and it is not anti- anyone to advocate for Universal safety Collective Liberation and well-being someone who attempts to tell you otherwise is either a coward deeply misguided or employed by the weapons industry United States taxpayers unwillingly donate $3.8 billion yearly to the state of Israel in addition to billions more we will provide in 2024 over $1.7 million of pean taxpayer money flows into this death machine yearly in other words we are the direct enablers of a plausible genocide and with each dollar sent we make ourselves more complicit this is why we have to say no not in my name and not with my money we are each called politically morally and spiritually there is no neutral position if you are not saying no to genocide then you are saying yes refusing to call for a ceasefire and every capacity available to you amounts to an abdication of moral courage a turning away from all that is human and and a complete rejection of equality Justice and anything one could call God every day the death toll grows more children are orphaned or slaughtered and we are responsible whatever power you have use it cease fire [Applause] now next we have Adam katum followed by anoir Hajj city council Madame mayor I'm going to speak with you guys from the heart I know many of you many of you know me you know what I stand for so there's no need for me to having to repeat myself over and over since it's Black History Month let me remind you guys of a little history story that happened in 1963 Birmingham Alabama When the Children the black children were sick of being segregated in Birmingham Alabama they got up and they protested on the street over 84,000 uh black children under 15 years old under 8 years old under four years old got arrested and got put in prison now when you see people my age coming out and speaking for what is right and what is wrong and that just shows that something is going on something is wrong and that we need to stand up and we need to do something because I might not be old enough to vote I might not be old enough to have a say what happens in the world but I definitely have the right to feel safe in my city knowing that my elected officials aren't against what I'm doing aren't against what I stand for aren't against my beliefs because knowing that you guys can give us the opportunity of having a ceasefire in Peoria that doesn't mean that we're discriminating that we're picking sides that we're doing anything that just means that people whether whatever side you're on can feel safe can feel safe in our own City knowing that our own elected officials believe that the death Tool The Killing everything that has been happening has to come to an end because it is over 30,000 people that have died in Gaza many of them I know many of them I've tried to help it's impossible it's not easy that's why we ask our city council members we ask you Madame mayor to come and propose a ceasefire on the agenda at least put the ceasefire on the agenda have a vote let us know what our elected officials think about what is going on in a war that is in the Middle East it's a big ask no one's saying that whether you vote Yes or whether you vote no that nothing nothing's going to happen it's a big ask and I ask you from the bottom of my heart hoping to reach the bottom of your hearts that's being blocked by politics that's being blocked by votes that's being blocked by funds for next election hoping that my ask and the rest of the people here to ask can just put the ceasefire on the agenda whether you guys vote Yes whether you guys vote no just knowing what our city council members think knowing which one of our council members think that us being safe us feeling safe is a good thing because that's all we're here for we just want on the agenda we just want to know your point of views on everything you vote no you vote yes that's all up to you cease fire now thank you next we have anir Haj followed by mmud [Applause] mad good evening esteemed members of the Poria Council for the record my name is anoir Haj I'm here today along with several Americans who consider Peoria as your home to request a three-point resolution be passed by the city council mandating the state of Israel to point1 enforce a permanent cessation of all bombing and military operations that have to date killed over 30,000 innocent civilians since October 7th of which at least 8,000 were children while also leaving 177,000 children orphaned with no living parents allow for the safe passage and distribution of humanitarian Aid to 2.2 million stared and dehydrated civilians within the Gesa strip who are as we speak living on less than one meal per day with reports showing several civilians eating grass and drinking sea water point three allow for un investigative officials to conduct investigations into the intent behind Israel's self-proclaimed defensive operation that has now effectively killed over 30 of the remaining Israeli hostages due to their indiscriminate bombing campaign the PE the people of Peoria can no longer stand by while the major Powers within our government continue to use our tax dollars to finance this genocide happening to our brothers and sisters in Gaza let me be clear by no means do I believe that if this resolution passed Israel would stop their indiscriminate bombing of innocent civilians there is an extreme power balance between the US and Israel where we are for the first time