Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Sixth Circuit Bar Ratings

[UPDATE: Coverage of the Sixth Circuit judge candidate forum from the News-Gazette:
Candidates tout their qualifications
Four of the five people seeking to be circuit judges in the local judicial district spoke to a group of about 60 University of Illinois law students and others Wednesday night about their qualifications.

Democrat Ramona Sullivan and Republican Roger Webber, who will face off this November for the seat formerly held by Judge Arnold Blockman, and Democrat Chad S. Beckett and Republican Randy Rosenbaum, two of the three candidates for the seat formerly held by Judge Harry Clem, took part in a candidates’ forum at the UI College of Law.

A third candidate for the latter judgeship, Republican Sami Anderson, was invited to participate but did not attend.

The two winners will serve as circuit judges in the six-county Sixth Judicial Circuit, which includes Champaign, DeWitt, Douglas, Macon, Moultrie and Piatt counties.]

The Illinois State Bar Association gave its candidate ratings available here (local Sixth Circuit on page 8) with some harsh ratings of "not recommended" in spite of previous higher ratings, bolstering some of the arguments about politics playing a role. From the News-Gazette today:
Local judge candidates not worried by lack of support in state bar poll
Two attorneys who received low marks on a poll of lawyers evaluating their ability to be judges say they are not terribly concerned with the lack of support from colleagues.

"I'm not worried about it," said Sami Anderson, right, a Champaign attorney running in the Republican primary against seated Judge Randy Rosenbaum for the judgeship previously held by the now-retired Harry Clem.

Urbana attorney Chad Beckett had a similar reaction.

"I didn't run to become president of the local bar. I'm running to seek the approval of local citizens," said Beckett, left, a Democrat who has no opposition in the primary. "If the local bar had the final say, then I'd pay more attention. I'm going to focus on the voters.

Beckett will run against either Rosenbaum or Anderson in the November general election.

A poll conducted by the Illinois State Bar Association released Tuesday did not recommend either Anderson or Beckett for office but gave glowing marks to Rosenbaum.
In the other Sixth Circuit race going into the general election:
Roger Webber, left, who was appointed to the vacancy, received even higher marks than Rosenbaum.

About 139 responded on his qualifications, giving him a score of 97.7 percent in the "meets requirements of office" category.

Webber, a lawyer for about 30 years and a judge for four, is running as a Republican.

His challenger in the general election is Ramona Sullivan. The Democratic candidate has been a lawyer for 21 years, all of those in the legal-aid field. She was rated 74.4 percent in the "meets requirements of office" based on the responses of about 92 lawyers.
Voting has already begun. See the Elections page for additional links to register, view sample ballots, candidate guides, and more information! The primary falls on Spring Break so make use of early voting options and have a plan to vote!

County Clerk Race Updates

Republican Jon Rector picked up a primary endorsement and Kacich highlighted the candidates main backers. Shelden is a staple of Republican partisan politics and county office older, while Hulten is from the more non-partisan and independent conservative camp within the local party. Kacich also highlighted a funding boost of Aaron Ammons, the Democratic challenger for the general. From Tom Kacich in the News-Gazette today:
Former U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana, has endorsed Jon Rector in the Republican primary election for Champaign County clerk.

"Because our parents were good friends, I have known Jon since he was young. I have personal knowledge of Jon's exemplary character and work ethic," said Johnson, who served 12 years in Congress after 24 years in the Illinois House. "As a member of the Champaign County Board, he's shown his commitment to conservative Republican principles."

Rector is opposed in the Republican primary by Matt Grandone.

Rector's campaign is being managed by Mark Shelden, the current county recorder who once was county clerk and also served as Johnson's congressional chief of staff from 2011 to 2013.

The current county clerk, Gordy Hulten, is helping to run Grandone's campaign...

Aaron Ammons money

The Democratic candidate for county clerk, Aaron Ammons, got a financial boost this weekend with a $5,000 campaign contribution from the Service Employees International Union Local 73 in Chicago.

Ammons, the husband of state Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, has already raised $11,250 in itemized contributions and at least $3,400 in nonitemized contributions. He has no primary opponent, so everything he brings in goes toward the general election.

His about $15,000 raised (of which $7,500 is from SEIU and $1,500 is from Democratic state representatives) is significantly more than the about $6,800 Rector has raised, but short of the more than $43,000 that Grandone has brought in.
More on the County Clerk candidates on the Cheat Sheet County Offices page.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Nursing Home 3 to 6 Bids Expected

 From the News-Gazette coverage of last night's RFP meeting:
Price is priority for panel on sale of facility
Members of a committee charged with evaluating any proposals for purchase of the Champaign County Nursing Home agreed Monday to a process that places a slightly higher emphasis on the price offered for the facility in east Urbana.

The county board voted in January to put the financially troubled nursing home on the market, with a minimum offer of $11 million.

Proposals from bidders are due Wednesday...

The broker working with the county, Matthew Andriano of the Chicago real estate firm Marcus & Millichap, told county officials that no prospective bidders toured the nursing home during a three-day opportunity last week.

“But he said he still believes that there will be three to six proposals submitted,” said Van Anderson, a temporary special project administrator for the county. “He said some may have visited the nursing home in the past.”

Sunday, February 25, 2018

US House Races in Champaign County

We have two US House Congressional Districts in Champaign County. IL-13 and IL-15. Both have Democratic Party primaries this year with the winner going against (unopposed in the primary) incumbent Republicans in the general.

