New Housing Authority Director

The Housing Authority of Champaign County (website currently in limbo here) is the local, county level face of a federal program, as explained in this older N-G article when a director search was ongoing:

The housing authority is funded by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which doesn't require public input for executive director searches, said Gina Rodriguez, a public affairs officer with HUD's Midwest office.

In Illinois, housing authority boards are required to select and appoint their executive directors, according to the state Housing Authorities Act. Directors report to their boards.

But due to its role in Section 8 housing it plays a key role in local politics, so it's worth highlighting. Unfortunately their main page is down, so temporarily I'm going to rely on the localwiki for a brief overview until I can update it with something more official later:

Since 1939, the Housing Authority of Champaign County (HACC) has provided affordable housing for low-income families and individuals of central Illinois.  The HACC is an important organization in Champaign County, especially in Urbana and Champaign. HACC has had a close relationship with the University of Illinois and in the 1980s HACC worked with the U of I Housing Research Center to redesign public housing communities built in the 1940s. Focus was put on reducing crimes and creating safe spaces for children. Since 2000, much attention has gone to rebuilding and re-conceptualizing existing housing projects.

What will its role be under a HUD run by Ben Carson and a Trump Administration? Will it change much? A lot? This is the man who will probably make that clear going into the future:

New housing authority director isn't one to take job sitting down
David A. Northern Sr. is of the mindset that in his field, a job well done means leaving your desk.

The newly appointed director of the Housing Authority of Champaign County said he doesn't see his work as a spectator sport.

"You have to be in the trenches working hard, and that's the type of person I am," Northern said. "You have to let individuals know and see that you care about where they work and play."

Nearly eight months after former HACC Director Ed Bland left for a job in Virginia, the agency's board of commissioners announced Northern's appointment Wednesday following a national search.

In related HACC news, Cunningham Township's (Urbana) appointment to the HACC board was recently denied by the board chairman:

Housing authority rejects township supervisor's appointment to board
The Housing Authority of Champaign County won't accept the appointment of Cunningham Township Supervisor Danielle Chynoweth to its board because of an ongoing property-tax dispute between the township and the agency, HACC board Chairman Larry Lewis said Wednesday.

Lewis announced the decision in a letter to Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin and the city council, which approved Chynoweth's appointment Dec. 18.

Public Input for County Judge

I couldn't find this on the News-Gazette website yet, but saw it shared elsewhere. Public input on Champaign County's next judge is being solicited, so if you know, support, or oppose a candidate, here's your chance to sing their praises or criticize them. I'll be adding a link to the Election page to this post for now:

Cheat Sheet Updates

• Added a link to the News-Gazette Questionnaire for the Republican County Clerk primary race. in the County Office races page.

• Added a new page by Amy on appointed positions and how to apply for them under the County Offices list.

Did you know that you, as a Champaign County community member, can apply for term-limited positions through the Champaign County Board? The County Board accepts applications for positions on “appointed bodies,” which consist of various commissions, advisory boards, and task forces.

If you are interested in learning more check out the Appointments Information page for an explanation and links!

• Added and updated links on election information on the Election page and elsewhere, including outside link to the Champaign County Voter Alliance website that also has additional information on registration, voting options, and a candidates guide!

Nursing Home Payroll Loan

The financial situation at the Nursing Home and County budget continues to scrape by "paycheck to paycheck" it seems. This week they literally needed to get a loan to pay paychecks. From the News-Gazette today:

$170K advance ordered to help nursing home meet payroll

Champaign County Treasurer John Farney said Tuesday that he has ordered his staff to prepare a $170,000 advance from property-tax funds to help the county nursing home meet its payroll this Friday.

SAK Management, the suburban Chicago company that manages the nursing home for the county, notified Farney and County Auditor Diane Michaels on Tuesday that it will be unable to make payroll.

Farney said the cash advance is to be used only for employee pay and not for payments to vendors.

The treasurer said he can make the cash advances without county board approval. But he said the nursing home must begin to repay the amount “upon receipt of all deposits” starting Thursday “and continuing until the debt has been retired. There will be no exceptions.”

Earlier this month, the county board agreed to place the nursing home up for sale.

