UPDATED (1:08 p.m.) — “That’s a bold face lie,” Francis said responding to Ali’s statement, saying that he has been calling her office since July to try and meet with her.
The last time, he said, that he talked to Ali face-to-face was in February, when they initially denied his liquor license.
In this meeting, Francis provided a letter of recommendation from the former Mayor of Bloomington, Mboka Mwilambwe, which you can see below.
The city claimed he was not rehabilitated enough to obtain a liquor license, Francis said. He was told it has to be five years since the last arrest to be granted one, as he has a possession of cannabis on his record. Francis said his last arrest was around five years ago.
Francis was told to re-apply for the license with a new operator, which would allow the building to have two different operators, one for the restaurant and one for the bar.
His fiancée, Shayla Talley, went through the process of submitting for the license to be the bar operator, but was denied by Mayor Ali, who helms the commission.
She paid for the licensing fees with a check from her business S & A Hospitality LLC, and the check had both Francis and Talley’s name on it. They said Francis was trying to “circumvent the city” because of this.
Francis said the reason his name is also on the check is because he had deposit rights at the time, but said he no longer does.
A letter was delivered to the city from Francis through CEFCU saying he had zero ownership in the business that the money was paid from.
The city stayed pat in their statement that this was a form of “circumvention.”
After Talley was denied, Francis said they were “completely caught off guard” by this.
Francis said he has met with four city council members who he said all supported his efforts to get a liquor license.
Talley called Donna Jamison on July 28 initially to discuss why she was denied the license, to which she was told the city wanted to talk directly to Francis to discuss giving him a liquor license in January of 2026.
Patrick Hayes reached out to Francis’ lawyer the next day saying they wanted Francis to meet with Ali twice in the month of October to discuss rehabilitation.
Since then, Francis said he has made at least six calls to Ali’s office to try and set up these meetings, but has been forwarded to different people.
Just last week, Francis told the city he was leaving. Hayes called Francis’ lawyer immediately, leaving his cell number and said he wrote Ali a letter, Francis said.
According to Francis, Hayes still wants him to pursue the liquor license.
The local restaurant chain started in Bloomington and currently has only the two franchises, including Pop-Up Hospitality located inside the Illinois Farm Bureau and Country Financial Insurance headquarters.
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PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — “MARK MY WORDS,” the owner of Central Illinois chicken restaurant chain Pop-Up Chicken Shop wrote on Facebook, calling out the city of Peoria and Mayor Rita Ali.
Aaron Francis, who opened the Peoria chicken location in the Warehouse District last summer, wrote on Facebook saying if the city reopens Big Al’s, the club on Jefferson Avenue, he will withdraw Pop-Up Chicken Shop from Peoria.
“If the city is openly trying to work with them in getting a liquor license, and openly ignoring me since July in trying to get a meeting,” Francis wrote, “you will lose 30+ jobs on the 800 Block of Adams Street, & that block will be absolutely dead, I have had enough.”
“I will not be silent about this anymore,” he continued. “This is utterly disgusting and a slap in the face to a 36-year-old minority business owner that has invested more than just a ton of money in a district that is trying to get itself off the ground, I have been developing this cities workforce into professionals in a field that is frowned upon.”
Francis said in the post as well that if he decides to take his business out of Peoria, his employees would “have a happy home in Bloomington if they choose to, not only a job but an actual career.”
Ali wrote a text to WMBD responding to this statement, saying that Francis has not been ignored.
“I don’t care to respond to Mr. Francis’ social media rants,” she wrote. “He’s been invited to sit down and talk on several occasions but has not responded.”
WMBD TV can be reached at News@WJBC.com.
