Local Tax Levy Updates

There have been a series of decisions and proposals for the upcoming tax levy from many of the local government bodies that depend on them recently. This post is to help put them in one place with links to help understand what all this may mean by the time the actual bill comes due to property owners next month:

MTD: "The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD) has approved a nearly 30 percent tax levy increase. MTD is funded through property taxes, grants, and ride fares. This increase does not mean that your property taxes will go up by 30 percent."

City of Champaign: "The City Council has determined that an appropriate total tax levy rate for
the City of Champaign is $1.3152" (the 2017 figure was also $1.3152)." and "Still, the past year's growth will see $826,023 more in property-tax revenue flow into the city's coffers, even with the tax levy at the same level as it has been for the past six years."

City of Urbana: "This will put Urbana's rate within a few cents of Champaign's rate next door. But without hospital properties to count into its levy, the city is likely to see a decrease of $269,375 in revenue available for basic city services."

Unit 4: "The Champaign school district wants to levy for an $8.4 million boost in property taxes next year but is projecting the increase would have a minimal impact on the tax rate paid by property owners."

District 116: "Residents can probably expect to see a lower school tax rate on their tax bills next year."

Parkland: "trustees approved an increase to the school's property-tax levy on Wednesday night that will allow the college to capture additional taxes after an increase in the equalized assessed value of property within the district. Still, Chief Financial Officer Chris Randles said, taxpayers should see a decrease in the college's rate on next year's bill."

Here's a primer post with a few different explanations to help people understand the difference between the tax levy and the tax rate, and how they affect one another: Tax Levies versus Tax Rates

Plant Hardiness Zones and Climate Change

The News-Gazette is publishing a series on how climate change may affect planting in the future with interviews with climatologists, looking at the USDA Hardiness Zone data and recent climate change assessments. Here's a quick excerpt from today's article:

Given the recent publication of the Fourth National Climate Assessment and the ominous conclusion that climate change is happening at an even faster rate than previously predicated, I have to wonder how it will impact plant hardiness zones.

How have these zones changed in the past? How will they change in the future? What do gardeners need to consider when selecting plants now and in the future? Over the next two editions of this column, I will be exploring the answers to these questions to help all of us as gardeners draw some meaningful conclusions...

The take-home message to me is that we really haven't experienced a significant shift in cold hardiness zones (with respect to historical data sets of average low temperatures) in recent iterations of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map since 1960. Although a half zone shift by itself is significant (5F), we have both lost and gained that amount in past map updates. However, recent national climate assessments in 2014 and 2018 do predict a significant change in climate that will impact the map as average annual low temperatures gradually rise. In addition, other aspects of the Illinois climate will change, along with temperature that will have an impact on gardening.

The full article is available here.

Aquifer Task Force Report

The Mahomet Aquifer Task Force issued a final report this week including recommendations to improve the safety and protect our regional source for drinking water. Here's a quick blurb from the News-Gazette earlier this week:

$19.8M plan: Map water using helicopters
The latest tool for protecting our area’s source of drinking water: helicopters.

An advisory group of local elected officials and community members has recommended the state commit $19.8 million to the UI’s Prairie Research Institute for helicopterbased time-domain electromagnetics, or H-TEM technology, to better map the Mahomet Aquifer.

Doing so will “give us a much clearer view of what’s underground,” said state Sen. Chapin Rose, RMahomet, a member of the Mahomet Aquifer Task Force, which has spent

months studying issues concerning the primary source of drinking water for 500,000 central Illinoisans.

Among the group’s other recommendations, which now go to state lawmakers:

➜ Establish a public body to manage the aquifer long-term.

➜ If the aquifer is contaminated, there should be trust-fund money available to start clean-up right away.

➜ Inspectors should be trained to better detect problem areas like erosion, landslides and seeps.

So far the final report appears to have been given to the legislature and governor's office, but only the draft version is available online at the task force webpage. I'll update with links once I find a copy of the final report. NowDecatur had a more expansive highlight of the final report:

Highlights from the report include recommending the General Assembly provide $19.8 million to the Prairie Research Institute to use helicopter-based time-domain electromagnetics (HTEM technology) to more accurately map and characterize the Mahomet Aquifer to aid in identifying the connections with other aquifers and surface waters.

“That’ll give us a much clearer view of what’s underground, providing detailed data of what’s in and around the Mahomet Aquifer,” Rose said. “For example, if any old landfills above the Aquifer have failed and run the risk of contaminating the water. Also, the laser study can potentially help us find where the natural gas bubble is from the Peoples Gas natural gas leak. The data from this technology will help us deal with all sorts of issues and identity other potential threats to the Aquifer.”

The Task Force also recommends that a public body be established to manage the Aquifer long-term. This body would be responsible for responding to future issues, among other duties, and the report made a number of suggestions for future study for such a body...

Other recommendations include:

• Establishing a trust fund to cover the cost of remediation in the event of a significant environmental incident so immediate remediation can begin;
     
• Requiring companies storing natural gas underground to consult with third-party environmental experts in the event of a significant environmental incident to certify corrective plans and conduct oversight of the cleanup;
     
• Training inspectors to use the detailed terrain model templates and instruct staff on how to annotate these images with defects such as depressions, erosion, landslides, barren areas, leachate seeps, trees, and vegetation anomalies;
     
• Implementing the recommendations listed and providing additional funding ($1 million for one-time equipment purchase and additional $2.3 million annually) to PRI to deploy state-of-the-art monitoring networks and create the analytical capability to identify emerging contaminants of concern.

More at the full article here.

County Updates: Veterans Assistance and Deputy Exec

The Champaign County Veterans Assistance Commission (Cheatsheet post with additional information here) once again had to turn away some veterans seeking assistance due to a need for additional funding. From CU-CitizenAccess.org, "a community online news and information project devoted to investigative and enterprise coverage of social, justice and economic issues in east central Illinois.":

Veterans Assistance Commission can’t meet demand for help
Due to a tight budget, Champaign County Veterans Assistance Commission has had to turn away 138 veterans so far this year requesting financial help.

