Public Input for County Judge

I couldn't find this on the News-Gazette website yet, but saw it shared elsewhere. Public input on Champaign County's next judge is being solicited, so if you know, support, or oppose a candidate, here's your chance to sing their praises or criticize them. I'll be adding a link to the Election page to this post for now:

Cheat Sheet Updates

• Added a link to the News-Gazette Questionnaire for the Republican County Clerk primary race. in the County Office races page.

• Added a new page by Amy on appointed positions and how to apply for them under the County Offices list.

Did you know that you, as a Champaign County community member, can apply for term-limited positions through the Champaign County Board? The County Board accepts applications for positions on “appointed bodies,” which consist of various commissions, advisory boards, and task forces.

If you are interested in learning more check out the Appointments Information page for an explanation and links!

• Added and updated links on election information on the Election page and elsewhere, including outside link to the Champaign County Voter Alliance website that also has additional information on registration, voting options, and a candidates guide!

Nursing Home Payroll Loan

The financial situation at the Nursing Home and County budget continues to scrape by "paycheck to paycheck" it seems. This week they literally needed to get a loan to pay paychecks. From the News-Gazette today:

$170K advance ordered to help nursing home meet payroll

Champaign County Treasurer John Farney said Tuesday that he has ordered his staff to prepare a $170,000 advance from property-tax funds to help the county nursing home meet its payroll this Friday.

SAK Management, the suburban Chicago company that manages the nursing home for the county, notified Farney and County Auditor Diane Michaels on Tuesday that it will be unable to make payroll.

Farney said the cash advance is to be used only for employee pay and not for payments to vendors.

The treasurer said he can make the cash advances without county board approval. But he said the nursing home must begin to repay the amount “upon receipt of all deposits” starting Thursday “and continuing until the debt has been retired. There will be no exceptions.”

Earlier this month, the county board agreed to place the nursing home up for sale.

Bids for its purchase are due by Feb. 28.

It's certainly an inauspicious start for 2018 and any remaining hopes by Democrats and others to keep the home as a County asset, with the labor and service protections they see comes with that.

County Clerk Candidate Forum and a Fundraiser

From the bottom of Tom Kacich's piece today (where a lot of local political tidbits get lumped for those looking for where they hide this stuff):

Republican forum

The two Republican candidates for Champaign County clerk, Matt Grandone and Jon Rector, will answer questions at the Monday’s meeting of the Champaign County Active Senior Republicans at the Champaign Public Library. The meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. Judge Randy Rosenbaum also will take questions, but his primary election opponent, Sami Anderson, will be unable to attend because she said she is in court at that time.

Democratic fundraiser

A campaign fundraiser for county board Democratic candidate Tanisha King-Taylor of Urbana (District 10) and to support Aaron Ammons’ campaign for county clerk will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Friday at Riggs Brewery in Urbana.

The Week Ahead 1/28 - 2/3

[UPDATE: a Litigation Committee meeting has been added, the bulk of which appears to be in closed session according to the agenda. Will update with more information when I have it.]

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

County Executive Candidate Town Halls: More from the N-G

Darlene Kloeppel has one this week:
— 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 2, Urbana Free Library, 210 W. Green St., Urbana. Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/185037495562784/

Gordy Hulten has one this week:
— 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29, Mahomet Township Community Center, 510 E. Main St., Mahomet. Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/2112772848951139/

The Board Calendar itself is pretty empty this week except for the Lincoln Legacy Committee:

The Lincoln Legacy Committee is a collaborative committee of the Champaign County Forest Preserve and the Champaign County Board formed for the purpose of promoting the Bicentennial Celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birth through the creation of exhibits at the Champaign County Courthouse and the Museum of the Grand Prairie. The committee continues its work with other Lincoln-related projects.

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.

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

Dark Sky Park and Ice Adventures

Tonight's first of the year Champaign County Forest Preserve Board meeting kicked off with a fairly large audience, including new staff and folks behind the Dark Sky Park project. All board members were present except Sarah Livesay, as were the interim Executive Director Mary Ellen Wuellner and Finance Director John Baker. The agenda is available here.

All of the agenda items passed unanimously so I'll focus on the highlights.

The interim Executive Director was made the permanent Executive Director. More on that from the News-Gazette article from the previous post. The board was complimentary and there was applause around the room on the motion carrying.

The motion for "Designation of Middle Fork River Forest Preserve as a Dark Sky Park" passed with fanfare and applause as well. Commissioner Herakovich said it was a long time coming. Director Wuellner thanked the people behind the project and the Citizens Advisory Committee for the heavy lifting on lightscape management and others. This included David Leake whose only additional comment was "Let's do it!"

More on the project from the News-Gazette here. Excerpt below:

Forest preserve district hoping you'll see stars at Middle Fork

...
This year, park-goers with an eye to the sky may realize it's even darker.

Since fall 2016, after a suggestion from David Leake, director of Parkland's Staerkel Planetarium, Kuntz and Champaign County Forest Preserve District staff have been making specific lighting changes at Middle Fork that have it poised to become the first certified Dark-Sky Park in Illinois. There are only 55 in the world, and 39 of those are in the United States.

"It looks pretty promising," Leake said of the park district's chances to achieve the designation this spring after its application to the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is submitted early this year.

The association's Dark-Sky Places Program was started in 2001 "to encourage communities around the world to preserve and protect dark sites through responsible lighting policies and public education." The program has five types of designations — dark-sky communities, parks, reserves, sanctuaries and developments. Each has its own set of parameters that must be met to achieve the distinction from the international group.

Members pointed out the possibility of astro-tourism, camping advantages, as well as excitement in the area, including the Mayor of Rantoul. Commissioner Hays pointed it out this may be the only "dark sky" rated park in Illinois and possibly the only one at a county level.

Earlier in the meeting they introduced a few new members to the Citizens Advisory Committee (more information here, but as of tonight not yet updated with new member names).

