County Board February Updates

This post covers February Champaign County Board meetings and other County related news items. We'll be highlighting the nursing home updates, Willard airport expanded service pitch to local governments, recent board and judge appointments, and county law enforcement issues. At the end there is also a list of other county government and news highlights.

Old County Nursing Home and Bed Shortage:

WCIA had coverage of this week's special study session by the County Board on what to do about the old Champaign County Nursing Home property that was sold to a private entity that soon closed it. The meat and potatoes of that meeting begins around the 12 minute mark of the meeting video here (agenda prior to amendment moving up the presentations here). From the WCIA coverage:

The Champaign County Board and community members came together Tuesday night at a study session, talking about the future of University Rehab in Urbana...

When University Rehab closed, the community lost over 200 licensed beds.

Board members and advocates agree they need to think ahead and make a plan for the current and future aging population. The study session was one step to getting there.

Part of that will come from working with the Champaign County Healthcare Consumers and Advocates for Aging Care. They want to work together to bring more beds to the area.

That full article here. The News-Gazette had more in their coverage as well. A few key excerpts: 

“AAC has looked into the issue of using the current facility as a nursing home and has come to the realization that it would probably not be suitable, certainly not suitable for a contemporary, nonprofit nursing home,” she said. “If the Champaign County Board decides to lift the restriction on the sale of the facility, allowing it to be sold for something other than a nursing home, AAC will support that decision.”

...

[County Executive Steve Summers] said in a previous interview that a program manager with the Illinois Department of Public Health told him the license for the home has lapsed, and any new operator would have to invest significant capital to get the property in compliance with all current IDPH codes.

He added that the receiver has said they were told that “demolishing the building down to the foundation and rebuilding was the most likely way to have a nursing-home facility on that site.”

That full article here with a lot of additional information, background, and other perspectives. It highlights a key issue for the county is ensuring that it can recoup some of the 2 years worth of back taxes and future property taxes from the site. There was a lot of news coverage and discussion of the nursing home and beds shortage in the last County Board: Winter Updates Cheat Sheet post here.

The Advocates for Aging Care group had an opinion piece in the News-Gazette this month highlighting their community survey. As pointed out in this study session meeting, the group hopes to use the community survey and an additional upcoming market research study to supplement the Illinois Department of Public Health information on the local (as opposed to regional) shortage in order to make the licensing process feasible.

Willard Service Expansion and Public Funds:

Smile Politely had an opinion piece on the Minimum Revenue Guarantee proposals for a new leisure flight service out of Willard Airport with some helpful information and analysis. The Champaign County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) has been collaborating on presentations to local government bodies, according to the News-Gazette. The presentation to the City of Champaign is available here, with a comprehensive staff report for that study session topic here. From the News-Gazette article:

In addition to the two city councils, representatives from the University of Illinois-owned airport also presented their pitch this week to the Rantoul Village Board.

According to the airport’s updated incentive policy, the university is offering a first-come, first-served minimum revenue guarantee of $500,000 for service to any airport in Florida or Arizona, or to Las Vegas.

Executive Director Tim Bannon has said that the airport is hoping to raise a community match of $500,000 so that it can offer a total minimum revenue guarantee of at least $1 million.

That full article here. There's already a similar outstanding minimum revenue guarantee (MRG) to expand Willard's services with a route to and from Washington, D.C. The presenters to local governments argued that these kind of risk limiting safeguards will help Willard compete with other downstate airports. 

One selling point that appeared to appeal to local government officials was that the University's half of the million dollar MRG would be used up first (as opposed to city, village, or county public funds), if the route struggles for profitability in the initial years. The anticipated timeline for local government bodies to approve the commitment appears to be for this April, with actual funds allocated to the MRG at a later date.

County Appointments:

Don Owen was appointed to fill the vacancy left by former County Board Chair Kyle Patterson as he became the City of Champaign Township Supervisor, according to the News-Gazette. Samantha Carter, the previous vice chair was selected as the new board chair. County Board member Jennifer Locke was selected as the new vice chair. You can see the nomination process for selecting the chair and vice-chair at the February County Board meeting video here. You can also see the vote to approve the vacancy appointment of Don Owen and his swearing in earlier at that same meeting here.

The News-Gazette also had coverage of a new associate judge in the local area Sixth Judicial Circuit of Illinois:

Rob Jacobson, a partner at local law firm Tummelson, Bryan and Knox, will don the robes on March 1 and be sworn in as an associate judge at the Champaign County Courthouse.

Chief Judge Randy Rosenbaum said Thursday that the 14 elected judges of the Sixth Circuit selected Jacobson from a pool of 12 applicants to fill a brand-new position that the Illinois Supreme Court allowed Champaign County to create...

The new judge will oversee juvenile abuse and neglect cases, a load currently split between Judge Matthew Lee and Judge Brett Olmstead. Jacobson’s courtroom also will call guardianship cases, which Judge Anna Benjamin currently oversees.

More at that full article here, including concerns about space issues at the courthouse with 1 more judge than it was designed for.

County Law Enforcement Items:

The Redeploy youth incarceration diversion program is coming to Champaign County according to the News-Gazette:

The launch comes after a group of local partners won funding last year from the Juvenile Redeploy grant, a program sponsored by the Illinois Department of Human Services. It aims to help supplement typical probation plans by providing treatment services and resources to eligible juvenile offenders who would otherwise be sentenced to prison.

Juveniles who apply and enter the program in Champaign County may get life coaching and job training from DREAAM Academy, a Champaign nonprofit, or mental-health and substance-abuse counseling from Cunningham Children’s Home in Urbana...

Forty-five Illinois counties have participated in Redeploy since 2015, according to the state agency’s website, with 72 percent of the youths involved in 2019 having no new arrests while enrolled.

That full article here.

In other county law enforcement news, there was the largest multi-jurisdictional training exercise to prepare for a local mass casualty event. It was the third and largest annual exercise, according to the News-Gazette, of this type and occurred about a month ago. WCIA also had coverage of the exercise:

On Tuesday in Champaign, 163 area first responders prepared for emergencies no one hopes for, but everyone has to be ready for. It was all part of their joint training for departments across the county...