Scattered throughout the Cheat Sheet are references to a questionnaire here or a podcast there. For the primary I'm going to put them all in one place for your convenience:
  • News-Gazette Questionnaires for the IL-13 and IL-15 primary:

The Republican candidates are unopposed within their party. More information on them and whoever becomes their Democratic challenger as we approach the General Election.


Upcoming events (last updated 2/25/2018):
  • There are two forums for IL-13 congressional candidates Monday (foreign policy and immigration) and Sunday (Purim themed town hall) this week.
IL-15th candidates have a calendar/upcoming events on their campaign websites:

Cheat Sheet: C-U Local

This year's mid-term elections have County races on the ballot (primary voting has begun: more info here), so I'm going to keep focusing on making sure whatever helpful information for voters, candidates, and folks just curious about how to engage with their local government can find answers to their questions.

But, what about other local government? I'm fiddling with that, but it is a work in progress (slow slow progress). Right now it's called the Cheat Sheet: C-U Local. Here's the gist:
Information about the local Champaign-Urbana government and how to learn more about the City Councils, Township Boards and other local government offices such as:
  • Their membership information and contact information
  • Policy issues
  • Latest news links
  • Information for candidates and about candidates
  • Election information and upcoming races
  • More up to date meeting information
  • Primers on major local issues
  • Issue positions and candidate statements
In time, with some hard work, this will hopefully be an easy and quick guide on what's going on with local government, how to effect change in it, and how it works for everyday voters. Someday I hope it can be useful enough for the political wonks, help folks become more political wonky and maybe even run for and become part of their local government.

The information is intended to be factual and based on government resources, local journalism sources, government officials themselves (either directly or through those same sources) and presented without spin as we observe it. We aren't endorsing any candidates or party. We merely hope people will simply find their local government more easily accessible, influencing it easier, and voting for it more informed.
There's not much there yet. But that's how the Champaign County Cheat Sheet got started.

Camps and Papers

A little oddball county news roundup:


Champaign County summer camps

From the News-Gazette today:
Registration for the Champaign County Forest Preserve District’s summer camps at Homer Lake and Lake of the Woods in Mahomet opens on Thursday. Space is limited in these camps, so district officials encourage signing up early by visiting ccfpd. org, where you can also see a list of programs. There are too many to list, but here are a few examples: Grossology, July 17-20 Learn about some of the grossest things in the forest preserves, like slime, scat, vomit and more as camp instructors teach campers how some of Illinois’ yuckiest animals protect themselves and more.

Outdoor Adventure, June 12-15

Practice skills that have been used by generations of nature explorers, learning about plants and animals in the forest preserves, or discover how to track animals and more.

Superheroes, June 26-29

Many superheroes have names and powers modeled after animals, like Spider-Man or Black Widow. Discover what makes these animals so super.
Article link here.


Former County Board Member no longer deleted from the system:

Also from the News-Gazette (bottom of the article): 
James gets his papers

Stan James of Rantoul, a former Champaign County Board member who had trouble with the federal bureaucracy over the question of his citizenship, is officially a citizen of the United States of America.

He got the word Thursday evening — more than three months after he applied — when an official from the State Department called to tell him that his passport finally was on the way. For James, who was born in Germany but spent about 99.67 percent of his life in the United States, the passport is proof of his citizenship and will allow him to retire and receive Medicare and Social Security benefits...

The government apparently had a problem establishing James’ citizenship because it had two different birth dates for his father, who joined the Air Force as a teenager and apparently lied about his date of birth in order to enlist.
A followup of the original story here: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-02-14/tom-kacich-its-red-tape-fiasco.html

Saturday, February 24, 2018

The Week Ahead 2/25 - 3/3


REMINDER: Voting has begun! Early voting and Vote-by-Mail! We're within 28 days of the election so if you still need to register to vote, your options are on-line (last week) and Grace Period Registration. Grace Period Registration is available at early and regular polling locations. More information here. Sample ballots are available here

Other Events:

County Executive Candidate Town Halls: More from the N-G
Darlene Kloeppel has one this week that wasn't in the original N-G article:
— Friday, March 2 at 6 PM - 7:30 PM, Sidney Community Center, 221 S. David St., Sidney, IL. Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1655689094523706/
Gordy Hulten doesn't have any more town halls listed. For other events see his facebook page.
Groups that crossover with Racial Justice Task Force recommendations meeting this week:
Build Programs Not Jails meets Wednesday, February 28th at 7pm at the Independent Media Center.

Also on the County Calendar, but worth pointing out here, the Mental Health Board has a special session where there will be reports and discussion on RJTF related programs. This includes the Youth Assessment Center and the DREAAM House program.

There are candidate events happening for races up and down the Democratic and Republican ballot, so get your sample ballot, read about and meet the candidates. e.g. there are two forums for IL-13 congressional candidates Monday (foreign policy and immigration) and Sunday (Purim themed town hall) this week! The News-Gazette has interview podcasts on their website. Candidate websites and social media links at the CCVA Candidate Guide is a good place to start looking at candidates.

Make a plan to vote. Election day itself falls within Spring Break if you're going to be out of town. Early voting and Vote-by-Mail have begun.


