Champaign County Board Updates

It has been a long time since our last update and so much has happened since the November 2024 election that it would be difficult to catch up on all of it. This post will mostly be about the last couple months of County Board and related news items. We've also updated our About Page with some new disclaimers for our collaborations.

You can always check out the latest County Board meetings from the County's YouTube page here. Agendas, minutes, action reports, and other documentation are available on the County website here. We'll start with the May and June updates first and then a longer look back for those interested (jump to link). For other County government related updates, see our other post today: Other County Government Updates.

May and June County Board Updates:

One of the bigger issues facing the County recently was a potential strike by County employees over a new contract. As of last night, plans for a strike today were canceled as the union and county reached a tentative deal on a new contract. The News-Gazette had an update to their article on the potential strike today:

The Champaign County Board Labor Committee has reached a tentative deal with AFSCME Council 31 Local 900 for a new contract, which will need approval from both the bargaining unit and the county board.

That full News-Gazette article with details of the tentative agreement and more information is available here. WCIA just posted their coverage of the tentative agreement here:

Just hours before Champaign County employees were set to go on strike, a tentative deal was reached between their union and their employer.

The Champaign County Board Labor Committee and AFSCME Local 900 separately announced Tuesday night that a tentative deal had been reached that evening. The two parties negotiated for more than eight hours on Tuesday to reach this deal, and it potentially ends more than six months of bargaining on a new union contract.

That WCIA article is available here with details of the tentative agreement as well. The News-Gazette also spoke with County elected officials on what a strike could have meant for County government. Illinois Public Media had coverage of the negotiations heading into this week:

Champaign County employees are threatening to strike if county officials do not negotiate in good faith on a new contract.

More than 100 workers rallied Monday afternoon outside the Champaign County Courthouse in Urbana. The group, represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, claims administrators are not offering fair wages or affordable insurance...

In May, the union took a vote in which 96% of its members voted to support a strike if necessary. The group’s last contract ran through the end of last year.

More from that IPM article here. The Daily Illini had coverage after the union voted to authorize a strike as part of the negotiations if deemed appropriate by leaders:

Negotiations have stalled for 150 days following the expiration of the union’s contract with Champaign County at the end of 2024. AFSCME Council 31 wrote county officials “still have failed to come forward with the fair wage increases and affordable health insurance they know are needed to settle a new contract.”

Emily Rodriguez, the chair of the Champaign County Labor Committee said in a statement that they remain “committed” to continue negotiations with AFSCME.

“We believe our current offer is fair, ambitious, and one that our neighbors can be proud of,” Rodriguez said. “I remember my vote to authorize a strike against UIUC as a picket captain of GEO in 2018. It was a momentous vote I was proud to make.”

More in that DI article here with a lot more details and analysis. WICS had similar coverage ahead of the vote:

Union leaders say today’s vote doesn’t mean they’re walking off the job; it simply gives them the legal authority to strike if negotiations fall through.

Cecilia Phillips, president of AFSCME Local 900 and a deputy clerk, says if they do go on strike, she’s not exactly sure what that would even look like...

AFSCME represents workers across nearly every department in the county — from the courthouse and jail to the highway department and animal control.

That full article here. The News-Gazette also had coverage ahead of the strike authorization and afterward. The News-Gazette had a bit more background in their May 7th article here.

County Board members who have spoken on the topic have generally signaled support for the union and workers, but there have been continued public disagreements on the state of the County's budget. This is especially true on the context of the failed Public Safety Sales Tax referendum and disagreements on spending priorities and conflicting views on the official financial forecast.

Other County Board Updates:

• Longtime District 10 representative Chris Stohr has resigned to join the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District Board.
  
  
• Members of the Champaign-Urbana Reparations Coalition used the public comment portion of the June Committee of the Whole meeting to explain and promote reparations initiatives for Black residents of Champaign County (video jump to link).
  
  
• At the May COW and Regular Board meetings, the Board approved a collaboration between DCFS and the Sheriff's office. From the CCSO memo on the agreement (page 8 of the PDF agenda packet):

• This opportunity will place a fulltime deputy sheriff in the local DCFS field office to assist with the safety of DCFS workers in the field while also allowing for more effective and efficient investigations of DCFS cases that would be investigated by the Sheriff’s Office anyway. This collaboration, formalized through an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between Champaign County and the State of Illinois, will fully reimburse the County for salary, benefits, and equipment expenses of the deputy.