Last year they turned away 151 veterans.

The organization  receives funding from Champaign County. They provide temporary financial assistance to veterans, including helping with mortgage or rent payments, utility payments, and food and family essentials.

The commission receives a budget of $80,000 each year from Champaign County. However, they recently received a $5,000 donation from veteran’s group called Hometown Heroes...

According to the commission annual report, 52 percent of the budget goes towards helping veterans with their rent, 6 percent towards helping with mortgage and 42 percent goes towards helping with utilities.

Gould said that he asks Champaign County every year for more money, but is unable to get it. However, he said he understands that the county  also has a tight budget...

The commission offers other forms of aid as well. They have their own food pantry, where they can give bags of food to people who need it. The commission website also states that they provide advocacy, and information, referral and location of discharge documents.

They also can provide passes for bus service, Gould said.

Maggio said that veterans can ask for assistance for however long they need it for.

In order to receive the services from the commission, however, veterans have to be eligible. According to Section 2 of the Military Veteran’s Assistance Act, a person must have served in the Armed Forces of the U.S., and must have left on an honorable discharge.

Full article here with a lot more additional information.

In other County government news, the Deputy Executive position (voted on this week at the County Board meeting) looks like it will be filled by the head of another local community organization. From the News-Gazette:

Courage Connection director chosen as Champaign County deputy admin
Isak Griffiths, the executive director of Champaign-based Courage Connection, is leaving that agency next month to fill the newly created deputy director of administration position for Champaign County.

County Executive Darlene Kloeppel said Griffiths will begin her new job Jan. 22.

Griffiths will support her office and primarily be responsible for personnel and human-resources development, Kloeppel said...

Griffiths is an Air Force veteran with both a bachelor's degree and MBA from the University of Illinois. Before coming to Courage Connection, she managed her own leadership development business, facilitated Dale Carnegie training programs and developed systems, programs and training courses in the library systems and telecommunications industries, according to the agency.

More at the full article here.

New County Board

[UPDATE: Video is available on the County Clerk YouTube channel here. The corrected County Calendar for 2019 is available here in PDF format and will be added to the County Board general information page here as an image as well.]

The County Board may be new, but the problems it faces this term are all too familiar thanks to delays in selling the Nursing Home. The News-Gazette had an overview today:

Champaign County Board approves another $2.7 million for nursing home
With the Champaign County Nursing Home still under the county’s control months after the county board agreed to sell it, members approved budget amendments Tuesday night to cover its operations into the new year.

County Executive Darlene Kloeppel said the county’s goal is still to close on the sale of the home on Dec. 31, but the buyers have the option to extend that into 2019...

In other business, the board voted unanimously to approve the creation of a new position, deputy director of administration, to assist Kloeppel.

The position will have a minimum annual salary of $63,745.50 and a maximum annual salary of $95,628.

As part of the move, the county is also eliminating the budget/HR specialist position from the county executive office’s budget. The person who holds that position now is retiring.

The board also approved the appointment of Bradley Diel and Margaret Chaplan to the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District Board. Their terms will last until Dec. 31, 2023.

Full article here. The new Executive Form of County government appeared to get over some initial hurdles with the new rules. Recently appointed and now elected member Pranjal Vachaspati raised some concerns along with others via points of order. There was some concern with committee chairmen presiding over resolutions on within their area as opposed to the Executive or other presiding chair.

A motion passed to suspend the rules on the matter to ensure the votes taken could not be challenged or invite litigation later. Member McGuire pointed to his past experience on the board that they were within appropriate protocol and the Executive appeared to agree when further points of order were raised on the issue. The unusual protocol was due to this being the first board meeting and thus there was no Committee of the Whole where committee chairs would have had preliminary motions. McGuire noted that sometimes this happens when there isn't a COW meeting. Regardless it shouldn't be an issue next month.

Long time staff employed by the county were recognized for tenure milestones and assignments were made to committees and liaisons (except the chair's liaisons because he was absent today). For those following the criminal justice reform work being done by the county, the new Justice & Social Services Chair and Vice-Chair are Kyle Patterson - D, and Jim McGuire -R. McGuire served in this role with Robert King last term where the Racial Justice Task Force Recommendations had begun to take initial shape. 

The 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report was presented by the independent auditor who then answered some technical questions and recommended a few areas for improvement. One issue he gave as an example was the antiquated ledger system making it difficult to segregate duties for authorizing and making payments to ensure proper checks and balances. There were some other technical questions for anyone interested when the video is available.

A vote on a highway foreman position being changed just passed the 15 vote roll call threshold needed to pass. There wasn't any discussion on why this  may have been contentious. Voting no were Clifford, Eisenmann, Esry, Goss, Harper, Rector, and Wolken. I'll have to check to see if there was a budget concern among the more conservative members.

Circuit Clerk Blakeman explained the need for the changes to the job descriptions up for a vote. With the budget crunch squeezing manpower across the county, the Circuit Clerk had been making due, but needs to update the job duties of a couple current positions and make the pay competitive for another to hopefully finally fill it. She was asked by Member Fortado if the current employee contract negotiations going on would be fortuitous timing to work out those changes and Blakeman agreed that it likely would be a good time to do so.

The new Sheriff explained a couple grants the Sheriff's Office was vying for, including one intended to help implement new criminal justice data system that's more in depth than the current FBI standard through the Uniform Crime Report that categorizes by the most heinous crime. The National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) would allow for far more details to be tracked on the circumstances and crimes involved. The grant is available to local police departments, though Sheriff Heuerman could not say what the acceptance rate was at this point. He hoped to transition the CCSO over by sometime in 2021.

The meeting wrapped up at 7:58pm, clocking in at just under an hour and a half. Given the new rules and members, an extremely long agenda (four full pages and a half-page addendum), and the fact that there were Nursing Home votes? That seems like a Christmas miracle. There was no public participation prior to all of the housekeeping resolutions, so that sped things along. That will certainly change as the serious issues of 2019 come to a head.