seeing play out in the global stage the state of Israel or should I say BB Netanyahu and his far-right Coalition within the knesset do not care about what the American people think of the genocide unfolding but at the same time they're completely content with the billions of tax dollars of those same American people being sent to Israel every year this resolution means more symbolically than it does in application this resolution will ensure once the history books are written the council men and women women and residents of peora are Illustrated on the right side of justice and not on the side of apartheid and occupation thanks to the Advent of social media and the age of information we are seeing in real time how the acts of the Israeli occupation forces are going unchecked giving these bad faith actors a platform to display their complete and utter disregard for human life let alone humanitarian law to those opposed to this three-point proposal I ask why what president are we setting on the global stage by not doing the bare minimum in putting a stop to this genocide how will we tell Russia that it cannot do as it pleases to Ukraine how will how will we tell China that it cannot invade Taiwan my last parting question that I urge the members of the council to reflect on do you truly believe Netanyahu in an effort to save his political career wouldn't drag our loved ones into a larger Regional War if your answer is no then the passing of this resolution is where we start to ensure our loved ones are safe within the US and abroad thank you next we have mmu mizette followed by Sheldon Catz Madame mayor councilman thank you thank you for having us here to speak out um I'm going to speak out a little different than what those people speak out here in the name of Allah the most the most gracious the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him he is the Last Man For All Mankind he brought the peace and justice for everybody whether black white uh Hindu everybody For All Mankind now what he said Is there a time will come that the one who speak the truth he will be called liar and the one who who who who told the lies he will be called as as truthful and this is the time that we are in now and this is the time that it's called the time of life lying everything what I would say 90% is lying what you hear about in the news in the media I'm sorry to say that but that's the truth uh I've been here for over 50 years I'm 70 years old I was born in Palestine 1953 I was under occupation uh or under the Jordanian government and then comes up 1967 under the Israeli government and still now under occupation I have land I have house I have family all of them they live there and we still under occupation and our life is just go go and come go and come just like you're in jail big jail for us now to give you also so a history that Israel was established in 1948 prior to that uh the Middle East was occupied through Britain and Britain the one who brought those Zionist to palestin to uh terrorize people take their land kill people and it's all proven or it's all documented the massacres they did theirin the massacres they did also in Sabra shatila in Lebanon all of these Massac all those names prominent names uh what's his name herel uh also uh uh Shon the one he did SAA uh you know Massacre and in in the front of all the world are watching that where is justice where is justice though we need Justice for everybody no matter where they at now now nowadays what we see in Gaza is the destruction for the everything Destruction for human lives uh Stones uh trees everything that you can imagine you can see you have to watch the news and you have to look for the truth as I said they killed uh the the pediatricians more than 135 if I if I'm correct they killed the the media people that they broadcast or tell the truth they killed them one of one of the one of the names also uh probably you you heard akiy her name akiy previously in in the West Bank she was shot and killed and uh also there are so many so many of them they they get killed uh because they are telling the truth and for you know 75 years we still under incubation and what more can I I cannot tell you all of that in 75 years all we here come here you know you are the the people they are denying uh drink food water for everybody you know and they're not letting anything to go through the people of Gaza or we asking uh you the councilman to vote for that uh with your conscience you know uh to end up this war or to stop have a ceasefire and maybe you say yes maybe say no but it all goes back to the administration or the the president and the the house and the Senate and those are the people to decide that you know we can say we can express our feelings but at all the decision come to them they can stop say Israel stop stop stop stop killing the people that's it and they can do that thank you and next we have Sheldon Catz followed by Sunny Garcia thank you for this opportunity to speak to you this evening so a local group has asked you to consider a resolution for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza okay I don't believe this Council has jurisdiction or a city business pertaining to the conflict I'm here to speak about the real purpose of this proposed resolution it's potential impact on the greater prioria Jewish Community which I am a part of I hope this Council will not further fan the Flames