Community Coalition Updates

 

The Champaign County Community Coalition had an event in Champaign this week as part of its outreach to neighborhoods dealing with gun violence. I cover that below. The organization also recently gave a presentation to the Champaign City Council (video available here). There was a great overview of the Coalition's history, goals, and related municipal actions assembled by City staff ahead of the presentation available here. For example, in these excerpts from the background section, there's an explanation of the City of Champaign's role in the coalition:

The City partnered with governmental partners and organizations to create a Community Coalition. The Coalition is a collaborative initiative involving governmental partners, community organizations, and members working together to address and solve community problems of mutual concern...

Since 2016, the Executive Committee Members annually meet to discuss and identify the strategic priorities for the upcoming year. The draft of the priorities is then agreed to by the Coalition partners for implementation and coordination of activities. Once these activities are identified and agreed upon, the monthly Coalition meetings are a coordinated approach to highlight activities and promote on-going dialogue with community stakeholders. The City of Champaign is the lead organization for the coordination of the Coalition and is responsible for the overall administrative responsibilities and daily coordination of all Coalition partners and activities.

Full update report on the Champaign County Community Coalition here. Another recent update on their CU Fresh Start program addressing gun violence interruption is available on the Cheat Sheet here.

There was a lot of local coverage of one of their recent community outreach events in the Willis Park area. Video segment available here from WAND. Below is an overview from yesterday's News-Gazette coverage:

Willis Park residents urge Champaign officials to shed some light on neighborhood
Pitch-black streets were among the biggest issues discussed by dozens of Willis Park residents who packed a neighborhood-safety forum Monday hosted by the Champaign Community Coalition...

Other sources of blight that were brought up included gun violence, rampant vandalism, and vacant homes...

Residents also said investments like youth centers, child-care facilities and mental-health services could help alleviate a lot of the burden placed on parents, the idleness of some young adults in the area and what neighborhood leaders have identified as a trauma-ridden community.

Champaign Police Chief Anthony Cobb said more neighbors have to be cooperative with police as they investigate crimes in the area. Without that cooperation, he said, it’s much more difficult and time-consuming to do an investigation, find the culprits and make arrests.

Full article available here. The News-Gazette also had an article previewing the meeting with additional information here.

Hazardous Waste Collection Problems

Photo credit: Matt Robert / Spotted in Chambana

The Champaign area had a long overdue Illinois EPA one-day collection event (see older Cheat Sheet post on local demand for this event) for hazardous materials collection. Unfortunately the event was overwhelmed by the turnout, in spite of the registration process meant to avoid congestion. From the News-Gazette yesterday:

More than 1,450 people signed up to bring their unwanted hazardous household products such as pesticides and weed killers to the drive-through collection in Champaign, according to Susan Monte, the county’s recycling coordinator.

Only about 700 people actually reached the head of the line, where disposables were being unloaded, and many of the rest either gave up and left due to the long wait or were turned away when participation was cut off in the afternoon, according to Monte...

The cities of Champaign, Urbana and Savoy joined Champaign County in partnering in the event with the IEPA, but local governments were responsible only for providing the host location, traffic control and publicizing the event, Monte said.

She observed a lot of frustration with what, at various times, was a one-to-three-hour wait in line...

Local governments are now waiting to learn whether the IEPA will hold another collection event in Champaign-Urbana soon, Monte said.

Full article with additional information here. Earlier coverage of the backed up lines and frustration here. So far I haven't seen any updates for any new collection events this fall or 2020, but I'll update this post when I do.

Champaign County Reentry Council Updates

It's been a while since I've posted an update on the Champaign County Reentry Council (Cheat Sheet post on County Board meeting where they presented their 2019 3rd Quarterly Report here. Video presentation here). The printed version of the 4th Quarter report is now available here. Reentry housing is a major hurdle in the reentry process and there was a three year study and report released about the situation in the State of Illinois available here. NPR had some highlights from that report:

According to a new study from the Illinois Justice Project and the Metropolitan Planning Council, making sure people have a place to live when they get out of prison is a huge, unaddressed issue in Illinois, one that's been overlooked even as the state has focused more efforts on preventing people from returning to prison.