Concerns were raised about a possible future hog farm adjacent to the Southwest Middle Fork district area which was described as a potential "epic disaster" that the board should get out in front of. I believe it was Commissioner Hays who brought it up as well as possibly circulating information for opposition. The approval would be through the Department of Agriculture and simple NIMBY (not in my back yard) objections would probably not sway them as they generally approve due to the economic positives. Herakovich suggested staying in contact with the County Board and its land use committee on the subject.

A conference was attended by members and staff and included in various reports and future reports on what they learned in the various sessions. Diversity of staff considerations were discussed as well as two new staff members. A natural resources specialist and "GIS whiz" as well as a natural resource technician who was first out on the ice in an adventure the previous evening removing illegally dumped carpet rolls from the icy Sangamon River. Apparently someone felt dumping it off a bridge was a cost saver.

There was a potential vote on the purchasing policy was discussed, but eventually tabled until next month to get feedback on the approval before a vote. The changes discussed didn't appear to be substantive so much as necessary after seeing the challenges facing the staff on various tasks. All the changes were well within the required limits.

The highlights above covered what the agenda outline didn't make obvious (except perhaps that the F-150 they purchased has a tow bar, which would have come in handy for the carpet ice adventures). Another fascinating bit of County government that's always going on. If you're interested in learning more, check out their website's about page and check out the links. If you want to get involved check out the Citizens Advisory Committee and other opportunities under the "Get Involved" tab at the top of their website.

Champaign County Forest Preserve Meeting

Short notice, but here's some information on the Champaign County Forest Preserve in the News-Gazette:

Forest preserve district's interim director expected to be made permanent

Mary Ellen Wuellner, the interim director of the Champaign County Forest Preserve District since September, is expected to be formally approved tonight as the district's ninth executive director and the first woman to hold the post.

She will be paid $100,000 a year.

Wuellner, 57, replaces Dan Olson, who resigned last summer to become director of operations for the Champaign Park District. She was deputy executive director under Olson.

The meeting is tonight in Mahomet (future meeting dates/places here. Tonight's agenda here):

On Thursday, January  25, 2018 at the Museum of the Grand Prairie Classroom, Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve, 900 N. Lombard, Mahomet, Illinois, at 6:00 P.M.  

More information on the board and board meetings are available at their website here: http://www.ccfpd.org/about/board-meetings

CU Indivisible and RJTF Recommendations

Many local programs and organizations are looking at the New Year to begin work on the Racial Justice Task Force recommendations from their final report (available here with a summary of the recommendations on pages 5-9). CU Indivisible, a local indivisible group (what is this?) is no exception. They have a general meeting coming up this weekend, Saturday January 27th at 3pm at the Champaign Public Library (facebook event page here) where this and other issues will be discussed. Here's an announcement that highlights their current focus/priorities on those RJTF recommendations:

Were you able to attend the Racial Justice Task Force meeting last fall? If not, we have some information about the important points covered in the meeting. [Full report here]

There were two areas that are ripe for possible change: pretrial justice and legalized housing discrimination.

According to the Racial Justice Task Force Report, "64% of the people confined in the jail were African American" (p. 31). Many of the people in jail do not know whether a charge will be filed, dismissed, or resolved. They are often unable to leave because they need to pay a "D-bond" set at about 10% of the bail amount. Others were jailed for failure to appear in court. The Task Force recommends better notice of court appearances, better risk-assessment for release, and improved pretial services. Specific recommendations are described in the full Task Force Report.

A second major issue is legalized housing discrimination. Section 17.4-5 of Champaign municipal code allows landlords in the city to lawfully deny anyone convicted of a forcible felony or a felony drug charge housing until he or she has lived outside of jail or prison for at least five consecutive years without another conviction related to drugs or force. This is exclusive to renters, and it makes it harder for those reentering to secure housing.

This provision was struck from the record in the 1970s and then put back on the books with no explanation in 1994. There was not data or justification provided to support this action. In October 2016, both the Champaign County Reentry Council and the City of Champaign’s Human Relations Commission have advised the City Council to strike this exception from the city code.

This is a Civil Rights violation, specifically the Fair Housing Act. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released an advisory against this practice in 2016, read that report here. The report argues that since higher than average incarceration rates exist among Hispanics and African Americans in the U.S., the use of criminal records to deny housing can cause a “disparate impact” on these races. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2015 population estimates for Champaign County, 41.5% of African Americans have incomes below the poverty level compared to 17.2% of white people.

The CUI and the CUI County Board group will be working with other local groups and activists on this issue. If you would like get involved, contact Grace Hebert (contact info here)

Getting started on these issues can feel like a daunting task. Fortunately there are many amazing people who have spent years and sometimes their whole lives fighting for justice and reforms and there are many organizations and programs already in the fight every day working to make our community a better place. The first step is to grab a notepad (paper or digital) and find out what's already happening. A good start for you may be your local indivisible group, but there are many other starting points as well.

Here are just a few starting points. If any of them sound like they may interest you, all you have to do is show up with an open mind and a willingness to learn:

Build Programs Not Jails has been fighting for years to encourage alternatives to the criminal justice system and care for citizens in need here in Champaign County. They have regular meetings you can attend and find out what they're up to.

Champaign Human Relations Commission and the Human Relations Commission of Urbana: The respective city HRCs serve their communities by offering programs against discrimination, dealing with cases of discrimination, and working to improve community relations for all citizens with their government and policing agencies. They have regular meetings you can attend as well.

Champaign County Community Coalition is a local group that works with "local government; law enforcement; juvenile justice; behavioral health; education; child welfare; and community based service providers. This network is designed to identify critical community issues that impact the lives of youth and their families." They have a meeting coming up February 14 at 3:30pm at the Champaign Public Library if you want to learn more.