of the controversy locally by even considering the proposal initiatives like this fit into a global effort to restrain Israel and prevent it from defending itself and its citizens from the stated OB objective of Hamas in fact you even heard it this evening to eliminate Israel end the occupation of what is now Israel by all the Jews get rid of them wrapping the proposal in humanitarian terms is effective since we all feel for the residents of Gaza apparently more than their leaders do the efforts of the Israeli Army to facilitate humanitarian Aid to the displaced residents of Gaza are hampered by Hamas and there will be no real relief to the residents until Hamas is gone a ceasefire will only cost more lives on both sides after Hamas would use it to rearm and reorganize Hamas is not giving up their objective of the their organization or their supporters to eliminate Israel forever and all the people therein those are the horrible realities that we cannot change from here apparently even putting this resolution on your docket is enough support to Fan those flames and what is this ceasefire that you're that's being asked for an end to the occupation that is Israel however what actually brought me here tonight is the bigger picture there have been Relentless efforts worldwide on our college campuses and even now in our high schools and City councils to delegitimize Israel erode its status as a nation this has of course also made anti-Semitism more acceptable in social media college campuses and even here in Peoria we've experienced the effects it's not good for the Muslim Community either I should add I am here this evening because my father is 96 years old and cannot travel anymore he is an expert in the process of delegitimizing and dehum dehumanizing other people so that they can be persecuted he was born in Germany and he saw and experienced himself the process of gradual erosion of people's Humanity my conversations with him lately focus on his warnings that this is happening again a few blocks from here is the Holocaust Memorial that demonstrates the magnitude of the consequences of not recognizing hate and its disguises now well-meaning people are often caught up in the process throwing around words like genocide and apartheid without fully understanding the implications real Li liberation of the pal Palestinian people requires them to choose different leaders and requires them to choose goals that do not require another Holocaust Israel is pursuing this now for their own security and hopefully for a better chance for their neighbors to live in peace but a ceasefire only slows them down and puts many more lives at risk one last thing imagine this city council considering a resolution for a ceasefire or any City Council in 1943 between the US and Japan or Germany without them surrendering thank you next we have Sunny Garcia followed by Tyrone Campbell [Applause] good evening my name is sunny Garcia I work for the Muslim Civic Coalition as a Civic Justice organizer um as we speak right now as we postpone a vote on a resolution all eyes are on Rafa the following is a post from a physician who's on a mission in Gaza currently these are his words as I am writing you noise of drones and fighter jets is getting louder and louder it's the loudest since I've entered Gaza two days ago I was lucky to get the weaker internet connection today so thought to write it down danger of massive Massacre is imminent now requesting lots of prayers we had a hectic day today and it was unsettling to work under the noise of drones hovering above us now the darkness of of the night when there is no electricity food and water we hear that the occupation will launch another attack at any moment there are displaced refugees including many Physicians who are working at the hospital and returning to their makeshift tents without the guarantee of seeing another Sunrise I met a physician today who was actually the head of the health Ministry of Gaza but he is now living in a tent on the streets of Rafa after being displaced he lost all his savings at a split second when Israel bombed his house and he is now struggling just to survive his youngest son only 10 years old only wishes to eat an egg which he has not been able to do in four months what we take for granted in the comfort of our homes is a wish a dream for these people the story is not in a nobility this story is nearly is of nearly two million people that are trying to survive four months of bombing and ground Invasion while we s sit here and wait and postpone a CE fire resolution if that doesn't speak to your heart maybe the dollars in sense of it will today today Illinois invests $152 million as their portion for bombs to bomb innocent women and children that money could be better served for households for housing for people around the year could be better served for educ for our educational system could be better served for youth risk programs here in the city of Peoria could be better served for a million different reasons but no we want to stay here in silence and allow the genocide and yes it is the genocide I know it [Applause] firsthand my people suffered the same the same outcome on these lands hundreds of years ago and people look the other way I've worked with the Immigrant rights organizations I work with undocumented people I work with black lives matter and today I'm working with Muslims and my fight will