According to the state of Illinois, almost 30,000 people return home from state prison each year, and about half of them end up back in prison within three years of being released. That failure to help people stay out of prison is expensive for Illinois taxpayers and disruptive to communities.

A big reason for the failure, according to the study released Wednesday, is that many of the people leaving prison don't have stable housing and the state isn't doing enough to help them find it. The study's authors say fixing the problem would ultimately save the state $100 million per year and could help bring down violence in Chicago.

Full article and radio segment here. Locally there was a recent panel of reentry housing experts hosted by the Housing Authority of Champaign County (video here, News-Gazette coverage here).

There was also a report on the potential local implications of cannabis conviction expungement under a new Illinois law given by Champaign County Health Care Consumers. An overview of that report is available here. For a helpful explanation of expungement and sealing, including the new law on expungement of some cannabis convictions, the Champaign County Circuit Clerk had a recent presentation on the subject for CU Speaks.

There was a presentation on the local Crisis Intervention Team (previous Cheat Sheet Post on CIT here). Slide's from the presentation (I believe these were the same ones as our presentation) are available from the Urbana City website here. Excerpt from the August 7th rough meeting minutes:

Lt. Joel Sanders presented on behalf of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) a strategic plan for building a community response to individuals in crisis. The purpose of this plan is to develop a one door mental and behavioral health system model which seeks to capture individuals at various points of entry within the criminal justice system and divert the individuals to services. Its seems as though as a community we are do well with Initial Detention/Court Hearings, Jails/Courts, Reentry, and Community Corrections but is lacking in Community Services and crisis care continuum by Law Enforcement prior to an arrest.

The goal of CIT is to help persons with mental disorders or a dual diagnosis access medical treatment rather than place them in the criminal justice system due to illness-related behaviors. The current focus is on Police Training called the One and Done which entails required partners to complete a one door system. Majority of the required partners are on board but it is still a work in progress.

There were presentations aimed at social services providers on the Council from TASC and the Salvation Army along with the usual data and program updates, but the above is probably the most useful information to catch up over the summer.

Looking ahead there are a lot of local government issues coming up at the County level (updated jail consolidation plans) and with City Government (Champaign looking at reforms of its reentry housing rules) and private organizations like First Followers working with the Housing Authority on reentry housing pilot programs. It could get pretty interesting. November's presentation will be by DREAAM House.

CU Fresh Start Updates

First a reminder of what CU Fresh Start is from their web page:

CU Fresh Start is a community-led, focused effort to deter gun violence. This approach gives individuals with a history of violent, gun-related behaviors a choice to put down the gun and move in a different direction. If they choose to stop shooting, offenders will receive help to access community services and resources. If they continue to engage in gun violence, they will face swift and certain consequences.

WILL had a recent detailed article explaining the program and its evolution here. Excerpt:

In the past, a person had to already be on probation or parole for gun-related crimes to be eligible for CU Fresh Start and receive the individualized support to program provides to find housing, jobs, mental health or addiction treatment, or anything else a person needs to get their life back on track.

Now, anyone 18 and older is eligible to apply, or refer someone else, as long as they don’t have pending criminal charges.

Champaign Community Relations Specialist Mary Catherine Roberson said the goal is “to be able to get them support services they need before they have to enter the criminal justice system.”

Forms will eventually be available online for agencies or individuals interested in referring someone to the program.

Full article here. Cheat Sheet posts with previous updates and news on CU Fresh Start are available here. WILL also had coverage of the most recent "call in" with details on how they currently work. Excerpt:

CU Fresh Start held its sixth “Call-In” Thursday, attempting to set a new path for young men in trouble for gun-related offenses in Champaign-Urbana. At the same time, local officials say they’re looking at ways to expand the program’s reach.

