Champaign County Board Updates

It has been a long time since our last update and so much has happened since the November 2024 election that it would be difficult to catch up on all of it. This post will mostly be about the last couple months of County Board and related news items. We've also updated our About Page with some new disclaimers for our collaborations.

You can always check out the latest County Board meetings from the County's YouTube page here. Agendas, minutes, action reports, and other documentation are available on the County website here. We'll start with the May and June updates first and then a longer look back for those interested (jump to link). For other County government related updates, see our other post today: Other County Government Updates.

May and June County Board Updates:

One of the bigger issues facing the County recently was a potential strike by County employees over a new contract. As of last night, plans for a strike today were canceled as the union and county reached a tentative deal on a new contract. The News-Gazette had an update to their article on the potential strike today:

The Champaign County Board Labor Committee has reached a tentative deal with AFSCME Council 31 Local 900 for a new contract, which will need approval from both the bargaining unit and the county board.

That full News-Gazette article with details of the tentative agreement and more information is available here. WCIA just posted their coverage of the tentative agreement here:

Just hours before Champaign County employees were set to go on strike, a tentative deal was reached between their union and their employer.

The Champaign County Board Labor Committee and AFSCME Local 900 separately announced Tuesday night that a tentative deal had been reached that evening. The two parties negotiated for more than eight hours on Tuesday to reach this deal, and it potentially ends more than six months of bargaining on a new union contract.

That WCIA article is available here with details of the tentative agreement as well. The News-Gazette also spoke with County elected officials on what a strike could have meant for County government. Illinois Public Media had coverage of the negotiations heading into this week:

Champaign County employees are threatening to strike if county officials do not negotiate in good faith on a new contract.

More than 100 workers rallied Monday afternoon outside the Champaign County Courthouse in Urbana. The group, represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, claims administrators are not offering fair wages or affordable insurance...

In May, the union took a vote in which 96% of its members voted to support a strike if necessary. The group’s last contract ran through the end of last year.

More from that IPM article here. The Daily Illini had coverage after the union voted to authorize a strike as part of the negotiations if deemed appropriate by leaders:

Negotiations have stalled for 150 days following the expiration of the union’s contract with Champaign County at the end of 2024. AFSCME Council 31 wrote county officials “still have failed to come forward with the fair wage increases and affordable health insurance they know are needed to settle a new contract.”

Emily Rodriguez, the chair of the Champaign County Labor Committee said in a statement that they remain “committed” to continue negotiations with AFSCME.

“We believe our current offer is fair, ambitious, and one that our neighbors can be proud of,” Rodriguez said. “I remember my vote to authorize a strike against UIUC as a picket captain of GEO in 2018. It was a momentous vote I was proud to make.”

More in that DI article here with a lot more details and analysis. WICS had similar coverage ahead of the vote:

Union leaders say today’s vote doesn’t mean they’re walking off the job; it simply gives them the legal authority to strike if negotiations fall through.

Cecilia Phillips, president of AFSCME Local 900 and a deputy clerk, says if they do go on strike, she’s not exactly sure what that would even look like...

AFSCME represents workers across nearly every department in the county — from the courthouse and jail to the highway department and animal control.

That full article here. The News-Gazette also had coverage ahead of the strike authorization and afterward. The News-Gazette had a bit more background in their May 7th article here.

County Board members who have spoken on the topic have generally signaled support for the union and workers, but there have been continued public disagreements on the state of the County's budget. This is especially true on the context of the failed Public Safety Sales Tax referendum and disagreements on spending priorities and conflicting views on the official financial forecast.

Other County Board Updates:

• Longtime District 10 representative Chris Stohr has resigned to join the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District Board.
  
  
• Members of the Champaign-Urbana Reparations Coalition used the public comment portion of the June Committee of the Whole meeting to explain and promote reparations initiatives for Black residents of Champaign County (video jump to link).
  
  
• At the May COW and Regular Board meetings, the Board approved a collaboration between DCFS and the Sheriff's office. From the CCSO memo on the agreement (page 8 of the PDF agenda packet):

• This opportunity will place a fulltime deputy sheriff in the local DCFS field office to assist with the safety of DCFS workers in the field while also allowing for more effective and efficient investigations of DCFS cases that would be investigated by the Sheriff’s Office anyway. This collaboration, formalized through an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between Champaign County and the State of Illinois, will fully reimburse the County for salary, benefits, and equipment expenses of the deputy.