County Calendar:

The RFP Evaluation Review, which given the people present and the recent Nursing Home "request for proposal" opening bids to be solicited from potential buyers for selling the Nursing Home, it's a safe bet this will be about that process. The News-Gazette recently reported there haven't been any private bids yet, however.

The Local Emergency Planning Committee deals with issues related to Illinois and Federal Emergency Management Agency issues, including training and response programs. For an idea of what a meeting is like, check out the previous meeting minutes here. This meeting is held at ILEAS which is just north of Nursing Home, North of Brookens (Map!).

The Mental Health Board has a special session where there will be reports and discussion on RJTF related programs. This includes the Youth Assessment Center and the DREAAM House program.

The Zoning Board is probably self-explanatory, but in this special meeting it appears there will also be an ordinance amendment discussed for solar panels in addition to a zoning case.


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.

http://www.co.champaign.il.us/cal/2018/180225.pdf

*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

Friday, February 23, 2018

Newest Champaign County Judge

There was a recent appointment to fill a Champaign County circuit judge vacancy. Full News-Gazette story here. Quick excerpts:
Prosecutor picked for judge’s seat
A central Illinois federal prosecutor with civil law experience has been named as Champaign County’s newest circuit judge.

Supreme Court Justice Rita Garman announced Thursday that Jason Bohm will take the seat being vacated next week by Mike Jones, who is retiring after 21 years on the bench...

Bohm said he plans to run for election in 2020 to the judgeship to which he’s being appointed.

Jones’ seat is a resident judgeship, meaning that whoever wants it has to run for election only in Champaign County and not the other five counties of the 6th Judicial Circuit: DeWitt, Douglas, Macon, Moultrie and Piatt. Once elected, circuit judges run for retention in all the counties every six years.

Bohm said he’ll run as a Republican.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

County Board Picture Day

[UPDATE: News-Gazette coverage had some additional details here. Also there were two additional absences I missed in my notes. I apologize for the error. They also pointed out there have been any bids on the Nursing Home yet from private investors. I don't know if there's anything to read into that other than nobody was lined up and waiting for it.
Deal with nursing home vendor OK’d
Champaign County Board members Thursday approved two financial agreements related to the financially troubled county nursing home.

One, a forbearance agreement with a vendor owed nearly $300,000 by the nursing home, sets out a timeline for paying off the bill.

Under terms of the agreement with HealthPRO Therapy Services LLC, negotiated by County Administrator Deb Busey and county board Chair C. Pius Weibel, the county will begin paying the company about $17,238 a month beginning on May 1...

The county board has put the nursing home up for sale but hasn’t received any bids from private investors yet.

Three board members — Democrats Robert King and Shana Jo Crews and Republican Max Mitchell — were absent from the meeting.]


The Board was more dressed up today for pictures. Unless I missed someone, all members except Robert King were in attendance tonight. The meeting was quick and without much controversy, starting at 6:30pm on the dot and ending, by my watch at 6:54pm. Just under 24 minutes.

Public Participation mostly revolved around two constituents asking for help in their neighborhood with a "bus house" neighbor they described as a belligerent nightmare with non-functioning vehicles, a prominent bus full of trash that has been moved to the yard.

Amy Felty noted a flier she had distributed announcing a screening of the film "Racial Taboo" at the local Mennonite church Sunday, March 4 at 4pm with discussions on race after the movie.

The Consent Agenda passed with what may be the big news of the meeting since it included the first Racial Justice Task Force recommendations to urge the Housing Authority of Champaign County and the City of Champaign Council to change their rules and an ordinance, respectively. Both changes relate to housing rules for people re-entering the community from the criminal justice system.

Tom Berns, a local civil engineer and former State Representative, was remembered by member Chris Stohr. Beyond the personal Stohr brought up his engineering contributions to drainage (a critical issue for a flat state) via vertical standards and LIDAR flooding maps. People may not generally think about where all the water goes now that it's no longer allowed to flood and become the swamp central Illinois yearns to be naturally. Member McGuire added his appreciation for Berns' honesty and friendship over the years. The News-Gazette has more on him here.

Member Goss noted a meeting he had about the Mahomet Aquifer and issues with the technical notification that was difficult for the general public to process. The task force will be addressing the issue.

Interim Administrator Deb Busey highlighted an art fair coming up at the Nursing Home.

Everything else on the agenda was submitted or passed without discussion and all ayes and no nays except for the following items:

XIII A.3. Nursing Home insurance premium payment got a couple nays.

XIV B1 from the Addendum had a quick couple of questions on the date and required votes from McGuire. Fortado commended the staff who worked on it. Goss stated his dislike for how it might open up the door for a series of special circumstance payments to vendors. Weibel noted it was a current vendor. Petrie wondered if we do this, would it lead to that series of vendors requesting the same. Weibel cracked wise about going to Vegas if he could predict that. He appeared to suggest that the board knows the risk is there, but the financial situation leaves them few options. The voice vote sounded close. The hand vote was a clear majority, but with 4-5 nays that I caught before their hands went back down.

They quickly adjourned after this. A couple members remarked on the shortness on their way out.

Packed House at Housing Authority

[UPDATE News-Gazette coverage here. Excerpt:
Board asks newest member not to vote
In a new twist Thursday, the Housing Authority of Champaign County’s board requested that its newest member participate in meetings but not in votes.

That request was approved by Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin, who appointed Danielle Chynoweth to the board, before Chynoweth attended her first HACC meeting as a board member Thursday...]