CU Moms Demand Action and Truce

The local area Moms Demand Action group is partnering with Truce to raise awareness, funding, and local government support for the intervention program designed to interrupt cycles of violence in communities struggling with gun violence. The two day training was deemed a success by organizers and there will likely be new opportunities to participate in 2019 according to their follow up post via the CU Area Project facebook page. WCIA had a video segment about the recent training here. The News-Gazette also had coverage:

'Violence interrupters' get first training in effort to help curb shootings 
With one of the deadliest years on record about to come to a close, a group of about three dozen community members are taking steps they hope will make Champaign-Urbana a less violent place to call home in 2019.

A month after Champaign City Council members were briefed on disturbing gun violence statistics during an update on the C-U Fresh Start program — 109 shooting incidents and eight homicides in the two cities in the first 10 months of the year alone — another local initiative was launched over the weekend with a similar goal.

Community members were trained on becoming "violence interrupters" — the term used to describe those who detect conflicts before they intensify. One example: If a shooting has occurred, interrupters will reach out to the victim's friends and relatives to try to prevent retaliation.

The local group — which will go through 40 hours of training — took part in two eight-hour sessions over the weekend, covering techniques that included conflict resolution, violence prevention and intervention strategies.

Lots of additional information at the full article here. More information on the CU Area Project and upcoming 2019 Truce training here. More information on Moms Demand Action here. A link to their GoFundMe page is here.

Outdoor Update: Deer and Gardening

 
Master Gardening training and related community opportunities are coming up in 2019 (click here to jump to that). Also there was a lot of helpful information related to this year's deer hunting season. Specifically issues related to traffic safety, controlling the deer population, and how that affects hunting management locally. From the News-Gazette earlier this week:

Data analysis: Targeted deer hunting a likely cause of reduction in area crashes
From 2008 to 2016, deer-related crashes have declined in Champaign and Vermilion counties by more than 50 percent.

Across Illinois Department of Transportation's District 5 — which includes Champaign, DeWitt, Douglas, Edgar, McLean, Piatt and Vermilion counties — deer-related crashes are down 44 percent, from 1,198 to 673...

 While the crashes have leveled off over the past few years, the decline since 2008 may have a simple cause that has nothing to do with deer signs and warnings to drivers: hunting.

The state of Illinois uses deer-related crashes as a barometer to measure deer population trends.

Deer-vehicle accidents are "a function of the number of deer remaining in a population," according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources website on deer management.

A 2008 task force called for 14 percent reduction in deer crashes, and goals were set for each county, with the statewide goal reached in 2012.

The IDNR uses these goals to manage the deer harvest.

For example, if a county stays below its deer crash goal for two years in a row, it's removed from the late-winter deer hunting season, according to the IDNR.

Full article here with further information, including alternatives and effectiveness. The News-Gazette also had the deer totals last week:

There were some later muzzleloader season totals in local counties this week: "Champaign (11), Douglas (three), Ford (11) Piatt (six) and Vermilion (39)."


The UI Extension is offering Master Gardner training in January. From the News-Gazette earlier this week:

In the Garden | Nourishing knowledge in winter
...
Master Gardeners are volunteers who have a love of gardening and a passion to share it with others, but despite the title, don't claim to know everything about gardening. The program focuses on learning for the love of learning. This stress-free approach, along with the opportunity to connect with fellow gardeners, is exactly what makes the Master Gardener program so popular.

During Master Gardener training, attendees have the opportunity to learn about gardening from University of Illinois educators, like me, and other horticulture specialists in a way that is both interesting and practical...

Master Gardeners volunteer at a variety of different community garden projects. They grow vegetables for the local food pantry and work with veterans, children and other diverse groups. They plant and care for the Idea Garden on campus, hold a Garden Day Workshop each March at Danville Area Community College, coordinate educational garden-themed classes each month, organize an annual plant sale in May and run Garden Walks in June.

They also research and answer questions from the public through the Extension office's horticulture hotline. No matter where your talents lie, there is truly something for everyone.

More information at the full article here and the UI Extension program's webpage here.

1 Year Later Quashed Warrants Unresolved

Earlier in the year as criminal justice advocates cheered the quashing of thousands of outstanding warrants in the Champaign County Courthouse for various local ordinance violations, local government officials were left with questions. This left the enforcement mechanism for local government unclear while addressing a serious over-jailing problem at the County level. The News-Gazette had an overview of those warrants here, and explained the double-sided sword quashing the warrants was having back in January here:

Judge 'quashed' thousands of warrants
...
In a 15-word order issued Jan. 5, Judge Tom Difanis "quashed," or set aside, 2,547 outstanding warrants for people who have unresolved city or village ordinance violations, some issued as long ago as 2001.

Difanis said he intended the move to lighten the load of the staff at the Champaign County Jail, who have to book those people once they are arrested.

His action, however, has left city legal staffers wondering what the alternatives are.

Almost a year later the City of Champaign is still working out how to deal with the ramifications of that decision. From the News-Gazette earlier this week:

Costs take focus in Champaign council's discussion on ordinance violations
...
Council members considered multiple options on how to deal with 1,800 failure-to-appear warrants that were among 2,547 that Champaign County Presiding Judge Tom Difanis quashed in a single order in January, to the frustration of municipal legal departments across the county. The conclusion of many on the council was that the issue needed more time and attention.

Members also gave some feedback to city staff on a proposal to have city return to using administrative adjudication for the violations, which would eliminate the need to go through the county courts.

Council member Angie Brix said her support for administrative adjudication will come down to cost. She questioned city legal staff about possible costs for all the software, bookkeeping and staff the new system would require, as well as the cost to hire a hearing officer. Staff members said they wanted some direction before moving forward on exploring those costs.

The board appeared to take into consideration the very real impacts their decisions could have on vulnerable members of the community as well as taxpayers, however:

And though it may have lead to more work and stress for legal staffs in municipalities across the county, council member Clarissa Fourman said the judge's order ultimately did more good than harm.