Modeled after programs used in Boston, Minneapolis, Peoria and other cities, CU Fresh Start takes an interventionist approach, warning young people in trouble of the dangers and legal consequences of gun violence, while offering help with education, job-training and cutting through legal red tape.

Thursday’s Call-In, like previous ones held over the past three years, took place in Champaign. Nineteen young men, a larger number than in previous Call-Ins, came in for the event. Their names were not released, and the invited audience, including local officials and reporters, were told not to disclose the names of anyone they might recognize. The audience was present only for the first part of the program, which featured speakers ranging from local prosecutors to mothers who had lost sons to gun violence. After that, the men went to another room for one-on-one discussions, after which they would decide whether to continue with the program.

That full article here.

Sixth Circuit Primary Race

[Correction: the original post stated the dispute was "between two Democratic primary candidates," but it would be far more accurate to say that it was a dispute that relates to two Democratic primary candidates. The post has been updated to make it clear that the dispute was itself between a candidate and supporters of the public defenders office, not another candidate or campaign.]

Candidates are still collecting ballot petition signatures in time for the filing deadlines, but at least one disagreement has flared up publicly with a Democratic candidate for the Champaign County seat being vacated by Judge Bohm to run for circuit wide seat currently held by Tom Difanis who is retiring. If you didn't follow that, there will be two judicial seats open soon: one that covers the whole Sixth Circuit and one that covers just Champaign County. This flare up is happening in the race for the seat covering just Champaign County. The recent disagreement is below, but first I wanted to do a quick overview of the Democratic primary judicial race in question. Here's a link to our Judges page with links to information on the Sixth Circuit and candidate information (coming soon!). The News-Gazette summarized this particular Democratic primary race earlier this year:

[Judge Tom Difanis'] retirement, just one month prior to the end of his current term, is timed so that his seat can be filled by election instead of appointment, and so he can maximize his retirement benefits...

Bohm has decided, after consulting with his wife and receiving encouragement from friends all over the circuit, to instead to run for Difanis' seat. That means he will have to run in Champaign, DeWitt, Douglas, Macon, Moultrie and Piatt counties.

It was the Republican votes in the other counties of the circuit outside Champaign that allowed Bohm's GOP bench brethren, Randy Rosenbaum and Roger Webber, to hang on to the judgeships to which they had each been appointed in 2016...

As a result, two other lawyers have said they plan to run in the Democratic primary for Bohm's seat, a resident judgeship, which means they have to run in only Champaign County.

More details and information at the full article here. Since that article two more Democrats have jumped into the primary race for Bohm's current Champaign Count seat on the bench. From the News-Gazette last month:

A fourth Democrat has announced he wants to be his party’s candidate for resident judge for Champaign County.

David Moore, 60, of St. Joseph informed the Democratic Central Committee on Wednesday night that he intends to run for the seat now held by Judge Jason Bohm, who was appointed to it when Judge Michael Jones retired...

Moore joins already announced Democratic candidates Ramona Sullivan, an assistant public defender; Ruth Wyman, a private general practitioner in Champaign; and Troy Lozar, an assistant state’s attorney.

After the fall 2018 sweep of several countywide seats by Democrats, the four feel the chances at winning a judgeship might improve if they have to run in just Champaign County, rather than circuitwide since voters in the other five counties tend to lean Republican.

Full article here. The News-Gazette had additional coverage of Troy Lozar joining the race here. The News-Gazette had some cursory information on Sullivan and Wyman in their article on Difanis' retirement here:

Sullivan, an attorney for about 23 years, with most of that time spent as a legal-aid attorney for the indigent, ran against Roger Webber in 2018 for the vacancy created when Arnold Blockman retired in 2016...

Wyman, an attorney for almost 15 years, has a general practice of law and formerly served on the Urbana City Council for eight years.

That article is here. The Judicial races page hasn't been updated for the 2020 primary yet (nor any other 2020 race on this page yet), but the plan is to link to forums, questionnaires, coverage, and candidate guides as with the 2018 primary and 2018 general election. I hope to have more information on the GOP primary race for the circuit-wide seat soon, but the News-Gazette did have some coverage of that with Cherie Kesler joining the GOP race against Bohm here.

