The Week Ahead 12/31 - 1/6

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

The 2018 schedule is up on the Calendar page and the County page. The regular County Board meetings are back to Thursdays until next holiday season. This week starts off with a couple swearing in ceremonies and an amendment on solar farms according to the Environmental and Land Use Committee agenda.

The real excitement probably starts next Tuesday with the Committee of the Whole looking at where they landed in from 2017 and towards the financial hurdles and goals of 2018 in an election year full of State and federal issues that could squeeze local budgets even harder!

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

The Year Ahead

First of all: Vote!

Upcoming Elections:
Primary: March 20, 2018
General: November 6, 2018

But be informed when you do it! Tom Kacich laid out some of the promises and statements at various levels of our government by the politicians we can either hold accountable to their word or slip by another year. This year is an election year so expect a lot of big talk overshadowing real record. Here are the excerpts about the county:

Tom Kacich: Officials at all levels of government look ahead to 2018

Remember how Congress and the Trump administration couldn't get anything done all year until the GOP tax plan was passed in December, how the Illinois Legislature and Gov. Bruce Rauner couldn't get a budget passed for more than two years and how the Champaign County Board couldn't get anything done about the financially plagued county nursing home?

Next year should be better, your elected officials say.

The nursing home "will have to be dealt with," said county board Chairman C. Pius Weibel...

Perhaps this will be a year of action.

At the county level, a decision on putting the nursing home up for sale "is a possibility," Weibel said coyly.

"Obviously, the nursing home issue is one that will have to be dealt with" in 2018, he said.

"We also need to find direction on the downtown jail. We've talked about it, but we've never really said this is what we're going to do and how we're going to do it," said the county board chairman who is not running for re-election.

There's plenty of county board support for closing the jail, he said, but there's no consensus on whether to add onto the satellite jail in east Urbana.

"I would like to close it, but you have to have a plan to do that," he said. "It's an old building that is taking a lot of money. It has ADA problems. Plus, it's inefficient both from an operations viewpoint and a financial viewpoint."

All politics may be local, but a lot of our local politics is a nightmare because State and federal funding that, regardless of your political philosophy, involves your tax dollars coming back to fund basic services most of us do want and support through those local governments. When the State and federal government cut funding they rely on without any alternative, the people who rely on them to keep our communities safe and taken care of during the worst of times are devastated.

Local politicians sometimes like to talk about local government as if it is in a bubble. All of it is connected. Get the whole story and demand it acts in your interests, not their party's.

Jimmy John's Owner Aids Local Criminal Justice Program

A program designed to keep kids out of the criminal justice system is getting a new home, thanks to a donation from a local business owner. From the WCIA news Illinois Hompage.net:

Donation provides new home for youth program

State's Attorney Julia Reitz announced Jimmy John Liautaud and his wife gave $50,000 to support the Champaign County Youth Assessment Center. It needs to find a new facility.

It was using space, rent free, from Unit 4, but district leaders say they now need that space.

Jimmy John's sandwich restaurant chain is owned by the same. The Chicago Tribune had an interview with and about him recently about his business and him no longer big game hunting after a controversy that still haunts his image to this day.. As far as PR goes, this is certainly better than the news about his chain this time last year when he was settling a labor dispute with the Attorney General.

Regardless of any speculation on his motivations this was a definite need of a local program that has had objective results, so in the end a welcome bit of philanthropy this holiday season.

Nursing Home Lawsuit and County Board Summary

[UPDATE 12/22: Notes from the meeting added below (jump to here). Also the County Clerk uploaded the video, available here: https://www.youtube.com/user/champaigncountyclerk ]

In the ever dire news of the Nursing Home debt, a vendor is suing over a chunk of the roughly $2.7 million owed to vendors overall (not including subsidizing loans from the County or other budget issues). Excerpt from the N-G:

Former county nursing home vendor sues over $235,000 in unpaid bills

A Pennsylvania-based company that once provided dietary and housekeeping services at the Champaign County Nursing Home has filed suit against the nursing home and the county, alleging breach of contract and asking to be paid about $235,000.

Health Care Services Group of Bucks County, Pa., filed the lawsuit earlier this month, saying that the nursing home was behind in its payments.

According to the suit, the nursing home was to pay HCSG $60,955 a month for services provided. But as of Oct. 31, the suit said, the county owed the company $234,622.