The recent appointment of Danielle Chynoweth to the HACC being blocked and now provisionally accepted (she's being allowed to sit on the board as a non-voting member until the Housing and Urban Development Chicago office makes a decision on the conflict of interest concerns.

There was standing room only with what appeared to be a great deal of support for Chynoweth's appointment and concerns about trust with the HACC's move without satisfactory notification or transparency. Seeing the turnout and anticipating the complaints in the public comments, Chair Lewis explained that blocking the appointment was not a personal vendetta and not political. He explained it was a legal matter about a conflict of interest that is out of the board's hands. He explained Chynoweth is being seated as a non-voting member until that decision is made.

The agenda turned to the less dramatic financial information with a long series of highlights and information for the board with only a handful of technical questions, mainly by Chynoweth, thrown in.

The agenda items all passed unanimously yes as far as I could tell from the roll call votes.

The management report, I believe by the new Executive Director highlighted additional information from the agenda packet before explaining the website outage. A crash had caused the web server to need to be rebuilt from scratch. The website had been down for roughly two months, but is now up and being populated with information. She also highlighted a success story helping a family in cooperation with Habitat for Humanity to have their own home. Auditors are currently working on affiliate properties before they move on to HACC owned properties soon.

A board member spoke up to thank the Executive Director for moving away from paper to electronic paperwork. Chynoweth asked about issues involved with getting higher occupancy. Some of the vacancies are with private companies who fill them and the reasons for vacancies can be asked of them in an upcoming meeting with them. RAD (?) properties are currently under construction and some units are empty while they're being worked on. Chynoweth also asked for additional information on emergency shelter numbers for the homeless need she has seen in Urbana. A facility funded via the United Way, with the program managed by the Regional Planning Commission, and the property managed by the HACC to clear up a question about who is managing what at the location.

Prior to public comments the chair said the board was honored to have the Urbana Mayor and Urbana Councilman Roberts in attendance.


Public Comments:

It was hard to catch names, so these may be way off and only my best guesses. Apologies in advance for any name butchering.

Katie Powell of Urbana: argued that public trust is critical and the board had put it in question. She spoke of having trouble coordinating with the board before and we need more than just assurances. Especially after meetings without communication or including a new member. She asked if they even respond to e-mails from the public. We will be watching. They have shaken the public trust. [applause]

Urbana City Councilman Roberts: Chynoweth "has our full support" [applause]

The chair again reiterated it was a legal issue and not personal. It was a potential conflict of interest.

Rebecca(?) Hannah: We pay for this (the chair appeared to argue with this since they're federal). She reiterated the federal taxes from local people pays for it. It's time for the public to start paying attention. She said she was leaving copies of the Urbana Mayor's statement about the issue. She complained about minutes missing from the January 30th meeting making it difficult to verify the board's claims. She accused it of violating their own bylaws in spite of their protestations. She explained that Chynoweth has no control over the tax issue and there is no conflict. [applause, sustained]

Esther Patt of the Champaign-Urbana Tenant Union: She pointed out that she's been attending these meetings for four and half years, often due to the unwillingness of the board to be transparent. She used an example of the former executive director only delivering his report orally where only people in attendance could know what he reported. She accused the board of acting clueless to their purpose: to protect the public interest.

She pointed to a previous appointment issue that was also done without transparency and possible unilateral decisions to show that the current situation isn't in isolation. She admonished them that they're here for the public and need to stand up to the Executive Director when appropriate. The chair called the time limit (couldn't tell for sure if it was early) [applause]

Harry Nicoli: He flat out said he did not believe the board when they say the Chynoweth decision was non-political. He believes they targeted her. [applause]

Robin (missed the rest of the name): She personally had relied on a voucher. People who need them are the least able to come to these meetings. It's critical to make the process public and to stop being defensive. It's creating a situation where people can't trust an entity that their lives depend on. She complained about sending out notices that are labeled as a final notice when they're the only notice, leaving people to fear that they missed previous correspondence.

She explained that trust is critical for those on the program. She and others had tried to come to the board and were left with so little recourse they had to give up their vouchers and move. Her situation panned out but others were less fortunate. [applause]

Board member Linda Turnball decided to make a few comments: She explained that the Department of Housing and Urban Development controls this board. An attendee interrupted a couple times pointing out that HUD didn't make them have unannounced meetings. The Chair stepped in to point out that public comment was not a back and forth and the interrupter would have to address the board through the public process.

Turnball continued to explain that the complaints were making her and the board feel bad even though, she explained, she had done nothing wrong.

The interrupter took the next public comment opportunity: She explained that she has a lot of respect for Turnball, however, HUD didn't tell them to have an unannounced meeting. She belated gave her name as Karen when asked by the Chair.

The board then moved to go into its closed session which it would adjourn from later. The public meeting ended at 3:58pm.

As the crowd was leaving a participant shouted for the need of a "live wire." Which from the context I think referred to either television and/or internet live streaming.


Summary:

Sometimes you get a lively meeting and it's hard to keep up with notes or follow along. This was my first HACC meeting so that adds a bit of difficulty to play catch up. There's only one way to fix that, and that's to come back again. The housing rule the County Board urged changes to wasn't brought up, though that resolution doesn't officially get passed until tonight's board meeting makes it official via their consent agenda.

