County Board Updates into October

This post contains updates on County Board meetings since our last update ahead of the August 13th Committee of the Whole meeting of the County Board. There's a separate post on other County government updates, including County Auditor and Treasurer updates, public safety departments and sales tax issues, and some Regional Planning Commission updates.

Upcoming October Meeting Highlights: (agenda packet)

It's unclear whether there will be reports from the County Auditor and Treasurer at the upcoming Committee of the Whole, given recent news and controversies (see Other County Updates Cheat Sheet post). There appear to be a couple agenda items related to election software in the County Clerk & Recorder's office and increased costs to the State's Attorney's office and its participation in the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Program.

There also appears to be a tentative budget from the County Executive that may elicit some discussion. That budget summary is available in the agenda packet starting on page 74 (page 78 of the PDF). There were several budget related meetings over the past couple months that get into a great deal of detail about budget issues and decisions. See the special budget hearings in August and the special finance meeting in late September below for more on that. 

The most recent Facilities Committee meeting (agenda, video) appeared to confirm that a major first step of the jail consolidation project is almost wrapped up (jump to video link). This would open up the new spaces for use while older spaces are then upgraded.

Below are links and overviews of the August and September meetings of the County Board:

August Meetings:

8/13 Committee of the Whole (video, agenda packet):

The meeting minutes highlighted most of the key moments from this meeting. Auditor George Danos spoke during public participation to oppose the county's referenda on increasing the Public Safety Sales Tax and abolishing the elected auditor position (his current office).

Coroner Steve Thuney gave a report on his office, staffing issues, and other needs in the Coroner's office. Thuney is currently up for re-election with another staff member running against him. See the VoteChampaign non-partisan candidate guide for more details on local races.

The County Clerk & Recorder gave updates on election issues and other projects. The Sheriff gave updates on the jail consolidation project and issues related to housing inmates in other counties during and after that work.

At this meeting initial approval was given for the new record keeping system and the intergovernmental approvals that will need to come with it. Initial discussion of changing the County Board's order of business to honor County employees earlier in the meetings and in a way more convenient for the recipients, their families, and the board to address them when they're on the agenda.

8/15 Special (video, agenda packet):

This was a short meeting where the County Board approved revised language for the ballot referendum related to abolishing the elected auditor position. The language was trimmed to avoid any language that might be challenged as crossing the line from informative to advocacy. The meeting minutes are a concise overview of the public participation and limited discussion that occurred at the meeting that night.

8/22 County Board (video, agenda packet, addendum):

The minutes summarized the public participation, discussion and votes. Experience C-U had a presentation (jump to video link), including topics such as updates on the Champaign County African American Heritage Trail, Destination 2027 (mentioned in their most recent quarterly report), ARPA funded initiatives and more.

Several agenda items and updates were moved up on the amended agenda for the sake of the participant's time:

• There was a discussion with updates from the Opioid Settlement Task Force (jump to video link) and an approved proposal on how to spend some of the funds "for the purchase, renovation, and opening of the C-U at Home Mid-Barrier Campus." You can see the C-U at Home PowerPoint presentation on that here and listen along here starting at the 3 minute mark). There was a roll call vote later to address a point of order on the original voice vote. There haven't been any updates on when the next meeting will be for this task force (the report at this time suggested sometime in September or October).
  
  
• ARPA updates included some discussion about the Small Business grant program among other technical questions. More detailed updates are available in the agenda packet starting on page 176 (page 181 of the PDF).
  
  
• Rural Broadband updates including some modified proposals to better address the expansion goals.

Later in the meeting there was an extended discussion on the updates and delays surrounding the new County Plaza building. It appeared that the contingency spending has been within normal and acceptable levels given the size and type of the project. Limitations to elevator installation services continue to be a factor in delays and a bit of a project bottleneck.

Additional decennial reports are now on file. All of those reports are available here on the County website. There is a Cheat Sheet post with an explanation and overview of the decennial reports from earlier in the year.

8/26-28 Special Budget Hearings:

• Day 1 (agenda, presentation, video). There was public participation opposing the public safety sales tax, campus protest prosecutions, and 
• Day 2 (agenda, presentation, video)
• Day 3 (agenda, presentation, video). There was public participation opposing the increase to the public safety sale tax and the concern that it may weaken support for the low barrier shelter tax issue for the City of Champaign Township.

September Meetings:

9/10 Committee of the Whole (video, agenda packet):

• Communications and Allegations:

This meeting began with some shocking, although admittedly baseless, accusations by Board Member Brett Peugh against his fellow Democrats. During communications he alleged that a dead cat was left on his porch with some sort of feces on it, implying this was done by his own party members in retaliation for disagreements. Peugh made similar allegations during the party caucus meeting and on social media prior to the meeting. He made clear in his social media post that it was simply a "guess" that other Democrats were involved.

This allegation and others have made their way into Jim Dey's series of opinion articles in the News-Gazette on the drama surrounding the Champaign County Democrats. These include allegations by the County Board Chair Samantha Carter that her fellow Democrats may have been involved in a cracked taillight on her car and the auditor claiming his tires were surgically slashed and later partially deflated. 

FOIAd police records show that the auditor simply had a low pressure indicator and had picked up a nail in the tread. In the report the auditor states a conspiracy by other Democrats to retaliate against him with this nail in his tire. He refers to a previous "surgically precise slashing" that appears to have gone unreported to police at this time. No evidence of any person, Democrats or otherwise, being involved in the tire deflation.

Other Democrats have expressed disbelief and extreme skepticisms that any of these incidents involved politics or retaliation. In the case of the auditor's nail in the tire, some doubt any other person was involved at all as opposed to a common road hazard. There are two extensive opinion articles by Marti Wilkinson overviewing the auditor controversy and some of his tire retaliation claims, including the police report. It also includes some response by the auditor himself here.

In other intraparty drama, Board Member Rodriguez called for a future formal vote to remove the chair due to behavior she deemed inconducive with being able to properly conduct meetings. She noted she didn't want to take the item up tonight with the chair absent and unable to respond.