Last week, in a report to the county board, County Auditor John Farney said that HCSG had been owed $234,610 on Nov. 8 but that by Dec. 12, the sum had been reduced to $182,278 after a payment on Nov. 29.

In the County Board meeting, the N-G had a summary, excerpts with a quick run down quoted below:

Champaign County Board OKs hiring law firms to sue opioid makers

Champaign County Board members voted unanimously Tuesday to join other Illinois counties that have hired law firms to pursue claims against drug makers believed to be partly responsible for the nation's opioid crisis.

The 21-0 vote came without debate.

Under the agreement, three Illinois law firms will split 25 percent of the gross amount recovered on behalf of the county...

Meanwhile, the board deferred action until January on two items related to the county-owned nursing home.

One was to renew $500,000 in loans from the county's general corporate fund to the home. The original terms said they had to be repaid by Dec. 31.

The second item calls for the issuance of more than $1 million in tax-anticipation warrants —essentially short-term loans to be repaid with property-tax revenue in the spring — to help the nursing home's cash-flow problems.

Champaign Republican Jim McGuire said he asked for the deferral on the nursing home issues because "we just need more time to accomplish some things. There is a lot going on in the background, and we just weren't ready tonight."

"We're discussing things and working together to get some things accomplished," McGuire said. "Some financial issues have come up, and we're just waiting to see what happens. We're trying to settle things down. We're getting there, but we're not there yet, so in January we hope to get some things accomplished."

Board members also approved, 19-1, the county's participation in an application to establish a land bank that advocates say would be a more efficient way of acquiring blighted properties and redeveloping them. The village of Rantoul is the lead agency in the application to the Illinois Housing Development Authority, along with the cities of Champaign and Urbana and the county. One goal of the land bank, said county zoning director John Hall, is to make the agency self-sustaining.

Also Tuesday night, the board approved the appointments of Richard Barnes of Urbana to the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District board; Susan Fowler and Thom Moore, both of Champaign, to the county mental health board; and county board Republican Diane Michaels of Rantoul as the new county auditor, effective Jan. 1. She succeeds John Farney, who will become the county treasurer, replacing Dan Welch, who is retiring after 19 years in that position.

Also, the board named a five-person committee to review the upcoming transition to a county-executive form of government. Champaign County will elect a partisan county executive next November, and the powerful position will become effective in December 2018. Appointed to the committee were Democrats C. Pius Weibel, Kyle Patterson and Steve Summers, and Republicans Jim Goss and McGuire.

Board member James Tinsley, an Urbana Democrat, was absent from Tuesday's meeting.

Amy's 12/19 County Board Notes:

The January County Facilities Committee meeting (scheduled for Jan. 2) was canceled. No public participation at this meeting. During the Communications portion, upcoming events that were announced include a January 12 Martin Luther King event at Vineyard Church in Urbana and a February 25 Art Fair organized by the Friends of the Champaign County Nursing Home.

During the Finance portion of the meeting, resolutions 10187 and 10188 both received a motion to defer the decision to January. Both times, the motion was raised by Councilman McGuire and passed on a voice vote.

Resolution 10186, Authorizing Purchases Not Following Purchasing Policy was for several thousand dollars in extra Nursing Home supplies (from janitorial, soap, etc) according to the full agenda. The motion passed.

Resolution 10191 Establishing a County Executive Style of Government Transition Committee was approved. Wiebel said that the committee would consist of Patterson, Summer, McGuire, Goss and Wiebel.

Three agenda items of the night received the most discussion.

The first was Environment and Land Use Resolution 10166 Authorizing Champaign County Participation in a Joint Application with Municipalities for the Illinois Housing Development Authority Land Bank Capacity Program. I believe that Esry gave the presentation and stated that the short notice to this request was due to a grant deadline of 1/15. This grant will offset the costs of creating an operating land bank to more efficiently address and dispose of damaged properties. Rantoul will lead the agency, with duties to include a feasibility analysis, developing operational plans, and initiating the land bank. It is anticipated that the agency will become self-supporting through income from the land bank with no cost to the cities involved. Questions were raised to Mr. Hall (Head of Planning and Zoning Department) regarding whether or not a board would be established and questions about liability issues.

The second were the Rural Transit Service Report for FY2017 and the approval of a Budget Amendment for State Capital Grant toward Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Software to improve services. Zoe Keller reported on the implementation and growing ridership of the Rantoul Deviated-Fixed Route, available for just over a year.