“How can we all work together, speak the right language and everyone knows what to expect when they come to one of these incidents,” [Champaign Police Lt. Aaron Lack] added.

He said smaller groups train together quite a bit, but big sessions like this one happen about once a year. He hopes they can happen a little more often if possible.

That full article here. The event exercise operated under the Active Shooter Incident Management framework.

Other County Law Enforcement Related Items:

• Illinois Public Media had an in depth look at the Rantoul Police Department response to officer involved shootings that included some follow up details on one officer who resigned and was briefly hired by the Champaign County Sheriff's Office soon after.
  
  
• There were a lot of updates in the last County Board Facilities Committee meeting on the satellite jail consolidation project (as well as a lot more details on the County Plaza project). The bulk of the information is very detailed financial and change order information in the 2/6/2024 meeting Agenda Packet here. The presentation at the meeting itself explained the reasons for the changes, generally unavoidable when a project plan meets reality.
  
  
• The County Sheriff's jurisdiction was included in the News-Gazette's ongoing examination of lost and stolen firearms entering the community, sometimes under implausibly convoluted "loss" or "theft," according to Editor Jeff D'Alessio in a recent 2/29/2024 WDWS interview.

Other County Government News:

• Solar farm zoning decisions continue to be a controversial subject for many local communities, especially after the State of Illinois limited some local authority in denying certain projects. WCIA highlighted one example in Urbana this month where residents were concerned about a project coming to their area.
  
  
• The Center Square highlighted a University of Illinois Extension program on revitalizing rural downtown areas.
  
  
• Smile Politely had an opinion piece pondering on the feasibility of non-partisan county elected offices, similar to some non-partisan local government bodies like the City of Champaign city council, for example. I hope to get some legal input soon on how that may or may not be possible under Illinois law and circle back to that question.
  
  
• There was additional Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding reported coming to the Champaign County Continuum of Care for Service Providers the Homeless at the Regional Planning Commission. For fans of acronyms, that's more HUD funding for the CSPH at the CCRPC. In simpler terms, CSPH brings together a lot of service providers, organizations, and resources to monthly meetings to collaborate and share information on our local homeless situation. The RPC is an umbrella organization of County and other local government bodies collaborating on local services more generally.
  
  
• The Champaign County Forest Preserve is acquiring a large piece of land by the River Bend Forest Preserve near Mahomet according to the News-Gazette using State grant money.
  
  
• There were questions this month about the status of the rural broadband projects using ARPA money and a desire for an update on the status of those projects. There is some general information about the rural broadband needs and planning here via the Illinois Farm Bureau. 
  
  There's a 270 page county report for background on the issue, but it has a concise "Executive Summary" and "Next Steps" section one can start with. There doesn't appear to be any recent meeting minutes (for the January or August 2023 meetings) on the County website yet, or any videos to catch up on with.

In other County News:

• C-U Public Health Department hosted a panel on Black Health, Wealth & Wellness in Champaign County (available on their facebook page here). There was additional news coverage of C-UPHD Narcan educational events (WCIA) and new solar panels on their facility (Daily Illini). 
  
  
• Steve Stierwalt, chairman of the Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District, had remarks published in the News-Gazette about his role in ensuring the productivity of County farm lands, especially as we adapt to climate change locally.
  
  
• There's still a week left to register for the United Way Emergency Community Leaders program (or until all 55 spots are filled), according to Smile Politely.

County Board Special Meeting Updates

In addition to the extensive County Board Winter Updates from earlier this week, there were a couple extra meetings right at the end of January this month: a special meeting of the County Board (agenda, addenda, and video) and another meeting of the Opioid Settlement Task Force (agenda, video).

The content of both meetings merits an extra post as opposed to simply updating the previous updates.

County Board Special Meeting:

Chief Deputy Coroner Stephen Thuney was appointed as Champaign County Coroner by what appeared to be a unanimous voice vote. There was a vacancy when Coroner Duane Northrup resigned in November. Thuney is also the Republican candidate for Coroner in the upcoming 2024 election. There are two Democratic candidates vying for the office in the Democratic Party's primary election this March, "Deputy Coroner Laurie Brauer and Champaign funeral home owner Seon Williams," according to the News-Gazette.

There was also a resolution recognizing the service of Kyle Patterson who is retiring his position on the County Board to become the City of Champaign Township Supervisor. More on that in the City of Champaign Winter Updates Cheat Sheet post here.

There was also a discussion on the County collaborating with an area consortium, including other government bodies and Economic Development Corporations, to invest in the Illinois Fermentation and Agricultural Biomanufacturing Tech Hub (iFAB Tech Hub) that would likely draw a great deal of investment and skilled jobs to this and other counties in the area. 

At the beginning of the meeting a typo was fixed via an amendment to this addenda item (the correct and amended amount as passed was $10,000, not $25,000 as printed). Carly McCrory-McKay, Executive Director of Champaign County Economic Development Corporation, presented the details of the hub to the board.

Most of the County Board members appeared excited about the low cost for the County's investment and confident in returns in tax base and economic growth to the community. Board Member Brett Peugh, however, raised concerns that the County has been desperately trying to manage its budget issues and looking to make other cuts and budget maneuvers lately. 

Peugh also argued that some county staff have been denied pay raises to this end. This was disputed by the County Executive Steve Summers and staff who stated that all staff received pay raises this year and last.

The $10,000 iFab Hub funding passed with a voice vote after the discussion.

 

Opioid Settlement Task Force Meeting:

Following up on the previous Cheat Sheet update on the Opioid committee, the members heard another presentation from organizations and experts dealing with the opioid crisis locally. This time the task force heard rom the Champaign County Mental Health Board's Executive Director, Lynn Canfield.

The discussion centered around ensuring that diverse voices from the recovery community are heard from in any solutions that may be decided upon. Staffing issues within substance abuse and mental health service providers were discussed in addition to staffing issues in almost every organization, including the County government, that play a role in substance abuse and mental health programs, funding, and services.