• There was a presentation for the expansion of the Street College Programming at the Champaign Count Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) at the May COW (jump to video link).
  
  
• It was announced at the June COW that the County was no longer paying Rosecrance for their reentry program and that funding would be available to work with a new partner on reentry programs. Rosecrance confirmed that they will be moving currently clients to their criminal justice program for continued services. The Rosecrance criminal justice program is no longer relying on the Champaign County Mental Health Board funding for that work either. The Champaign County Reentry Council will be reorganizing given these changes.
  
  
• The approval of the expansion of the Street College Programming referenced the funds made available from those previously budgeted for Rosecrance reentry programming funding (see page 4 of the PDF June County Board agenda addendum). This expansion passed (jump to video link).
  
  
• There were two special meetings over the past two months relating to the settlement agreement on the tax-exempt status of hospitals and local property taxes. The May Special Meeting related to Carle (documentation in the agenda packet here) while the June Special Meeting addressed the claims of Presence Central and Suburban Hospitals Network (former owners of OSF HealthCare).

Potential Late Audit and Impacts:

There has also been a great deal of disagreement over the work on the 2024 audit. Much of the County Board and the Auditor remain at odds after he won re-election in November in spite of a great deal of opposition within the local Party leadership and other elected officials. Some of those officials are commissioners on the Regional Planning Commission which penned a warning in the News-Gazette on what delays in the audit could mean.

Any delays in the completion of Fiscal Year 2024 Single Audit poses serious risks.

If the audit is not completed when it is due, barring any grace periods, existing grants may be frozen and new applications as well as modifications to grants may be denied. The Regional Planning Commission would be unable to draw down funds — both state and federal pass-through grants — to reimburse agency costs for payroll and accounts payable.

These are conditions which have been temporarily imposed on the RPC in previous years when Champaign County was delinquent in its completion of the audit. These delays in the completion of the audit directly threaten our ability to serve the public and could lead to devastating consequences for the individuals and families who depend on these vital services.

Their full letter is available here, and included in the May County Board documents here. The Auditor wrote a reply in which he lamented the call for usurping his authority and then stated that he was "washing his hands" of the 2024 audit:

In a recent letter to The News-Gazette, the Regional Planning Commission expressed support for county administration to prepare the county’s annual financial report and the audit thereof.

This is a seizure of a portion of my duties. The county board and the county executive did this without my input and justify their move by worrying that — for the first time ever — the RPC might have to wait on a grant due to a late audit.

...

As for the 2024 audit, I wash my hands. It is only just that the board and administration who destabilized my office last year take full responsibility for the timeliness and success of this year’s audit. I pray they succeed. I will audit their spending.

The full printed letter is in the News-Gazette here.

Moving:

There have been a variety of updates and some fighting over the County's move to the newly renovated Bennett Administrative Center in downtown Urbana from the old Brookens building on Washington Street.

• The County website has general information and a list of tentative moving dates for various offices.
• There was a tentative general timeline from April on how the moving was expected to go from WCIA for those who'd like to compare that to the current schedule.
• Updates and timelines for the Champaign County Clerk's office move from WCIA.
• More disagreements between the Auditor and the Executive office on space considerations. News-Gazette Opinions Editor Jim Dey had an opinion piece on various parts of that drama here.

What's happened since the November 2024 Election:

The News-Gazette has the November 2024 General Election (including County races and referenda) results here and 2025 Consolidated Election (municipal/local) results here.

In November, the referendum to abolish the auditor's office failed and the embattled and censured County Auditor George Danos won re-election. The Public Safety Sales Tax referendum also failed, which was opposed by Danos and others in intraparty disagreements on budget realities and whether it was necessary. 

When the County Board reorganized in December, Jennifer Locke was selected as the new Chair. The outgoing Chair and fellow Democrat Samantha Carter is still on the County Board representing District 6. The News-Gazette had coverage of both results and additional details here.

