The Week Ahead 12/4 - 12/10

I'm posting an image link to the clickable PDF weekly calendar at the County main website again:

I'm also posting the December Calendar (for more detail, see the main monthly calendar at the county website) because the Committee of the Whole and regular County Board meetings are on Tuesdays again due to the holidays. I'll be updating the calendar page soon with the 2018 Annual Calendar of Meetings.

If you're curious about learning more about how your county government works, it's easy enough to live stream a meeting or go in person: Attend a Meeting.

*Meeting is broadcast live on Comcast Public Access and at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/champco1776

Where is Brookens?

Brookens Administrative Center
1776 East Washington Street
Urbana, Illinois 61802-4581
Phone: 217-384-3772

After 4:30 the Washington Street side Parking Lot is Closed See Maps for the North East Parking Lot Access

Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program Report

Last week there was a meeting on Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program to present information to the public about their work and report. I was unable to attend at the last minute, but wanted to put together a post and resource for those who may find the information valuable and helpful.

Quick Links:

• Full report
• Power Point Presentation from Champaign Public Library Presentation 11/27/2017
• Champaign County Board report video at the Committee of the Whole 11/14/2017

Summary, Guide and Links:

First of all what is it? A concise statement from the report:

In 2015, Champaign County was awarded a Justice and Mental Health Collaboration grant to pursue a coordinated planning process to analyze criminal justice needs for the justice involved population with mental health and co-occurring mental health and substance use needs.

The report, available here, details the work, the people and organizations involved, data and recommendations. It is rich in information, but Claudia Lennhoff of the Champaign County Health Care Consumers offered this guide to peruse both the power point presentation from the public meeting, available here, and the report (linked again below):

Here are a few things I would like to point out:

- It's really important to understand two things about this grant-funded project:  a) the purpose is to help communities develop collaborative approaches to reducing the prevalence of individuals with mental health disorders in the jails (so, focuses on people with mental illness and their interactions with the justice system); and b) it is a planning grant - the purpose is to support the community in going through its planning process. It is not an implementation grant. In order for communities to know what solutions they want to pursue, they have to first make sure they understand the problem, and then plan for the solutions accordingly. In other words, this grant is to provide support for the first step of this community process.

- Page 6 of powerpoint tells of some of our activities. I just want to point out that some of our Focus Groups and Surveys were conducted with people currently incarcerated at the time, as well as recently released people and other populations and the community.

- Also Page 6 - the bullet point that says we Established validated screenings in the jail at booking. This is a major accomplishment that would not have been possible without the Sheriff's Office and their jail staff. What this means is that when people are booked into jail, officers involved in the booking now screen the people being booked for two things: a) mental health issues, and b) substance abuse issues. We are one of the only counties in the country that has actually been able to implement this. The reason this is so important is because it will help us get data, in terms of giving us a sense of what proportion of the people being booked might have these problems, and also because it allows the staff in the jail to refer the people who screen positive so that they can get an evaluation by a professional, and link up with appropriate services (both inside the jail and outside) as needed.

- Also Page 6 - the last bullet about Conduct a data-driven analysis. This follows from the previous point -- if we are to identify solutions or propose solutions, they need to be based on a fact- and data-based definition of the problem. We have scarce resources and we need to use them appropriately and carefully to meet these human needs.

- Page 7 shows you the 4 key measures that we used in carrying out this planning process.

- Page 8 shows the Sequential Intercept Map (more detail on that below)

- Page 9 - 12 are our recommendations to the community.

Regarding data - Page 12,13, and 14 of the Final Report has data related to the various points in the Sequential Intercept Map, if you want to take a look at the data:
http://www.co.champaign.il.us/Sheriff/pdf/JMHCP_Planning_Phase_Final_Report.pdf

The report was also presented to the Champaign County Board at the November 14, 2017 Committee of the Whole meeting (the six and half hour long marathon one). Video with a direct link jumping to this report as opposed to the full meeting is here.

I'm not an expert on this material, but page two of the report should have plenty of contacts for those involved from law enforcement, to advocacy, etc to google and ask depending on what information you're looking for.

Prussing Enters Treasurer Race

Another update for the elections page and the county office races page. From the News-Gazette today:

Former Urbana mayor enters race for treasurer

Seven months after she left the mayor's office in Urbana, Laurel Prussing said today she wants to be the Democratic Party nominee for Champaign County treasurer.

Prussing said she would file her nominating petitions Monday to appear on the March 20 primary election ballot. She needs at least 251 signatures to qualify as a candidate.

John Farney, currently the county auditor, so far is the only candidate for treasurer from either party.

