East Peoria Mayor John Kahl is steadfast in his stance that the city of Peoria is potentially straining the relationship between the two cities by its continued pursuit to lure the Par-A-Dice Casino to its side of the Illinois River.
Kahl said as much to an audience at the Par-A-Dice Casino Hotel on Friday during his State of the City address in which he said he knew the emails he sent to Peoria Mayor Rita Ali about the casino would go public. In those emails he said Peoria was threatening to “forever strain” the relationship between the two cities, and on Friday he told the East Peoria audience at the casino that he stuck by those words.
Kahl said during his speech that East Peoria would “protect” the rights of private businesses to make their own decisions and the city would not tell businesses “what to do” or “where you have to be,” appearing to take a veiled shot at Peoria for its efforts to bring Boyd Gaming to its city.