• Rest of the 9/10 COW Meeting:

At this meeting there was a presentation by the Regional Planning Commission and their legal department about the expansion of the Head Start program to neighboring counties. There was a technical conversation about past practice versus best practice when it comes to the specific language of authorizing the RPC to use certain grant funds. Board members and RPC representatives appeared to agree on a process going forward to ensure the proper "findings" and intergovernmental agreements are covered on the County Board's end.

There was a discussion and approval of the new employee health insurance and benefits plan for FY2025.

There was also some irritation about the lack of an auditor's report given the upcoming deadlines and ongoing issues expressed by former County Auditor and current County Board member J.J. Farney.

The public portion of the meeting ended as the board when into closed session to discuss litigation before they adjourned.

9/19 County Board (video, agenda packet, there's a number of additional documents and addendum as well):

• Democratic Party Caucus:

Prior to the regular County Board member on September 19th, the News-Gazette ran another Jim Dey opinion piece on the intraparty drama, specifically about Member Rodriguez's call to remove the chair at the last COW meeting. Other media showed up to the regular meeting expecting the "shootout" he believed was planned. The issue, however, was not on the agenda.

During the Democratic Party's caucus meeting ahead of the County Board meeting, it was made clear that the item was not on the agenda or planned to be added to the agenda as an action item that night. Illinois State Representative Carol Ammons (D-103rd) and her husband County Clerk and Recorder Aaron Ammons both spoke against removing Chair Carter at this or any future meeting. 

Representative Ammons noted that she was addressing the caucus instead of the media with her concerns at this time. She expressed her hope that she would not need to comment publicly on the matter, noting the news vans in the parking lot at the moment. Both Ammons warned of the precedent such a removal might set.

Chair Carter made a statement reiterating her belief that she has asked for help and never received it, that she has given respect, but never has been respected back. She also brought up the cracked taillight on her car. She argued her intentions were always to unify, not to divide people. The rest of the agenda was an overview of the upcoming County Board agenda (including some duplicated complaints about the auditor covered below).

• Regular County Board Meeting:

Once again, a number of agenda items were moved up for the sake of presenters' time. Many of them would otherwise have to wait through unrelated meeting items for a long while. Public participation began with both a character reference in support and a critic of Chair Carter. Another speaker complained about mysterious explosions near Mahomet and his frustration in getting the noise issue resolved.

The Vice President Blanton Bondurant of the local NAACP Champaign County Branch spoke about his concerns related to the County Executive and the treatment of the Chair Carter. He demanded answers to his previous questions in writing prior to the meeting requested by the County Executive. He stated his concerns about the proof of residency for Board Member Rodriguez and argued that it should be a simple matter for her to present papers establishing her residency. 

Member Rodriguez audibly scoffed at the demand to see her papers, causing a tense and awkward moment (as back and forth interactions are not allowed by County Board rules during public participation). Mr. Bondurant reiterated his demand for written answers to his previous list of questions from the County Executive. Executive Summers acknowledged that he would respond to that inquiry.

During communications, Chair Carter denied any racism behind her questioning of Member Rodriguez's residential qualifications. She noted a long history of the County Board's problems, racism, not listening to certain voices, and other issues. She denied that she had done anything wrong, but was open to conversation, coffee and mediation.

County Executive Summers noted that there was no leadership vote on the agenda or being added tonight. Rodriguez reiterated her concerns with the Chair, others board members she believed have asked Carter to resign as Chair, and that she believed she had the votes to remove her if the vote was held tonight.

The ARPA funding updates are available in the agenda packet starting on page 115 (page 118 of the PDF). I didn't catch this meeting in person and the video appeared to skip a bit during the ARPA discussion.

There was a long discussion of the frustrations with the auditor and references to the auditor's letter that the current audit was going to be late again. Members Farney and Fortado both spoke at length of the late notice of the issues he claimed to be having in delivering a complete audit to the external auditor. In addition to the lateness, there appears to be ongoing concerns about a lack of timely communication about the problems he says he is having, and denial of assistance offered to help with those issues.

The possible financial ramifications of a late audit begin with warnings, but quickly escalate over time to include a great deal of additional planning and work by other departments. At this point in time the county has not lost any money or faced any stop payments. Board members discussed the timeline of cascading repercussions depending on how late the audit ends up being.

There was a disagreement on the auditor's language on a budget item regarding the advertising spending about county referenda. It appeared to include a legal opinion about the spending which was discussed at length by board members and staff as to whether the language could be amended. Ultimately the item failed, with only Member Cowert and Chair Carter voting in favor of passage. It's unclear how this spending approval will be addressed going forward.

Additional decennial reports are now on file. All of those reports are available here on the County website. There is a Cheat Sheet post with an explanation and overview of the decennial reports from earlier in the year.

9/24 Special Finance Meeting (video, agenda) spent a couple hours discussing the FY2025 budget and decisions facing the County Board going forward in the budget process. For a detailed overview of the items discussed, you can see a draft of the minutes from that meeting in the upcoming COW agenda packet starting on page 6 (page 10 of the PDF)

Other County Updates

This post includes additional County government related updates on the Auditor, Treasurer, public safety departments and sales tax updates, as well as some Regional Planning Commission related updates on Head Start and the Long-Term Transportation Plan.

Auditor and Treasurer Updates:

Illinois Public Media's Newsroom had an overview of the controversies in the auditor's office, concerns about late audits, and recent interviews with some of the main players in that drama today:

Steve Summers, Champaign County Executive, said if voters decide to eliminate the auditor’s office, the Champaign County Board is likely to merge its accounting department, including the auditor’s role, with his department. “Then, with County Board approval, a new hire would be made and carry out the work of the auditor’s office,” Summers said...

In addition, Summers said the role of the auditor has diminished in recent years, as the current software system “handles many of the tasks that an auditor 30 or 40 years ago would have done manually...

Both candidates for county auditor oppose the referendum to eliminate the position they’re running for. 

That full article here with a lot of additional background on a number of the recent controversies, perspectives and history.