"I liked what Judge Difanis did because it helped a lot of people," Fourman said. "There's a reason people don't go to court. They may not have child care, or can't get off their below-$10-an-hour job, or you don't know what trauma somebody has had as a child — maybe they spent all their young life in court and don't want to be in that environment. We are also punishing people for being poor. There has to be a way to enforce this with humanity."

Some council members balked at the notion of bringing in collection agencies like Chicago-based Harris and Harris to fix the problem by using liens on property or filing small-claims suits against people who have failed to appear in court or set up a payment plan for any fines levied.

"I will never support us going any kind of business whatsoever with Harris and Harris," said council member Tom Bruno. "They are so dirty that I will never vote to have the city get in bed with a collection agency like Harris and Harris to dun people in our community."

More at the full article here.

NAACPCC Criminal Justice Report

Last month's City of Champaign Human Relations Commission meeting (agenda here) included a presentation of the local NAACP report on criminal justice. Thomas Moore argued that the report is an educational tool as opposed to a road map and what we've tried over the past forty years hasn't worked. He argued for a new focus on the ineffectiveness of punishment in the system of mass incarceration. He noted that jails are a big part of the problem and a local issue. Video is available here and the NAACP of Champaign County report begins at the 6:20 mark. There were many ideas discussed and listed in the News-Gazette yesterday:

Among the suggestions discussed during Monday's meeting:

— Allowing those incarcerated to register to vote and cast votes while in prison.

— When drawing up legislative district boundaries, assigning prisoners to the locality they come from instead of the prison site.

— Advocating for more humane policies that stress restorative justice.

— Having the NAACP form a partnership with local libraries to develop a crime-and-punishment bibliography and establishing a repository of books and articles on incarceration, public safety and justice.

— Advocating for the collection of data on the justice system "to develop more grounded responses to crime and punishment."

— Developing justice reform that gives a prominent role to the faith community.

— Exploring programs that restore civil rights for those incarcerated and awaiting trial.

— Developing a pretrial-assessment protocol in Champaign County.

— Integrating restorative practices within both the Champaign Unit 4 and Urbana 116 school districts.

Full article here. One item not mentioned in this list was their support of the recommendations of the Racial Justice Task Force (more information on that here). The conclusion of the report sums up the systematic approach of the full report looking at how racial disparities by both design and accident have survived to the current state of mass incarceration. In spite of so-called "colorblind" legalese and ideology, those disparities have been amplified by racial bias at each and every step of the system — often in spite of sincere attempts to ensure equal treatment.

It can be uncomfortable and even unbelievable to many who believe that we've solved many of the issues raised. The report provides evidence and references to supporting information that shows how the problems persist, and in some ways become even more segregated in effect. Citizens in the same city can have an extremely different experience with the criminal justice system beyond just negative outcomes, but including whether they interact with it at all.

From the report:

It is questionable whether the law and order campaigns that gave birth to mass incarceration were ever really about fighting crime and enhancing public safety. Punishment is not the only society response to crime however, once crime became politized the following agenda ignored all other possible altertive responses. Now after a forty year experiment it is obvious punishment is bankrupt not resulting in any of the promises of safety, reduced crime, affordability, and most of all justice. When we wade through the foundational crime myths of those seeking and holding  political power, we see clearly that ideological reform on crime, punishment, and justice, not solely criminal justice (process) reform, is needed. We are in danger of repeating past mistakes, if we retain the punitive imperative and incarceration as the go-to tool. Instead, we need to pursue  policies and practices that restore and empower people and communities. We are in desperate need of a criminal justice transformation.

How we got here is both accidental and planned. The crime rate began to climb in the 1960’s into the 80’s. Beginning in 1964 political campaign pledges vowed to free the nation from violence, and to restore order. Mandatory minimum sentencing from the 1973 Rockefeller drug laws placed more people in prison for longer periods of time around possession of marijuana and other drugs. In 1984 the federal government created the United States Commission on Sentencing. It instituted sentencing guidelines, and abolished parole for federal crimes. By the end of the century over half the states had adopted “three strikes and you’re out laws.

Racism also has played, and continues to play, a significant role in the levels of incarceration. As Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson states, "I don't think you can understand the tremendous increase in the incarceration rates, the targeting of black people and menacing of communities of color and poor communities without understanding this history. We have to understand enslavement in a new way.” In African-American families and communities, mass incarceration has contributed to the rise of crime. It has devastated the informal social control of families and communities, shattered social relationships, and robbed families and communities of the opportunity to pursue their dreams. The Brennan Center reports that over time incarcerations have very little effect on crime, and sadly it continues. While there is no silver  bullet to reduce crime they say some police practices, and social and economic factors have a greater effect on reducing crime than incarcerations do. It is to our advantage as a nation to move away from what does not work and embrace that which has a better chance of reducing crime. Incarceration is a failed social experiment.

I'd strongly encourage anyone who disputes these conclusions to check out the referenced books and studies, such as "The New Jim Crow" to see if it addresses some of the assumptions and concerns often involved. It may not change anyone's mind, but it can certainly help understand the perspective. In a nation founded on liberty, it's certainly not a point of pride to incarcerate and revoke the rights of such a massive portion of our population compared to the rest of the free world and even dictatorships:

(click to enlarge)

This is a follow up of a previous post with new links and information (for those who noticed something familiar).

Crisis Intervention Team Data

The local Champaign County area Crisis Intervention Team Steering Committee released a report on their responses to crisis calls. What is a Crisis Intervention Team? The University of Illinois Police Department has a quick general explanation here:

As police officers are increasingly becoming the first response for people who are in a mental health crisis, departments across the country are recognizing that crisis intervention training for their officers should be a priority. More than half of the officers at the University of Illinois Police Department are specially trained in the most effective methods to help people who are dealing with some sort of mental illness, who are suicidal or who are experiencing any other similar type of crisis.

Officers are trained in how to recognize a crisis, how to speak to the person experiencing a crisis to de-escalate the situation and how to come up with a plan to help. The plan may include something very informal – like identifying and addressing a certain activity or situation that may have been contributing to a rush of anxiety – to something more formal, like setting up an appointment with the Counseling Center or bringing that person to the hospital for emergency treatment.