So what about that flare up? Well, Wyman had a facebook post attempting to highlight her pro bono legal work, which many possible Sullivan supporters and defenders of the public defenders office viewed as a clear slight against them. Below is a screen grab of the facebook post and a Letter to the Editor in today's News-Gazette:

A couple of the comments against Wyman's phrasing mention this is just the most recent offense to the public defenders and their office. There seems to be a divide between Wyman's defenders and critics on whether she deserves the benefit of the doubt on intent. Wyman attempted to explain in the comments:

"...I never said public defenders could. I’m sorry if my sentence structure was confusing. That was not the intent. The intent of my message was to include and inform that we now have a University of Illinois Immigration Law Clinic that will help with some of the pro bono work that is out there that isn’t covered by the ‘free’ services offered by government or government services. I am excited to help expand that service and help teach future lawyers how to help out in these very important cases."

This didn't seem to alleviate any concerns and may have been seen as doubling down instead. From one recommended comment:

"...Ruth didn't have to specifically include public defenders in the group of people who 'refer clients to [her] because they don't have the time or desire to represent them for free.' Even if she's talking about criminal work, the public defender's office does not refer people out. They take every case they are assigned. In certain cases, the office is conflicted from representing a client. But that in no way reflects a lack of desire or time to help them."

More at the facebook post here.

County Board 10/24: Jails and Infighting

The October regular County Board meeting (agenda and meeting info here, video here) drew a lot of public interest on the hot topic of jail consolidation. The local Champaign County Democratic Party took the opportunity to put some of its internal infighting on display for the larger audience. For the most recent information on the updated jail consolidation plan, the Cheat Sheet has a recent post that has links to presentations and specifics to the current and previous 2015 version of the plan here. At this Board meeting it sounded like there would be some updated plan documentation made available to the Board and the public soon. I'll add that when it becomes available.

Due to ongoing budget matters, the previous County Board didn't adjourn, but was in recess. Tonight's board meeting was a continuation of that meeting, which also recessed until the November meeting next month. I don't know the full implications of a recess versus an adjournment. I'll note any oddities beyond record keeping if I find them.

The public participation portion of Board meetings doesn't usually hit its one hour overall limit (with 5 minutes allowed for each speaker), but tonight it did. Most of the comments were about the jail, with many expressing frustration at the price tag to maintain a jail system that continues mass incarceration issues locally. There were familiar faces from previous jail expansion debates versus groups like Build Programs Not Jails asking the board to look at the recommendations of its own community task forces, including the recent Racial Justice Task Force. The Board didn't vote to approve any jail plan at this meeting, the agenda item being changed to "discussion only" on an the addendum. WILL had a nice overview of the Jail issue that night:

An updated proposal for county jail consolidation was brought before the full Champaign County Board for the first time Thursday night. Now county board members must decide how to deal with both a pressing need --- and a daunting price tag.

The plan, from Reifsteck Reid, the firm of Champaign architect Charles Reifsteck, is an update of a previous plan presented to the county board in 2015. As outlined by Reifsteck at Thursday night’s meeting, the plan calls for closing the rundown jail and sheriff’s office built in the 1980’s in downtown Urbana. The 1990’s satellite jail in east Urbana would renovated and expanded to replace the downtown jail’s capacity and the sheriff’s offices. In addition, its design would allow flexibility in separating inmate populations and providing space for inmate visitations and programs.

County board members are trying to come to grips with its cost: $47 million (compared to $32 million for the 2015 jail plan) to close the rundown jail and sheriff’s office in downtown Urbana, and enlarge and modernize the newer satellite jail. The rebuilt jail’s capacity would be 283 inmates, twelve less than the two present jails.