The Treasurer's office was dragged into the auditor drama shortly after Treasurer Cassandra C.J. Johnson announced she was planning on retiring before the end of her second term. From the News-Gazette:

Describing herself as “burned out” by long hours and a short staff, Johnson said the only question is when she’ll leave...

Johnson, who is 44 and goes by the initials “C.J.,” suggested it would be at the “beginning of next year,” but that is indefinite because “there are a bunch of projects I want to close out.”

The U.S. Air Force veteran was elected treasurer in 2020, filling out the unexpired balance of the four-year term created by the resignation of former treasurer Laurel Prussing. She was re-elected to a full four-year term in 2022.

That full article here.

Auditor Danos has recently justified the need for an elected auditor position by highlighting additional interest income the County could have made if the Treasurer had deposited more of the County's money in an Illinois Funds account. From Jim Dey's opinion article on the Auditor's claims:

While Champaign County officials have urged voters to approve a sales tax increase to shore up their financial resources, the county has missed out on nearly $2.1 million in income by maintaining funds in low-interest-bearing accounts.

As recently as Aug. 31, the county had $13.9 million on deposit in a Terre Haute, Ind., First Financial Bank account that paid a 0.2 percent interest rate and generated $2,415 in interest for the month.

If that same amount had been deposited with the state treasurer’s Illinois Funds account, the interest rate would have been 5.373 percent and generated $67,877 in interest income.

That full article here. Others have argued that catching this issue years ago, before the County lost out on the additional interest revenue, would have made a stronger case for the auditor.

Public Safety Budgets:

The News-Gazette had an overview of local public safety officials and their stated budget needs going forward, including the Sheriff's Office, State's Attorney's Office, and the Public Defender:

This week, as the board begins discussing how to allocate funds for fiscal 2025, the leaders of the county’s law enforcement, courthouse and corrections divisions each made their case for why they should receive additional support to improve public safety efforts.

Yet to what extent the board decides to fund each department’s vision will ultimately hinge on whether county residents approve a referendum in November’s election for a quarter-cent “public safety” sales tax.

That full article here. The County has also put up a Public Safety Sales Tax information website here. The Champaign County State's Attorney has defended the County's spending on this website and local advertising about the referendum as educational. Opponents have alleged that this spending as crossed the legal line into advocacy.

Other Public Safety Updates:

There's a Cheat Sheet post on the recent METCAD Policy Board meeting and the staffing crisis facing the dispatch center. The County's METCAD 911 dispatch service is an intergovernmental organization with the City of Champaign as the primary, which is why staffing is generally handled by the City of Champaign. The staffing crisis, however, could impact services throughout Champaign County.

Kathy's Mailbag had a brief overview of the County's emergency management organization this month: 

“While the day-to-day operations of EMA are overseen by an emergency management coordinator appointed by the sheriff, emergency management policies for the county are developed through the Regional Emergency Coordination Group (RECG), a group made up of local elected and appointed officials such as the sheriff, mayors/city managers, police chiefs and representatives from UI, Parkland and the C-U Public Health District. Those policies are then put into action by EMA. “

That full Mailbag article here.

Regional Planning Commission Related Updates:

Expansion of RPC Early Childhood Education Program, from the News-Gazette:

The Champaign County Regional Planning Commission plans to expand its Early Childhood Education program into Ford, Iroquois and Vermilion counties.

Program Director Brandi Granse said the RPC is acquiring five centers: two in Danville, one in Paxton, one in Gilman and one in Watseka...

According to RPC officials, the move adds 300 infants, toddlers, preschoolers and pregnant women to RPC’s Head Start and Early Head Start enrollment.

That full article here.

Long-Range Transportation Plan:

There have been some recent updates on the process of local governments endorsing the County's Long-Range Transportation Plan. From WCIA:

Every five years, the Champaign Urbana Urbanized Area Transportation Study (CUUATS) is required to update the LRTP, which plans out the next 25 years. The goal of the LRTP is to create innovative and sustainable transportation solutions in Champaign County...

To see a full list of projects included in the 2050 LRTP, visit the Champaign-Urbana Urbanized Area Transportation Study website.

Currently, the 2050 LRTP is in a draft review period until Oct. 15. Once the draft-period has ended, the plan will be adopted by the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission Board and Technical and Policy Committees. Then, the council will be able to accept and recognize the finalized 2050 LRTP plan.

That full article here. This article goes into detail about the City of Champaign's endorsement of the LRTP. The staff report at the study session explained the next steps:

The draft LRTP 2050 plan is in the 30-day draft review period through Tuesday, October 15, 2024 and can be viewed online. CUUATS staff is seeking input from stakeholders, particularly local municipalities, and the general public. CUUATS will then evaluate and incorporate feedback that is feasible and relevant to accomplishing the goals and visions of the LRTP 2050. 

Although not all feedback will be incorporated into the main document, all feedback will be provided in the appendix of the LRTP 2050 document. Once the comment period has ended, the plan will be adopted by the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission Board and Technical and Policy Committees. City Council also has the option to accept and recognize the finalized LRTP 2050 plan.

The Regional Planning Commission hosts a LRTP 2050 webpage with additional information and updates here.

County Board Updates

March was a busy month for local government, and the Champaign County Board was no exception. The biggest issue had to do with the continued delays related to the County's finances. County Board members from both parties appeared to give credit to the improving situation in the Treasurer's office under the newly elected C.J. Johnson, but the fallout from her fellow Democratic Party predecessors has left the Auditor facing questions about his role as an "independent watchdog for taxpayers." Programs that depend on timely audit reports have been put in jeopardy by delays. From the News-Gazette a couple week ago:

Champaign County is facing a potential freeze on its state and federal grant funding because the 2019 county audit remains unfinished.

The county’s Regional Planning Commission and Children’s Advocacy Center have already received notices of a funding suspension from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and County Executive Darlene Kloeppel said more county offices could potentially receive similar notices...

At a special session of the RPC board meeting Friday morning, CEO Dalitso Sulamoyo said the bulk of its $34 million budget — about 90 percent — comes from federal and state grant money, some of which helps pay for critical services for some of the county’s most vulnerable people.

