County Economic Indicators

Monthly numbers came in this week for home buying and unemployment. From the News-Gazette on Wednesday:

July home sales down over 2017, but year-to-date sales still ahead
...
In July, 317 homes were sold, down 11.2 percent from the 357 sold in the previous July, according to the Champaign County Association of Realtors.

Through July, 1,812 homes have been sold this year, up 1.23 percent from 1,790 through July of last year.

Meanwhile, the average home sale price was down 9.9 percent in July, from $197,167 a year ago to $177,595...

There were 221 pending sales in July, up from 219 a year ago. These indicate homes that went under contract and are awaiting closing.

The average mortgage rate in July was 4.52 percent, up from 3.96 percent in July a year ago and down from 4.57 percent a month ago.

Full article with some commentary from local Realtors here. Unemployment numbers were in today's News-Gazette:

The unemployment rate dropped in each of the state's 14 metro areas in July compared with a year ago.

Unemployment numbers down again in July throughout Illinois
In the Champaign-Urbana metro area, it dropped slightly — from 4.6 to 4.5 percent. In the Danville area, it dropped from 6.8 to 5.9 percent...

In the C-U area, 1,600 nonfarm jobs were added.

Nine hundred were added in the government sector; 700 in education and health services; 500 in leisure and hospitality; 100 in professional and business services; 100 in financial activities; 100 in transportation, warehousing and utilities; and 100 in durable goods manufacturing.

Meanwhile, the Champaign-Urbana area lost 400 jobs in trade, transportation and utilities; 300 in wholesale trade; 200 in retail trade; 200 in mining and construction; 100 in information; and 100 in non-durable manufacturing.

More area unemployment data at the full article here.

Area Kindergarten Readiness

A new State survey painted a bleak picture of kindergarten readiness. From the News-Gazette yesterday.

ISBE survey shows just 1 in 4 kids ready for kindergarten
The results of the Illinois State Board of Education's first survey of kindergarten readiness weren't exactly heartening, but they appeared to confirm what educators already knew:

What children do before coming to kindergarten matters.

The Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS) collected "readiness" data on 81 percent of kindergartners across the state via teachers who observed them over the first 40 days of the 2017-18 school year.

For ISBE, kindergartners "demonstrating readiness" meant that such "students have displayed the skills, knowledge and behaviors for all three developmental areas" — language/literacy, math and social/emotional development.

Statewide, only 24 percent of kindergartners met that criteria.

Among the statistics for local schools:

— In Unit 4, 22 percent of surveyed kindergartners demonstrated readiness in all three areas.

— In both the Urbana and Danville districts, 16 percent surveyed were considered ready in the three areas.

— Hoopeston Area and Westville both reported 25 percent readiness in the three areas.

— Bement (52 percent) and Tuscola (50) were on the high end. Arcola (9 percent) was on the low end.

The data could also be broken down by whether students receive free or reduced-price lunches. Overall, the survey showed that students who weren't on either plan tended to score higher than those who were.

More at the full article here. The News-Gazette also had an editorial on their concerns with such low readiness numbers here with a couple cautions:

It's important to note that the determination is not based on testing but on observing students in the classroom for the first 40 days of school. Their teachers watched as children performed such tasks as adding and subtracting small quantities, identifying letters and numbers and working in small groups.

And since this is the first year of the assessments, there's no way to compare with past evaluations, nor is there any kind of a national standard to see how well or poorly Illinois students rank.

 They recommend some positive steps to take at home, but admit that even noting the shortcomings of the data, the picture it paints is "discouraging."

Urbana Solar Farm Protest Voted Down

The Urbana City Council had an opportunity to protest under a state law (see Page 3 of Exhibit E, page 16 of pdf file from resolution) new zoning rules on Solar Farms in Champaign County (more on the solar farm issue here). The council voted against doing so. Two before and after articles on that, the first from WAND with a video segment citing the News-Gazette:

Urbana city staff have suggested council members not stand in the way of a Champaign County zoning proposal that could bring solar farms to rural areas.

That is according to the News Gazette.

The recommendation comes ahead of the Urbana City Council meeting.

The council is scheduled to vote on whether to protest changes to the county rules on solar farms. The rules were proposed this month by the county board.

Urbana must give approval for the proposal to move forward.

Solar farms need a special permit from the Champaign County Board to be built.

The News Gazette reports there are already seven applications for solar farms.

The county board will consider final approval of the solar farm rules on Thursday.

