Change Peoria member Katie Woods provides information about the grassroots political organization to the public at a booth at Tower Park in Peoria Heights in September. The non-partisan group is currently focusing on Peoria’s city council election in the spring. (Photo courtesy of Change Peoria)

A central Illinois group that was originally formed to campaign for Bernie Sanders has turned its attention to local issues under the name Change Peoria.

“Part of (Sanders’) message was to continue the political revolution at the local level. Some of us took that to heart and started making plans even while we were still working on the Bernie Sanders campaign to stay together to keep the project going,” said Ryan Hidden, spokesperson for Change Peoria.

Change Peoria describes itself on Facebook as “a grassroots political organization which empowers people in the metropolitan Peoria area to develop accountable, transparent and responsive governments for all by ensuring inclusivity, justice and equity. Our methods include backing candidates, supporting issues and educating the public.”

The organization started out as Central Illinois for Bernie Sanders in July 2015. Hidden, who spearheaded the group with “lots of help along the way,” holds an economics and political science degree from Bradley University, as well as a law degree, but had never volunteered for a political campaign before.

Hidden said the unexpected election of Donald Trump as president on Nov. 8 motivated him and others to keep the group going.

“I couldn’t believe it when Trump was elected,” said Hidden. “I realized quickly that we have lots of work to do. Basically, it came down to acknowledging that it’s a horrible situation, but let’s get to work. Not that we were going to stop (working) even if Hillary Clinton had won, but it reinforces that there’s still work to be done and that the message hasn’t gotten everywhere.”

Change Peoria is a non-partisan group “willing to work with any stripe of party that wants to come and participate,” Hidden said.

“We are progressive and want to bring positive change to the area and make sure the government works for everyone and that everyone’s needs and views are represented,” he added.

The group has targeted the Peoria City Council elections in the spring as its first project.

“In addition to the five district elections and the mayor, there are two at-large bids coming up, so that gives you 8 of the 11 city council spots coming up all at once, which doesn’t always happen,” Ridden said. “We thought that was a unique opportunity to really make a difference and create some positive change in Peoria.”

While supporting and helping candidates get elected, Change Peoria will  also be looking at specific issues as they come up.

“We want to do some issues of advocacy. Those will kind of come up when we have capacity and as those issues and problems arise,” said Hidden, a native Peorian.

“One of the things I hope to get to work on is the poverty rate, which is bad and getting worse. There are definitely problems in Peoria that aren’t being addressed. Systemic problems that have been here for 10, 20, 30 years, and they’re just not going away. There are pockets of the city that aren’t getting represented properly and are getting left behind, and those are the areas we’d like to make a difference on,” he added.

About 15 people attended the group’s most recent meeting earlier this month, which included a presentation on single payer healthcare by the Physicians for a National Health Program.

The presentation was primarily informational, but Hidden said it’s an issue Change Peoria could support in the future if the group decides to tackle it.

Currently, the organization has more than 150 likes on its Facebook page and about 850 people on its mailing list, Hidden said.

“Our membership includes all types of people, and that’s been the really exciting part,” Hidden said. “People are ready to bring positive change to the area. People

should get involved if they’re not happy with the current system and they want to help make a positive change in the area. Change Peoria is definitely  a vehicle to do that.”

The group will hold general meetings once a month that will include informational segments. Topics that have been covered so far include the combined sewers overflow problem and local environmental issues.

The group’s next meeting will be at 3 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Peoria Public Library’s Lincoln Branch.

In January Change Peoria will also begin hosting a public discussion group on the first Saturday of each month.

“We’ll pick a topic each month and give people a selection of material to read or watch about a certain topic such as reforming the criminal justice system, and we’ll ask them to come prepared to discuss the topic to see if we can come up with some solutions and share ideas,” Hidden said.

The topic hasn’t yet been chosen for the first meeting at 11 a.m. Jan. 7 at Kenny’s Westside Pub, 112 SW Jefferson in Peoria, but more information will be posted soon on Change Peoria’s Facebook page.

“One of our goals is to do some public education on different topics and issues, and we see this as a vehicle to do that,” Hidden said.

For more information, visit Change Peoria’s website at www.changepeoria.org or email Ryan Hidden at ryan@changepeoria.org.

— Grassroots political group switches focus from top of ticket to target local issues, races —