That full article with a lot of additional information here. The RPC's Dalitso Sulamoyo also spoke during public participation at the beginning of the regular County Board meeting (at the 10:25 mark in the video here).

The County Board has approved temporary funding to ensure the RPC continues to function, but it remains critical for the overdue audit to be completed as soon as possible to prevent further loss of reputation and program funding. More from the News-Gazette after the regular County Board meeting (agenda, other handouts, addendum and auditor memo available here, video):

Champaign County will make a short-term loan of up to $5.3 million to the county Regional Planning Commission to help the agency through a state and federal funding freeze resulting from the county’s overdue 2019 audit.

The county board approved the move Thursday night, but not before some Republican members chastised Democratic Auditor George Danos about the late audit and called on him to resign...

Of the $5.3 million loan being made to the RPC from the county’s general fund, $2 million will be covered by reserves and the balance will come from a general-obligation promissory note not to exceed $3.3 million.

The county will pay up to 4.4 percent interest and a $10,000 bond counsel fee on the note, according to Deputy Finance Director Tami Ogden.

That full article here. In coverage following up on this situation, the RPC's executive noted that these issues may arise again if the audit work isn't completed by May 1st. WCIA also had coverage on the audit issue with video segments here and here.

The debate on changing the Deputy Treasurer position and paygrade to better reflect the actual duties of the office was mainly during the Committee of the Whole meeting on March 9th (agenda, video). The position hadn't been reevaluated since 2009. Many of the concerns involved whether one looked at this like a raise for the duties previous office holders held before, or correcting the pay for an office that has long been underpaid for the actual duties it performs compared to its description and paygrade. The board eventually approved the changes, with an additional compromise (lower on the pay scale than the mid-point proposed).

At this same Committee of the Whole meeting, Wayne Williams, Cunningham Township Assessor, raised concerns about redistricting delays because of the 2020 Census data delays. He encouraged approval of the new maps by the statutory deadlines regardless of the Census delays. There was also a helpful presentation for understanding the County's FY2020 Budget with a slides and breakdowns for folks who want to get into the nitty gritty of the County's financial situation. It included an overview of the Nursing Home issues related to the budget still (presentation slides, video at 1:16:40 mark)

Other March Committee Meetings:

The Facilities Committee (agenda, video) is still reviewing and approving the various projects to repair the roof and HVAC damage from the hail storm that damaged numerous County buildings as well as a large project for the Satellite Jail's outdated system (on a similar schedule to the hail damage process). Some RPC staff were complaining about air quality and related medical concerns at one of their offices in a County facility. Testing is being conducted to pinpoint the problem.

The Downtown Jail came up in regards to the indoor recreation room that is currently out of service and need extensive work to be safe and usable again. This raised the issue of how long the Downtown Jail will be operational at all. It remains possible for the facility to be shutdown at any time due to legal and safety issues. Dana Brenner, Facilities Director, expressed his hope that the Downtown Jail facility remains operational at least for the next year. There is currently no workable alternative or plan being actively considered to deal with its sudden closure. This remains a serious problem for the County government. Complicating this is a great deal of vocal of opposition for more investment or expansion of incarceration systems locally and across the nation.

The Environment and Land Use Committee (agenda, video) had part 3 of 5 of its waste management overview (starts at the 11:45 mark of the video).

County Board, Committee and COW Meetings

Leading up to February's regular County Board meeting, there have been some moments worth highlighting in the other committee and Committee of the Whole meetings so far this month. A couple highlights include a massive rental assistance grant and funding due to pandemic hardships. The Champaign County Democratic party nominated Jenny Lokshin to be appointed to fill the District 6 vacancy. DeShawn Williams resigned from the seat to take a position within the County Treasurer's office.

Environment and Land Use Committee 2/4

For those just getting started, ELUC is a standing committee and often the starting point for policy issues that fall under the categories in its name. The County Board's rules lay out the responsibilities and structure of the various committees on pages 17-20:

This month's ELUC meeting (agenda, video) had part 2 of a 5 part presentation on Solid Waste Management in the County starting at roughly the 10 minute mark (slide presentation available here). Links for part 1 of the Solid Waste Management presentation are available at the bottom of a previous Cheat Sheet post here.

The committee also recommended approval of an authorization for an umpcoming Hazardous Waste Collection event. They discussed the location details at Marketplace Mall as opposed to Parkland, which agreed to do electronic recycling events, but not hazardous waste collection. Tom Kacich had more information on the event in his Mailbag column earlier this month:

An Illinois EPA-sponsored household hazardous waste collection event will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 10, at the Market Place Shopping Center.

Residents must pre-register for this event at hhwevent.simplybook.me by selecting from available time slots. Online registration will remain open until all the time slots are full.

Online registration will begin March 8, said Susan Monte, recycling coordinator for Champaign County.

Full mailbag article here. The committee also discussed the increased costs, due at least in part from the pandemic situation. A sale of a property was approved, but was left off the consent agenda to ensure other board members got a chance to hear about the details instead of being lumped in with other non-controversial items.

Committee of the Whole 2/9

The Committee of the Whole (agenda, video) began with a closed session, so there was a long portion of the meeting video with little to no activity until roughly the 1:16 h:m mark. There was no public participation, but Board member Jen Straub relayed an issue brought to her by a concerned citizen in Communications. She raised a concern that a County Board member was publicly quoting "Q Anon" conspiracies regarding the recent insurrection in Washington D.C. and making light of violence against women.

Democrats and Republicans expressed concerns about a lack of County Board input on redistricting maps expected after the Census, the need for public transparency, and a general agreement on maintaining 11 districts with 2 members each. More on the Census from a previous Cheat Sheet post on Regional Planning Commission discussions here. News-Gazette coverage from Tom Kacich here.

On a budget approval item for the Coroner's Office, member Fortado noted that it included payment for services rendered by contractor Shiping Bao. She noted a controversy about his past work involving the Trayvon Martin case in Florida. She argued his involvement was regrettable, but that the payment was still required and needed approval.