always be for justice and for liberty for everyone including Muslims including Jews I've been working with the Muslim Civic Coalition for a couple months I've been working for a free Palestine for years and never once have I heard one of my Muslim and brothers sisters say an anti-semitic term never once have I heard them call for the m Massacre of Jewish people because of their faith but since October 7th I've heard over and over and over again my Jewish brothers and sisters call for the complete annihilation of my Palestinian brothers and sisters so I Call On You mayor Ali my Muslim sister and the rest of the city council to stop being neutral and support a ceasefire resolution thank you next we have Tyrone Campbell followed by leth katum Rita um counsel y'all but um I'm I would like to talk to them um you know my name is Tyrone Campbell I came to Poria in like 1989 in the Harris in the Warner and I was a young man that was like like well groomed together with friends and family I was raised like that so I asked somebody today I said why are our people divided but during that course of time I had went on like a disciplinary vacation and got a hold of this so I've been reading this since I've been like in the fields cuz I'm like in The Matrix like on the outside looking in at the people like why is Israel in Gara and Palestine while we all divided when I'm looking at the Abraham Accord so then God just told me he said no to me the everything is laid naked and open to the eyes of him who we got to give an account to so he said people need to start having Integrity when dealing with these issues they putting out there about we hate Israel hate the pales I don't believe that cuz bro for Abraham's sons they were United and I don't see no division in there at all but my thing is I'm like the problem is not people is love we need love to come back to the people but how does that happen it's got to start with the church first the church people I don't get mad at the politician or the people it's the people that's playing church so I don't try to judge them they have judge me because I ain't going along with the process but I've learned it's okay to walk in love and just ministers minister to the word of God and show love but yet everybody's not entitled to love cuz people are living in like fraud attitude no fraud makings like pretending to love you but they really don't so that's why all this Division and Chaos coming in you just need to read this and continue to let him guide you and that's when unification begin it start with us they are just people in power I don't disrespect them but I believe when Jesus he died he split the temple into religion spiritual we spiritual I don't believe in religion I believe in relationship ship and it's got to start somewhere and that's us first that's what I'm want to tell y'all don't be mad cuz I be looking I ain't even mad at the Palestinians we family how am I divided against myself amen y'all next we have leth katum followed by jamaludin amol [Applause] emola okay as team members of the puure city council I come here not only as a Palestinian but also as an American concerned with the future of this country over the past few months it has become obvious to me that despite the concerning breaches of both the Geneva Convention and international law we continue to blindly support a country that has repeatedly lied to this country in disrespect of us as a whole from the very be beginning is Israel has made their intention clear they want to remove the current population of GZA through forc displacement and by mass murder it is not like it is not like they're even hiding it either in fact Netanyahu and his Coalition Coalition have frequently used an astonishing amount of dehumanizing language Netanyahu even referred to the Palestinians as the people of AMAC a statement that biblically biblically called for the annihilation of men women children as well as their livestock the president of Israel himself is no exception from the very beginning he states that it's an entire nation out there that is responsible it's not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware and not involved it is absolutely not true and we will fight until we break their backbone clearly this statement shows that they're collectively blaming the Palestinians for the action of a militia that has only 30,000 members these are just statements from the top government members there are hundreds of examples repeated by other concent members as well as military personnel actions speak louder than words but their actions have yet to contradict any of their statements Israel has already began its actions of collective Collective punishment by starving an entire population of 2.2 million people half of which are children while Sim simultaneously decimating the Kaza strip no hospital hosit home school location or even un building has been saved all of it has been turned to dust and Rubble why you may ask in order to remove the population which Israel in order to um in order to remove the population which Israel has attempted to do openly while referring to it as voluntary migration slowly pushing the population deeper and deeper South trapping them in a tight corner near theah border they even held a meeting for resettlements a move that breaches international law where 12 conent members attended the situation is so bad that they're currently on trial for