If that passes, the first solar farm public hearing will be on Aug. 30.

It was reported after the meeting that it was rejected. From the News-Gazette coverage of the Urbana City Council meeting afterward:

In other business, council members unanimously rejected a resolution that would have protested proposed zoning changes at the county level to allow solar farms.

Council member Bill Brown said the county's process was thorough and kept Urbana in mind.

There doesn't appear to be any controversy, but from the resolution documents you can see that a lot of work went into assuring that City ordinances, rules, and concerns were looked at for these new zoning rules before giving their recommendation to the council not to stand in the way. I doubt that'll change anyone's mind on the issue, but for others it may be interesting.

BPNJ Brief Update

Build Programs Not Jails is getting ready for the influx of students back to town and the upcoming election and the possible ramifications on local government and priorities going forward. There will be an upcoming event to be announced that will address the direction the group will take in addressing the needs and challenges ahead. The tentative date for that will be September 8th. More on that as more information becomes available.

The next regular meeting of BPNJ will be on September 5th for those wanting to get involved in all of the planning and discussions for the group moving forward, especially as it pertains to the building programs to prevent reliance on criminal justice interventions and alternatives to mass incarceration.

A lot of what was covered was planning or organizing in progress so I don't have much to report this time around.

Veterans Assistance Commission

On "The Week Ahead" posts I've sometimes referred to a Veterans Assistance Commission meeting that I had yet to attend and gave the best description I had from the County website. For example from this week's post:

The Veterans Assistance Commission meeting appears to mostly report on the commission itself, but I haven't attended one of these to know much about it yet (agenda here). Here's a description from the website of what this board oversees:

The Veteran's Assistance Commission (VAC) of Champaign County is a distinct unit of local government created by State Law and funded by Champaign County. The VAC is a temporary financial assistance program designed to help veterans that find themselves in need. The VAC is managed by a Board of Directors who are veterans representing the various veteran organizations in Champaign County.

Well, I finally made it to that one and found out that there's additional information and access through their new facebook page available here: https://www.facebook.com/ChampaignCountyVAC/. The local VFW Post 630 also has a brief information page here.

The programs are mainly funded by the county, but they're able to do additional work with funds raised in the community, for example the recent riders event (WCIA article and video here):

A motorcycle club made up of veterans donated $5,000 to the county's Veterans Assistant Commission.

The program helps veterans who are struggling to pay their bills. The American Legion Riders Post 568 raised the money at an event earlier this month.

Last year, they gave the commission about $4,200, which allowed the program to help an extra 27 veterans pay their bills around the holidays.

Commission employees say the $5,000 donation will allow them to help even more veterans this year.

They work with local veterans organizations, including a monthly Veteran Food Pantry with the VFW and members of those organizations make up the commission members. They have most of the organizations represented, but they are looking for someone to fill a vacant position if you know a veterans organization member who might be interested.

The commission works out of the Brookens Administrative Center and has an office just to the left of the front desk down a little hallway there. They're in office 3D (map) to see veterans who need information or assistance. The commission used to meet in the Putman meeting room, but has recently moved across the way from their office in the 3F meeting room (again, just to the left of the front desk at Brookens).

The group's mission, meetings, and even the budget are very straightforward. One extra agenda item includes a salute to the flag at the end of the meeting.

In additional news brought up at the meeting, a Veterans Legal Clinic has been set up at U of I that is offering legal services to Veterans who might not otherwise be able to afford it, including for Discharge Upgrades (e.g. for those who should have received medical discharges, but were separated on other grounds). More on that program here. Contact information for the Veterans Legal Clinic include a phone number 217-244-9494 and e-mail clinic@law.illinois.edu.

New Candidate Filings

Following up on a previous post (and News-Gazette blurb here) more candidates have entered the fray through party nominations and appointments will begin tonight at the County Board to fill the remaining terms of seats empty due to resignations and moves. From the News-Gazette Tuesday:

Nominees selected to fill out three vacancies on Champaign County Board
On Tuesday, precinct committee members in District 10 proposed offering the seat vacated by Robert King, who moved out of state, to Tanisha King-Taylor, who defeated the other District 10 representative, Chris Stohr, in the Democratic primary.

If King-Taylor turns down the offer to serve out King's term, Democrats will nominate former county board member James Quisenberry instead.

King-Taylor will face Republican David Weisiger on Nov. 6 for election to a full term for the seat currently held by Stohr...