During the staff report, there was a discussion of how best to utilize settlement funds towards transportation and treatment needs in the County. For example there was a specific discussion about how the County's rural transportation service via MTD, C-CARTS, might be able to connect Rantoul residents in recovery to services within Champaign-Urbana. Staffing, specifically with drivers, may again be a difficulty.

Chair Locke explained some of the benefits of the data dashboard of local relevant information from local departments, METCAD, etc. She raised concerns about the efficacy of educational outreach with older D.A.R.E. generation adults in recovery and where funds may be best utilized.

Member Jen Straub raised the idea of a substance abuse council similar to the Champaign County Reentry Council or the Continuum of Service Providers to the Homeless, that would bring disparate entities together for collaboration. There was a discussion on how best to do that, how best to ensure that diverse voices of the recovery community aren't lost, and ensuring that such a council didn't divert funding and resources away from clear needs already presented to the Task Force (e.g. medical addiction treatment needs raised by Judge Ben Dyer of the County's Drug Court).

Going forward the task force is looking to hear from the local mental health and substance abuse treatment provider, Rosecrance. The committee will be looking for their input and expectations versus the reality of the services they're providing to the area. A common theme among law enforcement, mental health service providers, and government bodies (local to State officials) is the simple lack of a place to treat some people with severe conditions. This can include serious gaps for folks needing immediate drug treatment when they seize the opportunity to get help or people reentering the community from the criminal justice system.

It can also be the lack of mental health and substance abuse facilities for people who are currently put into the jail facilities because there are no other treatment options available to handle the severity of their circumstances. A recurring theme is that our jail and prison system has become our primary mental health care treatment facilities. Which appears to be born out in the data.

From my own observations in these kinds of mental health committees and boards, there appears to be a frustration that we no longer have the kind of psychiatric facilities that could handle more severe patients anymore. This is matched, however, by serious concerns about not repeating the abuses and mistreatment commonly associated with the same.

The next Opioid Settlement Task Force meeting does not have a set date yet, as it will depend on the availability of a presenter from Rosecrance and meeting room availability.

County Board Updates: Summer into Fall

Since our last update earlier this summer, 11 year veteran of the County Board, Stan Harper has resigned. The News-Gazette had coverage here with a biographical article from a couple years back here. John Farney, a former Champaign County Treasurer and Auditor, was appointed to fill the vacancy in the District 3 seat. Long time County Board member Aaron Esry sits in the other District 3 seat. 

There are two seats per County Board districts and vacancies are filled by a member of the same political party that held the seat before, regardless of which party may have majority control over or chairs the board itself.

This Cheat Sheet update highlights a new advocacy group for affordable local nursing home beds, SAFE-T Act / Pretrial Fairness updates as the new law goes into effect, advocacy for affordable jail communication, and other County government news. But it's also approaching 2024 election season and you'll see candidates circulating ballot petitions to get on the primary election ballot. If you would like to be a candidate or support a candidate, the work has already begun. More detailed deadlines and important dates are laid out in the 2024 Illinois Election Calendar here. The County Clerk and Recorder has been promoting Vote by Mail locally and with other area County Clerks in a bipartisan effort in the wider area.

There has been a local push for more nursing home beds in the heart of the county's twin cities, especially with the old Champaign County Nursing home shut down by its new private owners this summer (more on that in a previous Cheat Sheet here). The News-Gazette had coverage of the new collaboration pushing for an assessment of local nursing home bed availability to get the policy process rolling on addressing the issue:

The collaborative is an offshoot of work already begun by a group calling itself Advocates for Nursing Home Care that formed with the closing of one of Champaign County’s few remaining nursing homes, University Rehabilitation Center of C-U, which was formerly the county nursing home in Urbana.

Cathy Emanuel, an organizer of that group, said state public health data is showing a need for 721 nursing home beds in Champaign County (based on population) that will be 310 beds short by the end of this year.

That’s due to the recent closing of University Rehab and a planned reduction in beds at ClarkLindsey’s Meadowbrook Health Center, she said.

That full article here. Earlier News-Gazette coverage of the advocacy group is available here from June and the previous June County Board updates on the Cheat Sheet covered and linked to their large showing at the County Board general meeting that month (jump to that portion of the meeting video here, roughly 10 minutes in).

There was also coverage, including a brief overview by WAND here and an article in WCIA here.

SAFE-T Act and the end of cash bail (via the Pretrial Fairness Act that was a part of the larger SAFE-T Act provisions) went into effect this month. WCCU had an article on the impact in Champaign County earlier this month: 

Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz says the justice system in Champaign County is working well together but there are a few hiccups...

Rietz added she does not believe the SAFE-T Act will change the outcome of the justice system in Champaign County.

“I truly believe that in Champaign County, we've been making these decisions all along, and I really don't see this as changing the end result of our process, just the beginning part of the process,” explained Rietz.

That full article here. WAND had additional coverage of the State grant money heading to the Public Defender's Office to offset some of the additional costs here.

There has also been increased criminal justice reform activity surrounding the Champaign County government's budget and a "Request for Proposal" for jail phone and video call systems contract. Several public commentors appealed to the County Board at the September general meeting (jump to video of those comments here). WILL had coverage explaining the issue with some additional helpful links here. One of the activists, Brian Dolinar, involved had an article in Smile Politely discussing his concerns here.

At the County Board's recent Special Finance Committee of the Whole meeting (full video), there were additional public comments by Brian Dolinar on the phone contract issue and some clarifications by Finance Committee chair Stephanie Fortado on the actual costs of these phone calls: $3.40 flat fee per call plus an addition 13 cents per minute after that (remote video calls have higher costs). 

The Champaign County Sheriff had been publicly stating that the calls cost 13 cents per minute (e.g. quote from WCIA article here). This didn't mesh with the stated experiences and billing examples by family members and activists who received calls from inmates. Fortado's clarification appears to bridge the gap in some of the fees people were seeing in addition to the per minute rates. The Cheat Sheet will be looking deeper into the communication protocols and costs in the weeks ahead.