the crime of genocide by the hag contrary to what John Kirby said H has said about the case being meritless the he has determined that there is in fact a case for genocide in fact the C courts deemed it so plausible that they have even granted many of the provisions required by South Africa and require Israel to check back a month to see what they've changed rather than complying with the courts Israel has doubled down on assault and has time and time again ignored all advice from the International Community this arrogance doesn't seem to come from nowhere it is because of the policy of the Biden Administration that Israel is aware of its immunity even with the worrying circumstances and rhetoric coming from Israel Biden still stands firm with Israel despite outrage from the vast majority of the world J Paul a former director of the polit political military Affairs responsible for the US security assistance in arms transfer resigned due the B due to due to the Biden Administration seemingly bypassing the usual Pro protocol for the transfer of weapons to a foreign State he himself called the move shortsighted and Reckless and destructive we also continuously sold weapons and provided them with billions in financial aid despite them ignoring all advice or goals of the US uh ignoring advice or goals the US has set out for GZA the US has even gone so far as to Lobby in Sweden as to avoid a meeting to discuss Israel's breach of the Geneva Convention I'd like to reiterate that Israel again is on trial for genocide many are wondering why the us is going so far for Israel and some are wondering who the hell is in charge here Biden has been making us look like a joke to the world much of the conflict in the Middle East is all heating up solely because of the current genocide on the in the gazda strip a location that has been repeatedly been called an open air prison if the icj case deems Israel's actions a genocide which it likely will it only reiterates to the world that international law does not matter as long as you have the military capabilities a very dangerous message to send to the world it also makes the US a complicit participant in the GDA genocide making us no different than China or Russia esteemed members of the city council I regret to inform you all that I have to uh you all that I have a lot to say but not enough time to convey everything that I can say but I do urge you to call for a ceasefire as soon as possible much of the Arab Community has felt forgotten and ignored it seems like our lives don't matter we not when we are nothing more than token members of the country where our presence is acknowledged but our opin our opinions don't matter I'd love to sit with each and every single one of you and talk more in depth about into the situation as well as concerns of the community if you would like to be if you'd like to meet I'd be more than happy to next we have jamaludin amula followed by Natasha divine bahim first of all I'd like to begin by thanking each and every one of you for giving us this opportunity to address you all on this very important matter I address you not as an American but as a human being now just Ponder for a while as a human being just keep aside all of your the propaganda that you hear the Prejudice that you might have in your heart what you've seen on the media and just think as a human being all of you have families if you were going through what the entire population in Gaza of millions of peoples are going through every day would your heart not bleed would you not feel sorry for them yes you would because I know each one of you is a human being and each one of us is a creation of God Almighty so I ask you when you when is the time for you to discuss whether to table this resolution or not just think for a while close your eyes and dip down into your faith into your humanity and do what is right for you because remember all of us will be held accountable on the day of judgment by the God Almighty and God forbid if he will ask us for all our omissions and commissions of what we could or could not have done on the day of judgment so fear that my friends and do what is right by God thank you so [Music] much next we have Natasha Divine followed by Terry Brier hello greetings fellow pians and people from out of town uh I have some prepared remarks uh but before I start I do want to just mention uh that I actually kind of feel sorry for the people um who came here to protest uh some of them with false information uh the mccluggage bridge was not lit up for the IDF it was lit up for the 1200 plus Israelis who were murdered and killed so for you to say that it's now you know the people who are now doing aend gen side that's completely inappropriate because that was referring to dead people unless you believe the IDF is a ghost Army that's a completely false statement I'm going to go forward with my prepared remarks now I'm not here to persuade you to change your opinion about the conflict between Israel and Gaza I don't have enough time to argue about thousands of years of history or change people's religious views and frankly none of our personal views should matter here I'm here to inform you of the dangerous president that will be set in the city of Peoria and this American city in the heart of Illinois in the heart of America if we begin making official City resolutions regarding foreign conflicts the city of Poria or any