The work that goes into creating that kind of working application is a lot more complicated and requires the cooperation of law enforcement and service providers and local government to support and fund various parts. The report had an overview of what the organization looks like locally within the county:

In October 2012, at the Urbana City Building, members from local law enforcement agencies and the mental health community met to discuss the current law enforcement response to citizens in mental health crisis, build stronger partnerships between stakeholders, and identify resource options. The law enforcement community was represented by the Champaign County Sheriff’s Department (CCSO), Champaign Police Department (CPD), University of Illinois Police Department (UIPD), Urbana Police Department (UPD) and Champaign County State’s Attorney Office (SAO). The local mental health system was represented by area mental health providers, the local hospitals, a member of the jail task force, and other stakeholders. The group continued meeting regularly and is now recognized as the Champaign County Crisis Intervention Team Steering Committee (CITSC).

NAMI has more information for communities looking to build the relationships necessary to build such a program here. For more information on the history of Crisis Intervention Teams, NAMI has a quick overview here. The data covers the time period between August 1, 2017 and July 31, 2018. It has break downs on contacts, outcomes, time of day, day of week, gender and race. On outcomes, for example, it had this information from the first half of the year:

Figure 12. Dispositions of Suicide Threats, Attempts, and Ideations CIT Contacts, January 1, 2018 to July 31, 2018

The full report is available here. "The petition refers to petitions for involuntary commitment to the emergency rooms." I checked with the contact on the report about that to be sure. Apparently it's the law enforcement jargon from the petition form they fill out for the courts in those situations. Resolved at Scene (RAS) I understood from the presentation as successful deescalation. Everyone goes on about their lawful activities, there's no further risk of injury to self or others, etc without arrests or medical intervention.

Champaign Community Coalition December Meeting

The Champaign Community Coalition yesterday touched on a number of important issues this month, from the upcoming training to interrupt violence to the ability to get information to those who need it about programs in the area. From the News Gazette today:

Mental-health counselor to community coalition: Find gaps in resources
...
At Wednesday's meeting, Karen Simms, a mental-health counselor and trauma expert who in the past called for a "network analysis" to "evaluate what we have in place and what is missing," built on her comment in June that "we don't have a clear picture of where our needs are" by calling for coalition members to brainstorm existing resources for all age groups to find out where gaps exist...

Simms specifically mentioned a gap in vocational training and mentoring of adults and teens, and others in the room talked about a lack of trust for once-trusted organizations and programs in part because of a difference in need between generations.

When one community member shouted out that many youth haven't heard of programs that could benefit them, Simms called on members to think of better messaging and marketing opportunities to get the word out and "promote peace."

...

In other business, 40 members of the community will be trained Friday and Saturday to become "violence interrupters" and "peace seekers" in an effort to stop shootings and ease tense relationships between law enforcement and the community, as well as to introduce street-level mediation and employ other nonviolent approaches to conflict resolution.

Attendees also heard from Dr. Malcolm Hill of the Carle Community Initiative, who emphasized the importance of early-childhood development. He introduced members of the HOME Consortium, who gave information on early-childhood programs with services from prenatal up to age 5.

Full article here. There was a recent article on the upcoming training tomorrow, this Friday and Saturday, to interrupt violence on WCIA this week (video at the link):

"Violence interrupters" to hold training session
...
C-U Area Project will hold a "violence interrupters" training for anyone who wants to be a part of what they hope will be a solution to curbing the violence. It's part of a national anti-violence project. The Ceasefire Violence Interrupters model has been used in cities nationwide. The director, Tio Hardiman, will be there to head up the professional training.

It'll focus on de-escalation, mediation and conflict resolution tactics as well as restoring relationships.  There have been seven shooting homicides in Champaign this year. C-U Area Project wants to bring in twelve new outreach members and that's what this training is for.

Jobie Taylor says, "We have to get in front of the violence before it even occurs. We're trying to prevent deaths, prevent shootings. So if we hear information through Facebook or through word of mouth then that's when we send our outreach workers out and they try to deescalate situations or mediate situations." 

Full article here. Information to sign up is also at the link, though it sounded like the class may already have been full last I checked.

Urbana FD is County's 2nd Class 1 ISO

In news that helps lower your insurance costs (for homes and businesses) a variety of local government and agencies have made it possible for Urbana Fire Department to join Champaign Fire Department's last few years with a Class 1 ISO rating. From the News-Gazette today:

Urbana Fire Department joins Champaign among top rated in nation
For fire departments, earning a Class 1 rating from the Insurance Services Office is the dream. The inspections are so rigorous that this year, just 305 of the more than 46,000 departments certified by the agency across the country earned that designation.

Only 16 of them are in Illinois — and Champaign County now has two, as the Urbana Fire Department has joined its sister agency across Wright Street in the exclusive Class 1 club...

Though full of confidence, Urbana's department wasn't in for an easy inspection. In calculating its Public Protection Rating, the ISO looks at four factors: the fire department, the needed fire flow — the amount of water an engine needs to put out a fire — water supply and distribution, and emergency communications. So it's not just the fire department that gets scrutinized with a fine-toothed comb every year, but also METCAD and Illinois American Water.

The ISO grades communities on a 100-point scale, and anything above 90 earns a Class 1 rating. Urbana got a 90.92 this year, with the fire department scoring 42.02 out of 50, Illinois American Water scoring 36.65 out of 40 and METCAD scoring 9.55 out of 10.

That 9.55 score elated METCAD Director Ralph Caldwell.

"Obviously, it's stressful, because our evaluation impacts other organizations, not just METCAD," Caldwell said. "But we pride ourselves in doing the right thing at the right time and meeting their guidelines to get first responders to the scene quickly. We scored very high, but we couldn't have done it without everyone else. We're one family. We're brothers and sisters."