Full article here with some brief perspectives and takes. A more detailed presentation of the plan is available at this Cheat Sheet post. The Sheriff responded to many of the concerns in his comments to the board. When the video is available, I'll link it here because he addresses a lot of shared reform goals with local activists, but also the bureaucratic momentum of the current system. He explains the legal and logistical reality he's dealing with in that context. There was also some good discussion on the possible costs of delay, million plus annual costs of housing inmates elsewhere if the downtown jail is forced closed due to regulatory shortfalls, etc.

A new board member was appointed to fill a vacancy in District 10 and was the source for the other half of the drama tonight, in both public comments and from the board itself. The News-Gazette had an overview of that in their coverage:

The Democratic Party’s 13-9 majority on the Champaign County Board was restored Thursday night after board members decided by voice vote to appoint Connie Dillard-Myers to the vacant District 10 seat.

The decision was not without controversy.

Last week, County Board Chairman Giraldo Rosales opted to nominate Dillard-Myers over Mary King, who had been recommended by District 10’s Democratic precinct committeemen.

Rosales, who made history by becoming the first Latino chairman of the Champaign County Board, said it was important to have minority voices on the board...

King, who was passed over by Rosales, was critical of the decision.

More at the full article here. It's difficult for me to follow the political drama given the differing perspectives over what happened and why. Some, like the County Democratic Party Chair and her allies, were arguing for diversity and inclusion while insinuating some Democrats weren't committed to a diverse board. Others, including some Precinct Committeepersons, felt it was payback over an appointment under a previous Democratic Chair and why one candidate was chosen over another. Of course it's more complicated than that with new and established political personalities colliding in the current political environment, but I'll leave that to others to figure out.

In an addendum to her oath of office, Connie Dillard-Myers added, "...even though I'm being watched." in reference to wording about extra scrutiny from member Thorsland due to the appointment process being interpreted as an ominous warning by her supporters. People can speculate about how that bodes for future tensions.

Another issue that came up during public participation and the meeting itself was a Board of Review appointment that was held up. The candidate, Paul Sailor, is currently serving on the board while the confirmation is pending, but asked that the board take the uncertainty out of it. Member McGuire reiterated that request. The Board of Review does important work required for the County's tax cycle and Sailor warned of a logistical nightmare if it suddenly lost a third of its people (he is one of three members). More on the Board of Review here.

A personnel matter was raised in the Treasurer's office due to the chief deputy treasurer being on leave. Republicans and a handful of Democrats on the board voted against funding for a temporary staffer to help in that absence. Member Patterson took a moment towards the end of the meeting to complain that no Democrats had raised the issue in their caucus prior to the meeting and nobody justified their no vote during the opportunity for discussion prior to voting. He had a list of adjectives ranging from "disappointed" to "cowardice" for the move.

Prior to the regular County Board meeting there was a "Truth in Taxation" meeting required for tax levy changes (video here). If I'm reading the information from the agenda packet correctly, the increased levy (overall money to be spent) this year has an overall slightly lower tax rate (for property owners) to pay it. For an overview on tax levies versus tax rates, see this older Cheat Sheet post. Here's the data from the agenda packet (click to enlarge):

Merging County Clerk and Recorder

An issue that has come up again, and comes up frequently at the County government over the years, is whether to merge the two elected primary record keeping offices of the County government, the Clerk and Recorder. This isn't just a local topic. Illinois has numerous overlapping and divided local government entities that divide power, but also raise concerns about waste and redundancy. From a Chicago Sun-Times opinion piece describing the situation in the State last year:

Some Illinois government officials are facing tough budgets and flat revenues, and they know turning to taxpayers for more won’t work. So what do they do? In many counties, the answer has been: Consolidation.

Somewhat under the radar, 87 out of 102 counties in Illinois have merged the recorder of deeds office with the county clerk’s office. Another three are working toward it, including Cook County, Winnebago County and McHenry County. Adams County did it in 2004. Tazewell in 2012. McLean in 2013 and Peoria in 2016. In all of those counties, the move was preceded by voters approving the mergers.