American city should not be taking aide in any war on Pol or political conflict transpiring overseas by doing so the city would not only be promoting division among local people and that is real uh just to clarify they will be inherently promoting the Warfare and or political tactics used by whichever side they side with none of which are appropriate in any domestic American city during peace time this would also apply to taking sides in any other foreign conflict including a war in Russia and Ukraine conflicts between China and Taiwan India and Pakistan Ethiopia and Eritrea Somalia Somali land and so on Poria is in Illinois within the state of uh within the United States and in the end whatever position the United States Federal government ends up taking is the DEA facto position of any governments of the state of Illinois and subsequently the city of Peoria unless Peoria Illinois intends to stop remitting taxes to the federal government calling for ceasefires or calling for military actions or calling for political action and foreign lands is a virtue signal meaningless performative action which only serves to cause conflict within the local community and does absolutely nothing whatsoever to affect the conflict in question if you want to divide the people of Peoria then move forward with a resolution to take a side in a foreign conflict because that is all such a resolution would accomplish and that would include if you went the other way and supported Israel in this instance or say Ukraine in another instance if the city of Poria takes a side in this conflict they'll be expected to make resolutions taking side in every future controversial conflict are you ready to take time of a part-time government to research and understand and debate the history of not only the Levant in this Israel and Hamas conflict but also the history of K Rose regarding the Ukraine in Russia conflict or the history of Ethiopia and Eritrea or the history of Somalia and somal land rather than focusing on the needs of the local residents if you take one step in this direction you will essentially turn our city council into a billboard for political causes upon which whoever shouts the loudest gets to spray their message every extremist group for either side will continue to descend upon city council as you see here every time a war breaks out anywhere in the world once they know that the city council gives a platform to foreign interests this is not what the people of Peoria want just because some people in Peoria agree with this that doesn't mean we all agree people of peori already have arguments and conflicts over about the actions of local government regarding local issues like businesses and infrastructures keep Poria focus on the needs of the people in Poria not Palestinian territories Ukraine Taiwan India Germany Ireland or anywhere else and I have one minute left and I wish one further statement to say that imagine while everybody's doing spoken word tonight and telling you to picture things in your head imagine if Hamas was an East Peoria and they came in and decided to do it October 7th here would we listen to Chicago or St Louis or some place in Canada telling us how to respond it is not the place of the city of Poria I care about people that are Palestinian I care about people that are Muslims if you really want to know how to help and defend the people of Palestine then I recommend you look up a man called masab Hassan yusf he is the son of the founder of Hamas and he does extensive extensive work telling people about his experience so if you want to learn about somebody who really experienced it look him up thank you it's in appropriate to boo people I did not boo any of you next we have Noah excuse me we have Terry Brier followed by Noah Palm Terry Brier Terry Terry Brink I'm sorry that's okay okay um dear mayor Ali and City Council Members I urge you to support and vote for a ceasefire resolution in Palestine since my visit to the West Bank in the early 90s I have noticed how conditions for the Palestinians have gotten much worse and when I was there Palestinians were subject to administrative detention um settlers would fire uh machine guns at water tanks that the Palestinians had by their houses for water destroy uh Olive Groves take over houses and it's just gotten much worse in the 30 years since I've been there President Carter was right when he wrote that Israel was a paride state South Africa a country that is very familiar with apart hide filed a referral to the international court of justice for an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel and Gaza on January 26th of this year the international court of justice in the hag adopted binding orders that include requiring Israel to prevent genocide against Palestinians and Gaza also had asked him to enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance and prevent and punish incitement to commit genocide over 1.5 million civilians have been displaced by the invasion of Gaza they are in danger of starvation Mal attrition and diseases such as chalera and PTSD every us tax dollar spent in Israel is less money that can be spent on domestic spending such as housing and Medical Care every dollar provided to Israel pays for the war against Palestinians please send a message to the federal government that peans do not want their money spent for the death maming and displacement of Palestinians