I got the strong impression by serious folks involved in their local government that the HACC board is having difficulty seeing its role as a protector of the public interest to speak for us to the forces beyond our control in an intergovernmental agency. The bad habits of low accessibility and decisions made behind closed doors instead of in the daylight makes it a good place for more regular public attendance and public notes so people can find out what's going on with their tax money.

HACC Lists Chynoweth as Member

Well, this is surprising after all the hubbub from earlier. From the News-Gazette:
Chynoweth to take her seat at last
The agenda for today’s meeting of the Housing Authority of Champaign County board lists Danielle Chynoweth as a board member — almost one month after the other members publicly stated that she was unfit to serve.

Chynoweth won’t be alone once the 3 p.m. meeting starts. She said a group of concerned citizens, business owners and Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin is attending after the rocky start to her first term as a HACC board member...

Cindi Herrera, the HACC interim director, said a final opinion on Chynoweth’s appointment will come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s office of general council in Washington, D.C. The case was forwarded there by HUD’s Chicago office, and Herrera said she doesn’t know how long the decision will take...

In the meantime, both Herrera and Marlin agree that Chynoweth can recuse herself from any board votes that seem iffy.

“I think (Chynoweth) will be very careful to recuse herself from anything remotely connected to the Hamilton on the Park issue,” Marlin said. “Probably all real-estate items, just to be safe.”
The HACC has its monthly meeting today Thursday Feb. 22 at 3pm at the 205 W. Park Ave HACC office.

Parkland Costs and Unit 4 Charter School

Parkland Costs Didn't Go Up?

The full article explains how they're not giving the state, which they say has "abandoned us," any credit. Which sounds harsh, but may be accurate:
No tuition, fee hikes next year
For the first time in 26 years, Parkland College students won’t be paying more in tuition and fees next year.

The governing board of the Champaign- based community college voted unanimously Wednesday to freeze tuition and fees for in-district students at $164 per credit hour. Tuition and fees for out-of-district, out-of-state and international students also will remain the same as this year.

It’s the first time since 1992-93 school year — when tuition and fees were $33 a credit hour — that there won’t be an increase.

Unit 4 Charter School Request

A proposal Unit 4 rejected back in 2001 may get a second look due to concerning and years long tracking of racial disparity data. From today's News-Gazette:
Black-focused charter school to be requested
A six-year decline in academic achievement for black Unit 4 students in grades 3-8 has some community members poised to ask the district to create a charter school on Champaign’s north end.

The school, which would be called North Champaign Academy and serve grades K-5, has been offered as a solution to the rising numbers of black students in Unit 4 who are performing at levels below state expectations for their grade. Organizers shared the highlights of their vision with The News-Gazette ahead of Monday night’s school board meeting, when they plan to make a formal request to the school board.
Some of the troubling statistics cited from the Illinois State Board of Education and the Census Bureau:
The numbers that concern the charter school backers come from 2011-17: — In 2011, black thirdgraders comprised 15.2 percent of Unit 4’s lowestachieving students in the reading category.

— By 2017, that number was 52.1 percent...

 “The percentage of poor people in the black community has remained constant throughout the years — and that’s part of the impetus for trying to change that paradigm,” Banks said.

In Champaign County, black residents are twice as likely as white to live in poverty. Data from the 2015 U.S. Census Bureau population estimates showed that 41.5 percent of African-Americans had incomes below the poverty level, while the rate for whites was 17.2 percent.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

March 20th Primary and 28 Days of Voting


Regular voter registration ends 28 days before an election (e.g. mail-in, at the driver's license facility, etc), but these days we have Grace Period Registration. If you still need to register or change your address you can bring your required IDs to any of the early voting locations  or election day polling place to register and then vote. More information at the Champaign County Clerk's website:
Grace Period allows an extension of the period of time an individual has to register to vote or change their address. Grace Period begins Thursday, February 22, 2018 and runs through 7:00pm on Election Day, Tuesday, March 20, 2018.

During Grace Period, an individual may register to vote or submit a change of address in-person and vote directly thereafter, at any of our Early Voting locations or at their Election Day polling place.
On-line Registration is still open through March 4th here: https://ova.elections.il.gov/

Election day falls within spring break for students and a lot of vacations, so make a plan to vote. There are a lot of options including Early Voting and Vote-by-Mail, both happening right now.

Multiple Early Voting locations open on March 13th (currently the County Clerk's office location is available). Vote-by-Mail runs through March 15th (more details here).

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

NG Questionnaires Plus Congressional

Just to have them all together, I'm putting up all the links from the previous questionnaires along with the latest United States Congressional district races that cover Champaign County, the Illinois 13th and 15th Democratic primaries (both Republicans are incumbents and unopposed). Click an image to go to the corresponding News-Gazette questionnaire:


County Board District 6 and 10 (Democratic only)
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-02-06/primary-2018-questionnaires-champaign-county-board-district-6-democrats.htmlhttp://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-02-07/primary-2018-questionnaires-champaign-county-board-district-10-democrats.html

County Clerk and County Sheriff  (Republican only)
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-01-31/primary-2018-questionnaires-champaign-county-clerk-republicans.htmlhttp://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-02-05/primary-2018-questionnaires-champaign-county-sheriff-republicans.html

State 101st House District candidates in the Republican primary and the 104th House District candidates in the Democratic primary.
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-02-12/primary-2018-questionnaires-101st-illinois-house-district-republicans.html  http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-02-09/primary-2018-questionnaires-104th-illinois-house-district-democrats.html