The third was regarding Resolution 10195 to pursue claims against opioid manufacturers. This was pretty well covered by the News Gazette. The only addition that I’d add is, as Council member Furtado pointed out, this request is rather timely given last week’s COW approval of additional funds to the coroner’s office needed to fund, in part, the increased number of tests for an ever-changing range of opioid compositions on the street.

Committee of the Whole - N-G

Video of the the 12/12 meeting is available at the Champaign County Clerk's YouTube Channel Link.

A little late, but here's the N-G report from the Committee of the Whole (more about what this is at Attend a Meeting) County Board meeting last week (full story here):

Longtime Rantoul banker slated to become county's next auditor

On Jan. 1, the Rantoul woman will succeed John Farney as Champaign County auditor. Farney is in line to become the new county treasurer when Dan Welch retires.

On Tuesday night, the Champaign County Board's committee of the whole unanimously recommended appointing Michaels to the position. A formal vote is set for Dec. 19...

In other business:

— The county board voted 12 to 9 against a resolution dissolving the County Nursing Home Board of Directors.

"My request was to bring more accountability to the county board," said county board member Jim Goss.

"The board of directors is an advisory board. It has no fiscal responsibilities," said county board Chairman C. Pius Weibel.

"If this body doesn't exist, what is it that you are proposing to replace it with?" asked County Administrator Deb Busey.

— By voice vote, the county board voted recommended issuing $1,076,760 in tax anticipation warrants for the nursing home.

"The deficit at the nursing home continues to grow throughout the year," Farney said. "The home is losing about $130,000 a month."

"It is important that we develop a buffer to pay the employees first," said board member Brooks Marsh.

Nursing home officials reported that census numbers are up, but expenses are also up.

"We have a long way to go to balance this out," said board member Pattsi Petrie.

— The county board recommended by voice vote renewing $500,000 in unpaid loans to the nursing home.

— The board unanimously approved endorsing the Illinois Bicentennial Celebration.

Committee of the Whole Preview

More information coming soon, but a quick run down of the Committee of the Whole on 12/12:

1. New auditor appointed-Diane Michaels.

2. Roll call requested for the resolution dissolving County Nursing Home Board of Directors. Discussion followed. Fails on a roll call.

3. Last item on the agenda was an approval to create a "County Executive Style of Government Transition Committee." It will be a 5 member committee, with members selected at next week’s meeting.

The Week Ahead 12/11 - 12/17

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

Big highlight this week. The Committee of the Whole County Board meeting is this week.

There's a vote on dissolving the Nursing Home Board of Directors that could be contentious. There are also end of the year issues with Nursing Home loans and aftershocks of last month's budget seem likely (at least from a peek at the agenda). Board Member Diane Michaels, I believe, is set to be appointed to be County Auditor in the latest county GOP musical chairs.

The Committee of the Whole and regular County Board meetings are on Tuesdays again due to the holidays. The main monthly calendar is  at the county website. I'll be updating the calendar page soon with the 2018 Annual Calendar of Meetings.

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

Public Primary Primer

A local group is offering a public information meeting on primary candidates in January for the upcoming March 20, 2018 primary elections. Here's their banner and facebook event link:

Event details from the facebook event link:

The Primary is coming! The Primary is coming!

March 20, 2018 is Primary Election Day. Primaries have historically had terrible voter turnout and then people don’t like their ballot choices in November! Let’s change that.

Join us on January 21st at 2pm in Robeson Pavilion Room A for a Primary Primer. We’ll go over all the races, candidates, seats, and ways to vote in this year’s Primary.

More information about them is available from their facebook page, their website, and this quick blurb from the about section:

Our goal is to build community while realigning the local elected officials, boards, commissions, and policies to reflect a People's Agenda that supports our safety net programs, addresses institutionalized oppression and gives a voice and power to the most marginalized community members. This an opportunity for us to get to know our neighbors, learn about the rich legacy of local victories for equity & justice, and strategize to build political power in CU.

Last Minute County Candidate Filings

Among the numerous candidate filings this week, I'd been keeping up fairly well on the election page and the county office races page. But I have two more to add tonight. From the News-Gazette:

Two surprises in last day of candidate filings for March primary

— Six more people — four of them Democrats — made official their candidacy for Champaign County seats. They include Democrat Darlene Kloeppel of Urbana for county executive, Champaign Democrat George Danos for county auditor and former Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing for county treasurer.