News-Gazette Opinions Editor Jim Dey also noted that this election resulted in the first time the Democratic Party held every County-wide elected office. Excerpt:

Democrats hold all the countywide offices and have a supermajority on the county board. The party claimed its last GOP holdout — the coroner’s office — in the Nov. 5 election...

The coroner’s race featured two non-incumbents who were veteran employees of the office: Democrat Laurie Brauer and Republican Steve Thuney.

Brauer received 50,236 votes (58 percent) to 36,219 votes (42 percent) to Thuney.

So good luck to the Republicans in future elections, because they’ll need it. Now the GOP knows how the Dems felt for all those years when they were a solid minority in Champaign County.

That full opinion piece is here.

With the local Democratic Party holding an overwhelming amount of the elected County seats, a great deal of the politics revolves around intraparty disputes and disagreements (with local Republicans openly taking sides on those intraparty disputes). The News-Gazette highlighted some of the ongoing disagreements with the County labor negotiations today. It noted continuing disagreements with the auditor on budget realities underlying the dispute.

The last County Board meeting recessed after the previous County Board chair was accused of violating decorum rules. Another Board member began throwing things when the board voted to end further board communications and move on with the agenda. Jim Dey had another opinion piece on that public drama here.

It remains to be seen how much these continuing disagreements, especially on what the budget realities are, will have on the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget process, already in progress. 

If the past is any guide, those disagreements helped undermine the local Democratic Party's attempt at a united front for raising tax revenue towards that budget already. It has already complicated the negotiations for County worker contracts, with personnel costs being a substantial budget concern moving forward.

Old County Nursing Home Updates:

There was some indication that the new owners of what was once the old Champaign County Nursing Home may have been looking at going through the convoluted and expensive process required to reopen the facility as a nursing home again. I have not heard or found any updates since local news reported that possibility back in January and February 2025, however. From WCIA:

A former Urbana nursing home could be re-opening its doors. County documents show Ayodhya Dham Urbana LLC purchased University Rehab for $1.5 million. Now, the community is left wondering what happens next.

Steve Summers, the Champaign County executive, said there has been very little information shared with the board, and the county’s only involvement was releasing a restricted covenant about one year ago. That allowed the land to be used for something other than a nursing home.

That full WCIA article here. The News-Gazette coverage also indicated that reopening was a possibility:

Despite previous reports that opening another nursing home at the former University Rehabilitation Center of C-U site would not be feasible, the property’s new owners are eyeing this possibility.

County records show that Ayodhya Dham Urbana LLC has purchased the property at 500 Art Bartell Road in Urbana for $1.5 million.

“We haven’t solidified any concrete plans with the building,” said Dipak Patel, a managing member of the group. “We are interested in working with nursing-home operators, though we haven’t decided on anyone specifically. At the moment, we are renovating the building and considering what to do with it after, as many nursing-home operators are indeed interested.”.

That full article here. We will post updates on this once more information is available.

Other County Government Updates

This post covers many of the other County level government and related news items for May and June. For County Board specific updates, see our other post today here. 

Mahomet Aquifer Updates:

A bill banning carbon sequestration in the Mahomet Aquifer is awaiting the Governor's signature. State Senator Faraci's (IL-52) office is expecting him to sign it in the coming weeks. It is still unknown whether the Governor will visit the area when he does so.

The Daily Illini had coverage of the bill being passed by the Illinois General Assembly back in May:

After months of debate, the Illinois House and Senate passed a bill to ban carbon sequestration projects at sole-source aquifers on Tuesday, May 20. In a bipartisan effort, the House voted 91-19, sending the legislation to Governor Pritzker’s desk for approval. 

“Although carbon sequestration undergoes rigorous federal and State permitting, the uniqueness of the Mahomet Aquifer being the sole source of drinking water for central Illinois residents warrants additional protection,” reads the bill.

Carbon sequestration is the process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and injecting it underground. After Archer-Daniels-Midland’s carbon sequestration facility in Decatur, Illinois leaked, environmentalists started lobbying for efforts to protect the integrity of the Mahomet Aquifer, which serves nearly one million people. 

That full article here.

July 4th Events and Organizing.

