The Week Ahead 11/27 - 12/3

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

This week's meetings involve two public forums at the Champaign Public Library that will be presenting work done to improve community programs and services for both criminal justice reforms and mental health care needs. These are not typical county board meetings or auxiliary meetings for the county government, but a chance to learn more about the issues, recommended policies, and what people can do to help get them implemented.

The Shields Meeting Room is at Brookens Administrative Center:

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

Candidates Filing and the Nursing Home

I've updated the election page on this site with the latest candidate filings from the Champaign County Clerk's information here (from 11/27/2017) and recent News-Gazette Articles linked below. The first article has a brief overview of many of the filings so far, but today's has more information on the 6th District race and the Nursing Home issue.

Champaign County Board races draw a crowd

URBANA — Democrats in central Champaign will have at least a three-way race next spring in County Board District 6, based on candidate filing Monday morning.

Twelve candidates filed petitions at the Champaign County clerk's office before 8:30 a.m. Monday — the first day of the petition filing period — and three of them were for the county board seat generally bounded by Prospect Avenue on the east, Bloomington Road on the north, Kirby Avenue on the south and Country Fair Drive and Duncan Road on the west.

Eight-year incumbent Pattsi Petrie was among those who filed petitions for the District 6 seat, along with Mike Ingram and Charles Young. They will face off in the March 20, 2018, primary election.

Also filing petitions were Matt Grandone and Jon Rector, both Republicans running for county clerk. The incumbent Republican county clerk, Gordy Hulten, was the only person to file for the newly created position of county executive. Allen Jones filed as a Republican candidate for sheriff and John Farney, currently the county auditor, filed as a Republican candidate for county treasurer.

Other county board candidates filing Monday morning included Republican newcomer Jodi Wolken in District 2, incumbent Republican Jim McGuire in District 4; Democrat Leah Taylor and Republican Tom Dillavou in District 5; Republican Traci Nally in District 9; and Democrat Chris Stohr in District 10.

Nally is a vice president at News-Gazette Media.

The Illinois candidate filing period ends on Dec. 4...

Today's article got into how the Nursing Home issue is shaping the County Board's 6th District Race:

East Central Illinois candidates are off and running

URBANA — Pattsi Petrie, a veteran of seven years on the Champaign County Board and a onetime chair, will face her fifth primary election contest since 2008 next spring.

Petrie, a Democrat who represents District 6 in central Champaign, is being challenged by two other Democrats in the March 20 primary: first-time candidate Mike Ingram and Charles Young, who ran unsuccessfully for the Champaign school board in 2003 and was a candidate for appointment last month to an opening on the Parkland College board.

So far, the Democratic contest in District 6 is one of a handful of contested primary races that developed after the first day of candidate filing on Monday...

Matt Grandone of Urbana and Jon Rector of rural Champaign are running for the Republican nomination for Champaign County clerk. No Democrat had filed yet.

Meanwhile, there's no rest for Petrie, who lost a four-way race for one seat on the board in 2008, finishing second out of four Democrats, but came out on top in another four-way primary race in 2010 and overcame challenges from Josh Hartke in 2012 and Tony Fabri in 2014.

The future of the county nursing home as a county-supported facility undoubtedly will be an issue in the District 6 race. In recent months, Petrie has voted in favor of issuing a request for proposals from private operators who might be interested in buying the facility and also supported a six-month budget for the home for the fiscal year that begins Jan. 1.

Both votes placed her at odds with the majority of other county board Democrats.

Ingram said the nursing home was a "pretty big" factor in his decision to run for the board. He said he supports keeping the facility publicly owned.

"I don't think there's anything more important on the minds of people right now than the nursing home," he said. "But there are plenty of other things that people are talking about when I asked them what they knew about at the local level."

Young also said the nursing home's future is a top concern of voters.

"The hot topic now of course is that nursing home. I'm sorta like still in the middle with that," he said. "I want to protect the (home), but at the same time, what I've been reading and following is the money issue. We'll see how that works out. I'd like to get there and see how that stuff works."

Petrie said she believes the nursing home has to become self-sustaining.

"I have constantly and consistently said that the county needs to be concerned about positioning that nursing home so it will be sustainable not for one or two years, but for a decade," she said. "This roller coaster ride on the nursing home is exhausting everybody, and the county isn't getting any other work done."

Petrie said she isn't troubled by the regular challenges from within her own party.

"I look at that as positive, though," she said. "That means you go out and you talk to your constituents more often. I do retail politics. I knock on doors, every door."

Nursing Home Reality Debate

The News-Gazette all but called Democrats' continued support for the nursing home delusional as it mocked their moral superiority and accused them of being do-gooder die-hards unbowed by facts. It's pretty harsh. Click here to jump directly to Democratic County Board Member Kyle Patterson's rebuttal.

Incredible divide on nursing home

The Champaign County Board's handling of the nursing home controversy is taking on other-wordly features.

Those who are conflicted in their view or have no opinion on the future viability of the county nursing home need only look at the latest budgetary contortions the board has put itself through.

Last week, in what can only be described as an act of desperation, the board voted 13-8 to fund the financially beleaguered nursing home for six months. The board's majority opted for that questionable course as a means of avoiding a decision on how to cut $1.4 million in spending needed to support the county's statutorily mandated programs so it could continue to fund the purely optional nursing home.

If this isn't a case of the tail wagging the dog, it's darn close.

Further, there appears to be a widespread consensus among board members that this proposal is being held together with bailing wire and chewing gum and might fly apart with the slightest of nudges.

There's the little matter of a $500,000 loan repayment the nursing home is supposed to make to the county's general fund in December. The nursing home's cash balance is down to $19,000, according to county administrator Rick Snider, so how good are the nursing home's chances of meeting that obligation?

Perhaps that's why there has been discussion about the need to issue tax anticipation warrants — a bank loan to be repaid when eventual revenue generated by property tax payments comes in.

The nursing home has all the earmarks of a failing enterprise. Yet to hear some board members talk, the idea of selling or closing the nursing home is unthinkable.

"In my mind, (the county's obligation) never ends because care for the elderly and the people in the nursing home, it never ends. We can talk all we want about kicking the can down the road, but in my mind, there's no can to kick. It's about care for folks who need care, and that's something that's not going to end in this county," said Democratic board member Josh Hartke.

Hartke's words are sincere, but misguided.

If the county nursing home was the only such facility in Champaign County or beyond, there might be some merit to that holier-than-thou position. But there are plenty of private facilities, where current county nursing home residents can go.

Indeed, if there wasn't strong competition from the private sector, the county wouldn't have encountered the seemingly endless problem of not having enough nursing home patients needed to generate the revenue necessary to keep it financially afloat.

So what, in fact, is the county board doing other than playing financial Russian roulette regarding an optional service for which there is limited demand but back-breaking costs...

The article continues here.