Diane Michaels of Rantoul became a Republican candidate for county auditor and Greg Worrell of Thomasboro became a GOP contender for sheriff, joining Allen Jones of Rantoul.

Pranjal Vachaspati, a Democrat, filed to run as a candidate in County Board District 9, where Incumbent Democrat Shana Jo Crews is not running for re-election.

Former Champaign County office holders were also running elsewhere in the state, for those keeping tabs:

— Tio Hardiman of Calumet City, a Democratic candidate for governor, along with his lieutenant governor running mate, Patricia Avery of Champaign. Avery is a former chair of the Champaign County Board.

...

— Champaign Democrat Mike Frerichs, seeking a second term as state treasurer. A Republican candidate, Jim Dodge of Orland Park, also brought his petitions to the State Board of Elections.

For those just becoming active in politics, or more active than general presidential elections, these past few months have been the time when races really begin and are shaped for the upcoming year. It's not too late to get involved and influence the choices (down to which choices survive to be on the general ballot). But when all your friends were saying they're sick of politics, now is not the time? This is exactly when people miss out on a lot of democracy. With regular citizens collecting ballot petitions all over town and fund raising numbers starting to show the viability (or lack thereof) of candidates ability to raise money and compete.

GOP Auditor Appointment

Champaign County Republicans put out an announcement for their appointment to Auditor to fill the vacancy being left by John Farney, who is resigning after being appointed to the County Treasurer office. Diane Michaels is a County Board member who will be replaced by appointment as well (detailed in the announcement below). More musical chairs if you're following along with the GOP County government shuffle. On the DNC side of the Auditor office, Democrat George Danos filed as a candidate for the office again. I'll be updating the election and county races page soon.

Champaign County Republicans Select Diane Michaels as Next Auditor

URBANA – Republican Precinct Committeemen from throughout Champaign County tonight selected Diane Michaels, currently a County Board Member, to serve as County Auditor starting January 1, 2018. Michaels will succeed John Farney, the current County Auditor who will assume the duties of County Treasurer at the first of the year.

“I am humbled by the support I’ve received throughout this appointment and petitioning phase,” said Michaels. “On the County Board, I have been a voice for transparency, fiscal responsibility and sound management, and I’ll continue to carry that flag as Auditor.”

Michaels currently serves as the Deputy Chair for Finance of the County Board. “She has a deep understanding of County finances,” said Board Member and Republican Caucus Chair Jim McGuire. “Diane will be ready to take action as Auditor on day one.”

“Diane Michaels is an excellent choice for County Auditor,” said Farney. “Diane has shown through her leadership at the County Board level that she will be a watchdog of County finances. She will continue my efforts to make sure County administration, elected officials and Champaign County Nursing Home management are held accountable for their practices.”

Diane is a long time resident of Rantoul with her husband, Bill. She has two adult children. Diane has a long career in the banking and finance industry, including management of facilities, commercial and personal banking, investments and settlements. She has served on the boards of many community organizations, including Hope Meadows, United Way, The High School of St. Thomas More and St. Malachy Church and School.

Initially, Michaels will serve through November 30, 2018. She is a declared candidate for election to a fill Farney’s unexpired term at the November 2018 General Election.

​NOTE:​
Republican Precinct Committeemen from County Board District 2 (Rantoul, Thomasboro, Gifford, Ludlow area) will be charged with selecting a successor for Michaels in County Board District 2 at a later meeting. Details for that appointment process will be released in the near future.
  --Mark Ballard​, Chairman

Follow up from a previous post on Potential Auditor Candidates and recent news in the Rantoul Press.

The Week Ahead 12/4 - 12/10

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

I'm also posting the December Calendar (for more detail, see the main monthly calendar at the county website) because the Committee of the Whole and regular County Board meetings are on Tuesdays again due to the holidays. I'll be updating the calendar page soon with the 2018 Annual Calendar of Meetings.

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

Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program Report

Last week there was a meeting on Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program to present information to the public about their work and report. I was unable to attend at the last minute, but wanted to put together a post and resource for those who may find the information valuable and helpful.

Quick Links:

• Full report
• Power Point Presentation from Champaign Public Library Presentation 11/27/2017
• Champaign County Board report video at the Committee of the Whole 11/14/2017

Summary, Guide and Links:

First of all what is it? A concise statement from the report:

In 2015, Champaign County was awarded a Justice and Mental Health Collaboration grant to pursue a coordinated planning process to analyze criminal justice needs for the justice involved population with mental health and co-occurring mental health and substance use needs.