pass a ceasefire resolution thank you than next we have Noah Palm followed by May abuli abah Huli uh good afternoon my name is Noah Palm I'm here to call for a resolution for a ceasefire um I am currently an ICC student on track to become a high school history teacher um I love history because it not only repeats itself but it also give context for the present in preparation for this public comment I did not need to look far to find a historic speech with disturbing parallels to the situation we find ourselves in today Dr Martin Luther King Jr needs no introduction especially in black history month but tonight I'm going to talk about one of his more unexplored speeches in 1967 King delivered a controversial sermon at a Baptist Church in Atlanta Georgia titled why I am opposed to the war in Vietnam sharp CR criticism was hurled at King for his position from the Press Congress and other civil rights of activists because of the concern that it would distract from the struggle for civil rights one person told King that peace and civil rights don't mix in other words people were telling him to shut up and dribble however King had a very different perspective on the matter and his moral compass would no longer allow him to ignore the issue in the opening minutes he sets the foundation of the argument on the platform of moral obligation he stated I chose to speak about the war in Vietnam because I agree with Dante that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality there comes a time when silence is betrayal like his Mountaintop speech he doesn't stop there despite the belief of others that expanding his Civil Right struggle to include International solidarity would be be detrimental to the cause King believed that it would be detrimental not to include it King exposes the contradiction of the United States spending $500,000 to kill one person 8,000 miles away when the United States was only spending $57 to help one poor person here at home similar similar to how we currently give approximately $3.3 billion a year to Israel and Grant under the foreign military financing program when district 150 only has 87 cents per student for their art fine arts [Music] [Applause] program in a later speech King sums it up by saying the bombs in Vietnam explode at home they destroy the hopes and possibilities for a decent America the last major point I'll focus on is King's perspective on violence in poror I think we are all United in the struggle to end violence in our community there are a plethora of violence prevention initiatives over the last few years from city council and non-government organizations however King believed that you could not condemn violence here at home when being silent about violence abroad he stated I knew that I could never again raise my voice against violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today my own government he continues there's something strangely inconsistent about a nation or a press that will praise you when you say be nonviolent towards Jim Clark but curse you when you say be nonviolent towards Little Brown Vietnamese children similar to how we would say today there's something strangely inconsistent about a nation or a press that will praise you when you say be nonviolent towards Derek Chauvin but curse and damn you when you say be nonviolent to little brown Palestinian children I'm not the only one looking at this crisis through the historical lens of King Travelers weekly published an article last month by Mark lampin titled what would king be doing today lampin agrees and says that he believes that king would likely rail against President Biden for being silent on the bombing of innocent people in Palestine another thing I wanted to say and I didn't write this down but how many people here have are supporting the ceasefire please raise your hand behind me stands a multinational multi ethnical multi-generational bisexual uh uh gay straight trans CIS everybody is here supporting a ceasefire supporting a CE m a multi- religion I I don't understand um how we can stay silent about something that is obviously affecting so many people in our community so in my opinion um that is why I'm here calling for a ceasefire I hope that you uh in a period of M crisis you lose your neutrality call for nonviolence call for peace call for a ceasefire thank you next we have may abuli followed by Rabbi milco hi everyone hi madam um mayor and honorable City uh council members uh I am here because uh I was born in Gaza I have family there I just uh had 17 members of my family uh got killed a month ago uh including a displaced family who stay who were just with them stayed with them um my family now is in Rafa they moved um and now we are worried about them again [Music] um um just um several weeks ago um M Aiza is a journalist who um was documenting Horrors in Gaza and he was interviewed by um MBC when he asked if he had a message for the American people he said something that really stuck with me he said don't call yourself a free person or a free people if you can't make change don't call yourself a free person if you can't stop a genocide when 27 out of 50 states have passed an antibot legislation to make it illegal to boyut Israel how can we call ourselves a free people 100s of thousands of people have protested in the streets calling for a cease fire when people are losing their jobs for speaking against the occupation when