Democratic County Board Member Kyle Patterson laid out a step-by-step rebuttal:

Lots to unpack here. Let’s do this chronologically:

The $500K “loan” the republicans blocked the renewal of as a political move to sabotage with no reasonable explanation other than to further manufacture the financial “crisis” at the County Nursing Home. Ask yourself: how can the County “loan” money to itself? Because it is technically an “enterprise” entity, the county cannot simply do a budget transfer to the nursing home the way in which other departments are replenished when they have financial shortfalls, which the county board does for multiple departments every month. There is no running record of “debt” for the other departments that need extra money because of unexpected costs the way the Nursing Home does. This is a red headed step child situation. As Josh Hartke, who they call misguided, once said so well: there are boilers at the nursing home they are failing because the county board chose the architects, approved and funded the construction of the nursing home which has a structural flaw that places the laundry machines too close to the boilers and the boilers acquire debris, so now the county board “loans” money to the nursing home to fix the boilers that failed because of the decision made by the county board, then when if we sell the nursing home, the county will then get paid twice for selling those boilers. Both from the returned loan and then from selling the home. It’s nonsense.

The only reason there is “discussion” of using Tax Anticipation warrants is because the republicans, in a move to sabotage the finances of the home, blocked the county acquiring those rather routine loans. For no motivation other than to hurt he Nursing Home. They are trying to force democrats to sell the home by dooming the Home to financial ruin. They are preventing the home from paying its bills.

Two huge examples of the editors missing the point:

1. we support the Champaign County Nursing Home NOT because there are no private homes, but because we believe in the foundational progressive principal of PUBLIC HEALTH CARE. For profit homes provide worse care than public nonprofit nursing homes and there is plenty of data to back that up. For profit corporations reduce services, cut wages and reduce staffing levels, choosing profits over people. This isn’t news nor is it unique to nursing home care. For profits corrupt access to healthcare across the board. Without a large, quality nursing home that places no restrictions on access for Medicaid patients, many low income individuals will have no where to go in CU.

2. The Champaign County Nursing Home is a SERVICE, NOT a BUSINESS. They only say it’s not financially viable because it can’t sustain itself financially, which, NEWS FLASH, neither does any county department! It’s not supposed to be a 100% self sustaining business like a private home, and it was never intended to be. The home has a bit of a tax levy that some would characterize as a “subsidy”, which is designed to fund the nursing home with revenues generated outside of the services compensated at the home. In the structure, it has never been considered a self sufficient entity. The nursing home provides a SERVICE in which the private industry cannot provide, and that’s universal access for Medicaid patients. Private homes limit access from Medicaid patients because the state is inconsistent with timely compensation for Medicaid patients, which has caused the majority of CCNH’s pain. Our county has always recognized the need to fund a service that offers an outlet for Medicaid nursing home patients by funding the home in a way that the private industry cannot.

And lastly, the editors refer to their not being a “demand” for the nursing home. Let’s get two more things clear:

1. The nursing home cannot fill enough beds right now because...... THE NEWS GAZETTE AND REPUBLICANS KEEP BASHING THE PLACE AND CALLING FOR ITS IMMEDIATE SALE! Our census is low because people are afraid to put their parents in a home that they think is going to be sold soon. You want to place your loved ones in a home that will be consistent for years and not have to possibly move them once they are in nursing home care. The drum beat from the news gazette has caused a low census and the departure of many good staff members that are afraid that once it’s sold, the new for profit company will have mass layoffs, exactly how they did when Vermillion County privatized their home.

2. Look up census data and understand that the demand for nursing homes is going to skyrocket over the next 5-10 years as the baby boomers generation is now becoming nursing home aged. Once that happens, we will have countless residents covered by Medicaid that will need somewhere to go in this community. The pain of sending a loved one to a nursing home, which I personally know well, is very intense, but to have to send them off to another community because of a lack of Medicaid beds in CU, and not being able to visit them regularly is deplorable.

This is about access to healthcare and public healthcare institutions, plain and simple. There’s a reason why Republicans are ravenous to close this thing and make no mistake: the News Gazette editorial board is our very own local Fox News.

This is not about an unprofitable business, this is about an underfunded healthcare institution.

Jail Deadlines and Budget Woes

The News-Gazette laid out the issues facing the downtown and satellite jails, proposals for expansion, budget problems and the work of Build Programs Not Jails in support of reforms and programs that would rely on less jailing. Full text here. Excerpt:

CU-CitizenAccess: DOJ's deadline looms over Champaign County Jail

URBANA — With a U.S. Department of Justice-imposed deadline approaching, Champaign County officials are under increasing pressure to either renovate or close the 37-year-old jail in downtown Urbana.

The county has already stopped using much of the downtown jail — it has a daily population hovering around 45 people, even though its capacity is 113. It has instead relied more on the satellite jail in east Urbana, which has a capacity of 182.

An agreement between the county and the DOJ states that the county must renovate the downtown jail to adhere to Americans with Disabilities Act standards by March. These renovations are expected to cost about $175,000.

In November, the DOJ said it would consider granting the county an extension to come into compliance by Dec. 31, 2018, and would extend the deadline even longer if the county decided to fund a new jail.

With the required renovations pending, county officials have discussed either closing the downtown jail and replacing it with a new facility next to the satellite jail or renovating the downtown jail to make it more suitable for housing inmates, said Chief Deputy Allen Jones.

Standing in the way: funding issues and the efforts of local activist groups who oppose any new facility.

Board Member Pattsi Petrie had a couple comments as well, that pointed out the Mental Health Board (MHB) doesn't seem to get enough attention for many of these program issues as the full County Board meetings do:

If the downtown jail is closed for whatever reason and the satelitte jail does not have additional provisions constructed there, then the projected cost to out source is 1M/annually. And the sheriff inquired whether nearby counties have space and willingness to house the out sourced inmates. The responses across the board is negative. The next step will be to out source at jails many hundreds of miles away fro C-U, making family visitations very difficult, let alone the cost of deputy time to transport to and fro along with gas costs. Approximately there are 40 inmates plus or minus at the downtown jail. Just do the math.

CB member appreciate once again pointing out that there has never been a plan to build a new jail, not even back to the first consultant report. That is a narrative conjured by the Build Programs, Not Jails folks.

Indeed, the county does have a hard time educating the public about all of the issues that the county has before it to solve. CCNH has been sucking the ether out of the air for years along with money. There is a bit of a domino effect in play--solve the nursing home one way or the other, move to relocating the sheriff's office, this opens up what to do with the downtown jail. If the decision is to close that facility, then the county can repurpose the building and land, which might mean selling both. The resulting funds can be turned toward county building maintenance. The more that the decision on the jail and building maintenance is kicked down the road, the over all costs continue to increase. Just think had the sales tax passed--the county would already have done phase one of the ten-years plan on maintenance, used tax dollars in the most efficient possible way, and stayed ahead of the CPI.

