Jim Ardis is an American corporate executive and politician who is the current mayor of Peoria, Illinois, since 2005. Prior to becoming mayor, he had previously served on the Peoria City Council from 1999 through 2005. Ardis is currently the second-longest serving mayor in city history behind Edward Nelson Woodruff.
Background
When Ardis was 10, his father, Jim Ardis Jr., became a Peoria city councilman, serving from 1969 to 1973. His grandfather, John Bulger, had been Peoria County clerk. Ardis graduated from high school at Spalding Institute in 1977 and from Illinois State University with a bachelor of science in industrial technology in 1982. Ardis owned O'Leary's Restaurant from 1994 to 1997. From 1999 to 2006, Ardis worked in sales for Univar; from 2006 to 2010, he was Midwest Vice President of ELM Locating. Since 2010, he has been Executive Director of Corporate Strategies for Peoria-based Axis, Inc., part of Jupiter Strategic Technologies Pvt. Ltd. of Bangalore.
Political career
Ardis sold O'Leary's Restaurant in 1997 and was appointed to the Peoria city liquor commission. He was elected a Peoria city councilman at-large in 1999, and remained a member of the council until 2005. Ardis was elected as mayor in 2005, defeating incumbent Dave Ransburg. He won re-election in 2009 against General John Parker. In 2011, Ardis sought appointment to the Illinois State Senate seat vacated by the retirement of Dale Risinger. Darin LaHood ultimately received the appointment.
On April 15, 2014, at the request of Jim Ardis, Peoria police investigated Jon Daniel, the operator of a Twitter account parodying Ardis, on suspicion of the misdemeanor crime of false personation of a public official. After obtaining a warrant, police sent a SWAT Team to raid Daniel's home in West Bluff, seizing electronics and detaining three people for questioning. Police charged one man with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia following the raid, though no arrests were made in connection with the Twitter account. On April 23, 2014, the Peoria County State's Attorney's Office announced that no charges would be filed against the creator of the original parody account after explaining that current law regarding impersonation of a public official does not include the use of electronic media. On June 11, 2014, Daniel, through the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Peoria, Ardis, and several city employees, claiming violation of the First Amendment and Fourth Amendment. Ardis responded with a press conference on June 12, in which he said the controversy "caused harm to our great city and serious threats against me and my family" and that "I will protect my rights and the rights of my family at all costs. I am exploring false light and defamation as well as other actions against those responsible for the placing and hosting of the libelous comments." On September 2, 2015, it was announced that the lawsuit was settled with $125,000 being awarded to Daniel. The Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression gave Ardis one of its annual Jefferson Muzzle Awards for "the past year’s most outrageous and ridiculous affronts to free speech and press", declaring that he had "abus the power of his office to intimidate and silence a harmless parodist".