There is a great deal of work that goes into local events, fundraising, and organizing body behind our local July 4th events. The Champaign County Freedom Celebration Committee is also looking for more volunteers for this year's events. The News-Gazette had a detailed overview of events here. Illinois Public Media also had a brief rundown of the events, timing, and security issues for this year's event:

The Champaign County Freedom Celebration has been East Central Illinois’ premier patriotic party since 1949 -honoring a longstanding custom to celebrate Independence Day in Champaign County. 

...

New Timing

This year’s event will include some changes to its parade route and time.

Captain Joe McCullough with the University of Illinois Police, said that due to the lack of volunteers, the celebration had to delay its parade time to 4:30 p.m. — several hours later than its traditional time. 

More at that full article here. Publicity Chair, Diane Ducey also explained some of the changes in a recent Kathy's Mailbag article here. For a little background, there was also a struggle for volunteers last year as well, as reported in the News-Gazette back in 2024.

After this year's July 4th events there were concerns raised about limiting protests, banning pamphlet distribution, and accessibility.

Kickapoo Rail Trail Update:

IPM also reported a large amount of State funding for the Kickapoo Rail Trail project:

The Kickapoo Rail Trail expansion received over $9.5 million dollars in the 2026 Illinois state budget to continue a construction project that involves converting an out of service railroad into a recreational trail... 

Bridgette Moen, planning director for the Champaign County Forest Preserves, said the final trail will be about 25 miles long. The trail will connect Urbana to Oakwood and cap out near Kickapoo State Park. 

“Currently we have about three miles built in Vermilion County and about eight in Champaign County,” she said. “But this project includes building close to nine additional miles in Vermilion County, about four and a half in Champaign County and then a trailhead structure in Urbana at the Urbana Park District.”

The funding for the project is from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity through the Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan. The total cost of the expansion is $11.2 million.

That full article here.

C-UPHD Updates:

There are ongoing disputes about the Sooie Bar-B-Que Joint dispute that had both the restaurant owner and the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District claiming to be vindicated after Judge Bohm ruled that the restaurant was to remain closed until it was in compliance with its existing food-service plan. In May the restaurant's lawsuit against the C-UPHD was dismissed, with the option of filing an amended complaint. The latest update from the News-Gazette notes that amended $3.5 million complaint has been submitted last week after an extension. The recent News-Gazette article was primarily on a separate new legal petition against the C-UPHD.

A local restaurant that has been shut down for nearly four months claims that, by not allowing it to reopen, the health district has violated a court order.

Sooie Bros. Bar-B-Que Joint co-owner Alven Allison has filed a petition for adjudication of civil contempt arguing that the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District has not complied with the order issued by Champaign County Judge Jason Bohm in late April.

Bohm wrote that the injunction to close the restaurant will remain in effect until Allison either “comes into compliance with the existing food-service plan dated February 2, 2023,” or submits an amended plan that is approved by the health district...

According to the case docket, any materials opposing Allison’s motion must be filed by July 14, and any rebuttal by Allison to these materials must be filed by July 21.

The court will then review the documents and decide whether to schedule a hearing.

That full article here with details on both the recent petition and amended $3.5 million lawsuit against the C-UPHD.

State's Attorney and Campus Protest Cases:

We've previously covered the Champaign County State's Attorney's controversial decision to charge campus protesters with felony mob-action charges which organizations like the Illinois ACLU raised serious concerns over. In case after case after case, the felony mob action charges have been dropped. From the News-Gazette coverage of the Yafa Issa case back in May:

A 19-year-old Savoy woman’s trial on charges related to her actions at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Illinois last year came to a close Thursday, with her found guilty of a misdemeanor.

Champaign County Judge Roger Webber dismissed felony mob-action charges against Yafa Issa after the state rested its case, saying the “evidence falls woefully short” of demonstrating that she was involved in any kind of violent activity. Issa was the first individual connected with the protest to go to trial.

Webber did not dismiss her misdemeanor charge of resisting or obstructing a peace officer, however, and, after hearing closing arguments, ruled it was clear beyond a reasonable doubt that Issa attempted to block officers from accessing tents erected by protestors near the Alma Mater statue.

That full article here with updates on that case, sentencing, and other cases in coverage last week here. 

While multiple other individuals who faced charges after the April 26, 2024, protest at the University of Illinois have taken plea deals, Issa was the first to go to trial.