In other budget news, a new associate judge was approved for Champaign County. The downside is that the County budget that was already over $700,000 in the red now also has to find room for a new clerk for that judge, as required by law. This was also discussed in the Special Finance meeting (agenda packet, video) last night. News-Gazette coverage on that meeting and the likely increase of the budget deficit here.

Other County Government News:

• Champaign County Coroner to resign in order to take job with Mahomet-Seymour schools, according to the News-Gazette. WCCU also had a blurb on this news here.
  
  
• The last general County Board meeting included a presentation on the Mahomet Aquifer mapping project (video here, presentation slides here).

• Farm Bureau to help with building up rural broadband, according to WCIA.
  
  
• Champaign County bicycle safety issues growing as use increasing, according to WRSP.  
  
  
• Last month, the News-Gazette reported that a special prosecutor was denied in a domestic battery case involving a Sheriff's deputy. As of that reporting, he is due back in court in early November.
  
  
• The new Champaign County Humane Society facility was quickly overwhelmed by increased need and promoted adoption discounts, according to the News-Gazette. The initial community response was highlighted by Jim Dey in his News-Gazette column.
  
  
• Getting to know Champaign County court security officer by the News-Gazette.
  
  
• Updates on Champaign County's Drug Court and recertification by the State, from the News-Gazette.

June County Board Updates

 

At this month's County Board meeting they had to break out extra chairs for the audience who packed the house. The overwhelming majority had come out to show their support for the County to lead on making sure their were quality nursing home beds available to families in Champaign-Urbana. A recent letter to the editor in the News-Gazette mirrored many of the concerns vocalized during the meeting's public participation. 

Speakers emphasized the need for the County to ensure beds are available, a needs assessment is carried out, and that they show leadership on finding a solution. With the sale and now closure of the County's old Nursing Home facility and other local reductions in beds, families are insisting there is a growing local need. There was more about the nursing home organization at the Cheat Sheet posts on May County Board Updates as well as last month's Nursing Home Updates post.

The County gave a local City of Champaign project a funding boost with some the County's allotment of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The News-Gazette highlighted the issue prior to the vote. Excerpt:

The money would come from part of the approximately $40 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding the county has been receiving over two years. It’s intended to help pay for sidewalk and lighting improvements in Garden Hills, a neighborhood on the city’s northwest side, according to the resolution going to the board.

In an April 12 letter to Summers, Champaign City Manager Dorothy David said phases two and three of the Garden Hills project were estimated to run $39.7 million, but it’s anticipated final costs will run significantly higher due to the high rate of inflation.

Full article here. More on the Garden Hills improvement project at the City of Champaign website here. Smile Politely had an editorial arguing for the need to invest ARPA funds towards projects like Garden Hills improvement two years ago. There was an update on the project presented to the City Council a couple months ago, with a written report available here.

In other related County ARPA spending, there was a Kathy's Mailbag question on the timeline for rural broadband projects coming to fruition. Unfortunately, for those familiar with the government process, she notes that the county is still finalizing the contracts:

Michelle Jett, Director of Administration in the County Executive’s office, said the Champaign County Board has committed $10 million to expanding broadband access “and is in the final stages of finalizing contracts for installation to begin.”

According to a memo distributed to county board members in early May, Volo Broadband and Nextlink were chosen to complete the build-out in the unserved and underserved portions of rural Champaign County. Generally speaking, Nextlink will provide broadband service across the northern and far southern tiers of Champaign County, while Volo mostly will serve rural customers across the middle of the county.

More at that Mailbag article here.

There is also a special meeting on 6/27 for a time sensitive intergovernmental agreement between the Circuit Clerk's office and the Illinoid Department of Healthcare and Family Services. More on that from the agenda packet here. Relevant excerpt:

For several years the Champaign County Clerk has had a contract with the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to provide access to various court records to HFS to facilitate the child support services they provide to their clientele. In addition, the Clerk’s office also receives payment for the provision of copies of child support orders entered by the Court based upon a formula established by HFS for that purpose. People who receive services from HFS for this purpose do not have to receive benefits from HFS to qualify for this assistance

Other Champaign County Updates:

• Kathy's Mailbag had additional information on how Champaign County Crime Stoppers selects the Crime of the Week to highlight among the various law enforcement jurisdictions.
• Comparing May unemployment rates between Champaign County (3.7%) and other counties, Champaign (3.6%) and Urbana (3.8%) contrasted with other metropolitan areas. The News-Gazette article also included changes from last May.
• The News-Gazette also had updates this past week on the ongoing drought conditions. Some local fire departments are warning against using personal fireworks this year due to the increased risk of fire.
• The News-Gazette highlighted the open appointment slot and duties of board members on the sanitary district boards. For more Champaign County appointment openings, see the appointment web page or current listings here.

County Board and Jail Updates

Champaign County Board and most of the committee meetings in January appear to be virtual as opposed to in-person again. For example, tomorrow's Facilities Committee meeting agenda has this message at the top:

Pursuant to the Governor’s Executive Order establishing a pandemic disaster in the State of Illinois that covers the County of Champaign, and the County Executive’s determination that holding this meeting in person is not prudent at this time due to health concerns with rising numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations being reported in the county, this meeting will be held remotely via zoom. Public comment also will be taken remotely. The public may watch the meeting live or via recording on the County’s YouTube Channel.

In the public participation section of the agenda it notes that he public comments will be through the Zoom app and links to instructions and meeting information. Previous meeting videos are available here with meeting agendas and documents available here.

The County Board member information and district links on the Cheat Sheet should be up to date now. With all of the vacancies, appointments, and legal battles I had gotten behind on the current board. For example, Bethany Vanichtheeranont was appointed September 23, 2001 to the vacancy created by Jordan Humphrey in District 5 when he resigned due to a move outside of the County.

In a more prolonged legal fight, Wayne Williams was appointed on December 8th, 2021 to fulfill the term of Titianna Ammons unexpired term in District 11 after she resigned due to health reasons earlier this year. News-Gazette coverage here of the related legal battle on the appointment between the majority of the County Board and the County Executive.

That legal battle resulted in some odd agenda items, special meetings, and a couple other attempted appointments by the County Executive to the vacancy in District 11 that were either dropped (e.g. Angela R. Clark Terrall) or voted against (e.g. Lola Jones).