Sunday, February 18, 2018

The Week Ahead 2/18 - 2/24

REMINDER: Voting has begun! Early voting and Vote-by-Mail! Your chance to register or change your registration 28 days before the election ends this week. Sample ballots are available here

Other Events:

County Executive Candidate Town Halls: More from the N-G
Darlene Kloeppel has one this week:
— 5:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, Tolono Public Library, 111 E. Main St., Tolono. Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/162994354491122/
Gordy Hulten has one this week that wasn't in the original N-G article:
— 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20 Tolono Town Hall, 117 E. Holden, Tolono. Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/2101906040041685/
Groups that crossover with Racial Justice Task Force recommendations meeting this week:
The Housing Authority of Champaign County (and their new website up, but still in progress) Board meets Thursday Feb. 22 at 3pm at the 205 W. Park Ave HACC office.

Champaign City Council meeting Feb. 20 at 7pm in the Council Chambers of the City Building, 102 N Neil Street.
Both of the above meetings come on the heals of the Champaign County Board vote to urge both to change their housing rules that discriminate against those re-entering the community from the criminal justice system based on the RJTF recommendations.

There are candidate events happening for races up and down the Democratic and Republican ballot, so get your sample ballot, read about and meet the candidates. e.g. if you're a Democrat you could have met your Attorney General candidates at the IMC last week! Video of that event here. Candidate websites and social media links at the CCVA Candidate Guide is a good place to start looking at candidates.

Make a plan to vote. Election day itself falls within Spring Break if you're going to be out of town. Early voting and Vote-by-Mail have begun.


County Calendar:

This week ends with a regular County Board meeting. But, from the agenda packet, one will notice that outside of the consent agenda there only appears to be some smaller expenses to approve. A consent agenda is a parliamentary device used to consolidate non-controversial and routine business into one unanimous vote. From the Board rules:
Items  included  in  the  Consent  Agenda  shall  be  items  that  the County Board Chair believes will be unanimously adopted without discussion.  Motions to go into closed session may not be included in the Consent Agenda.
For those tracking the RJTF recommendations, they'll find the resolutions urging changes to HACC and City of Champaign ordinances and housing added to the consent agenda in last week's Committee of the Whole vote.

The week starts off with the Presidents Day holiday on Monday and the resumption of the County Executive Transition Committee Tuesday to make new Board rules and pave the way for the new County Executive form of government. The Veterans Assistance Commission meeting appears to mostly report on the commission itself, but I haven't attended one of these to know much about it yet. Here's a description from the website of what this board oversees:
The Veteran's Assistance Commission (VAC) of Champaign County is a distinct unit of local government created by State Law and funded by Champaign County. The VAC is a temporary financial assistance program designed to help veterans that find themselves in need. The VAC is managed by a Board of Directors who are veterans representing the various veteran organizations in Champaign County.
For an idea of what they entail click Developmental Disability Board or Mental Health Board links here to see what the meetings entail with example posts on each. The Litigation Committee meeting is mostly closed to discuss pending litigation.

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.

http://www.co.champaign.il.us/cal/2018/180218.pdf

*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

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Local Candidate Forums This Week

[UPDATE: N-G article on the first forum with County Sheriff, Clerk (videos available on the CCVA or City YouTube channel), and 104th Illinois House:  Candidates in three local races lay out positions at forum.]

[UPDATEx2: N-G article on Wednesday's forum of Democratic races for County Board District 6 and 10, and Republican Sixth Circuit Judges (video available here): County jail, nursing home take focus at second candidate forum]

Click an image to go to candidate questionnaires:

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-01-31/primary-2018-questionnaires-champaign-county-clerk-republicans.html http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-02-05/primary-2018-questionnaires-champaign-county-sheriff-republicans.html
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-02-06/primary-2018-questionnaires-champaign-county-board-district-6-democrats.html http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-02-07/primary-2018-questionnaires-champaign-county-board-district-10-democrats.html
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-02-09/primary-2018-questionnaires-104th-illinois-house-district-democrats.html

The News-Gazette announced local candidate forums this upcoming week on Monday (2/12) and Wednesday (2/14) nights.
Candidate forums set next week in 6 local primary races
Candidates in six local primary elections will meet in forums next week at the Champaign City Building.

The forums are co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Champaign County, the NAACP and The News-Gazette. They'll be moderated by members of the League of Women Voters and governed by the traditional rules of League forums.

I broke down the information by party since that's how people will vote when they pick their primary ballot:

Republican candidates:
Monday:
County Clerk candidates Matt Grandone and Jon Rector
Monday 2/12 from 6:30 to ~7:15pm

County Sheriff candidates Allen Jones and Greg Worrell
Monday 2/12 at 7:20pm
Wednesday:
Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge candidates Randy Rosenbaum and Sami Anderson
Wednesday 2/14 at ~8:10pm
Democratic candidates:
Monday:
104th House District Representative candidates Cynthia Cunningham and Frank McCullough
Monday 2/12 at 8:10pm

Wednesday:
Champaign County Board District 6 candidates with incumbent Pattsi Petrie, and challengers Mike Ingram and Charles Young
Wednesday 2/14 at 6:30pm

Champaign County Board District 10 incumbent Christ Stohr (recently appointed) and challenger Tanisha King-Taylor
Wednesday 2/14 wt 7:20pm

More Information:

For candidate information check out the Champaign County Voters Alliance Candidate Guide with local, State, and federal candidates, questionnaires, and contact information. More at the CCVA main page.