Taking the first step may seem overwhelming at first, but everyone who got involved had to start somewhere. Usually at a meeting with strangers trying to figure out what they're talking about, taking notes so you can find answers to all the new questions you may have.

These are by far not the only starting points... a more comprehensive chart for this site is in the works of various local government and community organizations and programs surrounding our criminal justice system. These range from prevention, services, diversion and assistance programs, to programs all the way through the criminal justice system and back again. This includes re-entry assistance, regaining/protecting your rights, and building a livelihood after. I'm shooting to have it linked up and looking spiffy by this weekend... so the weekend after next is probably a safer bet. I'm still learning too.

Chamber Backs Hulten in Position They Created

[UPDATE 1/23/2018 - I realized I overlooked an additional endorsement due to the similarity. The Farm Bureau, which also was involved with Gordy in the creation of the office also endorsed him after this. From the News-Gazette:

Farm Bureau endorses Hulten for county executive

CHAMPAIGN — Just as the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce did a month ago, the county Farm Bureau's political involvement committee has endorsed Republican Gordy Hulten to become the first county executive.

Hulten, currently the county clerk, is unopposed in the March 20 Republican primary for the county executive nomination. Darlene Kloeppel of Urbana is the lone Democratic candidate for the position...

The Farm Bureau and Chamber of Commerce worked with Hulten and state Sen. Chapin Rose in 2016 to get the county executive question on the ballot.

"Since we were part of the group behind it, we want to make sure that voters, going into the election and when it's actually in place next December, have a good understanding of what this position is going to be," Uken said. "We think that that's part of our responsibility."

Updating the links in the Executive and office/election page. Democrat Darlene Kloeppel's (including from State Treasurer Mike Frerichs and State Senator of this area) are here. Hulten's main campaign website has more links to his endorsements here.]

Originally published 12/6/2017:

This is probably not too surprising since the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce worked with Gordy Hulten to bring about the County Executive position, but this news is sure to get some askance staring from supporters of Democratic County Executive candidate Darlene Kloeppel:

Hulten lands chamber endorsement

The political action committee of the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Republican Gordy Hulten over Democrat Darlene Kloeppel to be the county's first county executive.

The unusually early announcement comes almost 11 months before the general election set for Nov. 6, 2018.

"We decided that since the chamber was such a driver for the county executive initiative in the first place we wanted to make sure if we're going to get involved that we want as much of the (election) cycle as we could and to have as much impact as we possible could," said Garret Hill, spokesman for the Business Empowered political action committee.

The chamber of commerce along with the county Farm Bureau and Hulten, currently the county clerk, and state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, were the chief proponents of the county executive proposal which was narrowly approved by voters in November 2016 by a margin of 50.26 percent to 49.74 percent...

"But the big thing that pushed us to even introduce county executive was economic development but also the stalled issues at the county like the jail and the nursing home. We really like Gordy's vision of it," Hill said.

He denied that the endorsement process favored Hulten, who had worked with the chamber on the county executive plan.

"I would say it was fair and square. They both turned in surveys, they both interviewed. It was up to the board to make the decision. That was the process and that's how it should go," he said...

This comes on the heals of arguments about whether the position's pay was inflated with current County Clerk Gordy Hulten in mind and an affinity for him personally by members of Board and County Government. More information and related news on the County Executive issue page. Candidate information and links for the County Executive race are on the County Executive office page here. I liked the informative description at the end of this N-G article so it and the news link will be added to those pages as well:

When Champaign County elects a full-time county executive next November it will become only the second county in Illinois with the office. As planned the elected executive would have broad powers, including the authority to propose the county budget, make appointments, hire a staff, set county board agendas, implement the majority of county ordinances and veto actions of the county board, although vetoes could be overridden with a three-fifths majority. The executive would also have the power to vote, but only in order to break a tie on issues before the county board.

So far at the County Board meetings it sounds like there are questions about what role the County Administrator will play in tandem with the County Executive.

Transition Committee First Meeting

[Update: County Board Member Patterson sent me a note identifying the other person in the room as Kay Rhodes, the County Board Administrative Assistant. Thanks!]

Agenda here. Agenda highlights in previous post and on the Executive page linked here and above. Committee page with Chair/member information and agenda links here.

As you can tell in the picture above, the meeting was held in the Putnam meeting room as opposed to the Shields meeting room one normally finds the County Board. It's right next to the Northeast parking lot entrance. In addition to the committee chair and members, interim County Administrator Deb Busey, County Clerk Gordy Hulten were there in (I believe) official capacities as well as Board Member Pattsi Petrie in the audience. There was another woman in the room, but unfortunately I didn't find out who that was at the time UPDATE: it was Kay Rhodes, the County Board Administrative Assistant.

The meeting started very close to the scheduled 4:30pm and began with public participation, though there were no takers from outside the committee members. There was a short delay before getting started into the establishing a schedule of meetings to complete the work. I'd strongly suggest waiting until the official schedule is posted as there may be changes I missed here or afterward due to a member being out of town and a national holiday (President's Day) falling on the 1st and 3rd Mondays idea, but that appears to tentatively be the plan. If that holds it sounds like the meetings will be at 4:30pm and probably be scheduled into June. When discussing how many meetings it might take Patterson mentioned it took four meetings just to agree on a salary for the Executive position.

Weibel then went over the agenda packet, pointing out that the first 26 pages or so were probably the most relevant to this committee. After looking over the materials they began discussing where to start and almost immediately began noting differences between Will County and Champaign. There were technical issues for emulation such a different approach to hiring, as well as population and financial (Will County having over three times the people, lots of growth, and far more money to work with).

They decided to generally follow the same meeting rules as the Champaign County Board with Robert Rules to fall back on as needed, but made a point to ask that information provided come with citations to avoid confusion. They discussed a need to publish the County Executive ordinance (possible legal requirement?) and inviting legal counsel (Donna M. Davis, assistant State's Attorney, I believe) to meetings after submitting questions as opposed to having her sit in on every meeting. An example arose almost immediately as to whether the County Executive counts towards a quorum. "Probably not" seemed to be the consensus, but such details need to be nailed down.