And she continued in a second comment:

One more clarification--the CCNH is an Enterprize Fund. By definition this type of fund is constructed such that the entity being funded is resonsible to pay for any and all expenses associated with the entity. The nursing home is not part of the county general fund. So, yes, the CCNH is responsible for all expenses and debt. You are correct in that the county owns this home so the buck stops with the county, including all associated debt. This is one of many reasons that you do not hear a discussion about closing the home because doing so would, in essence, bankrupt the couny  This stated if there is not the launch of the RFP so the CB can find out if there is a buyer(s), then the next step will need to be putting in place a contingency plan to close the home. Because the county is ultimately responsible for staff IMRF and FICA along with regularly making payroll, the county has loaned the home a lot of money, in addition to having forgiven a large amount of loan monies.

For whatever reason, citizens have a hard time understanding these financial facts.

The facility sales tax, as I have written all too often, would have paid as we go for county building maintenance. On one hand people comment that the county can not even maintain the buildings and the downtown jail is in terrible condition Then on the other hand, the same citizens argue for social programs, many of which could be funded and supported by the 4.5 M/annually received by the MHB. Why is it that these concerns are not regularly presented to that board and the CUPHD board or the two municipalities and hospitals, etc.?

Right now the county is moving toward a historic repeat that resulted in the DOJ telling the county we will build a new jail if you do not. The result was the downtown jail. This jail is about to cost the county millions of dollars, per the information in the above article.

All of the county budget/finances are on the county web site.

CU-CitizenAccess appears to have a lot of helpful information about local politics and issues. I'll try to get more information about it and pass it along. In the mean time here are links to their on-line material:

CU-CitizenAccess main website is available here: http://cu-citizenaccess.org/
And also on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cucitizenaccess/

County Board 11/21 Meeting

Highlights:

Well for starters we have a 6 months (option B) budget that doesn't resolve the Nursing Home issue either direction in finding money to save it or that forces it to be sold, but perhaps inevitable depending on which party you ask. I didn't catch the exact roll call, but Chair Weibel said it was 13-8 of which I definitely heard Pattsi Petrie vote for with the Republicans. Fortado summed up the Democratic feelings about the 6 month budget: It is not a responsible precedent. It is a collective failure, including herself in that failure, not to have a 12 month budget. It's something we will all regret and it will be felt sharply later this year. The associated levy passed without opposition shortly after.

There were some goodbyes. It was County Administrator Rick Snider's last meeting as well as County Treasurer Dan Welch's. Both were thanked and had standing ovations by the board and others.

The replacement process was moved along further along last week, as noted by the N-G, as well as with additional votes tonight that were unopposed:

URBANA — Champaign County Board members Tuesday agreed to begin negotiations to rehire former county Administrator Deb Busey as interim administrator.

The current county administrator, Rick Snider, has resigned in order to become the village administrator in Rantoul later this month.

The move to rehire Busey, who would be limited to 600 hours of work under Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund regulations, was made by Republican board member Aaron Esry but approved unanimously.
...
Also Tuesday, the board unanimously approved the appointment of John Farney as the new county treasurer, beginning Jan. 1. Farney, currently the county auditor, will replace longtime treasurer Dan Welch, who is leaving office 11 months early. Both Welch and Farney are Republicans.

As pointed out in an earlier update, this means that there will be an abbreviated ballot petition period for any candidates wanting to run for County Auditor in the 2018 elections. That same link notes some of the early candidates seeking appointment to the fill the vacancy in the mean time by the Champaign County Republican Party.


Other Meeting Notes:

Public Participation included complaints about dilapidated properties and numerous citizens asking the Board to consider the Racial Justice Task Force recommendations for everything from pre-trial hearings, treatment programs for addicts, mental health care services outside of the jail system, etc. Build Programs Not Jails had a strong presence and pleaded with the Board to take significant action on these issues.

Illinois Bicentennial flag arrived and will be up in front of the Court House soon. Chair Weibel also noted a Chair/Vice-Chair meeting about the agenda that is poorly attended after Republican complaints last week at the COW about difficulties getting an item on the agenda.

"Visit Champaign County" had a presentation on marketing Champaign to outside visitors with a video presentation and a run down of numbers brought in through tourism and visitors. Stohr asked that taxicab services be better highlighted in their printed publications along with Uber/Lyft. The sheer number of independent cab companies (>50) makes it easier to link to in on-line materials.

Apparently "cornhole" is a popular game that has a following and events here in Champaign. It was mentioned and nobody snickered. I feel as though a college joke went terribly wrong somehow. They also brought up that the State Farm Center does not have a good layout for large (2000+ person) trade shows and it makes it difficult to host large events in Champaign County because there is not a large convention center that's ideal for the task compared to other regional ones.

The Youth Assessment Center (more info) via the Regional Planning Commission is looking for a new space and highlighted the Racial Justice Task Force recommendations as well. Their work with restorative justice in the community. After fielding some questions on staff and space requirements, it was pointed out (by Circuit Clerk Katie Blakeman, I believe) that it's a fairly unique program on the cutting edge of  criminal justice reform. Sounds like a program I need to learn more about for a future post.

Other agenda items were passed smoothly by voice vote or roll call as required.

The meeting adjourned at  8:37pm. Not 12:53am the next morning like the last COW. So YAY!!! YAY for THAT!!! Phew!


Reactions [Updated 11/22]:

The News-Gazette's Tom Kacich has more details and specifics, including this excerpt on the budget vote:

County board avoids cuts by funding nursing home for only 6 months

URBANA — Champaign County Democrats were unable Tuesday night to pass a county budget guaranteeing 12 months of operation for the county-owned nursing home.

Instead, by a 13-8 margin, the county board approved a fiscal year 2018 budget that includes only six months of funding for the financially troubled facility.

And because of savings from operating the nursing home for only six months, the approved budget doesn't include any of the $1.425 million in staff cuts, polling-place consolidations, capital reductions (including almost $400,000 for police radios), or program cuts (such as the Youth Assessment Center and re-entry council) discussed in recent weeks.

But county officials cautioned that there's great uncertainty about the budget, including a $500,000 payment the nursing home is to make to the county general fund in December and the need for tax-anticipation warrants to help fund the facility's continued operation.

"I don't think passing a six-month budget for any part of the county budget is a responsible precedent," said Democrat Stephanie Fortado.

And she urged county department heads to "keep your wallet in your pockets for the next six months, especially for big-ticket items. If there's something you can wait on, please wait."

And outgoing County Administrator Rick Snider predicted that the board would have to make "significant budget amendments" throughout 2018.

Voting for the budget were all 10 board Republicans and Democrats Pattsi Petrie, Chris Stohr and Shana Jo Crews.

Voting against it were eight Democrats: Fortado, Steve Summers, James Tinsley, Lorraine Cowart, Josh Hartke, Robert King, Kyle Patterson and board Chairman C. Pius Weibel.