Other County government updates are in a separate Cheat Sheet post here that include updates on housing assistance, the Forest Preserve District, animal control, and a number of Sheriff's Office and corrections news links.

Jail Consolidation Vote Followups:

Last month's County Cheat Sheet updates linked to local news coverage on the Jail consolidation vote that passed in the November County Board regular meeting. Following up on that vote, CU-CitizenAccess had an article with some of the more recent updates on the Jail Committee and discussions on renovations, health care improvements, and more.

Preceding the jail consolidation vote there was a great deal of public participation from local activists and citizens (jump to public participation in meeting video here). The arguments and data presented in the five minutes allotted for each participant to comment generally get reduced to for or against in the meeting minutes. From the posted minutes of the 11/16 meeting:

Sherry Steigmann of Urbana asked the Board about the cost to borrow the funds to pay for the County Jail renovation and expansion.

Rob Dalhaus of C-U at Home spoke about homeless shelters in the county and requested American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funding for emergency shelters.

Mark Enslin of Urbana spoke in opposition to jail funding.

Matt Soyland of the Party of Socialism and Liberation spoke in opposition to jail funding and urged the funding of social services instead.

Captain Karee Voges, Champaign County Correctional Superintendent, spoke about a recent evaluation of the jail facilities by the state, noting the downtown jail is wholly inadequate; she urged the board to pass jail funding.

Micah McMahon, Correctional Officer, spoke in support of jail funding.

Brian Dunn of Champaign spoke in opposition to jail funding and urged funding social services instead.

Drake Materre, University of Illinois Master of Public Health candidate, spoke in opposition to jail funding and urged funding social services instead.

Allan Axelrod of Urbana spoke in support of funding social services.

Brian Dolinar of Urbana spoke in opposition to jail funding.

David Cisneros of Urbana spoke in opposition to jail funding and urged funding social services instead.

Chelsea Birchmier of the Champaign County Bailout Coalition spoke in opposition to jail funding and noted that since the passage of the cash bail reform in the state legislature, to take effect January 2023, there has been a steady increase in bail amounts.

Hiba Ahmed of the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice read a statement in opposition to jail funding and urged funding social services instead.

Luke Lee of Champaign spoke in opposition to jail funding.

Full meeting minutes available here. The minutes also summarized some of the technical details and amendments discussed prior to the final voice vote.

November County Roundup

There is a separate post on the jail consolidation news at the last County Board meeting here (video, agenda packet). This post covers other County government news including: the elimination of the County Recorder office, updates on the appointment power fight between the County Executive and the Board, area homeless shelter updates, and many other items.

This will be the last month for the office of the Champaign County Recorder of Deeds after voters approved of consolidating the office within the Champaign County Clerk's Office. From the News-Gazette:

Under changes approved by voters in April, Ingram’s job will be eliminated, the recorder’s office staff and functions will be rolled into the clerk’s office and County Clerk Aaron Ammons will become clerk and recorder on Jan. 1, 2022.

The change is likely to be fairly seamless for the public, according to Ingram and Ammons.

[Recorder Mike Ingram] said the five staff members in the recorder’s office will remain in the same space at the Brookens Administrative Center in Urbana.

Full article available here.

There was movement in the ongoing dispute on appointment powers between the new County Executive and the County Board chair under the new County Executive form of government. This time it was a unanimous appellate decision in favor of the County Board and chair to make vacancy appointments on the Board. From the News-Gazette:  

The three-judge panel unanimously ruled that the board chair — not the county executive — has the authority to make appointments to fill elected offices that are vacated between elections.

In ruling for the board and against County Executive Darlene Kloeppel, the court overturned a local judge’s ruling in Kloeppel’s favor...

[County Board Chairman Kyle Patterson] said his position remains that he will appoint candidates chosen by the party’s central committee to fill vacancies. The appointment of [Wayne Williams] will likely come up in December, he said.

Reached Friday, Kloeppel hadn’t had time yet to read the decision but said she would likely appeal it.

Full article available here.

C-U at Home's plans for additional homeless shelter highlighted some use of federal COVID relief funding use by the County government. From Illinois Newsroom:

C-U at Home is seeking funds to build two, low-barrier shelters for the homeless.

The agency’s current year-round shelter for the homeless reopened in August as a sober shelter after a several-month closure due to staffing issues.

Unlike the agency’s sober shelter at 70 East Washington Street, these two shelters would provide services to those who deal with drug and alcohol addiction.

Kyle Patterson is the chair of the Champaign County Board. He says the board has a key role in funding this initiative.

Patterson says the County Board plans to donate $150,000 using COVID relief funds from the federal government.

More at that full article here. C-U at Home was also in the news recently with a new Executive Director. More at WCIA here. WCCU reported back in October that the Champaign Continuum of Service Providers noted Champaign County's need for more low-barrier housing here.

WCIA also had updates on the C-U at Home emergency winter shelters this year. 

In other County and area news:

• Smile Politely had an editorial with an analysis of the situation at the County's Animal Control office, raising questions on leadership and local media coverage.
• The recent News-Gazette's Tom's Mailbag column had two items on County government. One addressing the Circuit Clerk's expungement event and the other highlighting the County Clerk's Statements of Economic Interest portal during the previous office transition.
• WAND had updates on the Champaign County Sheriff's community engagement plan. WCCU had additional details here.
• WCIA reports Willard Airport among many Central Illinois airports getting State funding for improvements.
• There has been local and regional coverage of the coming African American Heritage Trail (Chicago Tribune articles are available on ProQuest with some local library cards) being established in Champaign County with the Visit Champaign County and local historians and family members of important pioneers, historical figures, and events here in Champaign County.
• There is a separate Cheat Sheet post on this past month's Champaign County Community Coalition meeting and news.

March County Roundup

Early voting has started for everyone in Champaign County for the Consolidated General Election (times and locations available here from the County Clerk's website). A non-partisan candidate guide is available here and more voter information here. More on the Champaign Counter Voter Alliance and election turnout information by Fox Illinois, yesterday here.