They went on to discuss substantive differences between Will County and how Champaign government operates, when appointments and other actions needed to be introduced before being voted on and other such details and working out details of what is required in the supporting material. After several minutes of discussion on the details there was a general agreement that everyone would have to go through the legal materials and familiarize themselves in depth, "break out the color highlighters!" The task at hand was made clear: they will need to come up with a Champaign County version of the County Executive form of government in Will County with rules for the County Board to vote on.

They discussed organizational rules and legal counsel issues and legal counsel through the State's Attorney's office still. Hulten chimed in on a question of conflicts that the conflicting bodies within the County government have been able to rely on the State's Attorney's office being large enough to cover the conflict without conflicts of interest on internal disputes.

They marveled at another highlighted difference in Will County, that their County Board and County Executive both have a administrative chief of staff for carrying out their duties. Champaign in its dire budget straights and constantly under strain from the Nursing Home has to stretch its budget just for current vacancies it seems. There was a collective mood of "must be nice" around the room.

With materials to study and a general idea of the task ahead, they adjourned at 5:13pm by my watch. I will post the official schedule for upcoming meeting times and dates once they're posted.

County Executive Committee Agenda

[UPDATE: Speaking of the County Executive, the first of a series of separate town halls with the candidates for the office start tonight with Gordy Hulten at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday Jan. 23, Rantoul Municipal Building, 333 S. Tanner St., Rantoul. More times and dates for him and Democratic Candidate Darlene Kloeppel here.]

[UPDATEx2: Write-up of the meeting here.]

Today at 4:30pm (in the Putnam meeting room at Brookens - map) will be the first meeting of the County Executive Transition Committee and the process of establishing the office to be filled by election this year (election page here). The agenda is available and bare bones at first glance, until one gets to the supporting material. Probably the least legalese and relevant for folks just trying to understand the system they're emulating and the guidelines they're trying to meet are on pages 4 and 15-18. Screenshots are below, or you can read/download the pdf at the transition committee page here: Agenda 1/23/2018 Meeting

On page 15-18 there is a list of the "Abridged Powers and Duties of the County Executive" as well as "Notes / Considerations for Champaign County Implementation" sent to the board by the Assistant State's Attorney, Donna M. Davis:

On page 4 there is a summary of the discussions with the County Executive of Will County from the State's Attorney's office with a few highlights of their experience:

I'll be adding this information to the County Executive page or at least a link to it as a resource.

The Week Ahead 1/21 - 1/27

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

Highlight this week is the County Executive Transition Committee. There have been a lot of questions as to exactly how the new County Executive form of government will be organized and the role of the County Administrator once the office is filled. It'll be held in the Putnam meeting room as opposed to the normal County Board meeting room (room map of Brookens here).

[UPDATE: Speaking of the County Executive, the first of a series of separate town halls with the candidates for the office start tonight with Gordy Hulten at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday Jan. 23, Rantoul Municipal Building, 333 S. Tanner St., Rantoul. More times and dates for him and Democratic Candidate Darlene Kloeppel here.]

If you're interested in finding out more about county Mental Health and Developmental Disability programs and agencies they can be a bit wonky, but interesting to see all of the gears moving to provide care to so many in our community. Kyle Patterson had put off some commentary last week until this Mental Health Board meeting. If you're interested in what an MHB or DDB meeting is like, here are a couple write up examples: Mental Health Board 2018, Developmental Disabilities Board 10/25/2017.

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.

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

County Board 1/18

[UPDATE: Video is now available from the County Clerk YouTube channel here and I will be adding a direct link below for the financial report jump-to.]

In an unusually short County Board meeting last night - right at a half hour - there wasn't much in the way of controversy. On all the measures passed on the agenda it was difficult to make out any nays, even in the roll call votes.

The News-Gazette hit the highlights today:

County board approves panel to evaluate bids for nursing home

URBANA — Champaign County Board members have approved a nine-member special committee that will evaluate any offers submitted for the purchase of the county nursing home.

The committee will begin meeting in February to establish a grading process to assess offers made for the financially troubled home, said board Chairman C. Pius Weibel.

Last week, the county board voted to put the nursing home on the market, with any proposals for the purchase of the home due by Feb. 28. The county board has set a minimum bid of $11 million for the property, which has been losing money and owes the county and some of its outside vendors more than $5.5 million.

After offers are submitted, said Weibel, the evaluation committee will review them and make a recommendation to the county board.

...

Also Thursday night, the board voted to extend until May 31 its existing contract with SAK Management Services, the nursing home's management company. SAK began working at the nursing home July 1, 2017.

And it voted to put into effect a request from the nursing home advisory board to eliminate the $45 per diem paid to members of the advisory board. The panel made the suggestion as a cost-cutting gesture.

There was a financial presentation for FY2016, which was the final audit worked on by our now former auditor who thanked the staff at his old office. UPDATE: That video is now up, I'll link to that presentation here. There was an added vote for a budget item having to do with the rural transit system, that passed without controversy as well. It adjourned at 7:02 PM by my watch, which Chair Weibel said may be a record. Certainly the shortest one I've sat through (including a six and half hour marathon Committee of the Whole).

County Executive Town Halls

 
The Republican and Democratic candidates for the new County Executive position will be holding a series of separate town halls for the public (dates on the County Executive election page). An excerpt from the News-Gazette article is here:

Champaign County executive candidates set town hall meetings

CHAMPAIGN — The two candidates for Champaign County executive have scheduled separate town hall meetings to meet with voters and explain the office, which will be on the ballot for the first time in November.