Bids for its purchase are due by Feb. 28.

It's certainly an inauspicious start for 2018 and any remaining hopes by Democrats and others to keep the home as a County asset, with the labor and service protections they see comes with that.

County Clerk Candidate Forum and a Fundraiser

From the bottom of Tom Kacich's piece today (where a lot of local political tidbits get lumped for those looking for where they hide this stuff):

Republican forum

The two Republican candidates for Champaign County clerk, Matt Grandone and Jon Rector, will answer questions at the Monday’s meeting of the Champaign County Active Senior Republicans at the Champaign Public Library. The meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. Judge Randy Rosenbaum also will take questions, but his primary election opponent, Sami Anderson, will be unable to attend because she said she is in court at that time.

Democratic fundraiser

A campaign fundraiser for county board Democratic candidate Tanisha King-Taylor of Urbana (District 10) and to support Aaron Ammons’ campaign for county clerk will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Friday at Riggs Brewery in Urbana.

The Week Ahead 1/28 - 2/3

[UPDATE: a Litigation Committee meeting has been added, the bulk of which appears to be in closed session according to the agenda. Will update with more information when I have it.]

I'm posting an image link to the clickable PDF weekly calendar at the County main website again:

County Executive Candidate Town Halls: More from the N-G

Darlene Kloeppel has one this week:
— 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 2, Urbana Free Library, 210 W. Green St., Urbana. Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/185037495562784/

Gordy Hulten has one this week:
— 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29, Mahomet Township Community Center, 510 E. Main St., Mahomet. Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/2112772848951139/

The Board Calendar itself is pretty empty this week except for the Lincoln Legacy Committee:

The Lincoln Legacy Committee is a collaborative committee of the Champaign County Forest Preserve and the Champaign County Board formed for the purpose of promoting the Bicentennial Celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birth through the creation of exhibits at the Champaign County Courthouse and the Museum of the Grand Prairie. The committee continues its work with other Lincoln-related projects.

The 2018 schedule is up on the Calendar page and the County page. The regular County Board meetings are back to Thursdays until next holiday season.

If you're curious about learning more about how your county government works, it's easy enough to live stream a meeting or go in person: Attend a Meeting.

*Meeting is broadcast live on Comcast Public Access and at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/champco1776

Where is Brookens?

Brookens Administrative Center
1776 East Washington Street
Urbana, Illinois 61802-4581
Phone: 217-384-3772

After 4:30 the Washington Street side Parking Lot is Closed See Maps for the North East Parking Lot Access

Dark Sky Park and Ice Adventures

Tonight's first of the year Champaign County Forest Preserve Board meeting kicked off with a fairly large audience, including new staff and folks behind the Dark Sky Park project. All board members were present except Sarah Livesay, as were the interim Executive Director Mary Ellen Wuellner and Finance Director John Baker. The agenda is available here.

All of the agenda items passed unanimously so I'll focus on the highlights.

The interim Executive Director was made the permanent Executive Director. More on that from the News-Gazette article from the previous post. The board was complimentary and there was applause around the room on the motion carrying.

The motion for "Designation of Middle Fork River Forest Preserve as a Dark Sky Park" passed with fanfare and applause as well. Commissioner Herakovich said it was a long time coming. Director Wuellner thanked the people behind the project and the Citizens Advisory Committee for the heavy lifting on lightscape management and others. This included David Leake whose only additional comment was "Let's do it!"

More on the project from the News-Gazette here. Excerpt below:

Forest preserve district hoping you'll see stars at Middle Fork

...
This year, park-goers with an eye to the sky may realize it's even darker.

Since fall 2016, after a suggestion from David Leake, director of Parkland's Staerkel Planetarium, Kuntz and Champaign County Forest Preserve District staff have been making specific lighting changes at Middle Fork that have it poised to become the first certified Dark-Sky Park in Illinois. There are only 55 in the world, and 39 of those are in the United States.

"It looks pretty promising," Leake said of the park district's chances to achieve the designation this spring after its application to the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is submitted early this year.

