The past few months have seen some headway on the Jail telephone contract, attempts to get the budget hammered out going into the future, failed attempts to have a referendum on the Coroner and Auditor become appointed (as opposed to elected) positions, and more. There is a separate post on gun violence issues around the County.
The 2024 Primary Election (and first day of Spring!) is coming up on March 19th. Check out the VoteChampaign / League of Women Voters Candidate Guide for non-partisan candidate information. There will be County Board and other County Offices on the primary and general ballot this year. An unofficial list is up on the County Clerk's website here and there will be sample ballots available closer to the election.
Illinois Public Media had an excellent overview of the new Jail phone contract here. Excerpt:
The new company — Consolidated Telecom, Inc. — will offer two free phone calls to each resident per day. The new contract is set to begin on Feb. 15, 2024, according to the Request for Proposal.
Local activists fought for the last several months to convince the county to contract with a company that could offer free phone calls from inside the jail. Champaign County Board member Samantha Carter said people who are in jail and their families should not have to pay exorbitant prices to keep in touch...
Many residents cited concerns with the past contract with Securus over the high cost of phone calls and the way the company collected biometric data. This included collecting the voice prints, or unique data of a person’s voice, while people made calls in the jail.
That full article here. The News-Gazette also had coverage of the new contract here.
Failed Referenda on Appointed Offices and Taxes:
A renewed idea to save money by making the Champaign County Coroner and Auditor positions appointed instead of elected offices failed to get enough support to even put the issue to a referendum on any upcoming ballot in 2024. The News-Gazette had a lot of coverage of the arguments and pushback on this. From their concluding coverage after the County Board failed to move referenda forward:
After more than an hour of public comment and board discussion primarily regarding proper meeting procedure, the Champaign County Board shot down a proposed resolution that would have asked voters to decide the fate of the positions of coroner and auditor.
The resolution would have placed two questions on the primary ballot in March addressing whether the roles should remain as elected offices or be made into appointed positions...
Multiple speakers — including current Democratic Auditor George Danos — weighed in on how independence is important for the auditor’s office, as that individual deals with a lot of the county’s finances.
That full article here.The News-Gazette's Jim Dey highlighted some of the concerns about the move in an opinion pieces here and other local government reactions here. Dey also covered some additional drama involving vandalism to the Auditor's vehicle and some partisan infighting about how he publicly tied it to County Board activity.
It's worth pointing out that both of the Auditor and Coroner are up for election in 2024. The News-Gazette had information on the Republican and Democratic candidates for Coroner. Auditor George Danos appears to be, thus far, unopposed (along with the State's Attorney and Circuit Clerk).
In other budget concerns, the former Champaign County Executive, Darlene Kloeppel came out against the need for a referendum to increase taxes. County Auditor George Danos also made similar arguments.
Nursing Home Beds:
There was some coverage and updates on the local nursing home bed shortage from Illinois Public Media:
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District and local group Advocates for Aging Care have launched a survey to help identify the state of senior services in Champaign County.
Champaign County is currently short more than 300 skilled nursing home beds, according to the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District...
Over 1,000 nursing homes have closed in the U.S. between 2015 and 2022, according to the American Health Care Association. Many of the closures can be attributed to a growing national trend of “flipping” nursing homes — driven by the ownership shift from small, non-profits to for-profit corporations.
That full article here. There was an organized effort to increase attention to this problem by local community members and organizations. They brought their concerns before the County Board last year, as covered in this Cheat Sheet post.
The IPM article also linked to three C-U Citizen Access articles from last month highlighting the growing nursing home bed crisis and how we got here:
- Champaign residents warned the county about a nursing home operator. Now, four senior facilities are closed.
- Needs assessment survey for Champaign County nursing homes begins soon; Facilities facing bed shortage, staffing issues
- Elderly Champaign residents mourn the loss of services at Inman; Half of residents leave
More changes to the County Board membership, resignations, and appointments:
The latest appointment was Carolyn Greer to fill Mike Ingram's District 6 seat. Ingram had to resign and vacate the seat after moving to a new home elsewhere in Champaign County.
The News-Gazette's Jim Dey took issue with Ingram's attempt to remain the chair of the Champaign County Democratic Party through their rules and processes. The internal infighting between the local Democratic Party's various factions and personalities seems to keep flowing on social media or directly to journalists inboxes! Dey's "musical chairs" complaint is usually hurled at the younger Democratic candidates on the County Board who tend to move on (to new homes, new political positions, new careers, etc.) than some of the more settled long-timers who have served.
County GOP versus Democratic County Clerk Continued:
In more partisan arguments, the Democratic County Clerk took issue with County Republican concerns about local election integrity, specifically comments made by former County Board member Jim McGuire. The same Republican highlighted for questioning the local election system also had some input on how he viewed local Republican chances in local politics in the context of State and Federal partisan environments.
The Opioid Settlement Task Force committee continues to meet and get input on how to effectively use the funds awarded to the County for its part in the lawsuits against opioid manufacturers. The next meeting is this Wednesday at 6:30pm after a special meeting of the County Board. The News-Gazette had an update in November:
Their mission: determining how to put the county’s share of opioid lawsuit settlement money to the best possible use to help fight opioid drug abuse in the local community...
The money — just under $600,000 of which has already been received, with another $1.8 million expected over 15 years — is coming to Champaign County as a party to class-action litigation in which settlements have been reached with three large pharmaceutical distributors, three drug manufacturers and three pharmacy chains.
At least 85 percent of the settlement money must be used on such things as prevention, education and treatment to abate the growing epidemic of abuse of such opioid drugs as prescription pain relievers, heroin and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
That full article here.The audio and minutes from the task force meetings are available on the committees web page here.
As of today only the audio is available for the last December meeting. There was a presentation by Captain Voges on opioid issues faced by people in the County Jail. She covered various programs working inside and outside of the jail facility to work with people struggling with substance abuse. There was a strong focus in the Q&A discussion about reentry and the difficulties with the environment and homes people are being released into.
The Sheriff also joined the Q&A later on in the meeting. He highlighted the difficulty and the extreme delays that people can face in getting substance abuse and mental health treatment once they've left the jail. After the jail and reentry discussion there were staff updates (starting around the 36 minute mark of the audio).
One will hear a recurring theme on local mental health and substance abuse: there is a serious lack of options for people suffering from severe mental health and substance abuse issues when jail is not the appropriate place for treatment. This appears to be a broader problem that may require State and local level changes (legally and policy).
Other County Government Updates:
- The years long court battle over Carle's past tax exemptions continues with petitions for the Illinois Supreme Court to hear an appeal of the appellate ruling that ruled in Carle's favor last time. From the News-Gazette.
- Homer has ended its own police department due to staffing and funding issues. It will be relying on Champaign County Sheriff's Office for services, according to the News-Gazette.
- Jim Dey noted the passing of former Champaign County Board member Marjorie Sodemann (obituary is available in the 12/13/2023 News-Gazette).
- Grant money coming to the County to help support the costs of asylum seekers here, according to IPM.
- Update on the County Clerk's push to amend old racial covenants still on the books in Champaign County.
- News-Gazette offered a bit of insight into the overlapping jurisdictions and government layers involved in the I-57/I-74 interchange project.
- Kathy's Mailbag had some extra tidbits about the Mahomet Aquifer and possible connections / usage concerns across state lines.
- Kickapoo Rail Trail funding update from IPM. The News-Gazette highlighted how the project was nearing completion.
- Opposition to expanding solar and windfarms in Champaign County forced a supermajority requirement for a County Board vote, which was not met. More background here, also from the News-Gazette.
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