• There was a presentation for the expansion of the Street College Programming at the Champaign Count Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) at the May COW (jump to video link).
  
  
• It was announced at the June COW that the County was no longer paying Rosecrance for their reentry program and that funding would be available to work with a new partner on reentry programs. Rosecrance confirmed that they will be moving currently clients to their criminal justice program for continued services. The Rosecrance criminal justice program is no longer relying on the Champaign County Mental Health Board funding for that work either. The Champaign County Reentry Council will be reorganizing given these changes.
  
  
• The approval of the expansion of the Street College Programming referenced the funds made available from those previously budgeted for Rosecrance reentry programming funding (see page 4 of the PDF June County Board agenda addendum). This expansion passed (jump to video link).
  
  
• There were two special meetings over the past two months relating to the settlement agreement on the tax-exempt status of hospitals and local property taxes. The May Special Meeting related to Carle (documentation in the agenda packet here) while the June Special Meeting addressed the claims of Presence Central and Suburban Hospitals Network (former owners of OSF HealthCare).

Potential Late Audit and Impacts:

There has also been a great deal of disagreement over the work on the 2024 audit. Much of the County Board and the Auditor remain at odds after he won re-election in November in spite of a great deal of opposition within the local Party leadership and other elected officials. Some of those officials are commissioners on the Regional Planning Commission which penned a warning in the News-Gazette on what delays in the audit could mean.

Any delays in the completion of Fiscal Year 2024 Single Audit poses serious risks.

If the audit is not completed when it is due, barring any grace periods, existing grants may be frozen and new applications as well as modifications to grants may be denied. The Regional Planning Commission would be unable to draw down funds — both state and federal pass-through grants — to reimburse agency costs for payroll and accounts payable.

These are conditions which have been temporarily imposed on the RPC in previous years when Champaign County was delinquent in its completion of the audit. These delays in the completion of the audit directly threaten our ability to serve the public and could lead to devastating consequences for the individuals and families who depend on these vital services.

Their full letter is available here, and included in the May County Board documents here. The Auditor wrote a reply in which he lamented the call for usurping his authority and then stated that he was "washing his hands" of the 2024 audit:

In a recent letter to The News-Gazette, the Regional Planning Commission expressed support for county administration to prepare the county’s annual financial report and the audit thereof.

This is a seizure of a portion of my duties. The county board and the county executive did this without my input and justify their move by worrying that — for the first time ever — the RPC might have to wait on a grant due to a late audit.

...

As for the 2024 audit, I wash my hands. It is only just that the board and administration who destabilized my office last year take full responsibility for the timeliness and success of this year’s audit. I pray they succeed. I will audit their spending.

The full printed letter is in the News-Gazette here.

Moving:

There have been a variety of updates and some fighting over the County's move to the newly renovated Bennett Administrative Center in downtown Urbana from the old Brookens building on Washington Street.

• The County website has general information and a list of tentative moving dates for various offices.
• There was a tentative general timeline from April on how the moving was expected to go from WCIA for those who'd like to compare that to the current schedule.
• Updates and timelines for the Champaign County Clerk's office move from WCIA.
• More disagreements between the Auditor and the Executive office on space considerations. News-Gazette Opinions Editor Jim Dey had an opinion piece on various parts of that drama here.

What's happened since the November 2024 Election:

The News-Gazette has the November 2024 General Election (including County races and referenda) results here and 2025 Consolidated Election (municipal/local) results here.

In November, the referendum to abolish the auditor's office failed and the embattled and censured County Auditor George Danos won re-election. The Public Safety Sales Tax referendum also failed, which was opposed by Danos and others in intraparty disagreements on budget realities and whether it was necessary. 

When the County Board reorganized in December, Jennifer Locke was selected as the new Chair. The outgoing Chair and fellow Democrat Samantha Carter is still on the County Board representing District 6. The News-Gazette had coverage of both results and additional details here.

News-Gazette Opinions Editor Jim Dey also noted that this election resulted in the first time the Democratic Party held every County-wide elected office. Excerpt:

Democrats hold all the countywide offices and have a supermajority on the county board. The party claimed its last GOP holdout — the coroner’s office — in the Nov. 5 election...

The coroner’s race featured two non-incumbents who were veteran employees of the office: Democrat Laurie Brauer and Republican Steve Thuney.

Brauer received 50,236 votes (58 percent) to 36,219 votes (42 percent) to Thuney.