The N-G also recently published related candidate questionnaires as well.

For more Election and races information check out our Election page which links to registration and voting information, information on individual races and links to more candidate information and contact information.

(Originally posted 2/9/18)

17 Primary Rule

[UPDATE: Added final tally and County Board member's reaction below original article (quick jump link).]

For the Alex Keaton's of Champaign County who are way too young to get that reference, the N-G highlighted a civic minded primary voter and the primary rule that allows 17 year olds to vote if they'll be 18 by the day of the general election:
Sign up teens to vote
As Jimmie Kosmopoulos prepares to register classmates to vote today, the Cham paign Central High School senior hopes to accomplish two things.

First, add more young voters to the electorate.

“Even if it’s just a few extra votes from our schools, it matters,” he said.

Second, he hopes his activism — an all-day stakeout in the library, where he’ll have paper and online voter registration forms ready — will put to rest in some minds the tired stereotypes of youth apathy and ignorance toward political matters.

“I want to show people who may be apathetic to our generation that we know what we’re talking about,” he said.

“We are just as important (in the electorate) as they are.”

Both he and Sophia Ebel, a senior at University High School in Urbana, said they became concerned about the number of young voters after the 2016 election. They learned it wasn’t uncommon for their peers to be completely unaware that they could register to vote — in Illinois, citizens as young as 17 can register as long as they’re 18 by the date of the general election and are 17 by the date of the primary.

Final Tally and Reactions:

Jon Ebel highlighted updates on the registration drive's impressive tally for the day:

https://twitter.com/jonathan_ebel/status/964379562271416321
County Board District 6 incumbent and primary candidate Pattsi Petrie weighed in about the dangers of uneducated student voters on the article's comments:
Bravo, great to engage everyone in democracy. Increasing voter registration is excellent. This stated the omitted information is no discussion about educated voting...

Now for a bit of local voting history—CC has tax caps due to student vote, CC has a county heath board as a result of student vote, and a most recent example is the new position of elected county executive as the result of votes in one student-dominated precinct. So the questions are: did know the meaning of their vote, did the student educate his/her self about the results of the vote, did the student vote the way someone else told the student to vote, or. Other explanations. Bottom line these results stay with the local residents while the students move one. So being an educated voter is very important.
I imagine that some would read this as a reasonable admonishment to highlight the gravity of the issues being voted on to encourage people getting informed on the issues. Others might see this as a very thinly veiled attempt to discourage student voting simply because they, like most voters, lack the detailed understanding of those who work in local government. Regardless it came off as especially unfair to high school students. Like many college students, they often have long term vested interests in the community through family, friends, or becoming townies whether they planned on it or not.

One could argue that even the college students from out of town who choose to register and vote here have opted to do so over absentee options back home because they feel they have a vested interest in the community. If they're motivated enough to change registration to vote here, it's likely they care about the issues here. Perhaps that is naive of me.

CU Fresh Start Interventions

CU Fresh Start is a local crime prevention program (more information here: "What is CU Fresh Start?") that's one of the many programs and organizations that are intertwined with the local criminal justice system in Champaign County. The News-Gazette points out that they will be stepping up interventions again soon:
CU Fresh Start to resume 'call-in' interventions March 8
The CU Fresh Start program to curb violence will return to conducting "call-in" interventions next month, with one scheduled for March 8.

That will be the third call-in, after others conducted in October 2016 and March 2017. Vivian Gray, Fresh Start's project specialist, said the event will again be held at the Illinois Terminal.

Call-ins are for residents who meet police criteria to indicate that they're susceptible to gun violence. They meet with city and state authorities who tell them to leave gun violence behind in exchange for resources to rebuild their lives...
More at the original article. A snapshot of just some of the criminal justice programs and organizations is on our Racial Justice Task Force page and below:

Groups and Organizations: related to or possibly key to implementing RJTF recommendations.

Click on chart for clickable links or go directly to the criminal justice subgroups: Before Contact, Contact, Incarceration, and Re-Entry:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/158DHez1puf1CDGNNYIvL-6PqkFM3r84J3eEtwssKZpg/edit#gid=0
PATH Printable Champaign County Community Resource Guide

Two groups that would implement and oversee the recommendations are still in the process of being created:
  • Restorative and Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (implementation)
  • Community Engagement Oversight Commission
This is a work in progress and I apologize for any errors. Corrections and more updates and links will be posted here as they are created and information is available on them. I hope to have pages on each subgroup with more information on how they interact with government bodies and law enforcement to better understand the full picture of Champaign County's criminal justice programs and organizations.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

BPNJ Valentines Day Meeting

http://cheatsheetcc.blogspot.com/p/build-programs-not-jails.html http://cheatsheetcc.blogspot.com/p/racial-justice-task-force.html

The talk of the town is the Racial Justice Task Force recommendations as meetings and movement on various fronts has begun and interested parties are looking to put their energy towards something real and organized. Robert King beginning to organize and bring the Justice & Social Services Committee to life has people in various organizations, including Build Programs Not Jails, looking to see how they can push for criminal justice reforms in the report. Everyone is talking about who is talking to who, and who is working on this or that. It's still early and confusing and malleable. 