Champaign Democrat Giraldo Rosales was absent from the meeting

I'm not seeing any other reactions yet today, but I'll update if I do.

The Week Ahead 11/20 - 11/26

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

This week's county board meeting is certain to have contentious debate on the Nursing Home again. Last week's Committee of the Whole went on for nearly 6 and half hours between reports and Nursing Home arguments: reactions here, notes here. As always links to recent Nursing Home news and resources will be added to the Nursing Home issues link at the top of the page as I have time.

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

Possible Auditor Replacements - UPDATE

[UPDATE 12/5: GOP Auditor Candidate selected. County Board Member of District 2 Diane Michaels]

[UPDATE 11/21: A quick answer on the Auditor being appointed *and* elected

Q: Pardon a dumb question, but just to be clear. If that happens as described, then there would be an election for Auditor as opposed to an appointed replacement? 

Champaign County Clerk: There will be both. The Board will appoint a replacement who will serve from 1/1/18 until a successor can be elected next November who will take office 12/1/18.]

[UPDATE 11/20: Some confusing information out of the County Clerk's office today. I'm not entirely sure (will update tomorrow), but it sounds like the Auditor's position will be elected if he resigns tomorrow, not appointed. From the County Clerk's facebook post:

From a note sent to our local Party Chairs, regarding the upcoming vacancy in the office of County Auditor:

"If the County Board tomorrow night votes to finalize John Farney's appointment as County Treasurer effective January 1, 2018, then Mr. Farney intends to resign as County Auditor on Wednesday, November 22, effective December 31, 2017.

Mr. Farney's resignation on November 22, 2017 creates a vacancy in the office of Auditor. Though his resignation isn't effective until December 31, the Election Code considers the vacancy to be created as of the date of his resignation. Because he is submitting his resignation during the current petition circulation period, statute says that candidates interested in running for the Auditor's unexpired two-year term may circulate petitions beginning on November 22, and file them during the normal filing period (November 27 through December 4).

I'm aware that this creates a very abbreviated circulation period, but the statutes are clear. If you have a candidate who can't gather the required signatures by December 4, please be aware that other options for winning nomination are still available (write-in candidacy; post-Primary party slating)."

So, tomorrow I suppose we find out if County Auditor Farney still resigns tomorrow, and if so, whether I need to update the County elections page.]

The headline is about another headline causing confusion in a Congressional race, down below it had some other local political tidbits including potential County Auditor candidates to fill John Farney's seat when he takes the County Treasurer job being vacated by a retirement. It's a bit of musical chairs, but hopefully the other County Offices page can explain the musical chairs going on better than I can in a paragraph. I'll try to update the office races as it becomes official.

Here's that News-Gazette article and relevant excerpt:

Tom Kacich: Misinterpreted tweet about Davis ruffles feathers
...
Champaign County Board member Diane Michaels of Rantoul on Tuesday became the first Republican to express interest in replacing John Farney as county auditor. Farney is in line to become the county treasurer when Dan Welch retires about 11 months early on Dec. 31.

Farney was the only person to apply to become treasurer and was selected by Republican precinct committeemen Monday night.

A similar process to replace Farney will begin soon, culminating in a Dec. 4 meeting when a new auditor will be appointed. Republicans get to name the new officeholders because voters chose Republicans in the most recent elections (2014 for treasurer, 2016 for auditor).

Michaels is the only person to go public for the auditor's position although GOP Chairman Mark Ballard said two others have expressed some level of interest.

"My 40 years of experience in banking and finance, as well as eight years service as a county board member, have given me the skills and knowledge I need to make a difference as county auditor," Michaels said. "The financial challenges facing Champaign County are enormous, and my experience can help us navigate toward solutions."

Also a good reminder to verify sources and context before jumping the gun on news these days. I try to be good about it, but it takes eternal vigilance. Especially these days. 

County Board and Nursing Home This Week

Sunday's News-Gazette mentioned the upcoming fight in a local political roundup article. Here's the relevant excerpt:

It's not clear what's going to happen at Tuesday night's Champaign County Board meeting regarding the county budget and the county-owned nursing home.

But things aren't getting better at the home, says County Auditor John Farney.

It has tapped the last $100,000 from a total of $500,000 the county board loaned to the facility earlier this year from the county general fund. As of Friday, he said, the nursing home had $380,000 on hand. But with an expected payroll of about $250,000 on Wednesday, that could knock it down again. And the facility owes $4.6 million to vendors and the county.

One major legal question facing the nursing home and the county is what happens when that $500,000 loan comes due at the end of December? Does it have to be paid immediately or does the county get in line with all the other vendors owed money, three of which are individually owed more than $300,000?

A lot of items got moved from the Committee of the Whole meeting last week to the full board due to the 6 and a half hour marathon that became. Reactions on that meeting here. Notes on that meeting here.

The Week Ahead 11/13 - 11/19

This week is a very busy week, so I'm posting an image link to the clickable PDF weekly calendar at the County main website:

A major meeting is the Committee of the Whole (what is this?) which will have some fireworks on the Nursing Home budget that the County Clerk as part of his County Executive campaign has been saying would cut 1.4 million into sheriff's jobs, threaten ballot boxes by reducing polling stations, etc... while Democrats find that to be patently false, from the full number and where costs can be saved, e.g. $300k for radios that will be obsolete in 5 years.

*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

Nursing Home Reactions

Last night's six and half hour meeting (notes, notes, and more notes here) was a long train of budget discussions and dire warnings for the upcoming 2018 budget. The Republicans and department heads painted a pretty bleak picture. When they were going through each department on the areas of each budget, keeping in mind that everyone is jealous of their own funding, it did start to paint a picture of agencies already with a reduced staff making do with the bare essentials. e.g. Blakeman with the secretary for three lawyers, doing ones own IT, PR, relying on loaned free real estate for a program and relying on various outside grants to round out the numbers. 

I try to stay a bit cynical as politics is necessarily theatrical in part. But, it was hard to come away from that meeting without Snider's statement about the budget/cuts not having recovered from the great recession ringing true.

County Board Member Joshua Hartke shared this response:

The nursing home can be very sustainable. You just never hear about the 95% of its history when it was.

3 years ago, we had almost a million dollars in the bank, 200 residents, and 3 and 4 star ratings on care. Since Rauner came in as governor, they have gradually strangled the Medicaid approvals so much that we have fallen behind on payments.

Private nursing homes all over the state are declaring bankruptcy because of this. Our public facility is insulated from some of that, but only for a while.

This is publicly subsidized health care. If you believe in single payer or universal coverage or a public option, you need to be supportive of the nursing home.

Of COURSE administrators claim to be short staffed. I don't think I've ever been in a budget meeting where one of these folks came in and said, "Nope. Don't need anything new. We're doing just fine."