Full article with additional information here. Champaign County's METCAD system handles calls for 25 Fire Departments including Champaign and Urbana Fire Departments as part of its emergency dispatch services. This is on top of their services to 12 area police departments. It's an impressive collaborative agency with employees of the City of Champaign, an Urbana location, in a County building, and U of I phone systems. Its board has administrative and public safety representatives from local governments, the University of Illinois and rural representatives of police and fire departments.

The two fire departments are also part of MABAS 28 regional response for HAZMAT and other collaborations as well. 

Carle Tax Lawsuit Update

Nothing really new, but heading towards the upcoming court date next year this article provides an explanation of the reason why a settlement beforehand is unlikely given the parties involved:

No settlement likely ahead of trial in Carle's property-tax lawsuit
Lawyers for the Carle Foundation and the governmental bodies they're facing in a lengthy lawsuit said Tuesday a settlement is unlikely before the lawsuit goes to trial Jan. 2.

Judge Randy Rosenbaum gently encouraged both sides to consider settling at what was a final pretrial hearing before the actual trial begins.

One of Carle's lawyers, Steven Pflaum, said the city of Urbana isn't interested in talking settlement.

And it would be difficult for Champaign County and its officials to settle with Carle without Urbana and Cunningham Township being willing to do the same, said Assistant State's Attorney Joel Fletcher, though he also said, "I'm not saying never."

Pflaum said Carle has made numerous overtures over the years to settle with the remaining defendants in the lawsuit — which currently include Champaign County and several county officials; Urbana; Cunningham Township; and the Illinois Department of Revenue.

The Urbana school and park districts signed a settlement agreement with Carle in 2013 that's required them to make refunds to Carle through this year on some of the property taxes it previously paid them.

More at the full article here.

New County Office Holders

As newly elected Democrats take over several County offices this month, they'll probably be busy transitioning from candidate promises to the reality of the jobs. The News-Gazette had several interviews since the election that I'm going to link here, as well as the GOP's look towards the 2020 County races:

The new County Executive position: A post election interview and an analysis of the fallout by Tom Kacich.

Political newcomer Kloeppel ready to get to work as first county executive
...
Kloeppel, who has a master's degree in social work, served for 15 years as community services director at the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, and she's been doing consulting work since retiring from the RPC three years ago...

Kloeppel said she plans to spend the next few weeks before taking office in December getting ready for her first organizational meeting with the county board and getting started on how to undertake a strategic plan for the county — her highest priority for year one.

Auditor: A post-election interview:

Third try's a charm for new Champaign County auditor
...
Danos will be the first CPA to be elected to the office in Champaign County, and he thinks that made him particularly qualified.

He currently works in the private sector, and he said in the lead-up to the election that he plans to use the office to "tighten internal controls, improve the financial reporting process, and to strengthen the ongoing audit of the accounts payable."

He also said he hoped to create a more detailed invoice system for county spending, limiting wayward spending by government employees.

Clerk: A brief post-election interview (excerpt below) and an extended interview on a variety of issues from transition tension to upcoming county issues he'll be facing.

Ammons calls for boosting voter outreach after winning clerk's post
...
As county clerk, Ammons has said he will insist on a pay freeze for countywide elected officials.

Among his other vows: to implement a citizen commission to oversee elections when the county clerk is on the ballot; to devote $5,000 of his salary each year to voter education and outreach; and to continue his opposition to Illinois' participation in Cross Check, what he called a "voter-suppression program."

Sheriff: An interview with the new sheriff, a list of goals from his swearing in, and also an interview with the long-serving retiring sheriff on the issues he faced coming into the job and challenges he faced here

There's a new sheriff in town — and he has a new chief deputy
...
Heuerman said his experience working under Walsh as a road deputy on second and third shifts was good. His relationship with Jones, who was his lieutenant, was not as good and part of the reason he moved on to his position at Lake Land College in Mattoon, where he is program coordinator and adviser for the criminal justice program. He is also a part-time police officer there.

Heuerman has bachelor's and master's degrees in criminology and a doctorate of education in community-college leadership. He is also a member of the Illinois Community College Board.

With the election over, Heuerman said he and Barrett are putting together an agenda to improve morale in the department and get things done like consolidating the jails, trying to limit the number of mentally ill people who are jailed, getting more deputies hired, and increasing training for deputies and correctional officers.

and

'Changing of a new era'
...
His short-term goal, he said, is to increase morale in the office. More than a dozen deputies, correctional officers, investigators and administrators were among those witnessing the installation of the new boss. Also present was his new chief deputy, Shannon Barrett, who is leaving her job as an Urbana police officer to be second-in-command at the sheriff’s office.

Heuerman said his most pressing longterm goal is to consolidate the downtown jail with the Lierman Avenue satellite jail, something he concedes may not happen in four years.

He also has to make two promotions to sergeant this month. One of those will replace John Carleton, who retired last week as the sergeant over courthouse security officers after 26 years of service. The other is a needed upgrade for patrol as deputies switch to working 12-hour shifts in early January.

Treasurer: A brief interview right after the election:

Prussing credits Democrats' teamwork for treasurer victory
...
Prussing is now looking forward to being part of a strong financial team for the county, she said. That includes herself and two other Democratic winners, newly elected county auditor George Danos and new county executive Darlene Kloeppel.

"I think it's going to be a real strong financial team with the three of us," Prussing said...

Prussing, perhaps best-known for her three terms as Urbana's first woman mayor, chalked up 34 years of elected office before losing the 2017 primary to current Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin. Prussing's been county auditor, a county board member and a former state representative in the 103rd district.

Republicans look towards the 2020 races:

Champaign County Republicans working on 2020 vision
Less than three weeks after a brutal election outcome for Champaign County Republicans, they're looking down the road at the next big challenge.

That is: How to avoid another blue sweep of countywide offices in 2020.

Six Champaign County-wide offices will be up for election when Americans choose their next president — county coroner, county recorder, circuit clerk, state's attorney, circuit judge and county auditor.

Democrat George Danos won the auditor's office in the Nov. 6 election for a two-year unexpired term — which places the office back in play in 2020. And Circuit Judge Jason Bohm said he'll be running as a Republican in his first election after being appointed to the bench earlier this year.