The report, available here, details the work, the people and organizations involved, data and recommendations. It is rich in information, but Claudia Lennhoff of the Champaign County Health Care Consumers offered this guide to peruse both the power point presentation from the public meeting, available here, and the report (linked again below):

Here are a few things I would like to point out:

- It's really important to understand two things about this grant-funded project:  a) the purpose is to help communities develop collaborative approaches to reducing the prevalence of individuals with mental health disorders in the jails (so, focuses on people with mental illness and their interactions with the justice system); and b) it is a planning grant - the purpose is to support the community in going through its planning process. It is not an implementation grant. In order for communities to know what solutions they want to pursue, they have to first make sure they understand the problem, and then plan for the solutions accordingly. In other words, this grant is to provide support for the first step of this community process.

- Page 6 of powerpoint tells of some of our activities. I just want to point out that some of our Focus Groups and Surveys were conducted with people currently incarcerated at the time, as well as recently released people and other populations and the community.

- Also Page 6 - the bullet point that says we Established validated screenings in the jail at booking. This is a major accomplishment that would not have been possible without the Sheriff's Office and their jail staff. What this means is that when people are booked into jail, officers involved in the booking now screen the people being booked for two things: a) mental health issues, and b) substance abuse issues. We are one of the only counties in the country that has actually been able to implement this. The reason this is so important is because it will help us get data, in terms of giving us a sense of what proportion of the people being booked might have these problems, and also because it allows the staff in the jail to refer the people who screen positive so that they can get an evaluation by a professional, and link up with appropriate services (both inside the jail and outside) as needed.

- Also Page 6 - the last bullet about Conduct a data-driven analysis. This follows from the previous point -- if we are to identify solutions or propose solutions, they need to be based on a fact- and data-based definition of the problem. We have scarce resources and we need to use them appropriately and carefully to meet these human needs.

- Page 7 shows you the 4 key measures that we used in carrying out this planning process.

- Page 8 shows the Sequential Intercept Map (more detail on that below)

- Page 9 - 12 are our recommendations to the community.

Regarding data - Page 12,13, and 14 of the Final Report has data related to the various points in the Sequential Intercept Map, if you want to take a look at the data:
http://www.co.champaign.il.us/Sheriff/pdf/JMHCP_Planning_Phase_Final_Report.pdf

The report was also presented to the Champaign County Board at the November 14, 2017 Committee of the Whole meeting (the six and half hour long marathon one). Video with a direct link jumping to this report as opposed to the full meeting is here.

I'm not an expert on this material, but page two of the report should have plenty of contacts for those involved from law enforcement, to advocacy, etc to google and ask depending on what information you're looking for.

Prussing Enters Treasurer Race

Another update for the elections page and the county office races page. From the News-Gazette today:

Former Urbana mayor enters race for treasurer

Seven months after she left the mayor's office in Urbana, Laurel Prussing said today she wants to be the Democratic Party nominee for Champaign County treasurer.

Prussing said she would file her nominating petitions Monday to appear on the March 20 primary election ballot. She needs at least 251 signatures to qualify as a candidate.

John Farney, currently the county auditor, so far is the only candidate for treasurer from either party.

Shortly before she left the mayor's office last spring after being unseated by Diane Marlin in the Democratic Party primary, Prussing, 76, said she "needed a break from this stuff."

Seven months was enough, she said today.

"I had enough of a break," she said. "I wasn't planning on doing this but I was looking for candidates and I couldn't find anybody. Qualified people just didn't want to do it and I thought we needed a candidate and I thought that maybe I should do it.

In the article she mentions that George Danos will run again for County Auditor. The News-Gazette article on his last attempt was described as "razor-thin:"

John Farney has lived the scenario that played out Tuesday night before. In 2012, during his initial run for Champaign County auditor, the Republican's race against Democratic challenger George Danos came down to the wire, with Farney winning by a margin of 2,036 votes.

Tuesday's rematch between Farney and Danos was even tighter, with the incumbent collecting 50.08 percent of the vote, narrowly defeating the Champaign challenger with 49.92 percent. When all the votes were counted, Farney had 42,516 votes to Danos' 42,385, for a margin of 131.

 It's looking like a very good time to get involved and learn about Champaign County politics!