Where the problem is in our county is the fact that almost twenty years ago we installed PTELL property tax caps. That keeps the levy we can raise from being increased any more the CPI. Health care costs are constantly double that in how they increase.

So, again, single payer would be a solution. In the meantime, we have to fight for what our priorities are as citizens of this county. For me, that is providing nursing care to our oldest and most vulnerable citizens. Far more than anyone worried about whether their lawyers have enough secretaries.

Tom Kacich had a photo of the turnout:

Here's an excerpt from the News-Gazette which had an article on the meeting: Nursing home's future more uncertain after marathon meeting

URBANA — Taking advantage of the absence of two Democrats, a majority on the Champaign County Board on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning delivered a series of damaging blows to the county-owned nursing home.

Democrats Robert King and Shana Jo Crews were missing from the nearly 6 1 / 2-hour committee of the whole meeting that ended at 12:57 a.m. Wednesday, during which the board's 10 Republicans and Champaign Democrat Pattsi Petrie failed to approve separate motions to renew or rescind $400,000 in loans made earlier this year to the nursing home from the county's general fund.

The result is that County Auditor John Farney, in one of his last official acts before he becomes the county treasurer, would have to collect on the loans to the nursing home on Dec. 29.

The current treasurer, Dan Welch, told the county board that the nursing home already is cash strapped, with only $117,000 on hand Tuesday and another biweekly payroll due next week.

The first vote, to renew the loans, failed 10-10.

The second one, to rescind the loans, lost 11-9.

Rescinding the loans would have meant that the county would recognize the loans as "bad debt since there's no likelihood of repayment," resulting in a $400,000 loss to the county's general fund.

It's unclear whether the county board can revisit the issue — and possibly take another vote — next Tuesday.

Committee of the Whole 11/15/2017

[UPDATE: Reactions on the meeting here.]

[UPDATE X 2: Youtube video of the meeting is up here. The last 15 minutes has a discussion about voting for the Nursing Home Advisory Board to be dissolved and deal with the new SAK management directly once a month. I missed it when my feed cut out and it was heated. Here's out the N-G described it:

And early Wednesday — in what may have been an illegal vote because it wasn't on the agenda — board members voted 11-7 to put a resolution on the agenda for next week's board meeting to "indefinitely and immediately" suspend the nursing home board of directors that meets monthly and reports to the county board.]

I gave the live streaming option a shot today since I couldn't it make it there in person. Had some issues with it freezing and going off-air at times, but over the course of a nearly six and a half hour meeting. That's right... the 6:30pm County Board Committee of the Whole meeting went to 12:53am technically the next morning.

A lot of public participation tonight due to the Nursing Home issue and the risk of cuts to programs, desire for funding for mental health programs, opposition of expanding jail cells instead of treatment centers and access to care, etc.

Highlights included a social scientist pointing out the absurdity of calling a push poll legitimate, "you get what you pay for with a push poll." First Followers members advocating for transition housing and programs for people transitioning from the criminal justice system to the community and the need for help against homelessness, addiction, and related recidivism. A mother and daughter made a powerful personal appeal for mental health care access, drug treatment and the growing opioid epidemic. They referenced programs that seem to be effective in McLean County modeled after the Memphis model.

Laurel Prussing made some suggestions for alternative revenue options. And one woman who had both parents at the nursing home sang the praises of the new management and discussed her interactions with the directors and her problems with other homes in the county she explored. She raised issues of the limited number that take 100% medicaid versus those that are simply too expensive for many.

There were more including a couple I believe from Build Programs Not Jails, which you can find more information under this or the issues links.


In the beginning...

The Racial Justice Task Force presented an overview of their final report to the board. They announced they will be presenting it to the public at the Champaign Public Library on November 30th (facebook event here).

• Need more cooperation by police with the community to solve racial issues as a community.

• Pretrial services with risk assessment instruments needed... current system primitive and not functioning.

• Fees/court costs: funds to waive/reduce for low income, subsidized car insurance?

• Restorative justice and practices... this meeting is not to the time for a primer, but it is a critical and important issue to address later. Can be integrated throughout the criminal justice system... recommending it throughout. 

• housing... fair housing for criminal convictions, repeal Champaign municipal code 17.4-5 for five years after release from prison/jail

• Community voices 
• 100% employment for African Americans
• Eliminate SROs... branding kids as pre-criminals
• Need to know each other of different races, backgrounds. Helps with understanding

If it looks like my notes are poorly edited at 1:30 in the morning it's because they are and by the time I finished posting this I decided to tidy it up in the morning. Or morning-er. More morning. Later after sleep! That's it!


Justice & Mental Health Collaboration Program

After that was the Justice & Mental Health Collaboration Program Final Report which was actually rather fascinating and informative, but I doubt I could explain it well. It dealt with mental health in our justice system and there was a great deal of information beforehand that dealt with recidivism tracking for people reentering the community with better access to services and such that may be worth catching their presentation when it's available on the County youtube channel in a few days (waiting for that update). In the mean time the paper report is in the agenda packet from the COW meeting website or at this link at page 100 of the PDF document.


Intermission: A 5 minute recess...

...from 9:12pm to 9:22pm. Because it's the government, silly!

Nominations for filling some positions passed pretty quickly. Deb Busey was brought up in a motion to be interim County Administrator after Rick Snider resigns for his new job. It passed, but I wasn't clear on whether that required another vote at the full board meeting next week to make official from the procedural end.

Then came the Nursing Home Report from the new management which sounded like fairly good numbers and included a story of staffing needs being filled including a couple nurses who came back. Apparently some staff left over fears of the Nursing Home being sold and that being unstable or viewed negatively for their employment. After running through their presentation, it got heated by folks disputing their numbers.

Due to the lateness and also a 50/50 laziness, but also a look into the insanity of how I "note" I'm going to do a note dump of the rest (after skimming for general coherency) on what happened next. I'll probably tidy it up in the next few days unless it makes enough sense to leave and (and embrace my lazy desires). The rest was almost all about the Nursing Home, the dire budget situation, and the already shrunken, squeezed, and belt-tightened budgets being defended from further cuts:

Nursing Home report (bumped to the front)

*Some nurses left out of concerns the nursing home might be sold, since
then some have returned

Goss and Rector* appeared very annoyed at their comments to the N-G
sounding hopeful about no sale.

Goss and McGuire* seemed annoyed at the budget information presented.
Goss disagreed with the numbers. McGuire didn't seem satisfied with
what was presented and how.
*Rector/McGuire were off camera so I may have the wrong names here.

McGuire makes arguments about wanting to sell rather than close, but I
didn't follow the budget jargon.

Another board member asked about the two nurses who returned after they
thought it wasn't going to be sold... one of the SAK pointed out that
people were afraid of conditions worsening if sold, and addressed that
they mentioned the positive improvements as a necessary part of
bringing in new customers/patients.