Three other countywide offices up for election are currently held by Republicans — Circuit Clerk Katie Blakeman, Coroner Duane Northrup and Recorder Mark Shelden — and all three said they plan to run again in 2020.

A great deal of information and their concerns at the full article here. One issue that started a bit of a firestorm in Democratic Party circles were their comments on student voters being less informed on local issues:

Given his promise to always vote his conscience first and his party second on the county board, Rector said he found it disappointing that many voters didn't do their homework.

"These students on campus are so bright, and all they went by — they were told that Donald Trump is horrible and don't vote for any local 'R,'" he said. "I applaud them for voting, but they need to do their homework."

A particular challenge for Republicans at the local level, Shelden said, is that the average students who live outside the area but vote in Champaign County naturally gravitate toward national politics.

"For the Republican Party, we absolutely need to have a better message for younger voters," he said.

Tom Kacich had some various samples and analysis of split ticket voting on campus versus a rural district to illustrate the concern here. Many of the local arguments included the view that students aren't sufficiently tied to the community or informed, with a serious rural versus campus divisiveness. Democrats argue that they live and pay taxes here (even if through rent) and countless alumni stay and make the Champaign area their home. Others wrote letters to the editor that insulting the intelligence of our best and brightest isn't a good way to win them over:

The problem is, none of that is true, and all of it is insulting. To suggest that individuals working tirelessly to earn Ph.D.s and master's degrees are too stupid to know who to vote for is not a winning strategy. To disparage those who spend a significant amount of their time and spending power locally as "not local enough" is to admit that Republicans aren't comfortable with the reality that they are a diverse and dynamic community more than capable of acting in self-interest.

If Republicans want to win future elections in Champaign County, they need to do some serious soul-searching. Stop insulting the intelligence of young voters; 2020 is on the horizon, and if you thought we were motivated before, wait until Trump is on the ballot.

Well, they agree on the perils of 2020 for the GOP. So there's one thing.

It's worth pointing out that the tax revenue from property taxes, sales taxes, etc do add up. From a recent Tom's Mailbag:

No matter where you live in the County or Champaign-Urbana area, that's no chump change.

Nursing Home Updates

There has been more painful delays and costs in selling the Nursing Home. From the News-Gazette a couple weeks back:

Champaign County Board approves spending another $1.675M on nursing home
With the sale of the Champaign County Nursing Home still not finalized, the county board continues to find itself writing checks on behalf of the financially challenged institution.

On Tuesday night, the board approved spending another $1.675 million on nursing-home-related issues, including forgiving two loans and settlements for lawsuits brought by the estates of two former residents.

The board first voted to forgive two loans totaling $500,000 it made in 2017 to the home so it could cover expenses.

Board members also voted to approve a $175,000 settlement with the estate of Caroline Scalzo and a $1 million settlement with the estate of Sonya Kington.

Ms. Scalzo, 83, died in 2014 after staff at the facility allegedly failed to follow physician's orders for monitoring and hydration, according to her attorney, Patricia Gifford.

Ms. Kington, 78, was discovered dead in a hot courtyard at the home on June 10, 2017. Later, state officials determined that the home "failed to ensure the door alarm to the courtyard on the facility's Alzheimer's Unit was engaged and the door not propped open."

The board also approved two resolutions on future loans to the facility — the first allows it to loan up to $800,000 from the general corporate fund over the next four months to the home so it can pay vendors, while the second authorizes loans to cover payroll.

Full article here, including other issues addressed by the board last month. I wasn't able to attend, so I don't have any additional meeting notes this month.

County Changes

I've been updating the County Board and Offices pages with all of the many changes happening due to the recent election. The first issue of contention was for the County Board chair which fell towards a bipartisan result in spite of the overwhelming "blue wave" in the County:

Newly sworn-in Champaign County Board elects first Latino chairman
...
At its organizational meeting Monday night, Democrats Giraldo Rosales, Lorraine Cowart and Charles Young joined all nine board Republicans to elect Rosales to lead the board over the next two years.

The other 10 Democrats all voted for Kyle Patterson.

Rosales, who served as vice chairman under the recently retired C. Pius Weibel, made county history, becoming the first Latino county board chair. Republican Jim Goss said Rosales was a solid choice.

"We thought he was a good choice because we thought he could be bipartisan. That's got to be important," Goss said. "He also had more experience."

...

It took two votes to elect a vice chairman. Following an initial vote that was split among Democrats Steve Summers and Cowart and Republican Goss, Summers withdrew his name for the second ballot.

This time, Cowart prevailed over Goss, 13-9.

More details and upcoming issues at the full article here. From what I've seen of the arguments so far there's a dispute among Democrats on whether this attempt at bipartisan pragmatism truly reflects the wishes of the voters who came out overwhelmingly for Democrats who now sided overwhelmingly with Republicans on the chairs and direction. In the end the chair decision may not be as important as the victory in the new County Executive position which was expected to be a Republican veto over the Democratic party controlled County Board.

Tom Kacich | County-exec race result throws wrench in GOP's plan
...
That was the great irony of this election season. The county executive was the concoction of groups usually dedicated to small government: the Champaign County Republican Party and two of its strongest allies, the Champaign County Farm Bureau and the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce.

They were the groups that announced the county-executive scheme in the summer of 2016, got it on the November ballot and helped pass it over the mostly muted opposition of local Democrats. The proposal was approved by 373 votes, 50.26 percent to 49.74 percent. Another referendum question pushed by the Democrats — for a voter-elected county board chairman — also won, but the county-executive proposal carried precedence.

And this year, when the two parties chose their candidates for county executive — Kloeppel for the Democrats and Gordy Hulten for the Republicans — the farm bureau and chamber of commerce quickly endorsed Hulten. The farm bureau even hosted a series of town-hall meetings with Hulten — but not Kloeppel — to explain the need for the new position. And the two groups gave a total of $20,000 to Hulten's campaign committee.

But when the votes were counted, Hulten's bid was swamped by the Donald Trump-inspired tidal wave of votes for Democrats. Kloeppel, who ran an energetic but sparsely funded campaign, won by more than 4,500 votes.