Earlier Tuesday, Democrats nominated University of Illinois doctoral student Pranjal Vachaspati to serve out the remainder of the District 9 seat vacated last month by Shana Jo Crews, who is moving out of the county.

Vachaspati, a participant in the 2017 "Jeopardy" Tournament of Champions, was already nominated in the primary to run for Crews' seat in November. He will face Republican Traci Nally, who is general counsel and vice president of human resources for News-Gazette Media.

Meanwhile, Republicans appointed Jodi Eisenmann of rural Mahomet both to serve out the remainder of Brooks Marsh's term and as the candidate for his District 1 seat in November's election.

Eisenmann has experience as an educator and farmer, assisting her husband, Derric, in their family farming operation, JDE Ag Farms Inc.

More at the full article here. Updates to the Elections, County Offices and District pages are coming soon to reflect the new filings and information.

Vote By Mail is available to voters generally now. Ballot requests for the November 6th, 2018 General Election have already started! More information on Vote By Mail in Champaign County here. Ballot request direct link for residents here. More information on County elections (including checking your registration, sample ballots when available, and early voting times and locations) at our Elections page.

The Week Ahead: 8/19 - 8/25

*** There is a County Board meeting this Thursday. Agenda here (more information below). More information on how to attend a county board meeting here. *** 

Vote By Mail is available to voters generally now. Ballot requests for the November 6th, 2018 General Election have already started! More information on Vote By Mail in Champaign County here. Ballot request direct link for residents here. More information on County elections (including checking your registration, sample ballots when available, and early voting times and locations) at our Elections page.

Other Events:

There are a lot of political campaign and organizing events popping up (e.g. recent meeting of Republican Women of Champaign County and Democratic Party Meet and Greet for County Candidates). Check out your preferred candidates and you will likely see campaign, canvassing, or voter registration events in the area. Many are using facebook to more easily share event information and reminders. Check out the Champaign County Voter Alliance's preliminary general election candidate guide to see who is running. We'll be updating County race information from the primary election to the general soon.
 
Groups that crossover with Racial Justice Task Force recommendations meeting this week:

Build Programs Not Jails meets Wednesday, August 22nd at 7pm at the Independent Media Center. Meetings are every other Wednesday at 7pm at the IMC.

The Housing Authority of Champaign County has a special Moving To Work public hearing this week Thursday August 23rd at 2pm at their offices at 205 W. Park Ave. (*** The usual monthly Board of Commissioners meeting has been moved to August 30th next week at 3pm in the same location. ***)

At last month's City of Champaign Study Session of the City Council, the reentry housing issue was raised during public participation (a full write up of the meeting is here and video here). This is following up on the preview of that discussion at the City Council meeting here: Reentry Housing Issue. The News-Gazette had a couple articles following up on the meeting linked on the Cheat Sheet here.

County Calendar:

The Labor/Management Health Insurance Committee deals with benefits issues for County Staff which is probably mostly interesting to County Staff. Agenda and previous meeting's minutes here.

There's also a County Board of Health meeting Tuesday at 5:30pm at the CU Public Health Department building at 201 W. Kenyon Rd (map) in Champaign. Agenda here.

The Veterans Assistance Commission meeting appears to mostly report on the commission itself, but I haven't attended one of these (Update: I have now) to know much about it yet (agenda here). Here's a description from the website of what this board oversees:

The Veteran's Assistance Commission (VAC) of Champaign County is a distinct unit of local government created by State Law and funded by Champaign County. The VAC is a temporary financial assistance program designed to help veterans that find themselves in need. The VAC is managed by a Board of Directors who are veterans representing the various veteran organizations in Champaign County.

*** There is a County Board meeting this Thursday. Agenda here. If you'd like to attend a County Board meeting, you can find more information on how to attend here. The agenda suggests that they're expecting appointments to a couple vacant seats as well as honoring some recent resignees. There will be a Visit Champaign presentation and couple Nursing Home related votes (one to reinstate the 12 month budget and another involving purchases not following purchase policy — often additional outlays).

The full 2018 schedule is 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

Aquifer Update

Following up on the Mahomet Aquifer gas leak, new State legislation could help residents get a better warning for such issues in the future. From the News-Gazette yesterday:

Aquifer update: New legal measures part of 'ongoing process'
...
That provision is aimed at preventing a repeat of a 2016 incident in which there was a leak at Peoples Gas' Manlove Field — an underground natural gas storage facility in Champaign County — which wasn't quickly reported to residents and authorities. The leak is said to have contaminated private water wells.