Another admonished them a bit for not having their budget with them and let them know these kind of questions will be asked and to have it for next time.

*********

Back to regular agenda IX Finance A. Tresurer on Agenda...

Treasurer has bleak outlooks for next year as requested by Goss:

Projection next year shows an ending cash balance each month 167,000 in
january 2018 behind to 922,000 behind by July 2018 ending cash
balance... after that over a million in the hole. Appears to devolve
into a loan spiral.

Loans to the NH (apparently the states attorney agrees) from the
general fund are inappropriate. Subsidy not a loan.

Dan Welch said goodbyes and thanks. (this may be his last COW before retiring)


Auditor report

Nov 7th incident... SAK told the money would be there... courier 30,000
short... money for payroll. Upset at SAK.

"We are in a dire situation with cash."

"It is absolutely dire."

"Their projections are too rosey."

It is wrong the NH staff feel secure when county staff jobs are not
because of the budget.

******

Diane Michaels acting as chair? Yes

Moving agenda items D1,3,5-6 to full board

Item 2, 4, 7 tonight

2 pass voice

4 pass voice

7 pass voice

Moving E3,6, 7 to full board

Item 1-2, 4

4a) nursing home renewal of loans: roll call
yes
hartke
rosales
tinsley... only yes votes I heard 10-10 fails.

4b) forgiving nursing home loans? recognizing as bad debt without
assuming repayment and budgeting it that way. Without the renewal
(already failed in 4a) or forgiving the loan, it would become due from
NH to general fund Dec 29th.

roll call
yes
hartke
...again can't hear, not using mics.

petrie no... 11-9 no fails (I'm pretty sure)

5) 2018 budget discussion by rick snider

Negative outlook added to bond rating... NH renewal plan would likely
lead to a downgrade by Moody's which has taken an interest in the
county.

NH status... new management has had improvements, but may have gotten
the low hanging fruit of available improvements. Future improvement
options may be more difficult/slower... reality starting to fall short
of their budget projections.

Live feed froze/"off-air"/interrupted/froze/"off-air" at 11:48-11:54pm

Departments argue against cuts:

New sheriff's Radios are needed, old ones need updated for
coverage/safety needs

circuit clerk opposes cutting program that she would is desperately
trying to find more money for her budget due to state issues and venue
no longer being available from unit 4

Brooks Marsh, Max Mitchell made appeals towards not making cuts... on
good government and moral grounds for the community.

Snider I believe referred back to circuit clerk's program saying it was
evidence based and effective for families and community and can't just
get rid of.

Snider on ERP replacement, 40 year old software (holy cow) on a
mainframe run by someone that would like to retire. Once he's gone we
can't use it anymore. Without a programmer it doesn't work. Can't
replace on spur of the moment, years to move over to new system.
Another can that's been kicked down the road.

Snider went over what he's tried to do to keep the county running and
NH running, but it has come at a price and putting off needs. He
recommends RFP, not that they have to sell, but just to see what their
options are.

Max Mitchell points out that the meetings are bulk taken up by NH
issues. Pushes sale per voter referendum.

Stephanie Fortado argues for the better employment options for the
nursing home staff, especially black women workers of the county, a
quarter of asian county workers.

Gordy... only places left to cut would result in cutting polling places
and longer lines because election judges cost money and there would be
less.

circuit clerk has no places to cut... she's her on IT person, PR
person... could cut victims advocates or attorneys, but not secretaries
as there's one secretary for three attorneys. Otherwise would have to
cut services.

Jones? Sheriff's department? Budget seems down to necessities... things
like part time jury coordinator... jury food.

McGuire... everything has already been cut, and services shrunk. Fewer
options than private facilities. Gov't going to private firms because
gov't is not ideal to run nursing homes, not simply to privatize.

Snider: Lost 38 employees since 2009 (10% cut) looking at a potential
another 5%... never recovered from great recession. Can't afford to cut
more services. Sheriff's for 5th largest?(wasn't sure) county is too
much ground... spread too thin already. Not right to stretch it
further.

Petrie wants RFP baffled why others (other Dems it would seem) won't go
for it to find out our options.

Mitchell says he won't support RFP unless board is serious about
selling. Too many people depending on us to sell.

12:38am life stream freeze/"off-air"/glitchy/frozen/"off-air" 12:45am

Popped up in the middle of Patterson asking about whether it is good
governance in the middle of the night with pop-up changes to SAK...

Goss wants to tell him what he thinks, Patterson assures him the
question was rhetorical and that he has the floor.

and then the feed froze again... but this time it was my internet. Back
at 12:50...

Pattsi Petrie: NH board over 10 years didn't follow the bylaws. Didn't
do the job. That's why we're here. (only caught the end of whatever
rant that was)

Goss repeats the motion... NH advisory board be indefinitely suspended.
Roll call but again can't hear most of the votes. 11-7

adjourned at 12:53am... wow and the guy running the equipment
immediately hit it off-air. Can't blame him.

When all was said and done it was mostly the heads pointing out that any further cuts would be brutal. Republicans wanted to make clear the serious reality of the budget. And while it appears that Democrats might have been a bit reserved, some of that was due to the live feed issues I was having cutting out around the time of their remarks, so... it'll be interesting to see what their impressions are tomorrow.

As for me, I'll try to add more, make more sense of this, edit and tidy it up and throw on links to the local press coverage. Tomorrow. I mean today. Holy crap it's 2am. G'night, world!

Nursing Home Pre-Meeting News

A big meeting for the future of the Nursing Home (resource page) is tonight and the News-Gazette has two articles and an editorial in support of selling the Nursing Home to a private owner rather than make cuts to the budget. Links and excerpts below:

Nursing home manager: Census up, losses down, new services on way

The census is up and net losses are down at the Champaign County Nursing Home, the facility's new manager said Monday.

And more improvements are coming, promised Suzanne Koenig, the president of SAK Management Services, which took over the day-to-day operations of the troubled nursing home on July 1.

The average daily census in October was 136, up from 132 in September and August. Monthly net losses have dropped from almost $170,000 in July to $123,000 in September.

Time to sell the nursing home

The latest news from the Champaign County Nursing home was a disappointing, but not surprising, call to action that county board Democrats ought not continue to ignore.

The facility is a costly failure, more so by the month and to the point it's putting other county operations in danger.

When will the entire 22-member board accept the result of the April vote that rejected a tax increase for the nursing home and called for the sale of the failing facility? Don't hold your breath.

As of now, the board is looking into widespread layoffs of county employees who provide duties required by state statute to maintain the nursing home — which is not a required government service.

County officials say it will require $1.4 million in spending cuts and layoffs to keep the nursing home afloat through next year. Not only is that kind of budget cutting disgustingly difficult, it would also be unnecessary if the board would finally recognize financial failure.

Administrator: Champaign County's budget-cutting options 'not good'

Snider, in a memo to county board members, made it clear he doesn't support the cuts.