Republican Gordy Hulten and the county farm bureau's political involvement committee will host a series of four town hall meetings this month and in February. The farm bureau has already endorsed Hulten, currently the county clerk.

Democrat Darlene Kloeppel said she has scheduled three town hall meetings in February and March and will hold more throughout the year.

County voters approved creating the office of county executive in November 2016. The farm bureau, the county chamber of commerce, Hulten and state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, spearheaded the campaign for the office.

Champaign County will become the second county in Illinois, joining Will County, with a county-executive form of government.

Mental Health Board 2018

Similar to the Developmental Disabilities Board (description and meeting example here), this board deals with Mental Health services of the County government and its interaction with various agencies that provide services throughout the county in cooperation with government programs and/or funding. From their working website:and the county website:

To promote a system of supports and services for Champaign County residents, the Boards make other investments: 211 information and referral through PATH; program evaluation support by researchers at UIUC; clinical supervision support for Parenting with Love and Limits programs; Cultural and Linguistic Competence training and technical assistance, anti-stigma awareness and support for artists with lived experience or a disability; and a disABILITY Resource Expo.

And the county's:

The CCMHB and the CCDDB are the local mental health and developmental disabilities authorities for Champaign County. The CCMHB is responsible for planning, coordinating, evaluating and allocating funds for the comprehensive local system of mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse services for Champaign County. The CCDDB has essentially the same functions, but is limited to developmental disabilities.

Today's meeting (agenda packet here) elected a new chair and vice-chair for the year, which continues to be Susan Fowler and Elaine Palencia, respectively. They were solely nominated and unanimously voted for without controversy. The agenda order was rearranged due to a member needing to leave early, but the meeting went quickly and adjourned at roughly 6:40PM (early it would seem from the commentary).

The bulk of the meeting addressed three motions involved in merging Parents with Love and Limits front end program with its extended care program with discussions involving the patient load, staff vacancies, and budget nuances involved with changing the contract. After some questions about funding all three passed with a roll call vote, all in the affirmative and passing.

A series of voice votes followed without controversy: the election of officers described above. Personnel policy changes in line with the new EEOC/ADA and other technicalities the Champaign government in general has implemented. Accepting previous meeting minutes and also a list of expenditures.

They made a change to make their liaison assignments to agency boards more flexible as needed and helpful to stay up to date and effective with those agencies. There has been a trend away from the traditional liaison system by other boards. A more intermittent as-needed attendance to be determined at initial meetings to assess was resolved.

As with the Developmental Disabilities Board, the agencies covered have an opportunity to make reports to the board, but tonight's meeting had low attendance and no takers.

The upcoming schedules were discussed with an expectation of being busy going into the new year with lots of study sessions coming up. Members looked it over and were asked to check back if there are any conflicts with their personal schedules.

Kyle Patterson reserved his commentary for the study session next week due to the low attendance after the board cruised through the remaining items on the agenda.

One ominous aside as they were discussing the upcoming Development Disabilities Board meeting was some cross talk about medicaid "as we know it" perhaps being gone soon for serving the most vulnerable in our community. While nothing is certain, it appeared folks were keeping a watchful eye on changes unfolding throughout the system that could make all of their jobs harder.

A reminder that "starve the beast" politics at the State and Federal level makes a good rallying cry until one sees the "beast" is an awesome family with an awesome kid with special needs. 

BPNJ: Old Challenges, New Opportunities

The New Year brought a good crowd out to the Build Program Not Jails meeting at the IMC last night, including County Board member Chris Stohr (D – District 10) who has worked with the local criminal justice system as a mental health counselor at the jail. He was among many residents and students who came out with an interest in a more just and supportive community, rather than one that’s just part of the mass incarceration problem in America.

They discussed the Bail Reform Act which replaced a previous system that was easier for judges to ignore and ineffective. There was a recent presentation by States Attorney Julia Rietz and Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Allen Jones at the last County Board Committee of the Whole. It is state legislation that affects the county in some ways, but in others the county had already implemented reforms on their own. The presentation video is twenty five minutes (direct link here) followed by questions from the board beginning at roughly the hour mark here.

They discussed the recent quashing of thousands of warrants by Judge Difanis for lesser offenses. The move was seen as a benefit for low income folks who'd have difficulty paying and only more so if jailed for non-payment as opposed to any danger to the community. The News-Gazette has more information on that here: Judge 'quashed' thousands of warrants.

They mentioned an interest by County Board member Robert King, who sits on the justice and social services committee, in ensuring the Racial Justice Task Force recommendations are carried out and not forgotten. Public input, pressure and accountability will be necessary to ensure positive changes in the future. BPNJ appears more than motivated in that regard.

They discussed ideas for collaborations with CU Citizens for Peace and Justice and its Courtwatch program and the desire to inform the public of the realities of the criminal justice system here, with a concern for privacy and other legal issues. Courtwatch has volunteers that attend criminal trials as members of the public to observe and at the request of defendants.

The recent homelessness panel was discussed and its focus on local business concerns which had the effect of sliding into more of dealing with the nuisance than assistance. Shelter accessibility, distances/bussing, strict controls, and forced detox issues were discussed within the group. Winter services and access in general were discussed. CU-MTD has a list of some warming centers and other winter services here.

Issues with housing discrimination and felony convictions, including work to end a Champaign ordinance that makes such discrimination legal and extremely problematic. Urbana appears to have an ordinance to protect from such discrimination, but there are issues with enforcement. Research on landlords raised questions on 49 of them.

Life intervened and I had to leave early, but they continued working towards a new year full of some of the same stubborn problems with ensuring justice over mass incarceration. New opportunities to collaborate with other groups locally and in the region as well as local elected officials taking an interest in ensuring the RJTF recommendations become reality instead of forgotten ring in the new year. Jail populations are down and no new jails were built after constant and passionate work by this group. If you're interested in joining them, come on out to the next meeting at the IMC, January 31, 2018, at 7:00PM.