Full article here. Recently the issue came up locally with an attempt to merge the office by Democratic County Board members while it was generally opposed by Republicans and a Republican currently holds the County Recorder office (Cheat Sheet post here). Consolidation would result in a single County Clerk office as it is a required County government office under the Illinois Constitution, while the Recorder office is optional. That last recent attempt to consolidate locally failed. From the News-Gazette after the vote:

In July 1968, Democrats on the Champaign County Board proposed eliminating the independent elected position of recorder of deeds.

The elimination never happened.

Exactly 50 years later, another generation of county board Democrats proposed the same thing.

And once again, it won't happen.

On Thursday night, the county board voted 15-7 against putting a question on the November ballot asking for the elimination of the office.

Five Democrats joined all 10 Republicans to ensure the status quo.

That full article is available here with some the details about cost savings versus concerns about keeping the office independent as well as some of the political and partisan realities. The latest push comes from County Board member Mike Ingram who has announced a run for the County Recorder seat in 2020 with a commitment towards the elimination of the office. From WILL:

The Champaign Democrat, first elected to the county board in 2016, holds a variety of freelance jobs, in music, music booking and teaching.

But Ingram said he has the leadership skills to oversee the recorder office’s staff, while leading a campaign to pass a referendum to eliminate the elected recorder’s post. Such a referendum could be placed on the ballot by the Champaign County Board, or a voter petition...

Ingram said Champaign County might save about $100,000 a year by having the county clerk oversee the recorder’s office, and eliminating the post of the elected recorder of deeds. He added that even if consolidating requires hiring an additional staff member, that person could be paid less than the elected recorder, and still result in savings for the county. Ingram says the person overseeing the recorder’s office doesn’t need to have the specialized skills of the staff, and so doesn’t have to be the recorder at all...

Most of Illinois’s 102 counties elect a combined clerk-recorder, according to a directory maintained on the website of by the Illinois Association of County Clerks and Recorders. That directory shows 18 counties, including Champaign, that have separate county clerks and recorders. But at least three of those—Madison, Winnebago and Illinois’ most populous county, Cook—will be consolidating the two offices soon, due to recent voter referendums...

But Ingram said he thinks the idea of merging the county recorder and clerk’s offices would gain more support if there was someone in the recorder’s office who supported the idea.

Full WILL article is available here. The News-Gazette's editorial board came out in favor of consolidating the offices in an editorial the last time this issue came up here. They've been supporting the idea for years, however. Here's another opinion piece in favor of consolidations two years before that here.

District 10 Vacancy

Thursday, at this month's County Board meeting, Connie Dillard-Myers is expected to be sworn in to fill the vacancy in District 10. Democrat Dr. Tanisha King-Taylor resigned two months ago after an extended absence. Shortly after winning office in the 2018 midterms, she earned her PhD and she took a job out of state. There were some efforts to see if remote participation would be possible, but County Board rules prohibit it and there wasn't enough support for a change towards an exception.

A public dispute rose from the selection of a replacement last week by County Democratic Party officials. From the News-Gazette:

Some local Democrats are expressing dismay today after the Champaign County Board chairman chose a different candidate than the one selected by precinct committeemen to fill a vacancy.

Committeemen had selected Mary King over Connie Dillard-Myers for the District 10 seat that came open when Tanisha King-Taylor resigned after taking a job out of state. But at last night’s county board committee meeting, Democratic Chairman Giraldo Rosales brought Dillard-Myers forward for a vote.

Neither Rosales nor King could be reached for comment. But Democratic board member Leah Taylor said Rosales told the board his pick was an effort to get more diversity on the board. King is white, while Dillard-Myers is black.

That blurb available here. This month's Committee of the Whole video, with some of the public disagreement over the appointment, isn't available yet on the County Clerk's YouTube channel. County Board videos from last month don't appear to be available yet either in continuing extensive delays.

It's unclear how exactly this will effect the primary election race as potential candidates are still gathering signatures to get on the ballot.