The association's Dark-Sky Places Program was started in 2001 "to encourage communities around the world to preserve and protect dark sites through responsible lighting policies and public education." The program has five types of designations — dark-sky communities, parks, reserves, sanctuaries and developments. Each has its own set of parameters that must be met to achieve the distinction from the international group.

Members pointed out the possibility of astro-tourism, camping advantages, as well as excitement in the area, including the Mayor of Rantoul. Commissioner Hays pointed it out this may be the only "dark sky" rated park in Illinois and possibly the only one at a county level.

Earlier in the meeting they introduced a few new members to the Citizens Advisory Committee (more information here, but as of tonight not yet updated with new member names).

Concerns were raised about a possible future hog farm adjacent to the Southwest Middle Fork district area which was described as a potential "epic disaster" that the board should get out in front of. I believe it was Commissioner Hays who brought it up as well as possibly circulating information for opposition. The approval would be through the Department of Agriculture and simple NIMBY (not in my back yard) objections would probably not sway them as they generally approve due to the economic positives. Herakovich suggested staying in contact with the County Board and its land use committee on the subject.

A conference was attended by members and staff and included in various reports and future reports on what they learned in the various sessions. Diversity of staff considerations were discussed as well as two new staff members. A natural resources specialist and "GIS whiz" as well as a natural resource technician who was first out on the ice in an adventure the previous evening removing illegally dumped carpet rolls from the icy Sangamon River. Apparently someone felt dumping it off a bridge was a cost saver.

There was a potential vote on the purchasing policy was discussed, but eventually tabled until next month to get feedback on the approval before a vote. The changes discussed didn't appear to be substantive so much as necessary after seeing the challenges facing the staff on various tasks. All the changes were well within the required limits.

The highlights above covered what the agenda outline didn't make obvious (except perhaps that the F-150 they purchased has a tow bar, which would have come in handy for the carpet ice adventures). Another fascinating bit of County government that's always going on. If you're interested in learning more, check out their website's about page and check out the links. If you want to get involved check out the Citizens Advisory Committee and other opportunities under the "Get Involved" tab at the top of their website.

Champaign County Forest Preserve Meeting

Short notice, but here's some information on the Champaign County Forest Preserve in the News-Gazette:

Forest preserve district's interim director expected to be made permanent

Mary Ellen Wuellner, the interim director of the Champaign County Forest Preserve District since September, is expected to be formally approved tonight as the district's ninth executive director and the first woman to hold the post.

She will be paid $100,000 a year.

Wuellner, 57, replaces Dan Olson, who resigned last summer to become director of operations for the Champaign Park District. She was deputy executive director under Olson.

The meeting is tonight in Mahomet (future meeting dates/places here. Tonight's agenda here):

On Thursday, January  25, 2018 at the Museum of the Grand Prairie Classroom, Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve, 900 N. Lombard, Mahomet, Illinois, at 6:00 P.M.  

More information on the board and board meetings are available at their website here: http://www.ccfpd.org/about/board-meetings

CU Indivisible and RJTF Recommendations

Many local programs and organizations are looking at the New Year to begin work on the Racial Justice Task Force recommendations from their final report (available here with a summary of the recommendations on pages 5-9). CU Indivisible, a local indivisible group (what is this?) is no exception. They have a general meeting coming up this weekend, Saturday January 27th at 3pm at the Champaign Public Library (facebook event page here) where this and other issues will be discussed. Here's an announcement that highlights their current focus/priorities on those RJTF recommendations:

Were you able to attend the Racial Justice Task Force meeting last fall? If not, we have some information about the important points covered in the meeting. [Full report here]

There were two areas that are ripe for possible change: pretrial justice and legalized housing discrimination.

According to the Racial Justice Task Force Report, "64% of the people confined in the jail were African American" (p. 31). Many of the people in jail do not know whether a charge will be filed, dismissed, or resolved. They are often unable to leave because they need to pay a "D-bond" set at about 10% of the bail amount. Others were jailed for failure to appear in court. The Task Force recommends better notice of court appearances, better risk-assessment for release, and improved pretial services. Specific recommendations are described in the full Task Force Report.