Ultimately, Champaign County Judge Roger Webber made a similar ruling to the negotiated pleas others have accepted: He dismissed a felony mob-action charge and convicted her of resisting or obstructing a peace officer.

At the agreement of Assistant State’s Attorney Eileen Keeley and Issa’s attorney, Evan Bruno, Issa will be required to complete 100 hours of public service work and 12 months of conditional discharge.

That is also the sentence that other individuals have accepted as part of their negotiated pleas.

Given the passionate views on the topics of the protests themselves, I will repost the disclaimer from our previous coverage on these protests and related charges:

The Cheat Sheet does not take any position on foreign policy and generally limits its content to local government related news and information. On controversial issues like this, we will try our best to highlight different perspectives, while still doing our best to confirm any facts in contention. We leave it to the reader to form an opinion.

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.

Early Voting and Candidate Information

[Update 10/17: Including links to the News-Gazette questionnaires as they come out:

• Coroner candidates Laurie Brauer and Steve Thuney]

 

Early Voting has begun for the November 5th, 2004 General Election! Here are a few quick links to the County Clerk's website for your voting information:

• Many Ways to Vote: Early, mail, in-person, etc. links and additional information.
  
  
• Early voting times, dates, and locations from today until election day.
  
  
• My Voter Information: let's you check your voter registration, sample ballots, the status of your mail-in ballot, districts, and more!

VoteChampaign, in collaboration with the local League of Women Voters has a lot of additional information about elections, as well as a non-partisan local Candidate Guide:

The League of Women Voters also held a local candidate forum last week, including candidates for County Coroner, Auditor, and County Board District 5. That video is available on their YouTube page here.

The League also has additional information and voter education events coming up on their website. The League sometimes takes positions on some policy issues, such as the current question on the auditor referendum. The Cheat Sheet does not necessarily take the side of all the perspectives we link. Both candidates for auditor made their arguments against abolishing the elected auditor position in the candidate forum linked above.

There will be a few new Cheat Sheets in the next couple weeks on County government issues, with the latest updates on meetings, issues, and hopefully a little less drama!

State's Attorney and Campus Protest Charges

The Cheat Sheet does not take any position on foreign policy and generally limits its content to local government related news and information. On controversial issues like this, we will try our best to highlight different perspectives, while still doing our best to confirm any facts in contention. We leave it to the reader to form an opinion.

Last semester there were continued protests relating to the current conflict in Gaza and other ongoing concerns about the Palestinian people and policies of Israel. These protests eventually included an encampment as part of the protest tactics. There seems to be little dispute that civil disobedience was involved, both of university policy, rules, and even minor legal infractions. The more controversial issue is the use of a Class 4 felony "mob action" prosecution against several protesters. This is as opposed to the typical misdemeanor trespass or resisting arrest charges more common to civil disobedience incidents.

One can compare and contrast the civil disobedience involved in such tactics with the divestment protests regarding South African apartheid in the mid 1980s, which included occupying University buildings, trespass during University Trustee meetings, and a "shantytown" on the quad that the University demanded to be removed as well. 

The Learning & Labor podcast has a well cited overview of those protests and arrests, but takes its own position on the comparison. For obvious reasons, many find any comparison of Israel's policies to South African apartheid to be inherently erroneous and offensive, even if the two respective divestment campus protests themselves may have some parallels. 

Overview:

Illinois Public Media had an article back in July when news of these belated summer charges, built off of surveillance and social media video, started to drop:

In a statement to IPM, University of Illinois spokesperson Robin Kaler said, “Free speech and free expression are bedrock principles and a cornerstone of academic inquiry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.”

However, Kaler said that when students choose to move from speech to civil disobedience, they must be prepared for the consequences.

The News-Gazette reports investigators used videos and social media to link Issa to an afternoon demonstration on Friday, April 26.

During the protest, students locked arms around their encampment near the U of I Alma Mater to prevent police from tearing their tents down. Administrators warned students the tents were against school policy before sending in campus police. Police were not able to clear a path to the tents. Students took them down themselves later in the evening and rebuilt them on the Quad later that weekend.

