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, 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).

County Coroner Overview

The News-Gazette had a nice overview of the Coroner's role in determining when an autopsy is performed with an nice easy to follow guide to costs and protocols Sunday:

It's a coroner's job to decide when a death bears closer examination
...
As Champaign County's coroner, it's Northrup's responsibility to determine the cause and manner of death. In this case, given the condition of the body and little known prior medical history, he decided that performing an autopsy was the best course of action.

"I must make difficult decisions every day whether to conduct an autopsy or not," said Northrup, whose office averages about 1,900 death investigations a year, only 8 percent to 10 percent of which result in autopsies.

Since he works in a county with a Level 1 Trauma Center — Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana — deaths in neighboring counties also fall under the jurisdiction of Northrup's office.

And with $123,000 budgeted each year for autopsies, which cost between $1,050 to $2,500 each, performing one after every death isn't financially feasible.

Nor is it physically possible, given that the one pathologist in the Urbana office serves Champaign and surrounding counties.

Full article here with all sorts of additional details and information.