Nursing Home Bid Requirements "Boilerplate"

From the News-Gazette today about concerns about the County Board terms being some sort of poison pill to detract would be buyers. It points out that the brokerage firm has an interest in selling it and wouldn't allow terms that prevented them from getting paid too, but probably most telling, were the opinions of passionate proponents of selling the home:

Nursing home sale terms

Some are suggesting that the terms of sale for the Champaign County Nursing Home were written by county board members and that they are deliberately so demanding as to make a sale difficult to consummate. Nope.

"We reviewed a number of (requests for proposals) that Marcus & Millichap (the broker for the sale) provided in working with other county homes across the country," said former County Administrator Rick Snider, who helped write the RFP last fall. "One of the things I think you'll find that's in common with others that are government operated is that they tend to be unionized. So the provisions in there reflect that."

He said the terms were written "to provide some security for people" and also to satisfy the county's collective bargaining agreement with AFSCME that "requires that any successor organization must take the contract."

He said the broker had "reviewed those with us and he did not see anything in there that would preclude interest from a potential buyer."

Jim Goss, a Republican board member from Mahomet who has been one of the most outspoken supporters of selling the nursing home, said most of the language in the RFP is "boilerplate."

The Week Ahead 1/14 - 1/20

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

There's a regular County Board meeting this week, although I'm not seeing anything too contentious on the agenda. It can be easy to miss something in the legalese, so I'll keep an ear out. A pro-tip to figuring out "what the heck is that?" on these agendas is to go the full agenda packet on the County Board's meeting page. There the agenda has page references to the additional paperwork below that shows that, for example, the "purchases not following purchases policy" was just an unanticipated expense for a floor scrubber and some nursing home medical supplies.

The Mental Health Board is electing it's chair and vice-chair for the new year according to its agenda, so I might try to see  what these meetings are like and report back about what one can expect (that's the plan anyway).

I'm behind on the Committee of the Whole write up, but the special session was where most of the action was last week with the Nursing Home bidding process getting initial approval.

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.

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

Nursing Home Sale Inches Closer to Reality

[Update 1/10/2018 - Write up of the special meeting now below. Full video available here.]
[Update 1/15/2018 - Write up of the Committee of the Whole now below. Full video available here. Direct jump link to the Bail Reform Act presentation here (25 minutes).]

From the Special Meeting of the County Board tonight, that occurred prior to the regularly scheduled Committee of the Whole County Board meeting, the next step towards selling the Nursing Home, specifically to start getting bids through the brokerage firm has been authorized after two more Democrats joined the Republicans since the prior 11-11 tie vote that failed in October.

First things first, however, they swore in a new appointed board member, John Clifford (more information from his appointment announcement from the County Republican Party here):

I'll have more details in a write up on the special meeting and COW tomorrow, but for tonight I'll just link to the News-Gazette overview:

Board votes to put Champaign County Nursing Home up for sale

Champaign County Board members voted Tuesday night to put the county nursing home up for sale.

By a margin of 13-8, with Democrats Pattsi Petrie, C. Pius Weibel and Shana Jo Crews joining all 10 Republicans, the board voted to issue a request for proposals from private operators to purchase the county-owned facility in east Urbana. Champaign Democrat Giraldo Rosales was absent from the meeting.

Weibel, the chair of the county board, said he voted for the sale because continuing to operate the nursing home for a full year would threaten other parts of county government.

"If we were to keep the nursing home, we'd be struggling to find money for it," he said. "It's money. We don't have the money to do it. Either we keep the nursing home going or we lay off other people."

The vote came after about 45 minutes of public input from opponents and supporters of selling the nursing home, including nursing home advisory board member Cathy Emanuel, who said that there are "positive trends" at the facility and that the county could increase its value by keeping it open.

But Republican former county board member Scott Tapley contended the home has lost money for years and would continue to do so.

Jennifer Putman, a 30-year veteran of the county board, attended both the Republican and Democratic caucus meetings to plead with board members to not sell the home.

"The ship is turning around," Putman told the Democratic caucus. "We can continue to allow SAK (the private manager of the home) to turn the nursing home around and see the positive results that would come from keeping our public nursing home public."

The full article is worth the read for more details. One of the more important ones being that a final sale authorization will require 15 of 22 yes votes from the board and the approval of loans for the Nursing Home.


Special Meeting Write-up:

Public Participation:

Cathy Emanuel, Nursing Home Advisory Board member, led off the comments noting the SAK management of the Nursing Home has led to improvements. She pointed to postive numbers prior to state medicaid payment delays, improved survey results, new areas of possible cooperation with area homes and hospitals and ideas on discounted cash flow if it still goes up for sale.

Paula Lesse(sp?) said they should go back to the drawing board with more public input on the RFP and its conditions to start getting bids for selling the home.

Scott Tapley chimed in again, this time denouncing Cathy Emanuel for having no credibility and spreading disinformation and calling her claims the height of absurdity. He pointed to the state payments only being $1 million of the $7 million debt, losing money for 15 years and before, as well as including county tax money with $20 million in expenditures it has never recouped.

He called out Board members Hartke and Patterson's claims on medicaid payments as lies and compared Patterson's smile to former auditor Tony Fabri's smile. An extremely awkward, with additional awkward pauses, attempt to equate Patterson with the disgraced politician who had also been the chairman of the County Democratic Party. Flustered he called again for the sale of the home.

The next speaker admonished the trash talk and dragging the meeting into the gutter before emphasizing how ensuring the Nursing Home will be run well is critical whether or not it's sold and pointed to problematic private groups highlighted in the NY Times recently: Care Suffers as More Nursing Homes Feed Money Into Corporate Webs

The next speaker told of a horrible personal experience with his mother-in-law at the home that ended in tragedy. This elicited a later apology for their experience by former Democratic County Board member Jennifer Putman for their family having to endure such an experience, though, unlike him, she opposed the sale and favored keeping it as a county asset. She criticized Scott Tapley's disregard for taking care of the needy and warned that passing the RFP would hurt staff recruitment and patient enrollment at the home. She pointed out that not all government bodies are supposed to make a profit, especially a non-profit Nursing Home.