More at that full article here. WCIA had similar coverage at the time here. At the time the ACLU of Illinois noted its previous concerns about the "mob action" statute and it being used as anti-protest tool:

We are aware of students from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign along with community members being charged in state court with felonies related to their actions around encampments at the U of I campus at the end of the last school year. The charges are brought under a “mob action” law that the ACLU of Illinois opposed when it was first considered in the Illinois General Assembly. We expressed concern at the time that the felony penalties available to prosecutors under this statute would be used against those engaged in protest. Despite repeated declarations by lawmakers that this was not the purpose, we see this charge now being used in this way. 

A felony conviction carries serious, lifelong consequences and prosecutors should pursue felony charges only where necessary. 

In response to the student encampments on campuses across Illinois, the ACLU of Illinois has consistently urged restraint – from students and administrators. We urge prosecutors to exercise that same restraint in charging any violations emanating from the protests. 

That statement is available here.

Niko-Johnson Fuller, of the Learning & Labor podcast noted above, had noted some of the similarities between the recent encampment tactics of campus protesters and the anti-apartheid encampment tactics on campus in the past. From his article in Smile Politely:

One significant escalation the [Divest Now Coalition] took was the construction of a shantytown on the Main Quad in April 1986, which pro-Palestine organizers today have compared to the recent encampment in a similar location. This action served multiple purposes, providing symbolism of the poor living conditions of the Black majority in South Africa, creating a sense of community among protestors, and forcing the administration to respond to their demands for divestment.

That full article here, with a much broader overview of the protests here against apartheid as well as for the University to divest from that regime and the economy that maintained it.

The News-Gazette also highlighted the use of surveillance and social media footage towards building the case against protesters in addition to the two arrested at the time of the protests themselves.

Latest Update on Prosecutions:

From the News-Gazette last week:

Seven people stand charged with alleged criminal offenses tied to the pro-Palestinian demonstrations in April on the University of Illinois campus...

Arthur P. Paganini, 23, of Urbana, and Victor H. Smith, 20, of Champaign, were each charged this month with one count of mob action.

That’s a Class 4 felony defined as having used force or violence alongside others to disturb public peace.

The two were also charged with obstructing a peace officer, a misdemeanor.

Their charges arrive on top of five other individuals charged with mob action in connection with the April 26 protests.

That full article here. Those prosecutions include a former Unit 4 school board member and local activist, Elizabeth Sotiropoulos. Court documents state that the felony "mob action" charge is based on her "linking arms" and defining that as the coordinated "force and violence" of the statute. 

The State's Attorney doubled and then tripled-down on defining "linking arms" as being "force and violence" in her public statements in a WDWS radio interview on the Penny for Your Thoughts show. For many local activists, it is difficult to rectify this legal interpretation in plain language. Some of the most iconic images of the non-violent actions by the Civil Rights Movement involved the coordinated linking of arms by two or more people. The linking of arms was often, in itself, a symbol of non-violent resistance. Example image from 3/17/1963 during the Selma to Montgomery March protests:

In the same interview, the State's Attorney also appeared to suggest that lesser charges or sentencing may be more appropriate for some of the defendants. This seemed unusual for the prosecuting side of a case to say publicly during ongoing prosecutions, but it may be impossible to know what kind of plea bargaining strategy may be involved there.

We leave it to the reader to look into the various perspectives and the State's Attorney's own words to decide for yourself. Hopefully with enough context and tools to make an informed decision.

Additional Opinions:

The News-Gazette had a few recent perspective articles on the protests and prosecutions. N-G: perspectives: 

• Town Hall | Mob action or overreaction from 7/30/2024. This link includes an opinion piece by many university faculty in defense of the protesters. And State's Attorney Julia Rietz arguing that the charges are appropriate and not in conflict with free speech protections.
  
  
• Our Turn | Those who protested and allegedly broke laws should stand trial for their actions, an opinion piece from other university faculty, a variety of other local business owners, and many others.
  
  
• The News-Gazette's Opinions Editor Jim Dey took an even harsher defense of the State's Attorney's actions, condemning not just the protesters, but also the faculty who wrote in defense of them and their "uninformed entitlement," "ignorance and arrogance," and what he chides as their "childish" imitation of bravery.
  
  
• Contemporary and opposing opinions were expressed soon after the encampment was taken down at the UI Trustees meeting. The News-Gazette had coverage of that here. This gets into some of the more controversial accusations of antisemitism, supporting terrorism, etc.
  