"None of these options are desirable," he wrote.

Among the items on the list:

— $387,786 set aside for replacement radios for the sheriff's office, to replace units that are 11 years old.

— $272,000 to replace the county's 40-year-old software system for human resources and financial management.

— $236,600 for the county Youth Assessment Center, a diversion program for at-risk youth. "There is other funding that comes in, but that cut would be devastating," Snider said. "I don't think the program would continue with that kind of a cut."

— $83,333 for the re-entry council, which works to reduce recidivism. "That one definitely would be out. That would allow it to operate for the first two months of the year to finish out our contract with them. But after that, it would be done," Snider explained.

— $70,000 cut from the county clerk's budget for elections administration. County Clerk Gordy Hulten said earlier that would mean consolidating 14 of the county's 96 polling places for both elections next year and eliminating all early voting locations except his office at the Brookens Center.

— The county's $15,000 contribution to the Economic Development Corporation, $10,000 to the Visit Champaign County tourism bureau and $5,000 to the Community Coalition, which helps coordinate issues involving youth and families.

John Farney Trading Seats

UPDATE: The News-Gazette has an brief article on this today as well:
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2017-11-13/champaign-county-auditor-appointed-fill-retiring-treasurer.html

The Republican Party made it official and here's their public announcement via e-mail:

URBANA – Precinct Committeemen from throughout Champaign County tonight selected John Farney, the current County Auditor, to serve as County Treasurer starting January 1, 2018. Farney will replace current County Treasurer, Dan Welch, who will retire December 31, 2017, after serving 44 years in county government, the last 19 as the elected Treasurer.

“It is humbling to receive the support and trust of these community leaders as their choice to be County Treasurer,” said Farney. “I look forward to the challenges that will be facing Champaign County, and will offer a steady hand to guide us through the coming months and years.” Farney, as County Auditor, is already well versed in the financial challenges facing county government and has been a leader in presenting factual, data driven, information about the County’s financial position.

“Over the last several years, John and I have worked closely on several issues important to the County,” said Treasurer Welch. “I have seen his commitment to County government and I have been impressed with his strong work ethic. After working in the Treasurer’s Office for nearly 45 years, I know what it takes to be a successful County Treasurer. John will be ready on day one, to step into the Treasurer’s office and get to work.”

John Farney is a native of Champaign County, spending his youth in Homer and Philo. A graduate of Unity High School, where he is a member of the school’s Alumni Hall of Fame, Farney holds degrees from Parkland College and Eastern Illinois University. He and his wife, Stephanie, live in rural Urbana with their son, Nathaniel.

Farney will fill the remainder of Welch’s term, through November 30, 2018. He is a declared candidate for election to a full term at the November 2018 General Election.

Republican Precinct Committeemen will be charged with selecting a successor for Farney as County Auditor at a meeting on December 4. Details for that appointment process will be released in the near future.

A full biography of Mr. Farney is attached.



JOHN FARNEY BIOGRAPHY

John Farney is a life-long resident of Champaign County. Raised in Homer and Philo, Farney is a graduate of Unity High School, Parkland Community College and Eastern Illinois University. John and his wife, Stephanie (Rosene), have one son, Nathaniel, and reside in rural Urbana.

John’s entire professional career has been dedicated to public service. As a community newspaper editor in Champaign County, John was tasked with keeping the public informed about their communities. Later, as an election official in the Champaign County Clerk’s Office, he worked tirelessly to ensure that elections were open, transparent and well run.

John was first elected as Champaign County Auditor in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. During his tenure he revamped the Auditor’s Office, authoring new reports, implemented current accounting principles, and enacted new programs designed to generate revenue for County Government. John has been recognized by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) with the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting and has received the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting. These national awards are bestowed only on government officials who are committed to the highest standards in government and financial reporting. Champaign County is one of only three counties (of 102) in Illinois to have an official recognized for both of these achievements.

In addition to his statutory duties, John was an active participant in the County’s effort to become Illinois Green Business Certified. He is actively involved with the County’s Emergency Management Agency in disaster financial reporting. He also serves on the County’s Technology Oversight Committee and as a contract negotiator, representing General Unit elected officials in talks with AFSCME. John was elected President of the Illinois Association of County Auditors in 2016.

An Eagle Scout, John is involved in the Scouting movement at local and regional levels, serving as a Den Leader and as Committee Chair of Holy Cross Pack 9, and serving as Vice President for Administration of Prairielands Council. John is also Wood Badge trained, the premiere leadership training within Scouting.

In April, 2017, John was inducted into the Unity High School Alumni Hall of Fame in recognition of his accomplishments post-high school.

He is also dedicated to his community and county, serving and being recognized in the following
capacities:

Vice President, Holy Cross School Parent Teacher Club
Parent Ambassador, Holy Cross School
Member, Unity High School Hall of Fame Committee
Past Member and Secretary, Board of Trustees, High School of St. Thomas More
Member, Board of Advisors, High School of St. Thomas More
2014 United Way ECC of the Year
2005 Illinois Education Association Region 9 Friend of Education

Administrator Position's Future

A confusing part of the County Executive form of government that Champaign County has voted to go in is how will that office interact with, along side of, or absorb the County Administrator position that oversees the administrative staff, animal control, the county engineer, etc (more at the organizational chart).

But today in an interview with the N-G the outgoing Administrator explained that our confusion is justified. Many of the responsibilities of the Administrator and County Board Chair will merge into the County Executive. It is still unknown if an Administrator position will still exist after the change. This according to the guy in that position.

N-G has the interview in Audio (I don't see a transcript, but the information above is within the first few minutes):

Push Polling and Nursing Home Budgets

The News-Gazette pointed out a recent push poll with extremely leading language to counter Democratic claims that selling the nursing home isn't popular in their County Board districts:

Tom Kacich: Privately commissioned poll claims tide turning against nursing home

Democrats on the Champaign County Board have been saying for months that they felt justified in opposing the sale of the county nursing home because their constituents in the county's urban core opposed it in a ballot question last April.

But County Clerk Gordy Hulten says public opinion has shifted, and he commissioned a poll — using his own campaign funds — to prove it.

First, some background: Last April's consolidated election featured this advisory question countywide: "Shall the Champaign County Board be authorized to sell or dispose of the Champaign County Nursing Home?"

The issue passed overwhelmingly in areas outside of Champaign-Urbana — those represented exclusively be Republicans — about 67 percent to 33 percent.

But in Champaign and Urbana — those districts represented by Democrats — the question lost by a big majority, particularly in Urbana where it went down, 69 percent to 31 percent.

That was April, though, and public opinion has moved over the last seven months as the nursing home's finances have worsened and there have been health and safety issues at the county-owned institution.