So good luck to the Republicans in future elections, because they’ll need it. Now the GOP knows how the Dems felt for all those years when they were a solid minority in Champaign County.

That full opinion piece is here.

With the local Democratic Party holding an overwhelming amount of the elected County seats, a great deal of the politics revolves around intraparty disputes and disagreements (with local Republicans openly taking sides on those intraparty disputes). The News-Gazette highlighted some of the ongoing disagreements with the County labor negotiations today. It noted continuing disagreements with the auditor on budget realities underlying the dispute.

The last County Board meeting recessed after the previous County Board chair was accused of violating decorum rules. Another Board member began throwing things when the board voted to end further board communications and move on with the agenda. Jim Dey had another opinion piece on that public drama here.

It remains to be seen how much these continuing disagreements, especially on what the budget realities are, will have on the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget process, already in progress. 

If the past is any guide, those disagreements helped undermine the local Democratic Party's attempt at a united front for raising tax revenue towards that budget already. It has already complicated the negotiations for County worker contracts, with personnel costs being a substantial budget concern moving forward.

Old County Nursing Home Updates:

There was some indication that the new owners of what was once the old Champaign County Nursing Home may have been looking at going through the convoluted and expensive process required to reopen the facility as a nursing home again. I have not heard or found any updates since local news reported that possibility back in January and February 2025, however. From WCIA:

A former Urbana nursing home could be re-opening its doors. County documents show Ayodhya Dham Urbana LLC purchased University Rehab for $1.5 million. Now, the community is left wondering what happens next.

Steve Summers, the Champaign County executive, said there has been very little information shared with the board, and the county’s only involvement was releasing a restricted covenant about one year ago. That allowed the land to be used for something other than a nursing home.

That full WCIA article here. The News-Gazette coverage also indicated that reopening was a possibility:

Despite previous reports that opening another nursing home at the former University Rehabilitation Center of C-U site would not be feasible, the property’s new owners are eyeing this possibility.

County records show that Ayodhya Dham Urbana LLC has purchased the property at 500 Art Bartell Road in Urbana for $1.5 million.

“We haven’t solidified any concrete plans with the building,” said Dipak Patel, a managing member of the group. “We are interested in working with nursing-home operators, though we haven’t decided on anyone specifically. At the moment, we are renovating the building and considering what to do with it after, as many nursing-home operators are indeed interested.”.

That full article here. We will post updates on this once more information is available.

County Board July Updates

July only has a regular County Board meeting. Most months also have a Committee of the Whole or "COW" meeting of the full board and some additional committee meetings (e.g. Facilities). This post covers the June County Board meetings and a special Study Session meeting towards the end of the month.

Public Safety Sales Tax Referendum:

The big news out of the June meetings, and after much deliberation over previous months, was the passage of a resolution to put an increased sales tax measure on the ballot for voters to decide on. From the News-Gazette a few weeks ago:

On Thursday, the county board approved adding a referendum on a “Special County Retailers’ Occupation Tax for Public Safety,” which would add a quarter-cent to the county’s sales-tax rate, to the Nov. 5 ballot.

Proponents say the increase is necessary to support investments such as competitive wages to attract correctional officers for the understaffed juvenile detention center, an additional sheriff’s deputy to support a new mental-health-focused court program and a budget that enables the public defender’s office to hire more expert witnesses...

Board member Brett Peugh acknowledged that the county needs the funds but noted that his constituents who live in a historically Black district will be hit the hardest by the tax and don’t support the measure.

That full article here. WAND had a very brief overview of the sale tax referendum here.

Nursing Home Needs Assessment:

At the June Committee of the Whole meeting, the Advocates for Aging Care group presented the findings of the local needs assessment to the County Board. That full presentation is available here. WCCU had coverage of the group's findings and the need assessment.

Advocates for Aging Care (AAC) along with the Champaign County Board, the Champaign County Health Board, and Champaign-Urbana Public Health District came together to conduct a survey assessing nursing home, rehabilitation, and long-term care facilities in Champaign County.

With over 850 consumer responses and over 50 providers, they found what they expected to be true, that there aren’t enough skilled care beds in Champaign County.

"So in our community, we’ve known by the numbers that we only have about 411 of the 748 beds we need, or are projected to need by the end of 2026 because not only do we have the need now but our older population is growing,” explained Cathy Emanuel with AAC.

That full article here.

