County Board Meetings 4/9

There were two County Board Meetings on April 9th: a Special Meeting that passed a few resolutions having to do with the Nursing Home and related bonds, and the Committee of the Whole (what is this?). The News-Gazette covered the Nursing Home issues Wednesday:

Champaign County Board moves forward on another $410K for nursing home
...
On Tuesday night, the county board's committee of the whole voted unanimously to recommend appropriating $410,204 to pay for the insurance premium for two-year claim extended reporting coverage for liability protection for the nursing home.

And, during a special meeting held just before the committee meeting, the county board voted 21 to 0 to approve budget amendments to pay off two nursing home general obligation bonds early.

The board appropriated $3,002,800 for one bond and $1,570,000 for the second.

"We set aside money from the sale of the nursing home to pay the bonds off," said County Executive Darlene Kloeppel...

In other business, the committee voted to proclaim the week of May 5 as National Correctional Officer Week and the week of May 12 as National Police Week.

More at the full article here, including a listing of some of the other recent Nursing Home expenditures while the sale was delayed (WCIA also had a list of related articles with their blurb on the meeting here). There seemed to be some consternation over the proclamations mentioned above and ensuring they were read and given the proper recognition for the community and video audience.

The Champaign Community Coalition had a presentation (slides available here video link here when available) to highlight their efforts to facilitate collaboration between government, law enforcement, service agencies and activists to address community needs, including and especially gun violence. He noted that the group had evolved out of public meetings after the Kiwane Carrington shooting ten years ago in hopes of addressing the factors that led to that tragedy.

Tracy Parsons, the facilitator at the Coalition's monthly meeting, explained that the participation of local law enforcement, including the County Sheriff's Office was key to the successes and strengths of the group. He pointed out the continuing collaboration with many County officials on the government end as well. Among some of the challenges he highlighted were gun violence, education for at risk youth, mutual advocacy to avoid duplicating services while supporting other organizations doing important work, and Latino communities with the new ICE policies and tactics.

After the presentation the meeting had some tensions of its own. County Board member, and Chair of the Policy, Personnel & Appointments Committee, Charles Young restated his previous concerns about transparency in the appointment process of the County Executive. Other Board members focused on the process outlined by the rules. Young asserted the need for transparency for the Chair of the Committee overseeing the process listed in its title. The discussion got bogged down in questions of a point of order and ended unresolved. There seems to be an argument for an implicit structural reason for what Young is asking for, but I can't say how the Board rules may allow or limit the idea.

The Chair of the Finance Committee, Board Member Jim Goss had frustrations as well, but with the new County Clerk. Two polling places in his district were apparently moved without Board approval. The discussion revealed that one was a late venue change due to fire. The other remained an open question as he criticized the County Clerk's absence from the meeting. He made a point to thank another participant for "being here" that could have been interpreted as a further elbow.

The last highlight I'd point out is the approval for the expansion of the local Head Start program through the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission. During the Q & A it was pointed out that there is a wait list of 155 for our region and they'd follow up with impact information, which includes success stories of kids now in college and becoming lawyers and doctors. More information on Head Start here.