We may be a step closer to having a functional weather radio tower again in Champaign County. From WAND:

The U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) has signed a new tower lease to restore NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) WXJ-76 service to Champaign and Piatt counties.

Champaign and Piatt counties have had little to no NWR service since the previous tower became inoperable on Feb. 20, 2020...

According to NOAA, the next step is for a structural analysis to be done soon to ensure the new tower location can support the NOAA Weather Radio Transmitter antenna and associated equipment. Once the structural analysis is done, NOAA will then execute the lease with the tower owner. Once the lease is executed, the installation of equipment can take place.

Full article here. Previous updates here. Last summer it looked like they had found a tower, but that fell through.

In other news relevant to Champaign County government:

• The Champaign-Urbana Health District in cooperation with Carle Hospital and the United Way released its latest community health plan (coverage from WAND here). The full 2021-2023 Community Health Improvement Plan document is available here and is worth at least skimming for all sorts of local data maps and useful information beyond health care.

• The recording of the Champaign County Summit of Hope for reentry programs and services from earlier this month is available on the Champaign County Community Coalition's facebook page here.

• The latest Champaign County vaccination updates were covered by the Daily Illini here.

• The Champaign County Forest Preserve is still raising funds for its "Peninsula" accessibility project. More on that from the News-Gazette here.

• A ballot error incorrectly describing a race for two year terms as for four year terms was noted by WCIA, but isn't considered to have any significant impact on voting itself according to the County Clerk. The News-Gazette had additional coverage on the error and voting in the County here.

• Champaign County Crime Stoppers has a scholarship opportunity for local youths. More on that from WAND here and the Crime Stoppers website here.

• The University's saliva testing program for local communities was advancing. WAND had coverage on that here. The County Executive noted that a third of the County Staff had been vaccinated and they had arranged a contract with OSF for rapid COVID testing available for staff at the end of the March regular County Board meeting.

• Savoy has the possibility of becoming another "home rule" locality in Champaign County on the April 6th ballot this election. Illinois Newsroom has coverage of that here.

There are still some openings and vacancies among the appointed positions in the County. The list is available on the County Executive's page here. Information on how to submit an application is available here. An overview of County appointments information is available here on the Cheat Sheet.

County Board, Committee and COW Meetings

Leading up to February's regular County Board meeting, there have been some moments worth highlighting in the other committee and Committee of the Whole meetings so far this month. A couple highlights include a massive rental assistance grant and funding due to pandemic hardships. The Champaign County Democratic party nominated Jenny Lokshin to be appointed to fill the District 6 vacancy. DeShawn Williams resigned from the seat to take a position within the County Treasurer's office.

Environment and Land Use Committee 2/4

For those just getting started, ELUC is a standing committee and often the starting point for policy issues that fall under the categories in its name. The County Board's rules lay out the responsibilities and structure of the various committees on pages 17-20:

This month's ELUC meeting (agenda, video) had part 2 of a 5 part presentation on Solid Waste Management in the County starting at roughly the 10 minute mark (slide presentation available here). Links for part 1 of the Solid Waste Management presentation are available at the bottom of a previous Cheat Sheet post here.

The committee also recommended approval of an authorization for an umpcoming Hazardous Waste Collection event. They discussed the location details at Marketplace Mall as opposed to Parkland, which agreed to do electronic recycling events, but not hazardous waste collection. Tom Kacich had more information on the event in his Mailbag column earlier this month:

An Illinois EPA-sponsored household hazardous waste collection event will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 10, at the Market Place Shopping Center.

Residents must pre-register for this event at hhwevent.simplybook.me by selecting from available time slots. Online registration will remain open until all the time slots are full.

Online registration will begin March 8, said Susan Monte, recycling coordinator for Champaign County.

Full mailbag article here. The committee also discussed the increased costs, due at least in part from the pandemic situation. A sale of a property was approved, but was left off the consent agenda to ensure other board members got a chance to hear about the details instead of being lumped in with other non-controversial items.

Committee of the Whole 2/9

The Committee of the Whole (agenda, video) began with a closed session, so there was a long portion of the meeting video with little to no activity until roughly the 1:16 h:m mark. There was no public participation, but Board member Jen Straub relayed an issue brought to her by a concerned citizen in Communications. She raised a concern that a County Board member was publicly quoting "Q Anon" conspiracies regarding the recent insurrection in Washington D.C. and making light of violence against women.

Democrats and Republicans expressed concerns about a lack of County Board input on redistricting maps expected after the Census, the need for public transparency, and a general agreement on maintaining 11 districts with 2 members each. More on the Census from a previous Cheat Sheet post on Regional Planning Commission discussions here. News-Gazette coverage from Tom Kacich here.

On a budget approval item for the Coroner's Office, member Fortado noted that it included payment for services rendered by contractor Shiping Bao. She noted a controversy about his past work involving the Trayvon Martin case in Florida. She argued his involvement was regrettable, but that the payment was still required and needed approval.

There was some discussion of the partitions to be installed at the Circuit Clerk's office, primarily for COVID related safety issues, but also for the benefit of employees who have had to endure an open concept call center and the noise issues that go along with that. The discussion included the reason vaccinations weren't available to staff, designated essential, but not frontline, and why the services required personnel at the courthouse location (access to court documents and in-person court services). There was also a little bit of a back on forth on possible savings on options with the materials to be used.

A Rental Assistance grant through the Regional Planning Commission for $6.2 million dollars was the biggest deal of the meeting. Board members welcomed the assistance for both tenants and landlords and encouraged people to get the word out on the program. Member Fortado praised the short turnaround time for getting the grant and into a functioning local program. From the RPC website:

The COVID-19 pandemic has made life difficult for people across the country, especially renters who have been unable to work, experienced reduced hours, or lost their jobs. Now through its new Emergency Rent Assistance program, the RPC is looking to help renters in Champaign County by providing funds to cover past-due rent and other past-due bills like power, water, and sewer.