A second major issue is legalized housing discrimination. Section 17.4-5 of Champaign municipal code allows landlords in the city to lawfully deny anyone convicted of a forcible felony or a felony drug charge housing until he or she has lived outside of jail or prison for at least five consecutive years without another conviction related to drugs or force. This is exclusive to renters, and it makes it harder for those reentering to secure housing.

This provision was struck from the record in the 1970s and then put back on the books with no explanation in 1994. There was not data or justification provided to support this action. In October 2016, both the Champaign County Reentry Council and the City of Champaign’s Human Relations Commission have advised the City Council to strike this exception from the city code.

This is a Civil Rights violation, specifically the Fair Housing Act. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released an advisory against this practice in 2016, read that report here. The report argues that since higher than average incarceration rates exist among Hispanics and African Americans in the U.S., the use of criminal records to deny housing can cause a “disparate impact” on these races. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2015 population estimates for Champaign County, 41.5% of African Americans have incomes below the poverty level compared to 17.2% of white people.

The CUI and the CUI County Board group will be working with other local groups and activists on this issue. If you would like get involved, contact Grace Hebert (contact info here)

Getting started on these issues can feel like a daunting task. Fortunately there are many amazing people who have spent years and sometimes their whole lives fighting for justice and reforms and there are many organizations and programs already in the fight every day working to make our community a better place. The first step is to grab a notepad (paper or digital) and find out what's already happening. A good start for you may be your local indivisible group, but there are many other starting points as well.

Here are just a few starting points. If any of them sound like they may interest you, all you have to do is show up with an open mind and a willingness to learn:

Build Programs Not Jails has been fighting for years to encourage alternatives to the criminal justice system and care for citizens in need here in Champaign County. They have regular meetings you can attend and find out what they're up to.

Champaign Human Relations Commission and the Human Relations Commission of Urbana: The respective city HRCs serve their communities by offering programs against discrimination, dealing with cases of discrimination, and working to improve community relations for all citizens with their government and policing agencies. They have regular meetings you can attend as well.

Champaign County Community Coalition is a local group that works with "local government; law enforcement; juvenile justice; behavioral health; education; child welfare; and community based service providers. This network is designed to identify critical community issues that impact the lives of youth and their families." They have a meeting coming up February 14 at 3:30pm at the Champaign Public Library if you want to learn more.

Taking the first step may seem overwhelming at first, but everyone who got involved had to start somewhere. Usually at a meeting with strangers trying to figure out what they're talking about, taking notes so you can find answers to all the new questions you may have.

These are by far not the only starting points... a more comprehensive chart for this site is in the works of various local government and community organizations and programs surrounding our criminal justice system. These range from prevention, services, diversion and assistance programs, to programs all the way through the criminal justice system and back again. This includes re-entry assistance, regaining/protecting your rights, and building a livelihood after. I'm shooting to have it linked up and looking spiffy by this weekend... so the weekend after next is probably a safer bet. I'm still learning too.

Chamber Backs Hulten in Position They Created

[UPDATE 1/23/2018 - I realized I overlooked an additional endorsement due to the similarity. The Farm Bureau, which also was involved with Gordy in the creation of the office also endorsed him after this. From the News-Gazette:

Farm Bureau endorses Hulten for county executive

CHAMPAIGN — Just as the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce did a month ago, the county Farm Bureau's political involvement committee has endorsed Republican Gordy Hulten to become the first county executive.

Hulten, currently the county clerk, is unopposed in the March 20 Republican primary for the county executive nomination. Darlene Kloeppel of Urbana is the lone Democratic candidate for the position...

The Farm Bureau and Chamber of Commerce worked with Hulten and state Sen. Chapin Rose in 2016 to get the county executive question on the ballot.

"Since we were part of the group behind it, we want to make sure that voters, going into the election and when it's actually in place next December, have a good understanding of what this position is going to be," Uken said. "We think that that's part of our responsibility."

Updating the links in the Executive and office/election page. Democrat Darlene Kloeppel's (including from State Treasurer Mike Frerichs and State Senator of this area) are here. Hulten's main campaign website has more links to his endorsements here.]