More Auditor Drama:

There was a Study Session / Special Meeting of the County Board last month, a few days after their regular monthly meeting (video, agenda packet). The topic was about eliminating the Auditor as an elected position for Champaign County and looking at alternative models. The County Auditor made remarks during the public comment portion of the agenda (video go to link). He spoke in support of keeping the office elected and independent. He took issue with the local League of Women Voters report on a couple points (also here on his facebook page).

The League of Women Voters presented their study from a couple years ago on the benefits and alternatives to having an elected auditor for county governments. Their position predates any of the current drama with the current auditor and views the position as archaic and, in many ways, duplicative. The original study report is available here at the Illinois Public Media Newsroom website. Their presentation on the report from 2 years ago is available on the LWV YouTube page here.

Michelle Jett, the County's Director of Administration, presented and laid out more information on alternatives in other Illinois Counties and some of the nuance of what instituting that would look like in Champaign County if the voters approved it (video jump to link).

Republicans on the County Board seemed less enthusiastic about a ballot referendum on this question now that they've slated a candidate to oppose the current Democratic Party Auditor. There was continued discussion on the appropriate timing of such a referendum and how best to uphold democratic principles in local government.

Chair Carter continued to press the issue of the County Executive and the Executive form of government, but met resistance from within her own party due to the limits of the agenda itself and what the public had been given notice of. This continues some previous contention between the Board Chair and the County Executive's office and staff highlighted in June's Cheat Sheet here.

The meeting left off with planning to discuss the issue as an agenda item on the July regular County Board meeting (there is no Committee of the Whole meeting before the regular meeting in July).

The News-Gazette's Jim Dey has added three more articles to his plethora of Democratic intraparty squabble opinion pieces this month to cover the Auditor and County Board Chair / County Executive drama.

United Sovereign Americans:

At the June regular County Board meeting, there was a series of speakers on behalf of a national group called United Sovereign Americans, including two co-chairs for their Illinois chapter (jump to video link). They read the text of their proposed resolution for the County Board to pass for an "election audit." The version of the resolution they proposed to the DeKalb County Board is available here (starting on page 15 of the PDF file).

There's a separate Cheat Sheet post on this group, its background, and other coverage of it across the country here.

Rural Broadband Updates:

There was another presentation at the most recent Broadband Task Force this week. After last month's presentation, there were concerns about the need to lay fiberoptic cable to begin to lay the groundwork for broadband expansion to rural towns and areas. The presentation this month focused on initial ideas to lay cable to Royal, Ogden, Homer, and Sidney and the details of how many households may be close enough to get connected to those lines.

There was also a long discussion about the types of funding available, from federal (e.g. RDOF versus ARPA) to ongoing concerns that the State funding may not be awarded to these projects here locally.

More County Government News:

• There are indications that the old Champaign County Nursing Home building may have a prospective buyer, according to the News-Gazette.
  
  
• There was a presentation on the cover crop ARPA funded project and updates at the June COW (jump to video link).
  
  
• President Minnie Pearson of the NAACP Champaign County Branch spoke shared some concerns about the treatment of the County Board Chair by other board members and others (jump to video link). She insisted that board members treat each other with respect.
  
  
• WCIA had coverage of local efforts around the county to put on Independence Day parades, fireworks, and other events. They also had an overview of the county's main July 4th celebration organization this year.
  
  
• WCIA also had coverage of the removal of a very full animal barnyard near the City of Champaign, but within the County's jurisdiction after a long ordeal by neighbors.
  
  
• The Daily Illini had coverage of the local County tourism organization Experience C-U's collaboration with Champaign County African American Heritage Trail and others for local African American heritage murals.
  
  
• The acronym laden county organization for coordinating homelessness service providers in Champaign County (The RPC's CSPH) has found increased homelessness in Champaign County in 2024.

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 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.

May County Board Updates

 

The May County Board meeting approved a solar farm on private property, but opposed by the local Homer government and many residents. Public participation at the meeting had representatives of the Village of Homer and the solar farm company make their cases (jump to video here). The County Board discussion before the vote actually involved a diverse range of opinions and philosophies behind the different members (jump to that point in the meeting video here). 

The Republicans weighed the impact and desires of the community with the private property rights. The Democrats had more internal disagreement about prioritizing private property rights versus greater needs of the community and world. There were also some back and forth on issues like long term climate change and more immediate world hunger issues depending on our regional agricultural world breadbasket.

The full meeting agenda packet and video are available now, and the minutes will be available on the County website at a later date.