"These poor folks didn't even know it happened for months," said state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, who sponsored the bill in the Senate along with Sen. Scott Bennett, D-Champaign. Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, was one of the house sponsors.

Specifically, the new law requires notification of all private residents, owners and operators of private water systems and businesses within a mile-and-a-half of the boundaries of a natural gas incident to be notified "as soon as practically possible."

The notices to private residents and businesses must be attempted through verbal communication, and if that can't be done, through a notice posted on properties where it can easily be seen.

The bill also requires an annual state inspection of all gas storage fields lying on the footprint of an EPA-designated sole source aquifer to make sure there aren't any deficiencies that could pose a threat to public health.

Full article here.

County Board Roundup

This week there was a County Board Committee of the Whole meeting (what is this?)(agenda here and video here) and some news on a new candidate filing as well as a couple updates on the Nursing Home.

First following up on a previous Cheat Sheet post on the latest Republican to join the Champaign County Board races, the News-Gazette had a short blurb to add Thursday in the print edition:

More on the two District 6 seat races on the Cheat Sheet here.


Nursing Home:

The bid filing required by the buyers for the Nursing Home went through just in time for a state review board deadline to act on it sooner rather than later. From Wednesday's News-Gazette:

County nursing home's potential buyers file bid by deadline
The Evanston companies poised to buy the Champaign County Nursing Home submitted an application to a state review board Friday, just in time for it likely to be considered at the board's next session Oct. 30...

The state board has legal oversight over certain health care construction projects and the closing or sales of certain health care facilities, among them a county-owned nursing home.

Friday was the deadline for applications to be filed for the board's October session. The board doesn't meet again after that until December.

The Champaign County Board approved the sale of the county nursing home for $11 million this past May, and county officials originally anticipated turning over the keys to the new owners at the end of July.
More at the full article here.

The County Board began the preliminary steps to revert back to a 12 month budget for the Nursing home from the 6 month budget fought over previously. The point of contention prior to the sale was between Republican board members who wanted to operate under the assumption the facility would be sold and several Democrats who were still fighting to preserve County ownership. 

Champaign County Board recommends $4.5M budget for nursing home
...
Previously, the county board — months before a decision was made on the home's future — had only approved a six-month budget for the facility.

In May, following months of debate, the county board voted 15-6 to sell the nursing home to Extended Care Clinical LLC and Altitude Health Services Inc., both headquartered in Evanston, for $11 million.

The sale won't close until approximately Oct. 31, according to County Administrator Deb Busey.

That leaves lots of bills to settle in the meantime.

Since current appropriations are insufficient to cover nursing home operations, Busey said the board's action — if ultimately approved — would essentially restore the nursing home to its original 12-month budget, as proposed by the management company during the budget process.

A board vote on the appropriation is expected next week.

A few extra details at the full article here. The Committee of the Whole meeting itself went for about two hours and included a presentation from the new Executive Director of the Housing Authority of Champaign County, a concern about voting locations on campus, and a slew of appointments, including a new Deputy and Assistant Deputy Chair of the Justice & Social Services committee that has tried to facilitate the recommendations of the Racial Justice Task Force.

The News-Gazette had a good summary of the concerns about moving campus voting locations due to construction and renovations Thursday:

Proposal to move UI campus polling place draws concerns about overcrowding
Champaign County Clerk Gordy Hulten's plan to move one precinct's polling place to the Illini Union while its normal location is under renovation has some county board members concerned about overcrowding that could discourage voting.

This week, Hulten proposed transferring the polling site for the Cunningham 3 precinct from the Illinois Street Residence Hall to the Union, because the residence hall is temporarily unavailable due to renovation work in that building, he said.

If the county board approves, Hulten said, cards would be mailed to the voters of Cunningham 3 informing them of their new polling place. The campus precinct is bounded by Green Street on the north, Nevada Street on the south, Lincoln Avenue on the east and Wright Street on the west.

"We will also mail a letter stating the reason for the change and alerting them of the possibility of voting by mail or voting early," he said.

Some board Democrats oppose Hulten's plan, citing long lines at the Illini Union in previous elections — even before Cunningham 3 is potentially added to the mix.

Democrat Chris Stohr said he was an observer at the Illini Union in the general election in 2016.

"The lines there were long," Stohr said. "I counted up to 76 people in line. I don't agree that moving the polling place to the Illini Union would be a good idea..."