There was some discussion of the partitions to be installed at the Circuit Clerk's office, primarily for COVID related safety issues, but also for the benefit of employees who have had to endure an open concept call center and the noise issues that go along with that. The discussion included the reason vaccinations weren't available to staff, designated essential, but not frontline, and why the services required personnel at the courthouse location (access to court documents and in-person court services). There was also a little bit of a back on forth on possible savings on options with the materials to be used.

A Rental Assistance grant through the Regional Planning Commission for $6.2 million dollars was the biggest deal of the meeting. Board members welcomed the assistance for both tenants and landlords and encouraged people to get the word out on the program. Member Fortado praised the short turnaround time for getting the grant and into a functioning local program. From the RPC website:

The COVID-19 pandemic has made life difficult for people across the country, especially renters who have been unable to work, experienced reduced hours, or lost their jobs. Now through its new Emergency Rent Assistance program, the RPC is looking to help renters in Champaign County by providing funds to cover past-due rent and other past-due bills like power, water, and sewer.

Champaign County residents can start the screening process by contacting the Emergency Rent Assistance program call center at 877-548-4205 between 12-7pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Saturdays. In order to promote safety during the pandemic, the RPC’s offices (1776 E. Washington Street in Urbana) will be open by appointment only and those without appointments will directed back to the call center to schedule an appointment. Facemasks will be required.

Households prioritized for assistance include those with an individual who has received unemployment payments from the State of Illinois (IDES) for 90 days prior to applying, and those with an income at or below 50 percent of the area median. The RPC has set up a special page on its website at www.ccrpc.org/ERA with more details on eligibility requirements.

More information at that page here.

Another moment of strained relations with the County Executive arose over the "Employee Health Insurance & Related Benefits Broker Consultant Services" by both Republicans and Democrats for being left out of the process again. There did not appear to be any disagreement with the results, but that the County Board was cut out of the process. There was general consternation at the County Executive's excuse that relevant members hadn't been appointed yet, when it was the Executive herself who had not yet appointed them.

Justice & Social Services Committee Chair Leah Taylor noted that she will be raising Racial Justice Task Force recommendations and issues at the next Committee of the Whole meeting on March 9th. More on the Racial Justice Task Force on our page here.

Zoning Board of Appeals 2/11:

We usually don't cover ZBA meetings so much as they tend to be extremely technical and legal exercises. This month's meeting (agenda, video) involved a great deal of public interest and input on a cannabis growing facility proposed in the Philo area. There was a large file full of letters opposing the facility and the impact it might have on the community and families. There are also a lot of project details in the preliminary memo and supplementary memo in the meeting documents. 

The first 52 minutes of the meeting dealt with the approval of a separate grain elevator project that was approved with all of the various conditions that go with such a project. The rest of the meeting got into the board members and members of the public questioning the applicants for the special use approval in the agriculturally zoned district. The meeting had to be extended a couple times briefly and eventually continued to a future meeting after it ran well past the normally allotted time (roughly 3 hours and 20 minutes total).

County Board Updates

There are some County government committee meetings coming up this week (more information on those on the weekly calendar here).

Following up on a previous post previewing the July County Board meeting here, the July meeting (agenda here, video here). There was an economic presentation by the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation that delved into some the current outlooks and challenges, including with the coronavirus pandemic ongoing (direct video link here, slide presentation here). There was a handout from the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce with local business owners and operators and the frustrations they have had with the coronavirus, government response, and the chaos both have caused. Many go into heartrending detail about the hurdles they've faced as the livelihoods and economic survival of themselves and their employees teeters over an uncertain future.

The meeting was perhaps more notable for the frustration on display between Board members than any items on the agenda itself. Many of the items were passed in omnibus and bipartisan votes, including authorizing the intergovernmental agreement on the Douglas County Enterprise Zone that would help that county navigate some tax and Enterprise Zone technicalities for a solar project there (presentation at the January Committee of the Whole available here). Also approved was the contract to Tyler Technologies for the new County government server/software replacement, frequently referred to in meetings as the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) System.

Another issue everyone appeared to agree on was rejecting the proposed 6-year Workforce Plan (available on page 72 of the agenda packet, page 75 of the PDF file). Complaints ranged from board members who felt like they or their committees should have been consulted prior to the plan being presented to the board to wanting more input from the workforce itself in developing the plan. Deputy Director of Administration Isak Griffiths defended the process and the plan, but to no avail.

There was some silent protests and angry swearing peppered throughout the meeting as well. County Board member Jon Rector's business logo has often been visible in the background of his Zoom video feed, which has raised concerns about using the County Board for advertising among a couple Democrats on the board. To highlight the issue they changed their Zoom video alternate backgrounds to Rector's business logo:

County Board member Stan Harper took a moment in the middle of the meeting to announce he was going to go on his "semiannual rant and rave about stuff" where he began swearing about how tired he was of people like him being called Nazis and racists. It appeared that the County Executive muted him for violation of the County Board rules. That in turn caused a bipartisan push back about muting board members by the County Executive without some protocol being established by the County Board first. The Executive pushed the meeting along on the grounds that the discussion was off topic on the items being discussed (federal CARES Act election funding which was approved). 

As the meeting was going into closed session, member McGuire complained about the lack of an auditor's report earlier in the meeting. The Executive pointed to the previous auditor items on the agenda as the time to bring it up. County Auditor Danos was on the Zoom call and jumped in and exclaimed that the report is on the County website, "It's done! It's Done!" An argument ensued over the agenda structure and criticisms. There was no Committee of the Whole in July which usually covers reports like this as opposed to the regular meeting.

A handful of board members then struggled to navigate the Zoom setup for the closed meeting live on the County Board meeting feed, sharing phone numbers and codes and a moment where the Chairman of the County Board dropped the f-bomb in frustration for the public to hear (the video is still on the facebook version of the meeting video here).

From the presence requested for the closed meeting, including the Treasurer, Deputy Treasurer, Director of IT, and others it sounded like it may have been related to legal and technical problems with the Treasurer's property tax system. But that's just a guess on my part from the context and the vague closed meeting description in the agenda: "to consider litigation which is pending against or on behalf of Champaign County, and litigation that is probable or imminent against Champaign County."