Champaign County residents can start the screening process by contacting the Emergency Rent Assistance program call center at 877-548-4205 between 12-7pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Saturdays. In order to promote safety during the pandemic, the RPC’s offices (1776 E. Washington Street in Urbana) will be open by appointment only and those without appointments will directed back to the call center to schedule an appointment. Facemasks will be required.

Households prioritized for assistance include those with an individual who has received unemployment payments from the State of Illinois (IDES) for 90 days prior to applying, and those with an income at or below 50 percent of the area median. The RPC has set up a special page on its website at www.ccrpc.org/ERA with more details on eligibility requirements.

More information at that page here.

Another moment of strained relations with the County Executive arose over the "Employee Health Insurance & Related Benefits Broker Consultant Services" by both Republicans and Democrats for being left out of the process again. There did not appear to be any disagreement with the results, but that the County Board was cut out of the process. There was general consternation at the County Executive's excuse that relevant members hadn't been appointed yet, when it was the Executive herself who had not yet appointed them.

Justice & Social Services Committee Chair Leah Taylor noted that she will be raising Racial Justice Task Force recommendations and issues at the next Committee of the Whole meeting on March 9th. More on the Racial Justice Task Force on our page here.

Zoning Board of Appeals 2/11:

We usually don't cover ZBA meetings so much as they tend to be extremely technical and legal exercises. This month's meeting (agenda, video) involved a great deal of public interest and input on a cannabis growing facility proposed in the Philo area. There was a large file full of letters opposing the facility and the impact it might have on the community and families. There are also a lot of project details in the preliminary memo and supplementary memo in the meeting documents. 

The first 52 minutes of the meeting dealt with the approval of a separate grain elevator project that was approved with all of the various conditions that go with such a project. The rest of the meeting got into the board members and members of the public questioning the applicants for the special use approval in the agriculturally zoned district. The meeting had to be extended a couple times briefly and eventually continued to a future meeting after it ran well past the normally allotted time (roughly 3 hours and 20 minutes total).

Housing Authority of Champaign County Updates

This post has some updates on new people at the Housing Authority of Champaign County and some program updates. The HACC has a new interim Executive Director, Lily Walton. The HACC.net website has a commemoration and farewell page and video dedicated to the outgoing Executive Director, David Northern Sr. 

There is also a recent addition to the Board of Commissioners from the City of Champaign, Bailee VanAntwerp. The Commissioner listing still has the previous commissioner, Jim Rose, listed as of this post.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the intergovernmental organization of the Housing Authority, there is a description and overview available at their about page here:

The Housing Authority of Champaign County (HACCA) is a municipal corporation organized pursuant to the Illinois Housing Authority Act. The jurisdiction of HACC includes all incorporated and unincorporated areas of the County of Champaign, Illinois. The Housing Authority is governed by a seven-member Board of Commissioners. Members of the Board are appointed by the Mayor of the City of Champaign, the Mayor of the City of Urbana and the Chair of the Champaign County Board. One member is a participant in a HACC program. Commissioners serve for five years and have unlimited terms.

HACC was created in 1943 and for many years built, owned and managed only traditional public housing pursuant to Section 9 of the 1937 Housing Act. Faced with distressed Public Housing and ever-decreasing federal funding, HACC began redevelopment of its largest public housing communities in the 1990s using multiple mixed financing methods including Low Income Housing Tax Credits, to create new mixed-income communities. In 2010, HACC became one of only 39 Public Housing Authorities in the country to be designated as a Moving to Work (MTW) Agency.

The Board of Commissioners generally meets on the 4th Thursday of the month from 3-5pm (agenda packets available here). Videos of recent meetings have been posted to their facebook page here. There was a special meeting earlier in January for a closed session, but in the last few minutes, director Northern welcomed the new Commissioner from the City of Champaign, Bailee VanAntwerp.

The regular January meeting (agenda) was split up into two videos on either side of a closed session dealing with employment issues. The public portions are available here, with approving minutes and reports, and here, where they approved the new interim Executive Director, Lily Walton.

Joe Galvan gave public comments as a former regional administrator for HUD. He described the pleasure it was working with the outgoing director and heaped praise and thanks on him and his team at the HACC.

Northern's final report as director is available in the agenda packet here on pages 11-14 of the PDF. The Operations Report following that has a lot of details on the HACC programs, including the YouthBuild program in the news recently. WCIA had a short blurb on the YouthBuild program last month:

YouthBuild was founded by the Housing Authority of Champaign County to help at-risk youth earn a high school diploma and find good jobs.

Recent graduates earned not only high school diplomas, but also OSHA, Flaggers, and NCCER certifications. These certifications help graduates successfully land jobs directly following graduation.

John Taylor II, a now-graduate from Youthbuild, said he is thankful for the staff and other students at Youthbuild for taking the time to get to know him. He said he plans to work for Youthbuild in the future to “help kids like him,” who “want to better themselves.”

HACC Executive Director David Northern said they are actively recruiting participants for the spring. Applications for the program can be found on the HACC website.

Full blurb and video segment here. HACC YouthBuild web page and link to applications here.

There were also updates on the HACC's reentry programs for some of the unique housing challenges for those dealing with the criminal justice system on page 23 of the agenda packet. Snippet:

More information available at the websites of First Followers Reentry and WIN Recovery.

January County Board Meeting

The regular meeting of the Champaign County Board was this week (agenda packet, video). Click these links for previous Cheat Sheet posts on Committee meetings earlier this month here and last week's Committee of the Whole and Special meeting here. The January meeting came on the heels of a ruling on the the longstanding disagreement on the appointment power of the County Executive in her favor. From the News-Gazette earlier this week:

A legal dispute between Champaign County’s first elected county executive, Darlene Kloeppel, and the county board over executive authority has been decided in Kloeppel’s favor...

The county board hasn’t contested Kloeppel’s authority to make appointments to non-elected vacancies. In filling elected position vacancies, however, the board has relied on the state election code, which states unexpired terms of elected officials should be filled by the appointment of the county board chair with the advice and consent of the county board.

The board contended that the plain language of that statute controls language in the county-executive law, Bohm wrote, but that fails to take into consideration that the county-executive law was passed more recently than the election code.