Jail Consolidation Updates

The latest news on the County jail situation includes a jail consolidation plan that would add space for programs, mental health, separation, and safety measures. The plan as it stands now would, however, reduce the overall prisoner capacity and beds. Proponents argue that the current facilities are dangerous, not up to current regulations, and limit the programs needed to reduce recidivism and treat mental health issues among the inmate population. Criticisms range from the price tag, the County budget crunch, the opposition to increased property taxes, to local activists wanting a stronger commitment to programs outside of the criminal justice system. Opponents of mass incarceration are demanding a vision that prevents the reliance on the criminal justice system for programs and mental health care in the first place.

There was a presentation of the latest revised jail consolidation plan at last month's County Facilities Meeting (available here on the County Clerk's YouTube Channel). This is an update to a previous study from 2014 (video presentation of the Master Plan based on that study in 2015 here with their slides here).

The News-Gazette had an overview of the plan last week here:

Voters may get say on Champaign County's $47 million-plus plan to consolidate jails
Voters may get a chance to weigh in on a $47 million-plus proposal to move the Champaign County Jail out of its deteriorating downtown Urbana building and consolidate operations at the satellite jail at 502 S. Lierman Ave.

The county board’s facilities committee endorsed the jail consolidation proposal last week, and the full county board will consider it next.

If the county board wants to move forward with this project, county Executive Darlene Kloeppel said the board’s finance committee would begin looking at ways to pay for it, and a referendum question could be placed before the voters — possibly next year...

If the project moves ahead, architectural and engineering studies would need to be done along with a plan to transition the prisoners, and bids would need to be sought for construction work at the satellite.

The two jail facilities together have a capacity for 295 prisoners, and the proposal to consolidate at the satellite would call for a bit smaller capacity of 283 prisoners, Kloeppel said.

That’s because it’s not a need for more prisoner beds that is driving this project, but a host of safety issues.

More at the full article here (additional coverage of the meeting here). County Board member Mike Ingram took issue with the article's depiction of the price tag since it could vary significantly depending on their upcoming decisions and timelines. Here's an excerpt from his County Board facebook page:

This article is dangerously misleading, so it's probably important that we all discuss a couple of things.

That oft-mentioned $47mil price tag is a nonstarter. The company that did this newest study (more money spent, yes) did the county the favor of making the presentation in an à la carte fashion (#1-16), with lower numbers indicating highest priority. This gives the board and the public the ability to weigh in on what they think is important and make choices based on that. If we did literally every single moonshot and pipe-dream idea in the whole presentation, it would cost $47mil...

An amount of money is going to have to be spent. What that amount is and on what kinds of things is where people need to be getting involved. If the words "restorative justice" have ever been on your lips, here's a chance to drive the conversation. I believe this discussion will be at the 10/24 full board meeting at 6:30pm at Champaign County Brookens Administrative Center. Tell your friends.

He had additional links and information at that post here. The News-Gazette editorial board, generally loath to support any kind of tax increases and critical of government spending argued the necessity for the consolidation and improvements, but noted the difficulty in garnering support for a way to pay for it given the budget woes at the County government. That Sunday Editorial is available here. Excerpt:

County officials have had intermittent, but still long, conversations with voters about the conditions of the county jail for nearly four decades.

Circumstances have ranged from unacceptable, to overcrowded, to adequate and back to unacceptable again.

That’s why members of the county board and the sheriff are laying the groundwork for seeking voter approval of expensive plans to put the downtown jail out of commission and build an addition to the satellite facility in east Urbana.

The estimated total price is $47 million-plus, a cost that seems almost certain to rise. After all, look at the explosion in costs for the Champaign schools’ ongoing building and renovation work.

The question, unfortunately, is not whether the jail project needs to be done. It’s whether voters can abide taking another hit on their property taxes or some other tax on top of all the other tax and price hikes they’ve endured.

Previous Cheat Sheet Post on this topic here: County Jail Facilities Discussion (from June) and more Jail issue information available here.