In a telephone poll done only within the six county board districts represented by Democrats (out of 11 districts), about 53 percent said they would support the sale of the nursing home in order to solve the county's financial problems, while 29 percent opposed the sale. About 18 percent said they were undecided.

The single polling question asked was: "As you may know from published reports, the Champaign County Nursing Home is losing hundreds of thousands of dollars every month, and two residents died this year due to alleged negligence. To remedy the situation, the county board must now decide between cutting services — such as laying off police officers and eliminating some early voting locations — or selling the home to a privately funded company prepared to provide better care. We'd like to know whether you support or oppose the sale of the Champaign County Nursing Home in an effort to solve the problems?"

The Republican County Executive candidate and current County Clerk's friend is mentioned in the article to be behind the pretty blatant push poll, and he also was running facebook advertisements implying cuts to vital services that haven't even been proposed (as this previous article mentions, the budget revenue or cuts to fund the Nursing Home are still to be decided):

County board Democrats, who last month voted against putting the money-losing nursing home up for sale, have to find an estimated $1.4 million of budget cuts or new revenue to balance the county's spending plan for the year beginning Jan. 1.

Fortado's goal, she said, is to "make sure the nursing home stays public, but I also want to make sure that we do everything in our power to make sure that the cuts don't hurt personnel.

"There are no easy answers. When the whole board comes together (at a committee of the whole meeting) is when we're going to have those conversations. But we haven't found the one silver bullet."

Which really makes this facebook ad sound both premature and blatantly trying to make it sound like these decisions have already been made and scaring people into thinking it'll suppress the vote and take police (as opposed to other staff changes) off the street:

Democratic County Board Member Kyle Patterson shared this quick analysis:

I put together a brief analysis of this push-poll, explaining how it is subjective and not objective and uses manipulative language to get a desired response.

LANGUAGE OF PUSH-POLL:
"As you may know from published reports, the Champaign County Nursing Home is losing hundreds of thousands of dollars every month, and two residents died this year due to alleged negligence. To remedy the situation, the county board must now decide between cutting services — such as laying off police officers and eliminating some early voting locations — or selling the home to a privately funded company prepared to provide better care. We'd like to know whether you support or oppose the sale of the Champaign County Nursing Home in an effort to solve the problems?"

MY ANALYSIS:
“The Champaign County Nursing Home is losing hundreds of thousands of dollars every month.”
Extremely questionable facts and does not specify the length of months, nor is it true that this is even a fact for all of 2017. Also, it delves into this topic without explaining why the shortfalls have occurred, such as state issues.

“To remedy the situation, the county board must now decide between cutting services.”
False conclusions on unrealistically limited options

“Such as laying off police officers and eliminating some early voting locations.”
Subjective selection of alternatives and false conclusions. The county has nearly $40 million in discretionary spending and this suggests those are some of the only options for cuts, which is grossly inaccurate.

“Selling the home to a privately funded company prepared to provide better care.”
False suggestion that a private home provides better care.

“…in an effort to solve the problems?"
Does not specify what the problems are and it establishes an opinion as fact that selling the nursing home will solve those problems

Now whether you're for selling the Nursing Home or against it, the budget issues will certainly involve some hard budget choices. And one of the things I'm still not entirely clear on beyond the 6 month budget (that assumes the Nursing Home will be sold) versus the proposed 12 month budget (that doesn't make that fairly big assumption on selling the Nursing Home) is: what will be the real effects of the County Executive?

If you look at the tentative budget (available here) the office and its inevitable staff aren't in the organizational charts yet. The County Administrator's office and staff doesn't appear to be being replaced by or absorbed by the County Executive's office... or maybe that's to be determined? The budget basically reads like 2018's plan is to plan for a plan for how the County Executive will work. Meanwhile the current County Administrator is leaving:

In his last month as county administrator (he was hired last week to be village administrator in Rantoul), Rick Snider has to put together a new county budget that will include up to $1.3 million in budget cuts or revenue increases to balance the budget. That's because the county board voted to stop a proposed sale of the nursing home and to keep it under county ownership for another year.

Snider said Tuesday that it going to be difficult to do without cutting jobs.

"I don't see any way without affecting personnel that we can do it," he said.

"I think there's an opportunity for us to defer some capital expenditures, but there's not a lot of that in the budget anyway. There's really nowhere left to cut."

Where the rubber hits the road? We may find out in the upcoming Committee of the Whole County Board meeting this Tuesday, which you can live stream or Attend a Meeting!

Racial Justice Task Force Report Release

For more information on what the Racial Justice Task Force was this page has basic information and links. The Task Force recently wrapped up its work and will be presenting their report to the public at the end of the month.

From their facebook event page for November 30th at 6:30pm at the Champaign Public Library:

The Champaign County Racial Justice Task Force has completed its work and wants to share its findings with the public. Community members and community organizations are invited to the Racial Justice Task Force Final Report Release event Thursday, November 30th at 6:30 pm at the Champaign Public Library’s Main Branch. Task Force members will give a brief outline of the findings and recommendations. There will also be a Q&A session and open discussion time to encourage the community to consider next steps for carrying out the recommendations. Light refreshments will be served. The sessions are sponsored by Champaign County ACLU, Champaign County NAACP, and the National Council of African American Men. 

The Task Force's recommendations span seven focus areas created through community input. The report and appendices are publicly accessible through the Champaign County website. The Task Force will formally present its final report to the County Board at the next Committee of the Whole Meeting on Tuesday, November 14 at 6:30 P.M. in the Lyle Shields Meeting Room at the Brookens Administrative Center.

The Week Ahead 11/6 - 11/12

Official County Board Weekly Calendar: link here

Tuesday November 7, 2017

Facilities Committee (more info) @ *6:30pm
Lyle Shields Meeting Room


Thursday November 9, 2017

Environment & Land Use Committee @ (more info) *6:30pm
Lyle Shields Meeting Room


Both meetings are 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

Nursing Home News

Excerpt from the N-G today:

Tom Kacich: County board looking line by line for budget fix

Champaign County Board members who want to both keep the county nursing home under public control and avoid layoffs in other departments are getting deeply immersed in the county budget in advance of a critical meeting.

The choices are not easy.

"I've been in meetings for more than five hours over the last few weeks and I haven't even been at all of the meetings," said Champaign Democrat Stephanie Fortado, appointed to the county board in June and already the deputy chair of the finance committee. "We're just going through the budget line by line. If you come up with a scenario, we've probably already talked about it."

County board Democrats, who last month voted against putting the money-losing nursing home up for sale, have to find an estimated $1.4 million of budget cuts or new revenue to balance the county's spending plan for the year beginning Jan. 1.

Fortado's goal, she said, is to "make sure the nursing home stays public, but I also want to make sure that we do everything in our power to make sure that the cuts don't hurt personnel.

"There are no easy answers. When the whole board comes together (at a committee of the whole meeting) is when we're going to have those conversations. But we haven't found the one silver bullet."