There was also a detailed breakdown and spreadsheets of County ARPA federal relief spending and projects in the agenda packet (page 160 of the packet, page 164 of the PDF file here). There was a more brief oral update towards the end of the County Board meeting itself. 

For a more detailed look at the remaining spending decisions, I recommend the long, but extremely detailed discussion at the latest Prevent Violence Task Force meeting. They go through the remaining funds, timetables and time limits to use the funding, and break down the projects by committee member support and projects to be funded. The agenda packet for that meeting also includes the minutes from the previous committee meeting and an overview of the presentations at that time. The News-Gazette had an overview of area ARPA spending in a March article here.

Other Meeting Highlights:

• There is ongoing discussion on how the county should proceed in purchasing additional facilities for Animal Control (from the old Human Society owned facility that was on county land). Board members are looking at the tradeoffs and complications with exposing the unique facility to the market as opposed to purchasing based on (but under) the appraisals. 
  
  
• The Board will be setting up a committee to look at using the county's opioid settlement funds when they're made available in the future. The general plan as laid out by chair Patterson was for a few members from each side of the aisle to hear from stakeholders at these meetings.

Other County Updates:

More on the Nursing Home today on the News-Gazette front page this morning (article also has some additional County Board related information):

With another local nursing home gone, a group calling itself Advocates for Nursing Home Care sees a crisis ahead — not enough longterm- care beds in Champaign County at a time aging baby boomers are going to need them most.

It’s an issue the group’s founder, Cathy Emanuel of Champaign, said she confronted recently when her late husband needed nursing home care.

“We’re already finding that many of the people involved have friends or loved ones who have to go out of the community, because there aren’t enough beds locally,” she said.

Of immediate concern to Emanuel and more than 50 other members of the new group is the closure of the 243-bed University Rehabilitation Center — formerly the Champaign County Nursing Home until it was sold in 2019.

That full article at the News-Gazette's eEdition here. More in a Nursing Home Updates post here.

There will also be another post (to be linked when available) on the current jail and juvenile detention facilities, staffing issues, and other updates soon.

Nursing Home Updates

 

Following up on earlier Cheat Sheet posts on the new owners of the old Champaign County Nursing Home wanting to sell it as a drug rehab center from last October. The local nursing home facility is now in the process of being closed. From the News-Gazette:

The nursing home at 500 S. Art Bartell Road, U, which has operated as University Rehabilitation Center of C-U since the county sold it in 2019 — has launched a 60-day process to voluntarily close as of June 17.

County officials have received a formal notice of the impending closure of the facility commonly known as University Rehab...

The closure notice cites declining demand for beds, shorter post-acute stays and a low Medicaid reimbursement rate as contributing factors in the decision to close.

More at the full article here. The News-Gazette also had an editorial blaming the closure on a lack of demand (a letter to the editor disputed that framing). Champaign County Health Care Consumers had previously disputed the lack of demand claims. From the CCHCC website in March:

Low census numbers in nursing homes often correlate with quality of care. The more quality of care problems there are at a nursing home, the more likely that their census will go down because they will receive fewer referrals, and fewer families will want to place their loved ones in nursing homes with poor reputations. Many Champaign County residents are currently being transferred to nursing homes outside of our county (which is a real hardship on them and their families) because they cannot be placed in local facilities.

WCIA had more on this ongoing dispute between quality of service and actual demand in their coverage.

A Champaign County nursing home is shutting down, and it’ll cost the community 243 licensed beds. But the owner of University Rehabilitation Center says keeping it open is not an option.

“It’s bad faith behavior, and the people of this county are going to pay the price for it,” Champaign County Health Care Consumers Executive Director Claudia Lenhoff said...

University Rehab will become the third nursing home in Champaign County bought and closed by Rothner since 2018. He says he operated the Helia and Heartland buildings for a short period of time before selling them, and says while he didn’t make money in those transactions, he hoped patients would flow to University Rehab, which he bought from the county in 2019. But it wasn’t enough to stay afloat.

More at that full article here. There are also additional WCIA articles on the announcement and the impact to local families.

More background on the Champaign County Nursing Home financial crisis and eventual sale that led us to this point at the Nursing Home page on the Cheat Sheet here.

County Board Updates

 

The big county story right now is that the current owners of the old Champaign County Nursing Home want to prematurely end the agreement to maintain the facility as a nursing home (a concern at the time of the sale). Other news include the latest Jail Consolidation updates, meeting coverage, awards, charity work, and immigration programs. There was also an official Halloween Trick-or-Treating time announcement.