In between there was David Laker, a familiar face at Nursing Home public participation who, in the interest of his wife, regularly ends his commentary asking the board to think of her welfare with, "What about Sue?" He pointed out that the County Board created the Nursing Home and with it many of its problems. He said the divisions and animosity were often driven, caused, or at least exacerbated problems at the Nursing Home. Selling the home would not wash their hands of their responsibility for it. He frowned on the limited accountability private homes have to state oversight, especially considering that Springfield is also a source of many of the home's problems. He again asked them to do right by Sue.

Also Claudia Linhoff of Champaign County Health Care Consumers asked that the minimum terms for the RFP's bidding process should have more public input on them as well as ensuring a proper evaluation (questioning the $11 million figure). She had concerns about what happened after the 10 year requirement that the home remain open and pointed to crises in three neighboring areas when homes went bankrupt or suddenly closed. She pointed to the need for public accountability and empahsized the importance of ensuring access for medicaid patients in long term care, even though many people may not be using medicaid now, they often end up having to rely on it in their future.

Kim Harden, another local victim of "Nasty Joe" addressed the board in the special session public participation asking for help from the board on how part of her property was sold out from under her due to failure to properly notify her and a broken system taken advantage of by vulture capitalists like "Nasty Joe." More information on that craziness here.


RFP Vote Discussion: 

What does it mean to authorize the release of the RFP (Request for Proposals) again? It is essentially to allow the brokerage firm get bids for the Nursing Home under various requirements to maintain so many beds, services, etc.


Stohr - D led off the debate by pointing to the county's 153 year tradition of caring for the elderly and noting recent improvements under the new SAK management. He held out 40 cents in change in his hand to make clear the tax burden he says it costs Champaign County taxpayers to run the Nursing Home per month. He said that's all it costs to ensure we protect the dignity of our elderly.

Hartke - D asked that the board stop looking at it as "losing money" and instead look at what benefits that money has provided the community. He argued this was far more important than just making a profit. He pointed to Republicans claiming to be concerned about ensuring the county has money to treat mental health care, but ignore the role the home plays in that with local residents, especially those treated in its dementia unit. He noted we never accuse the Sheriff's office of "losing money." He requested a roll call vote for the RFP which was quickly seconded.

McGuire - R argued the County Board doesn't have the expertise to run the home within today's complicated regulations and questioned how they were making money as reported when last month the board was discussing what cuts they'd have to make to fund it. He argued the county government could not afford the care the home's residents deserve. Not only is the home not going anywhere if sold, private owners can increase beds, jobs, and services.

Patterson - D pointed out the new mangement company SAK runs the home, not the County Board and that they operate it in the daylight with public scrutiny as opposed to what happens with private homes. He said we know what private nusring home companies do to turn a profit: they cut benefits for staff and/or quality of care for residents. He pointed that with county government subsidizing the care the home is now breaking even and any significant profits would necessarily come at a cost to quality service. He asked for members to look at it as a service the county provides and if a member supports selling it, to stop with the BSing on the hows and whys.

Esry - R argued in favor of selling and began with noting the services mandatory under the law versus the Nursing Home which is not, highlighting the non-optional cost of expert testimony in the COW agenda for court cases against sex offenders. The Sheriff may not make the county money, but is absolutely necessary and required by law. If the Nursing home depletes the county's corporate fund how will we pay for those mandatory services? He pointed out that the nursing home has been rarely ever been full or even close to full and insulting private nursing home companies makes no sense. Families choose to put their families in them over the county home. Voters have said they don't want sales or property tax increases to fund it both times it was on the ballot so unless people are willing to have a public fundraiser where will we get that 40 cents per tax payer per month? He argued that the best numbers still show the nursing home struggling in the coming years again. On the bid figure of 11 million he pointed out that the broker came up with that figure with the board and buyers are going to bid what they think it's worth regardless... higher if it's worth more.

Crews - D and Weibel - D briefly discussed whether the bid requirements were standard or boilerplate briefly, which didn't really seem to have a good answer.

Fortado - D criticized the derogatory comments of Scott Tapley towards Cathy Emanuel in the Public Participation. She noted a view among board members wanting to "get beyond philosophy and act" before arguing that "philosophy matters" in defense of public transperancy and valuing the assets we as a county have. She questioned that those on the board saying they support the home by selling it were being honest with one half of the board rowing in the opposite direction of the other half all the time. She argued for-profit nursing homes make a profit by exploiting workers, forcing them to give back benefits, and that this disproportionately affects minority workers due to the makeup of the workforce in an already dangerous field.

Goss - R highlighted what he believed were the facts that needed to be accepted by others on the board. He pointed to previous budget projections the home didn't reach, $5 million it has in debt, and how the county is down to only enough money to fund the next 32 days of county government operations in the bank (if I was understanding him correctly). The home has a cash flow problem and he has been through the budget line by line with SAK... and the home won't be able to pay off its debt for years. It has no way to pay that $5 million back right now. He also pointed out the nursing home is not a mandatory function of the county government and argued that it being privately owned will not make it any less special.

Petrie - D was upset at assumptions she had already made up her mind on how to vote on the RFP, which didn't make a whole lot of sense since she's given no indication that she's changed her mind since the last time she voted for it just a few months ago. She criticized those asking for more community input ignoring that there has been plenty of opportunity over the last several months to do so. She then said she'd support keeping the nursing home if she could be shown how it's possible financially. She said that sticking with county ownership of the home "come hell or high water" isn't helpful when we don't really know what that means. She again argued that a vote for the RFP to allow the bidding process to begin is not a vote to sell, but rather to see what our options are, which Mitchell - R soon took issue with again. Mitchell once again argued that the RFP needs to be passed with a serious intent to sell and not a "fake sale" that won't bring in credible bids. He went through years of News-Gazette articles on the Nursing Home's budget woes and the tough decisions the board was facing time and time again that he argued could just as easily be applied today. He pointed out that voters have demanded we break the cycle in referendums where they voted for selling the home and against raising taxes.