Up to that point, everything had gone according to the plan of the Republicans and their allies. But it's Kloeppel who will be sworn in on Dec. 3 as the first-ever county executive for Champaign County and only the second such officeholder in the state.

Full article here. Other County offices also went to the Democrats this year in a rout. A quick overview is available here in a recent editorial.

Nursing Home Update and Sale Delay

There appears to be yet another delay of selling the Nursing home. Initially the time was adjusted slightly due to the required State board's timeline of approval of the sale. What exactly is causing the requested delays since doesn't appear to be in the public sphere yet. There doesn't appear to be any doubt that the sale will still happen, but when seems to be an open question. From the News-Gazette today:

County board seeks second extension on nursing home sale till March
A Chicago law firm has filed a second request with state regulators for an extension to finalize the sale of the Champaign County Nursing Home — this time seeking an additional three months.

If this extension is approved, the county could continue to be the owner of the financially ailing nursing home until March 1, 2019.

Just a bit over a week ago, the Champaign County Board and the nursing home buyers had filed a request with the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board for a one-month extension — to Jan. 1, 2019 — on a required Nov. 30 closing date for the transfer of ownership...

County Board Chairman C. Pius Weibel said Friday he wasn't able to comment on reasons why more time is being requested to finalize the sale or why county officials filed two extension requests about a week apart. County Administrator Deb Busey couldn't be reached Friday afternoon.

As of Friday, the Illinois Department of Public Health hadn't yet received an application for the change of ownership of the nursing home, agency spokeswoman Emma Ciavarella said.

Earlier this week, the county board unanimously recommended forgiving two loans to the nursing home — totaling $500,000 — that the home can't repay.

Full article with more information here.

Sheriff Updates

The new incoming Sheriff has chosen a Deputy Sheriff. The current Sheriff is still retiring and the current Deputy Sheriff, who was running for Sheriff in this last election, will be retiring as well now. From the News-Gazette today:

There's a new sheriff in town - and he has a new chief deputy
Dustin Heuerman admits that Tuesday's landslide vote to make him the first Democratic sheriff in Champaign County since 1934 came as a surprise...

His Republican opponent, Allen Jones of Rantoul, a 29-year employee of the Champaign County Sheriff's Office, said in a Facebook post Friday afternoon that he will retire Nov. 23. As the chief deputy to outgoing Sheriff Dan Walsh, Jones was an at-will employee, not enjoying union or civil-service protections.

Heuerman said his experience working under Walsh as a road deputy on second and third shifts was good. His relationship with Jones, who was his lieutenant, was not as good and part of the reason he moved on to his position at Lake Land College in Mattoon, where he is program coordinator and adviser for the criminal justice program. He is also a part-time police officer there.

Heuerman has bachelor's and master's degrees in criminology and a doctorate of education in community-college leadership. He is also a member of the Illinois Community College Board.

With the election over, Heuerman said he and Barrett are putting together an agenda to improve morale in the department and get things done like consolidating the jails, trying to limit the number of mentally ill people who are jailed, getting more deputies hired, and increasing training for deputies and correctional officers.

Full article here with a lot of details on the unexpected election results, the party dynamics, and other additional information.

Champaign HRC and NAACP Report

This week's City of Champaign Human Relations Commission meeting (agenda here) included a presentation of the NAACP report on criminal justice. Thomas Moore argued that the report is an educational tool as opposed to a road map and what we've tried over the past forty years hasn't worked. He argued for a new focus on the ineffectiveness of punishment in the system of mass incarceration. He noted that jails are a big part of the problem and a local issue. Video is available here and the NAACP report begins at the 6:20 mark. There were many ideas discussed and listed in the News-Gazette yesterday:

Among the suggestions discussed during Monday's meeting:

— Allowing those incarcerated to register to vote and cast votes while in prison.

— When drawing up legislative district boundaries, assigning prisoners to the locality they come from instead of the prison site.

— Advocating for more humane policies that stress restorative justice.

— Having the NAACP form a partnership with local libraries to develop a crime-and-punishment bibliography and establishing a repository of books and articles on incarceration, public safety and justice.

— Advocating for the collection of data on the justice system "to develop more grounded responses to crime and punishment."

— Developing justice reform that gives a prominent role to the faith community.

— Exploring programs that restore civil rights for those incarcerated and awaiting trial.

— Developing a pretrial-assessment protocol in Champaign County.

— Integrating restorative practices within both the Champaign Unit 4 and Urbana 116 school districts.

Full article here. One item not mentioned in this list was their support of the recommendations of the Racial Justice Task Force (more information on that here). Some of the discussion talked about mass incarceration being a new Jim Crow which references a study of the mass incarceration system that looks at disparities throughout the criminal justice system. More information on that information and popular book in criminal justice reform circles here.

Election Results

I'll be updating the elected official pages soon. Democrats scored victories in all of the County-wide offices and retained control of the County Board under the new Democratic County Executive in the new County Executive Form of Government. More details from the News-Gazette local Election Results here. Here's a snippet from their coverage:

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Democrats have swept all Champaign County offices.

— Democrat Darlene Kloeppel won the race for the new position of county executive over current Republican Clerk Gordy Hulten.

— Democrat Aaron Ammons won the race for clerk with 54 percent of the vote over Republican Matt Grandone.

— Democrat Laurel Prussing won the race for treasurer with 54 percent of the vote over incumbent Republican John Farney.

— Democrat George Danos won the race for auditor with 56 percent of the vote over incumbent Republican Diane Michaels.

— And Democrat Dustin Heuerman won the race for sheriff with 55 percent of the vote over Republican Allen Jones.

Full article here and results here. Full County results from the Champaign County Clerk here. For Illinois results generally check out WBEZ's list here. National results here from Axios.

If you noticed a lull in new posts lately that's been due to illness and election madness. We'll be getting back into the swing of things soon. Municipal election information will continue to come from the Cheat Sheet: C-U Local with more information as we approach the consolidated election primary!