June County Board COW

Following up on the County Board's June committee meetings (Cheat Sheet overview here), the Committee of the Whole (agenda, video) is generally the next step in the process for items to get approval to the full board for a final full vote. It's another step that allows public input and pressure for issues and agenda items the public may be concerned about or impacted by.

At the June Committee of the Whole, the public input began with concerns about tax disbursements by the Mahomet-Seymour School District Superintendent, Lindsey Hall. Delays could mean additional costs and headaches to school districts again as their Fiscal Year comes to an end in June. John Bambenek raised some additional concerns with the County Treasurer's property tax system that has added more anxiety to the process after recent failures and delays over the past couple years.

There were also public comments pressing for a local reopening strategy beyond the State mandated regional phases and timelines. Speakers pointed to other examples, both international, in neighboring states and neighboring counties to urge better alternatives to current policy. Annie Murray of Pear Tree Estate once again spoke of the economic strain compounded by being unable to compete with businesses in nearby counties that have opened beyond State guidelines.

The Committee of the Whole meeting is also an opportunity for informational presentations. June's meeting had an overview presentation on the Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District local government body (starts at the 20 minute mark in the video). A letter with more details along with the slide presentation is available on the County website here.

I recommend checking out the presentation as it lays out an often overlooked but critical part of local government. It deals with protecting watersheds and preventing soil erosion, but those are very critical issues to prevent future crises. This impacts our economy, our ability to feed an ever-growing population, clean water consumption, recharging aquifers, climate change, and so on. A quick summary from their about page:

The Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District is a local unit of government which has been in existence since 1943.  It is governed by a five person board of directors, elected by landowners and land occupants within the District.  The Directors, themselves landowners or land occupants, are given the responsibility of developing and administering a comprehensive natural resource conservation plan.  The District receives its operating funds from The Illinois Department of Agriculture and the Champaign County Board.

And from the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts about page:

In the early 1930s, along with the greatest depression this nation ever experienced, came an equally unparalleled ecological disaster known as the Dust Bowl. Following a severe and sustained drought in the Great Plains, the region’s soil began to erode and blow away, creating huge black dust storms that blotted out the sun and swallowed the countryside...

On Capitol Hill, while testifying about the erosion problem, soil scientist Hugh Hammond Bennett threw back the curtains to reveal a sky blackened by dust. Congress unanimously passed legislation declaring soil and water conservation a national policy and priority.

It's difficult to explain how important those last few inches of topsoil are to the people who depend on the land for their livelihood and survival. Their monthly meetings are open to the public, typically in the evening depending on farming schedules. Contact their office in Champaign for additional information to attend.

The meeting quickly delved into some partisan drama, which is covered below. For those who'd rather skip to the Treasurer's report and the IT and server updates for the County, click here to jump to that part.


County Clerk versus the Board:

After that presentation, the County Board ran through some appointments on the agenda, but quickly got to the County Clerk report and a heated exchange between the County Clerk and County Board member Jim Goss. It started off with Goss asking a series of questions that appeared to come off as adversarial or prosecutorial to the County Clerk who asked for a more direct question. County Clerk Aaron Ammons began his first response speaking about the George Floyd death, protests, and national conversation. He highlighted the lack of attention to the issue so far, especially by Mr. Goss. He expressed his frustration with Goss' line of questioning and pressed for him to ask his "real question."

There was then a back and forth about responsibility for the tax cycle and previous tax issues relating to the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, the Champaign Public Library and the County Clerks office. Goss pressed for a public answer for what the Clerk described as lengthy matters already worked out with those tax bodies.

Accusations of political gamesmanship met accusations of mistakes followed. This included a statement of previous grievances by the Clerk that the GOP had orchestrated an exodus out of the Clerk's office after being a solidly Republican office for years. With any mistakes being dismissed as a natural consequence of the office being sabotaged and condemned. Goss denied knowing anyone in the office or sabotaging the Clerk's office.

Goss stopped his questioning and County Board member Rector, who had the committee chair control of the floor, attempted to move on while encouraging other elected officials to join County Board meetings. Ammons began reading a statement in response about the subject he was expecting to talk about, with details about a Rantoul TIF (what's a TIF?) issue that had apparently been a public dispute in The Rantoul Press.

Ammons gave his side of the Rantoul story to those disagreements, which went on for several minutes before Rector cut him off to move the meeting forward. Ammons became frustrated that Rector was cutting him off and not allowing him to finish his statement and there was a struggle for control of the floor. After a brief comment by member Stohr Rector appeared to have been ready to move on and apologized for having to cut Clerk Ammons off. The situation escalated again (video link here).

Ammons disagreed with the decision and explanation. Ammons then complained that the Republicans attack and appear to hate him so much. He asked whether it was because he was a Democrat or because he was black. He then accused member Goss of defending Nazis in the white nationalist Patriot Front group that has put up pro-fascist material locally.

At that point Republicans demanded they shut him off, called points of order and denounced charges of racism. Ammons stated that he wasn't making charges for stating facts. A multitude of voices started chiming in over the Zoom meeting and Chairman Rosales finally pushed the agenda forward.

As the meeting continued, Clerk Ammons stayed on the Zoom meeting, visibly frustrated at times in his camera window. At the end of the meeting, during Other Business, member Ingram commented on the George Floyd protests and the need to listen to and support other voices in the community. Then he left an open ended question to Ammons about his thoughts on the Rantoul situation.

Ammons began speaking about the accusations against him with only a slightly noticeable grumble from the Republicans on the audio. County Board Chair Rosales interrupted after he mentioned that the attacks came from both Republicans and Democrats and he admonished Ammons not to personalize it. This immediately raised tensions as they were on either side of the recent local party infighting. Republican member McGuire then jumped in to demand a stop to the statement, but Rosales asked him to let Ammons finish.