The next County Board meeting is this Tuesday's October 11th Committee of the Whole meeting, which doesn't appear to have anything related to the old Nursing Home on the agenda, but it may come up anyways. There appears to be two resolutions related to national politics on the agenda, however, including resolutions that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and confirming Champaign County as a champion for reproductive freedom.

The News-Gazette had coverage of the potential sale of the old County nursing home and at the same time ending its role as a nursing home facility. Excerpts:

Among the terms that were part of the 2019 sale was an agreement by the buyer to maintain the facility as a nursing home through 2027, according to County Executive Darlene Kloeppel.

“We have and continue to fully comply with the restrictions and covenants but are now exploring potential transactions for the sale of the property to buyers who would operate it as a substance-use disorder facility,” William Rothner, manager of University Rehab Real Estate LLC, said to the Champaign County Board in a letter dated Sept. 28.

Rothner, who wasn’t reached by The News-Gazette on Friday, also told county officials that University Rehab, as the nursing home is commonly called, has an average occupancy of 44 percent for its 243 licensed beds...

A sample University Rehab closure plan also provided to the county states the owners of the facility “made the difficult decision to close after completing an analysis of the marketplace in Urbana and the surrounding counties.”

That full article with a lot more information and details here.

The County received recognition for its support of local immigrants and refugees. From the News-Gazette last month:

Service providers for immigrants in Champaign County got a $250,000 funding boost from county government this year to help with two high-priority needs.

The money is coming from some of the county’s federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, with the potential for the same amount to be granted in the following year, according to County Executive Darlene Kloeppel...

For this funding grant, and a willingness to listen to the needs of immigrants, the county board will be presented with a community impact award today by the C-U Immigration Forum at the annual Welcome Awards ceremony in Urbana.

More at the full article here. Check out the C-U Immigration Forum's facebook page for links to more information and news coverage including other recent recognitions and awards.

The News-Gazette's coverage of last month's regular County Board meeting had a few highlights of measures passed in their "Meeting Minutes" feature on 9/30:

➜ Three-year contracts for its five American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees bargaining units.

➜ An agreement with the city of Champaign for partnership in its Champaign Diversity Advancement Program to improve the recruitment of minority contractors

➜ A project labor agreement with the East Central Illinois Building & Construction Trades Council for work on the jail consolidation.

That blurb is available in the News-Gazette's eEdition here. During the vote on the Diversity Advancement Program County Board member Jodi Wolken declared her "no" vote was not because she was racist (video link). She stated she was tired of being called that and then walked out of the meeting. I was unable to find a point in the meeting where anyone called her racist in this particular meeting, although it appears she was visibly upset earlier in the meeting when Jim Goss's claims of not seeing color elicited some laughs from Democrats. Video of those moments a few minutes before here.

The Facilities Committee had a discussion about the latest plans for the Jail Consolidation project (meeting agenda here) during its latest updates. The discussion revolved around what documents would be made publicly available, how that access may differ from other facilities plans without the security concerns of a secure facility such as the jail. County Board and facilities committee member Emily Rodriguez asked for clarification on publicly available plans that may be limited from on-line view. It sounded like the concern would be clarified with the Sheriff afterward on if there were some public documents that had to be accessed on-site with identification as opposed to others that would be restricted from the public for security reasons altogether.

The local League of Women Voters County Governance Task Force proposed ending the experiment with a County Executive form of County government. From the News-Gazette:

League of Women Voters of Champaign County President Trisha Crowley, who co-chaired the task force, said the elected executive form of government — used in only two Illinois counties, Champaign and Will — isn’t well structured for Illinois counties with so many independent offices.

“What the county board needs is an improved leadership structure, and a county board chair leads from the top and inside,” she said. “The executive can’t provide that kind of leadership because they’re kind of off to the side, and that leads to the possibility, which we’ve seen in the last four years, of ignoring the executive.

That full article with other recommendations here. Illinois Newsroom also had coverage of the organization's County reform proposals here. The full League report is available here on their website. The News-Gazette had a follow up editorial that agreed in part, but made an argument for good leadership in general here.

Other County Board Updates:

• WCIA highlighted the County's official Trick-or-Treating hours. The letter is available on the County government's facebook page here.
• The News-Gazette highlighted local Champaign County Republican officials and candidates volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, including a land donation by County Board member Brad Passalacqua here.