"The proportion of Election Day voters in the precinct we are talking about are among the lowest for any of the precincts in the county," Hulten said. "The voters of this precinct take advantage of voting by mail compared with the rest of the precincts in Champaign County."

The full county board is expected to vote on Hulten's proposal at its Aug. 23 meeting.

Full article with more details and arguments here. There appears to be genuine concerns about lines and how that can depress the vote (something the County Clerk agreed with Democrats on). But there are constraints by law and available space that won't budge. Hulten argued that students will gravitate towards the Illini Union as opposed to other proposed additional locations by convenience, traffic patterns and by default knowledge of the option.


Rest of the Committee of the Whole:

The Committee of the Whole also included a presentation by the Housing Authority Executive Director (his Power Point presentation is available here for a quick scan and video link here). He outlined the Moving To Work program and was asked several questions about accessibility to public transportation at housing locations and their main office going forward. The Champaign reentry housing issue was raised as something to be aware of, but not addressed in depth.

With the resignation and move by Robert King, there was an opening in the Deputy Chair position of the Justice & Social Services Committee. Jim McGuire was moved up from the Assistant Deputy Chair position to the Deputy Chair position. Kyle Patterson was appointed to the Assistant Deputy Chair position. There were a litany of other appointments in County government offices approved (full listing available on the agenda).

Some of the preliminary new rules for the upcoming County Executive form of government were distributed among members to peruse. The County Executive Transition Committee was mentioned by Chair Weibel as having some future meetings still to be scheduled to finish that work.

The Nursing Home management contract due to expire September 30th would be extended to the sale date of the Nursing Home if given final approval at the County Board next week.

Everything else voted on or reported in the agenda (outside of some corrections and re-corrections on what was to be on the consent agenda list) went through without additional fuss.

County Board Updates

The video is up for yesterday night's Committee of the Whole County Board meeting (available here). More on that soon. The Champaign County Clerk announced a new candidate filing for County Board District 6, Republican PJ Trautman:

More on Truatman's decision to join the race here at this post on his personal facebook page. He'll be running against Democrat Charles Young for the seat currently held by Tracy Douglass (recently appointed to the board after Joshua Hartke's resignation and move). More updates to the District 6 election page on the way.

The News-Gazette had a highlight from last night's Committee of the Whole meeting:

Champaign County Board recommends $4.5M budget for nursing home
...
At a committee-of-the-whole meeting Tuesday evening, members recommended appropriating $4,542,946 to the nursing home for an operating budget.

Previously, the county board — months before a decision was made on the home's future — had only approved a six-month budget for the facility...

Since current appropriations are insufficient to cover nursing home operations, [County Administrator Deb Busey] said the board's action — if ultimately approved — would essentially restore the nursing home to its original 12-month budget, as proposed by the management company during the budget process.

A board vote on the appropriation is expected next week.

Full article here. More on last night's meeting coming soon.

Area Substitute Teachers

The News-Gazette highlighted area school district difficulties in filling substitute teacher positions as well as some of the changes at the State and local level. From today's paper:

Area districts finding there's no substitute for reliable replacement teachers
...
This past summer, the state passed legislation to address those shortages. Among other things, it:

— Provides reciprocity for comparable and valid educator licenses from other states, making it easier for out-of-state applicants to teach in Illinois.

— Creates a short-term license so people who have an associate degree or have earned at least 60 hours toward a degree from an accredited institution of higher education can sub.

— Allows teachers with lapsed professional educator's licenses to qualify for a substitute-teaching license.

— Increases the number of days retired teachers can work from 100 to 120 without jeopardizing their pension benefits.

"Those are big changes, and we want to promote them so we can increase our pool," said Hoopeston Area Superintendent Suzi Hesser. "We'll take them whether they have a bachelor's degree or an associate degree, as long as they will be effective with our students."

This year, several districts increased their daily base pay for substitute teachers to be more competitive. They include DeLand-Weldon, Fisher and Villa Grove, whose rates went from $80 to $90, and Mahomet-Seymour, whose base went from $90 to $100, making it one of eight districts in Champaign, Douglas, Ford, Piatt and Vermilion counties to offer $100 or more.

More at the full article here, including a closer look at two balanced-calendar schools and Urbana's substitute teacher situation.