Ammons continued until he got into the topic of the protests and the changes he saw in Mahomet at those protests. He described Mahomet as a predominately white sundown town that had given him hope for change. He ended his remarks by saying it was a sign of the end of people like member Goss and County Recorder (and long time local Republican party leader) Mark Sheldon. He told them to enjoy their "last hurrah." Chairman Rosales quickly thanked him for his comments and immediately adjourned the meeting.


Other highlights beyond the drama:

The Treasurer's report was deeply concerning and went into details of two week delays and the public dealing with erroneous filing and fee messages on systems that still need to be updated for the correct information to show up. The Treasurer and staff explained the complications and various systems involved in the process and how they're doing that work with limited staff and while attempting to correct previous problems under the previous Treasurer Prussing.

More local news stories have broken about more problems and concerns with the Treasurer's Office, including a union dispute in today's News-Gazette and delays and notification problems in yesterday's paper:

This is a system that was inherited by [Treasurer Marisol] Hughes, who was appointed treasurer three months ago after the resignation of former county treasurer Laurel Prussing. The state’s pandemic lockdown began two weeks after Hughes took office.

Another big issue has been that some taxpayers who voluntarily sign up for the option of having their tax payments automatically withdrawn from their bank accounts don’t let the treasurer’s office know when they’ve sold their properties.

And for anyone who assumes the treasurer’s office would know a property has been sold, “there is no way for us to know,” [Chief Deputy Treasurer Alejandra] Aguero said.

That full article, which basically mirrored the meeting discussion, here. In the meeting the staff noted that the phones to the office ring nonstop throughout business hours.


There was also an overview of the recommended Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system from Tyler Technologies to replace the antiquated server and software the County runs much of its data and work through. The new cloud based system would fit well under the budget assumptions of the technology plan put forth last year to get the County out of the technological lurch. Video of that discussion in the meeting is available here with a direct link. The technology plan report was on page 78 of the December County Board meeting agenda packet here (page 82 of the PDF file). The questions and answers portion on that report is available from the December meeting video here at the 43 minute mark.

May County Board Updates

May had a return to many of the County Board committee meetings since the initial coronavirus cancellations and transition to remote meetings on Zoom. While most members are still attending remotely, there are some attending in person at the Brookens Administrative building. Some County Board members have raised safety concerns about the current process. Videos of the May meetings are primarily available on the Champaign County Clerk's YouTube Channel:

• 5/5 Facilities Committee (video, agenda packet)
• 5/7 Environment and Land Use Committee (ELUC) (video, agenda packet)
• 5/8 Highway and Transportation (video, agenda packet)
• 5/12 Committee of the Whole (COW) (video (date typo on YouTube), agenda packet)
• 5/18 County Board of Health (video, agenda, Cheat Sheet post)
• 5/21 Regular County Board meeting (video, agenda packet)

Agenda packets are generally available from the County website "Meeting Info" page by clicking the specific Board or Committee you need information for. This is a handy page to get previous meeting minutes and presentation materials and other handouts.

This post gives overviews and summaries of most of these meetings, but also has an additional reference to the City of Champaign's government that has put out a call highlighting a funding crisis being caused by the Champaign County government (jump to that item below here).

Committee Meeting Overview:

The Facilities meeting covered topics like public safety in County buildings, including the County Courthouse. The News-Gazette had an overview of coronavirus related precautions the Courts are taking to begin jury trials soon:

The first batch of summonses for jurors in a pandemic have been sent out in Champaign County with accommodations in place to make the process as safe as possible.

Those include watching jury orientation from home, only reporting to the courthouse when a trial is set to begin, sitting several feet apart and deliberating in a separate courtroom, not a jury room.

More details at the full article here. There was a more comprehensive overview of reopening the Courts earlier this month. Excerpt:

Pieces of Plexiglas are being installed around the witness stands to shield the court reporter, who is seated right in front of the witness, and to the side of the witness stand, to shield the jurors who sit closest to the witness.

It’s impractical to spread jurors out in the gallery because that would preclude spectators from having a place to sit. And Difanis noted that jurors have to be up close to hear audio clips and see physical evidence.

That full article here. The ELUC meeting was covered in the News-Gazette and looked at cannabis business regulations again. More on that at the News-Gazette here.

The Committee of the Whole (COW):

The Committee of the Whole began with public comments from a local business owner begging for economic relief and highlighting the damage being done to business owners and their livelihoods. The County Clerk made comments about the impact of the coronavirus on the primary election and potential impacts and planning for the 2020 general election.

The COW also had a presentation on the Youth Assessment Center and its work on diversion and restorative justice services. The slide presentation is available here. The video presentation is available here with a direct link.

In Board communications, member Stohr advocated an ad hoc committee to look at and possibly revive the jail consolidation plans. Member Harper would vehemently oppose the idea in the regular board meeting's communication portion next week. Jon Rector emphasized the public participation comments on the desperate economic relief needed locally in balance with health concerns. There were other members who spoke on and thanked community members for their efforts to help fellow citizens and other topics.

After the Treasurer's report, there was a technical discussion about payment penalties being delayed or forgiven, but the topic involved some confusing legal technicalities that I didn't fully understand. Deputy Director of Finance for the County, Tami Ogden and the Treasurer's office explained some of the administrative hurdles and complexities involved with some of the suggestions.

A little bit later there was a 50 minute discussion on mitigating expenses for 2020 and 2021. This discussion had an overview of the County's financial situation (dire) and projected hardships and revenue decreases (severe). There appears to be real concerns among Democrats that austerity measures will go too far and Republicans that the Board may not be prepared to cut deep enough to keep the County government functioning. The discussion appeared sobering to all County Board members who were already looking at difficult budget choices before this crisis. The Finance Committee will be looking at the issues and sacred cows raised during this discussion to bring some options back before the board later.

There was some debate on extending the county disaster proclamation, a dispute about the message it sent for reopening the local economy versus its role in ensuring that the County could receive funding related to the the current coronavirus emergency and other funds. Republicans throughout the meeting emphasized the economic concerns while Democrats emphasized the health concerns. The differing emphasis aligned with assessments of economic and health impacts and interpretation of data that has become a divisive topic in both local and State politics.