Full article here. This had left a previous appointment to fill a vacancy on the board in a bit of limbo. Former County Administrator and Deb Busey served as a parliamentarian in case of complicated protocol issues arose. A vote to confirm the appointment of the previous appointee, Cameron Raab, maintained the status quo without any fuss. Some board members facial expressions appeared to ask what the point was of this protracted battle that changed nothing in the short term.

The News-Gazette's conservative opinion columnist Jim Dey had overflowing praise for the ruling as "persuasive," "a tour de force, a clear and concise examination of all the issues involved and a thoughtful rationale..." that leaves one wondering if he's merely a glowing fan of the new Republican Judge. More likely, Republicans are looking at the long term ramifications and the original conservative intentions of the County Executive as a Republican check on a Democratic County Board. The position was designed by and for the popular former County Clerk Gordy Hulten who compared the position to being President of the County. Dey only went as far as describing it as "akin to having a mayor for the county."

When the political tides change, we may see another reversal of who wants to keep the County Executive Form of government, and who wants to revert back to having an appointed County Administrator.

After the appointment was approved, Board Member McGuire called on folks to help others with access to the vaccine. Some of the methods for gaining access use technology which can be difficult for some, especially many elderly people at greater risk. He was also hoping for more detailed breakdowns of vaccination progress among categories such as age groups and Nursing Home residents. The health department's vaccination dashboard has more general data, but includes the current phases and eligibility here.

Appointment votes on a few other boards and commissions fell down mostly party lines. Democrats blocked an appointment to the Mental Health Board, seeking a different candidate to be nominated. Republicans voted against another MHB nominee, but didn't have enough votes to block him.

The Auditor had a presentation for folks interested in the nitty-gritty of the previous year's budget, CAFR (what's this?) and process. It's available at the 45 minute mark in the video. The presentation slides are available here on the County website.

There was an issue with a public participation earlier in the meeting, with one person unable to be heard due to a technical issue. The Board voted to allow Amanda Dixon the opportunity to comment later in the meeting with a vote at around the 54 minute mark. She expressed her frustrations about Animal Control and other authorities not taking her complaints about a pet hording couple seriously until they had caused serious harm to the animals.

There appeared to be some other members of the public attempting to comment as well, but the vote to make an exception was only for the speaker who had the earlier technical issue by name. After last week's nearly 5 hour long COW meeting, there didn't appear to be a willingness to have an extended late night public comment opening.

The meeting ended with a bipartisan statement of appreciation of Deb Busey helping as a parliamentarian and her long time dedication to the County government.

County Board Roundup: Recorder, Appointments, Animal Control

This past week the County Board had a Committee of the Whole meeting, a special meeting, and a court ruling on appointments. The discussion and votes mostly revolved around appointments and a referendum on eliminating the County Recorder office by merging it with the County Clerk's office. There was also some discussion on the Animal Control office and its handling of euthanasia cases after a tragic mistake over Christmas.

The Committee of the Whole (video, agenda packet here) was a marathon meeting lasting nearly 5 hours. Most of the public comments revolved around the outrage of the Animal Control euthanasia error and some input on how best to eliminate the Recorder's office. The News-Gazette had an overview of the Recorder referendum approved a couple days later at the special meeting (video, agenda):

The long-debated question of whether Champaign County should eliminate the elected office of recorder of deeds is now set to head to voters.

At a special meeting Thursday night, the county board approved putting the question on the April 6 ballot.

Specifically, voters will be asked if the office of Champaign County recorder shall be eliminated, with all duties and responsibilities of that office being transferred to the county clerk’s office, at the end of this year.

Full article here with a brief overview of what the Recorder office does and how those duties are often part of a County Clerk's office in Illinois counties. Most of the discussion in this week's meetings revolved around the technical issues of how long it would take to transfer the responsibilities of the office and ultimately end the elected office overseeing it. A compromise for the end of this year won out in the end.

Of the long discussions and arguments about appointments, probably the most important point was that appointed positions are difficult to fill and the County needs more applicants and interest.

If you are interested in learning more and applying for a vacancy, start on the Board Appointments page: http://www.co.champaign.il.us/CountyExecutive/Appointments.php

The County Executive also has appointment news on the Executive's News page: http://www.co.champaign.il.us/CountyExecutive/countyexecnewsreleases.php

This page lists the different appointed bodies overseen by the Board. To find a current opening, start by clicking on the “Vacant Appointments” tab.

The appointments links on the County website can be a bit circular and confusing as the appointment authority has changed with the new County Executive form of government. This has been a subject of lawsuits, including the most recent ruling establishing the Executive as the clear appointment authority, with the County Board's authority to advise and consent to those nominations. The News-Gazette highlighted a potential hiccup with a recent vacancy appointment to the board itself:

Whether it will have any impact on the recent appointment of Cameron Raab to fill the other District 6 seat formerly held by Mike Ingram, who resigned after being elected county recorder of deeds in November, remains to be seen.

Kloeppel vetoed Raab’s appointment, but her veto was ignored and Raab was seated as a new board member.

Kloeppel said Friday she could potentially appoint Raab herself, or she could let her veto stand — in which case the board could override it — or she could contest the appointment, though that would require going back to court.

That full article with more details and background here. Other appointment discussions included more legal technicalities about statutory requirements for partisan balance on the Board of Review (an overview of the Board of Review is available at a previous Cheat Sheet post here).

The discussion on the Animal Control Department didn't result in any substantive votes or changes, but there have been a couple updates in the local news about new protocols to hopefully prevent any further errors and allay concerns with the public. Illinois Newsroom had an overview of the discussions and copies of memos on the subject:

Both County Executive Darlene Kloeppel and Animal Control director Stephanie Joos issued memos reporting on the incident (they can be seen below, following this article). In her report, Joos said she’s taken steps to prevent future mistakes. Because there was confusion over the description of Dada, additional fields have been added to the department’s loss report form, so staff can provide more details. And kennel cages at the department’s pound will have additional signs showing the status of each animal.

“These new measures have been implemented to assure this will not happen again,” Joos wrote in the memo.

That full article here. WCIA had additional coverage with a short video segment here.