  
• A recent LTE criticized the prosecutions as political and decried perceived accusations of antisemitism against the protesters in the News-Gazette. Others letters have accused the State's Attorney of the charges being tied to her public support of Israel or sharply criticized the implication. Others point to the State's Attorney's social media as taking sides in the underlying conflict the protests are about, waving the flag of Israel prominently on it since recently after the October 7th terrorist attacks on Israel.

Related News:

• Coverage of the first summertime charges related to the campus protests earlier this spring for Yafa K. Issa from the Daily Illini and the Illinois Public Media. WCIA coverage indicates she may have been one of those charged who held plywood as a barrier too. The IPM article also notes that there were two arrests at the time of the protests, also for mob action and other charges.
  
  
• Coverage of the charges against Kleckner and Sotiropoulos last month from the News-Gazette.
  
  
• Contemporary coverage of state legislators visiting the protesters. The supporters of the protesters attempted to highlight the diversity of religious views among them to dispel broader accusations of antisemitism.
  
  
• Contemporary coverage after the protests from the News-Gazette and IPM in May. 
  
  
• The reaction of other universities in light of their campus protests this year from the News-Gazette and IPM on both free speech policies and policing.
  
  
• University of Illinois policy changes regarding protests, from the News-Gazette.
  
  
• The Daily Illini with a brief overview of the new I-Team to help students engage in "expressive activities" deemed appropriate by the University.

New Collaborations with LWV and NAACP of Champaign County

New Collaborations:

If it looked like I've been having difficulty keeping up lately, you'd be right! I should be catching up on a big backlog of Cheat Sheet posts for various local government and related organizations soon. And a much wider variety than ever!

The League of Women Voters of Champaign County and the NAACP Champaign County Branch have started a collaboration to rejuvenate the local Observer Corps. This generational project of non-partisan reports on local government took a hit during the pandemic. There has been ongoing work and organization to get these non-partisan local government meeting write-ups going again and also make them more readily available for the public to stay informed.

The Cheat Sheet has joined that collaboration to help summarize and link to these full reports and meeting write-ups! As always, the Cheat Sheet will continue to attempt to avoid taking sides of different local controversies, parties, or ideologies. 

We'll report, to the best of our ability, confirmed facts and differing perspectives on the issues before local government. We'll link to local reporting, government documents, public statements, and recordings of the meetings themselves when they are available. 

The full meeting reports and write-ups that we link to from the LWV Observer Corps and NAACP observers are also meant to be objective, but any personal or organizational biases in them are not necessarily the views of the Cheat Sheet or its authors. Likewise, what limited stances the Cheat Sheet may take on various facts or perspectives are not necessarily those of anyone else we are collaborating with.

For anyone interested in joining either local organization and volunteering to be a non-partisan observer, just click the links above in this post or in our website's sidebar. You can also email observers@lwvchampaigncounty.org for any additional questions, on everything from the new collaboration or volunteer opportunities!

Bonus for Local Civic Nerds:

The League's Vice President, Ann Panthen, recently shared this treasure from the local LWV archives: a 20 year retrospective on the Champaign County Board from 1976 to 1996. She noted that it was "authored by Mary Blair- one of our most dedicated members and an observer for many years. Mary died recently at the age of 104!  She was also League president in the 70's."

The three page report talks about an era of rising conservatism nationally and locally, changing demographics, and long term pressure for better record keeping and transparency. It speaks of hope in more future intergovernmental agreements to work on behalf of everyone in Champaign County. That is something that we do actually see far more of in more recent decades and into today.

It also talks about earlier support for an elected County Executive by Democrats years ago. This was during the early days of coming up with any type of centralized administrative position beyond the County Board Chair themself. For those familiar with the change to an Executive Form of government, it was local Republicans who eventually pushed the 2016 referendum through, assuming that their candidate would win a County wide race in 2018! He didn't and the seat has been in Democratic Party hands ever since.

Needless to say, a lot can change in local government, especially over the long term. From this report, one can also see that many things do not change too!

Thank you for reading! We look forward to many Cheat Sheets and meeting write-ups in the future!

- Benjamin