Originally published 12/6/2017:

This is probably not too surprising since the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce worked with Gordy Hulten to bring about the County Executive position, but this news is sure to get some askance staring from supporters of Democratic County Executive candidate Darlene Kloeppel:

Hulten lands chamber endorsement

The political action committee of the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Republican Gordy Hulten over Democrat Darlene Kloeppel to be the county's first county executive.

The unusually early announcement comes almost 11 months before the general election set for Nov. 6, 2018.

"We decided that since the chamber was such a driver for the county executive initiative in the first place we wanted to make sure if we're going to get involved that we want as much of the (election) cycle as we could and to have as much impact as we possible could," said Garret Hill, spokesman for the Business Empowered political action committee.

The chamber of commerce along with the county Farm Bureau and Hulten, currently the county clerk, and state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, were the chief proponents of the county executive proposal which was narrowly approved by voters in November 2016 by a margin of 50.26 percent to 49.74 percent...

"But the big thing that pushed us to even introduce county executive was economic development but also the stalled issues at the county like the jail and the nursing home. We really like Gordy's vision of it," Hill said.

He denied that the endorsement process favored Hulten, who had worked with the chamber on the county executive plan.

"I would say it was fair and square. They both turned in surveys, they both interviewed. It was up to the board to make the decision. That was the process and that's how it should go," he said...

This comes on the heals of arguments about whether the position's pay was inflated with current County Clerk Gordy Hulten in mind and an affinity for him personally by members of Board and County Government. More information and related news on the County Executive issue page. Candidate information and links for the County Executive race are on the County Executive office page here. I liked the informative description at the end of this N-G article so it and the news link will be added to those pages as well:

When Champaign County elects a full-time county executive next November it will become only the second county in Illinois with the office. As planned the elected executive would have broad powers, including the authority to propose the county budget, make appointments, hire a staff, set county board agendas, implement the majority of county ordinances and veto actions of the county board, although vetoes could be overridden with a three-fifths majority. The executive would also have the power to vote, but only in order to break a tie on issues before the county board.

So far at the County Board meetings it sounds like there are questions about what role the County Administrator will play in tandem with the County Executive.

Transition Committee First Meeting

[Update: County Board Member Patterson sent me a note identifying the other person in the room as Kay Rhodes, the County Board Administrative Assistant. Thanks!]

Agenda here. Agenda highlights in previous post and on the Executive page linked here and above. Committee page with Chair/member information and agenda links here.

As you can tell in the picture above, the meeting was held in the Putnam meeting room as opposed to the Shields meeting room one normally finds the County Board. It's right next to the Northeast parking lot entrance. In addition to the committee chair and members, interim County Administrator Deb Busey, County Clerk Gordy Hulten were there in (I believe) official capacities as well as Board Member Pattsi Petrie in the audience. There was another woman in the room, but unfortunately I didn't find out who that was at the time UPDATE: it was Kay Rhodes, the County Board Administrative Assistant.

The meeting started very close to the scheduled 4:30pm and began with public participation, though there were no takers from outside the committee members. There was a short delay before getting started into the establishing a schedule of meetings to complete the work. I'd strongly suggest waiting until the official schedule is posted as there may be changes I missed here or afterward due to a member being out of town and a national holiday (President's Day) falling on the 1st and 3rd Mondays idea, but that appears to tentatively be the plan. If that holds it sounds like the meetings will be at 4:30pm and probably be scheduled into June. When discussing how many meetings it might take Patterson mentioned it took four meetings just to agree on a salary for the Executive position.

Weibel then went over the agenda packet, pointing out that the first 26 pages or so were probably the most relevant to this committee. After looking over the materials they began discussing where to start and almost immediately began noting differences between Will County and Champaign. There were technical issues for emulation such a different approach to hiring, as well as population and financial (Will County having over three times the people, lots of growth, and far more money to work with).

They decided to generally follow the same meeting rules as the Champaign County Board with Robert Rules to fall back on as needed, but made a point to ask that information provided come with citations to avoid confusion. They discussed a need to publish the County Executive ordinance (possible legal requirement?) and inviting legal counsel (Donna M. Davis, assistant State's Attorney, I believe) to meetings after submitting questions as opposed to having her sit in on every meeting. An example arose almost immediately as to whether the County Executive counts towards a quorum. "Probably not" seemed to be the consensus, but such details need to be nailed down.