In between, Harper - R, stated his general agreement with Goss' points and added a point about the general corporate fund balance at $3.2 million needing to be at $4 million by law. He argued that we can't sacrifice the rest of the county for the nursing home. He also compared us to McLean County with its similar agricultural, twin-cities, University town, etc traits having a $15 million fund balance and a nursing home that's also losing money. Unlike Champaign they want to sell their home to avoid being like other troubled counties, with the implication they were talking about Champaign.

Marsh - R argued the recent reports that the nursing home made money were incorrect and that it really just lost less money. He pointed out that if sold the home could reduce costs, including costs on debt and other ways if sold as opposed to hurting staff or quality of care. This includes raising bed usage with competition and investment that the county can't afford. He argued that higher paying jobs there won't be in danger because of market forces and the low wage ones already suffer from high turnover anyways. He claimed he also had a negative personal experience, referring to the public participation story, but not expounding on his own. He concluded he supported the RFP because the money going to the nursing home for the elderly would be better spent helping young people who need help earlier in life to overcome obstacles. I was a bit shocked at how cold that sounded.

Rector - R also noted his respect for Cathy Emanuel and David Laker, but stated he believed that voting for the RFP was the best way to help improve the situation for everyone.

Petrie - D pointed out the problems pre-date the new nursing home building and again argued that we must change the paradigm.

In the Roll Call vote the News-Gazette summed it up concisely:

By a margin of 13-8, with Democrats Pattsi Petrie, C. Pius Weibel and Shana Jo Crews joining all 10 Republicans, the board voted to issue a request for proposals from private operators to purchase the county-owned facility in east Urbana. Champaign Democrat Giraldo Rosales was absent from the meeting.

The rest of the agenda on the nursing home (resolutions on loans, tax anticipation warrants and such) passed with voice votes without any significant discussion.


Committee of the Whole Write Up:

Most of the fireworks on the nursing home occurred in the special session. A summary and write up of that is available here and above.


No one took the second opportunity for public participation having the same board members as the special session before, but just for reference the speaker whose comments were intended for the COW:

Kim Harden, another local victim of "Nasty Joe" addressed the board in the special session public participation asking for help from the board on how part of her property was sold out from under her due to failure to properly notify her and a broken system taken advantage of by vulture capitalists like "Nasty Joe." More information on that craziness here.

The meeting substantively began with the Nursing Home management delivering their report. Overall they gave an impression of gradual improvement with some recent positive cash flow. Petrie asked for a sort of prospectus to get a better grasp of the home's financial situation for making decisions on its future and SAK agreed to work with her on some additional budget models/scenarios to work out with her one on one.

Rector - R was upset by the postive local media coverage that he felt was misleading. He wanted to know what media policy or gatekeeping could help control the message to the community. Weibel confirmed that there isn't any and due to the nature of the board, with anyone able to talk to the media, that it wouldn't be realistic to try.

McGuire - R questioned the positive numbers given the dire overall financial situation and previous budget concerns. SAK pointed to the overview they gave to Goss - D, who was similarly upset with how presenting short term gains didn't mesh with the overall budget problems they're facing. SAK stated their mission was to turn the home around by slowly improving the cash flow, not erasing 15 years of historically accumulated debt that predates them. They made clear there are no magic solutions. That it will take time.

King - D asked about maintaining affordability to which SAK defended their value under the circumstances, the size of the committment, and their flexibility with the board's situation. The home, they pointed out, deals with individuals with individual needs. It's not a widget game. They argued they treat themselves more like a vendor than employees.

King also asked about the challenges with the RFP that just passed. SAK pointed out that Nursing Home staff had been in the audience during the special session and heard the arguments and comments of the board and to think about what they heard and what they'd be thinking after all that. They've recently lossed 6 nurses. It's difficult to fill beds when the future of the home is uncertain.

Marsh asked for a one page of inlays and outlays to better track progress with specific areas of interest that the agency agreed to work with him on after Weibel suggested it to move things along.

The board then moved on to the Bail Reform Act presentation by States Attorney Julia Rietz and Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Allen Jones. It is state legislation that affects the county in some ways, but in others the county had already implemented reforms on their own. The presentation video is twenty five minutes (direct link here) followed by questions from the board beginning at roughly the hour mark here.

The board moved on to its appointments and reports after the presentation questions. One unusual note was with the new federal tax law many people paid their property taxes early in case it may help with their tax liability which has brought a surge of early tax revenue that would normally be around $2 million to an early haul of $11.3 million.

A parcel of land, not yet sold, in another "Nasty Joe" acquisition attempt was returned to the owner (another case than the public participation from earlier whose property was already sold).

The remaining reports were submitted without anything highlighted or unusual.

The budget amendments on the agenda passed with voice votes and no discussion other than a quick question about what a WestLaw subscription entails and wanting to look into what "abandoned bond payments" referred to. The question was dismissed for later considering the budget item was a paltry $660 total.

There was some discussion about the Nursing Home Board's compensation with questions of fairness compared to other appointees to other boards, while others advocated for travel per diems to ensure access to local government by lower income citizens. The amendment striking the mileage language passed with a voice and then hand vote (11-9 on the 2nd hand vote double check).

McGuire had a couple questions about SAK's contract notice to renew and dealing with the ADA requirements for the old jail. Weibel said he'd get back to him on the former and the latter would be dealt with next month at the facilities meeting.

Adjourned at 10:26pm