East Peoria voters choose new mayor

Chronicle Media

From left: Commissioner John Kahl, Commissioner Gary Densberger, Mayor Dave Mingus, Commissioner Dan Decker, Commissioner Tim Jeffers

John Kahl will replace Dave Mingus as mayor of East Peoria.

Kahl coasted to an easy victory over Timothy Jeffers, earning 66 percent over the votes.

Mingus chose not to run for a fourth term.

Jeffers  occupied a commissioner’s seat for three terms, and has 10 years’ experience working with the city’s waste and waste water departments.

Kahl is in his first commissioner’s term and also is the chair of the Tazewell County Consolidated Communication Board.

In addition to mayor, voters on Tuesday, April 2  chose from seven candidates to fill four commissioner positions.

Dan Decker, Mark Hill, Mark Lee Sutherland and Normal Sales were the top vote-getters.

Of them Decker, a three-term commissioner, is the only candidate with City Council experience. He also spent 23 years with the East Peoria Fire Department.

Hill is a member of the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals and is employed by Caterpillar as a certified project manager.

Life-long East Peoria resident  Sutherland owns Sutherland Ace Hardware and Sutherland & Son Construction, Inc. He and Sales are first-time political candidates.