The jail consolidation issue was brought up again, with all of the concerns about the downtown jail being on the verge of having to be shut down at any time, no current plan to come up with a facilities remedy, and now a situation where other jails are unlikely to accept any prisoners that may need to be segregated or moved elsewhere.

The video of the meeting cuts off around three and half hours in, but towards the agenda of the agenda items. John Clifford resigned at the end of the COW meeting according to the agenda.

Regular County Board Meeting:

The regular County Board meeting began with multiple public participation speakers on the topic of the coronavirus and its impact. There was a presentation from scientists at the University of Illinois on coronavirus data. Will Kyles, an at-large member of the City of Champaign City Council spoke on the impact on minority owned businesses and the need to consider that impact in reopen policies. Others spoke on impacts to those in addiction recovery, the local health care industry, and our local homeless population.

Former County Board member and Champaign County Auditor Diane Michaels was sworn in to fill the vacancy left by John Cliffords.

The County Executive delivered her annual report to the County Board, though the video quality and compression made it unreadable from the Zoom app to the live streaming videos for home viewers. The projections started at a worst case scenario, but overall the outlook is looking grim for future revenues. The current budgets were already strained under debt, limited balances, and departments already operating on limited staff. Maintenance, IT, facilities, and other basic needs have been delayed for years and in dire shape (if not flirting with disaster such as with the downtown Jail or unsupported technology).

The County Executive asked County Board members to make sure their priorities and sacred cows were made known so that the upcoming budget cuts could take their concerns into consideration. Funding for the County's reentry programs and staff employment and pay were mentioned in the discussion afterward.

City of Champaign:

The City of Champaign's Mayor raised serious concerns with the Champaign County Board and Treasurer's Office during "Council Comments" of the most recent City Council meeting. at the 27:40 mark in the full video. She argues that social programs in Champaign and through the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission are being threatened due to a lack of an audit required for funding. She explains that we are in jeopardy of losing millions of dollars of that funding and encourages people to contact to their County Board members to address the audit delay. She says they have been receiving letters from funding providers citing the lack of audit for a potential loss of funding.

County Board COW 2/11

The Champaign County Board's Committee of the Whole (what is this?) was this week. The video is currently available through the live stream website's buffer here. It will be available on the Champaign County Clerk's YouTube Channel when posted here.

Public participation started with Dr. Dorothy Vura-Weis with an overview of jail programs, including community initiated services. Chairman Rosales asked if she had a website with all of that information, but she suggested the County create one.

Nathan Poulosky, a Democratic Precinct Committeeman for Cunningham 22 chastised Chairman Rosales for dismissing PCs as lazy and not attending meetings when explaining his appointment of Cynthia Fears at a previous County Board meeting. He argued it was insulting and hypocritical for the Chairman to question the dedication of PCs when he appoints people who didn't attend meetings.


Sheriff's Presentation:

The Sheriff presented his annual report (see previous Cheat Sheet post on that here) at the 13:35 minute mark in the video. There was an extended question and answer afterwards starting at the 24 minute mark. Topics ranged from the type of inmates housed at any given time, data collection hurdles, and some budget notes by the County Executive and what they meant.

Chairman Rosales towards the end of the Q & A, at around the 40:40 minute mark in the video, reiterated a campaign point against his opponent. He repeated his position against the County being an entity that provides services (a topic from the candidates forum and a disagreement at a recent local Democratic Party meeting).


Mahomet-Seymore CUSD Letter and Treasurer Updates:

The County Board received a letter to the County Treasurer's office that it expects interest earned on delayed pass-through funding to be paid to the district. The letter is available in the full agenda packet here on page 9(page 13 of the PDF). There was a question as to whether such a payment is past practice or required by statute, but staff was looking into that. Member Fortado suggested a possible public and formal response from the board to the letter at a later time.

Chairman Rosales reminded people that applications are still be accepted for a replacement Treasurer to be appointed until February 15th and he will make his decision soon after that date.


Honoring Brian Kelly:

The board honored the life and service of Chief Deputy in the Circuit Clerk's office, Brian Kelly. More on his life and service in the News-Gazette here. Circuit Clerk Katie Blakeman thanked the board and shared a bit of Kelly's sense of humor. The video of the reading of the resolution and comments begins at the 49 minute mark.


Other Items:

Steve Summers summarized the current status of the Facilities Committee work on jail consolidation options. More on that at a previous Cheat Sheet post here.

There was some discussion about the primary polling locations between some Republicans on the County Board and a staff member from the County Clerk's office about whether a polling location at Lake of the Woods required a more in depth process given the size of the location and the difference between having a polling location at the Elk Wood's Pavilion versus Pavilion #1. There seemed to be some disagreement on whether there was proper public notice of the change that was being approved. The resolution passed over some audible Republican nays afterward.

There was some discussion about the appropriateness of the County Executive announcing applications were being taken for the County's Supervisor of Assessment position where there is not currently a vacancy. Member Rector emphasized the requirements to notify the position holder before replacing them. The County Executive apologized for the confusion and insisted she had every intention of appointing the same person to the same position for the next term and that she would just be looking at applications to gauge interest for the position. Rector took issue with the plausibility of that explanation, beyond it being just confusing. Member Young reiterated his concerns about the appointing powers of the County Executive and the need for oversight.

A couple later items brought up the situation with the Treasurer's office again, with an estimate of the 10s of millions of dollars still owed to school districts raised by Member Goss and the Auditor and others discussing the overtime, accumulation of comp hours, and hard work by the staff and others in trying to resolve the problems remaining at the office.

Finally, there was a brief discussion about an infrastructure related TIF expansion that requires the County Board's sign off as part of the approval process. An attempt to explain Tax Increment Financing is available here. There was a bit of discussion by the board by those who don't like TIF financing of projects on why they opposed or would make an exception for this particular item. It passed with Member Thorsland in opposition. The item, once approved at the regular County Board meeting will be in the hands of the State of Illinois afterward.

The meeting adjourned at 8:14pm.