The County Board just passed two of the beginning recommendations of the housing section of the RJTF report, simply urging the Housing Authority of Champaign County and the City Council of Champaign to amend their rules and ordinances respectfully in order to reduce housing discrimination among those attempting to re-enter their communities from the criminal justice system. This intergovernmental move seemed to go off without too many toes stepped on, but not a non-zero number of toes as one Board Member found out.

The two government bodies urged to take action have meetings coming up next week:
Champaign City Council next meets February 20th at 7pm

Housing Authority of Champaign County Board meets February 22nd at 3pm
People interested in voicing support for the recommendations should probably attend and get to know who their allies on the Council and Board are. More information on that as I learn who's who and what side members are taking. There will almost certainly be resistance given the real concerns about recidivism, but also issues of bias and fears that may go beyond statistics. These aren't easy topics and it'll be tough to present data to allay those worries.

Speaking of data, the next County Board COW on March 13th at 6:30pm will have more RJTF issues raised including on a related database of racial data in the County's criminal justice system. More information on that as I understand it and can pass it along coherently.

Discussions continued into talking about interest in pre-trial reforms and then to their discussions with County Board Member Robert King and his interactions with other players within the system who note that Champaign was ahead of the curve on some of the state Bail Reform Act going into effect now. There's going to be disagreements on how well the system is already doing versus how much further work needs to be done. Activists will be pushing up against players within the system that believe they are doing a better job than most, and might take issue with the more pessimistic depictions of idealists and dreamers. Navigating those relationships and expectations successfully may what saves this ship from sinking on the rocks.

One of the contentious programs, Public Safety Assessment (PSA) Court risk assessments may not be very popular with some current officials. More information on the algorithms that attempt to factor out race, gender, socioeconomic status, etc and give a fair risk assessment for bail. The idea is to focus on public safety risks and further criminal activity risks as opposed to unnecessary and punitive jailing due to inherent bias or financial woes. More information on that here: http://www.arnoldfoundation.org/initiative/criminal-justice/crime-prevention/public-safety-assessment/

There was discussion of a charitable bail fund that UU and other local church members may be organizing to aid defendants beyond internal criminal justice mechanisms. Some other ideas about policing alternatives for neighborhoods were tossed around and might become ideas for a future reform proposal. Court observation groups were discussed, including possibly organizing one to watch for bail issues at arraignments given the new Bail Reform Act in effect.

A couple statements for and to other groups were discussed, including a statement of support for the GEO graduate student union now that there may be an impending strike. Some internal housekeeping on outside individuals who may want to attend meetings as part of the media or some official capacity and whether the current rules and information is adequate.

A discussion on how the group's primary "asks" should be presented as opposed to each member's individual policy goals for presenting and coordinating with the burgeoning Justice & Social Services committee, as well as communicating and working with other groups towards shared goals. Specifics on criminal justice reforms were discussed as well as the need to focus on the "Building Programs" aspect and ideas towards making mental health and treatment a viable and real alternative when appropriate here and across the State.

It was noted that jail expansion is still a factor with the candidates for Sheriff at their recent forum. This is even with the jail population at new low figures (recently as low as 130 with a capacity of more than twice that).

Orientation ideas were discussed for new members such as a casual introductory primer to help people get started with what they need to know to start catching up at meetings... as well as for short term student members who may only be around for a semester at a time and ensuring there is "institutional memory" for the work to be left off and picked up as people rotate in and out of the fight.

Finally a discussion of note takers and people to attend meetings. I became a topic of conversation briefly as I pointed out the Cheat Sheet as a haphazard resource as I've tried to learn about and bumble my way through how local government works so others can follow in my footsteps with less bumbling.

The meeting adjourned at about 8:43pm. The next BPNJ meeting is February 28th at 7pm at the UC-IMC. The first step to making a difference is showing up and learning what's going on.

Council Annoyance at the Board

City Councilwoman Clarissa Nickerson Fourman was annoyed at the Champaign County Board for it's vote to urge the City Council to take up one of the Racial Justice Task Force's recommendations. I was taken aback by the argument, but she explained to me that it wasn't about animosity, but rather annoyance towards the Board for "passing a resolution instead of picking up the phone. Thats the issue."

A couple excerpts:
What I see is a government body that cannot get anything done BUT successfully pass a resolution to tell another government body what to do. I see fake political moves with the excuse on the backs of the most vulnerable who don’t realize all of you speaking for this housing ordinance, aren’t doing anything to create affordable housing or create employment that hires felons, so the same group you “claim” to be represented is really getting smoke and mirrors and doesn’t know.

The way you work with people is dialogue. This move the county board pulled is divisive and not constructive. And it’s another example of why no one takes the county board seriously. I’m very disappointed that the county board chair didn’t reach out to our Mayor to discuss our council’s position. We work TOGETHER. We don’t conquer and divide. The fact that you guys only came together on this issue is SCARY!!!!!
It was surprising because the same recommendation was made in 2016 by both the Champaign County Re-Entry Council and City of Champaign's Human Relations Commission in October of 2016. The public nature of the Racial Justice Task Force by organizations, police departments, and government officials of both cities on the County task force, as well as its highly public presentation at the Champaign Public Library makes this a years long issue of both City and County bodies.

That said, perhaps the Champaign County board overstepped it's authority, or as Councilwoman Fourman put it, didn't stay in their own lane.