They went on to discuss substantive differences between Will County and how Champaign government operates, when appointments and other actions needed to be introduced before being voted on and other such details and working out details of what is required in the supporting material. After several minutes of discussion on the details there was a general agreement that everyone would have to go through the legal materials and familiarize themselves in depth, "break out the color highlighters!" The task at hand was made clear: they will need to come up with a Champaign County version of the County Executive form of government in Will County with rules for the County Board to vote on.

They discussed organizational rules and legal counsel issues and legal counsel through the State's Attorney's office still. Hulten chimed in on a question of conflicts that the conflicting bodies within the County government have been able to rely on the State's Attorney's office being large enough to cover the conflict without conflicts of interest on internal disputes.

They marveled at another highlighted difference in Will County, that their County Board and County Executive both have a administrative chief of staff for carrying out their duties. Champaign in its dire budget straights and constantly under strain from the Nursing Home has to stretch its budget just for current vacancies it seems. There was a collective mood of "must be nice" around the room.

With materials to study and a general idea of the task ahead, they adjourned at 5:13pm by my watch. I will post the official schedule for upcoming meeting times and dates once they're posted.

County Executive Committee Agenda

[UPDATE: Speaking of the County Executive, the first of a series of separate town halls with the candidates for the office start tonight with Gordy Hulten at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday Jan. 23, Rantoul Municipal Building, 333 S. Tanner St., Rantoul. More times and dates for him and Democratic Candidate Darlene Kloeppel here.]

[UPDATEx2: Write-up of the meeting here.]

Today at 4:30pm (in the Putnam meeting room at Brookens - map) will be the first meeting of the County Executive Transition Committee and the process of establishing the office to be filled by election this year (election page here). The agenda is available and bare bones at first glance, until one gets to the supporting material. Probably the least legalese and relevant for folks just trying to understand the system they're emulating and the guidelines they're trying to meet are on pages 4 and 15-18. Screenshots are below, or you can read/download the pdf at the transition committee page here: Agenda 1/23/2018 Meeting

On page 15-18 there is a list of the "Abridged Powers and Duties of the County Executive" as well as "Notes / Considerations for Champaign County Implementation" sent to the board by the Assistant State's Attorney, Donna M. Davis:

On page 4 there is a summary of the discussions with the County Executive of Will County from the State's Attorney's office with a few highlights of their experience:

I'll be adding this information to the County Executive page or at least a link to it as a resource.

The Week Ahead 1/21 - 1/27

I'm posting an image link to the clickable PDF weekly calendar at the County main website again:

Highlight this week is the County Executive Transition Committee. There have been a lot of questions as to exactly how the new County Executive form of government will be organized and the role of the County Administrator once the office is filled. It'll be held in the Putnam meeting room as opposed to the normal County Board meeting room (room map of Brookens here).

[UPDATE: Speaking of the County Executive, the first of a series of separate town halls with the candidates for the office start tonight with Gordy Hulten at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday Jan. 23, Rantoul Municipal Building, 333 S. Tanner St., Rantoul. More times and dates for him and Democratic Candidate Darlene Kloeppel here.]

If you're interested in finding out more about county Mental Health and Developmental Disability programs and agencies they can be a bit wonky, but interesting to see all of the gears moving to provide care to so many in our community. Kyle Patterson had put off some commentary last week until this Mental Health Board meeting. If you're interested in what an MHB or DDB meeting is like, here are a couple write up examples: Mental Health Board 2018, Developmental Disabilities Board 10/25/2017.

The 2018 schedule is up on the Calendar page and the County page. The regular County Board meetings are back to Thursdays until next holiday season.

If you're curious about learning more about how your county government works, it's easy enough to live stream a meeting or go in person: Attend a Meeting.

*Meeting is broadcast live on Comcast Public Access and at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/champco1776

Where is Brookens?

Brookens Administrative Center
1776 East Washington Street
Urbana, Illinois 61802-4581
Phone: 217-384-3772

After 4:30 the Washington Street side Parking Lot is Closed See Maps for the North East Parking Lot Access