Active Shooter Fears and More School Police

Smaller communities around the area have been adding or talking about adding additional armed officers in their schools like some of the larger cities already do. Some have even been training for the possibility of the law being changed to allow school staff to carry their own firearms in school. The concerns revolve around, but are not limited to, concerns about active shootings that have occurred in areas where people gather. From children's schools such as the recent Valentine's Day attack in Parkland, Florida to Churches to concerts, etc. From the News-Gazette today:

Districts see need for school resource officer as 'unfortunately ... a sign of the times'
...
While the area's more urban school districts — Champaign, Urbana, Danville and Rantoul — have had SROs for years, smaller districts across East Central Illinois are starting to take steps to add officers.

At least seven area districts — including Mahomet-Seymour, Monticello, Villa Grove and Piatt County's four public districts — will have sworn police officers walking their school hallways for the first time this school year, with officials all citing safety concerns as the chief reason for taking the step.

More at the full article here with specific examples and highlights around the County and the East Central Illinois region. This bit from the County Sheriff's SRO stood out to me:

Champaign County Sheriff's Deputy Alicia Maxey is starting her 19th year as an SRO at St. Joseph-Ogden High and the two nearby elementary districts, St. Joseph and Prarieview-Ogden.

Her position, and that of another SRO at Tolono Unity, came to be because of a grant through the sheriff's office the year after what was at the time the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history — the 1999 massacre at Columbine High in Littleton, Colo.

You can't measure prevention, Maxey says, but she is certain that SROs make a difference.

"Having a squad car in front of the building and an officer in the building has got to deter something — it has to," she said.

It should be noted that some of the school shooting mentioned spanning two decades had armed officers on the school grounds with varying results. A key concern of many with our mass incarceration system is disparate disciplinary treatment in our own local districts and how that can add to the school to prison pipeline here at home and the country in general.

Previous posts on the area communities preparing teachers and students to survive active shooters: Preparing Kids to Survive Active Shooters and Saving Local Kids from Bleeding Out.

The Week Ahead: 8/12 - 8/18

*** There is a County Board Committee of the Whole meeting this Tuesday. Agenda here (more information below). More information on what that is and how to attend here. *** 

Vote By Mail is available to voters generally now. Ballot requests for the November 6th, 2018 General Election have already started! More information on Vote By Mail in Champaign County here. Ballot request direct link for residents here. More information on County elections (including checking your registration, sample ballots when available, and early voting times and locations) at our Elections page.

Other Events:

There are a lot of political campaign and organizing events popping up (e.g. recent meeting of Republican Women of Champaign County and Democratic Party Meet and Greet for County Candidates). Check out your preferred candidates and you will likely see campaign, canvassing, or voter registration events in the area. Many are using facebook to more easily share event information and reminders. Check out the Champaign County Voter Alliance's preliminary general election candidate guide to see who is running. We'll be updating County race information from the primary election to the general soon.
 
Groups that crossover with Racial Justice Task Force recommendations meeting this week:

Build Programs Not Jails doesn't meet this week. Meetings are every other Wednesday at 7pm at the IMC. The next meeting is August 22nd.

At last month's City of Champaign Study Session of the City Council, the reentry housing issue was raised during public participation (a full write up of the meeting is here and video here). This is following up on the preview of that discussion at the City Council meeting here: Reentry Housing Issue. The News-Gazette had a couple articles following up on the meeting linked on the Cheat Sheet here.

County Calendar:

On Monday evening there is the Nursing Home Board of Directors meeting at the 6:30pm time (agenda here). From the previous month's minutes in this month's agenda packet you can see this is more of a managerial board discussing financials and marketing more than policy or politics, but with the sale of the Nursing Home looming it may have additional related information.

There is a County Board Committee of the Whole meeting this Tuesday. Agenda here. Among other items it appears that Jim McGuire will move from Assistant Deputy Chair of the Justice & Social Services Committee to Deputy Chair (on Robert King's resignation and move) and Kyle Patterson will become Assistant Deputy Chair. The County Clerk is proposing moving a few polling places due to renovations at one and another becoming unavailable for use by the County. The three locations are on campus where Democrats are already concerned with access. There also appears to be a presentation by the Housing Authority on their "Moving To Work" program on the agenda addendum. More information on what the Committee of the Whole meeting is like and how to attend here.

There is a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting Thursday night (upcoming agenda here). Board page here. The solar farm issue has moved to other committees and now to the full county board to decide. Updates on that here: One Step Closer to Solar Farms.

The full 2018 schedule is 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