Shortly before she left the mayor's office last spring after being unseated by Diane Marlin in the Democratic Party primary, Prussing, 76, said she "needed a break from this stuff."

Seven months was enough, she said today.

"I had enough of a break," she said. "I wasn't planning on doing this but I was looking for candidates and I couldn't find anybody. Qualified people just didn't want to do it and I thought we needed a candidate and I thought that maybe I should do it.

In the article she mentions that George Danos will run again for County Auditor. The News-Gazette article on his last attempt was described as "razor-thin:"

John Farney has lived the scenario that played out Tuesday night before. In 2012, during his initial run for Champaign County auditor, the Republican's race against Democratic challenger George Danos came down to the wire, with Farney winning by a margin of 2,036 votes.

Tuesday's rematch between Farney and Danos was even tighter, with the incumbent collecting 50.08 percent of the vote, narrowly defeating the Champaign challenger with 49.92 percent. When all the votes were counted, Farney had 42,516 votes to Danos' 42,385, for a margin of 131.

 It's looking like a very good time to get involved and learn about Champaign County politics!

The Week Ahead 11/27 - 12/3

I'm posting an image link to the clickable PDF weekly calendar at the County main website again:

This week's meetings involve two public forums at the Champaign Public Library that will be presenting work done to improve community programs and services for both criminal justice reforms and mental health care needs. These are not typical county board meetings or auxiliary meetings for the county government, but a chance to learn more about the issues, recommended policies, and what people can do to help get them implemented.

The Shields Meeting Room is at Brookens Administrative Center:

Where is Brookens?

Brookens Administrative Center
1776 East Washington Street
Urbana, Illinois 61802-4581
Phone: 217-384-3772

*After 4:30 the Washington Street side Parking Lot is Closed See Maps for the North East Parking Lot Access

Candidates Filing and the Nursing Home

I've updated the election page on this site with the latest candidate filings from the Champaign County Clerk's information here (from 11/27/2017) and recent News-Gazette Articles linked below. The first article has a brief overview of many of the filings so far, but today's has more information on the 6th District race and the Nursing Home issue.

Champaign County Board races draw a crowd

URBANA — Democrats in central Champaign will have at least a three-way race next spring in County Board District 6, based on candidate filing Monday morning.

Twelve candidates filed petitions at the Champaign County clerk's office before 8:30 a.m. Monday — the first day of the petition filing period — and three of them were for the county board seat generally bounded by Prospect Avenue on the east, Bloomington Road on the north, Kirby Avenue on the south and Country Fair Drive and Duncan Road on the west.

Eight-year incumbent Pattsi Petrie was among those who filed petitions for the District 6 seat, along with Mike Ingram and Charles Young. They will face off in the March 20, 2018, primary election.

Also filing petitions were Matt Grandone and Jon Rector, both Republicans running for county clerk. The incumbent Republican county clerk, Gordy Hulten, was the only person to file for the newly created position of county executive. Allen Jones filed as a Republican candidate for sheriff and John Farney, currently the county auditor, filed as a Republican candidate for county treasurer.

Other county board candidates filing Monday morning included Republican newcomer Jodi Wolken in District 2, incumbent Republican Jim McGuire in District 4; Democrat Leah Taylor and Republican Tom Dillavou in District 5; Republican Traci Nally in District 9; and Democrat Chris Stohr in District 10.

Nally is a vice president at News-Gazette Media.

The Illinois candidate filing period ends on Dec. 4...

Today's article got into how the Nursing Home issue is shaping the County Board's 6th District Race:

East Central Illinois candidates are off and running

URBANA — Pattsi Petrie, a veteran of seven years on the Champaign County Board and a onetime chair, will face her fifth primary election contest since 2008 next spring.

Petrie, a Democrat who represents District 6 in central Champaign, is being challenged by two other Democrats in the March 20 primary: first-time candidate Mike Ingram and Charles Young, who ran unsuccessfully for the Champaign school board in 2003 and was a candidate for appointment last month to an opening on the Parkland College board.

So far, the Democratic contest in District 6 is one of a handful of contested primary races that developed after the first day of candidate filing on Monday...

Matt Grandone of Urbana and Jon Rector of rural Champaign are running for the Republican nomination for Champaign County clerk. No Democrat had filed yet.

Meanwhile, there's no rest for Petrie, who lost a four-way race for one seat on the board in 2008, finishing second out of four Democrats, but came out on top in another four-way primary race in 2010 and overcame challenges from Josh Hartke in 2012 and Tony Fabri in 2014.

The future of the county nursing home as a county-supported facility undoubtedly will be an issue in the District 6 race. In recent months, Petrie has voted in favor of issuing a request for proposals from private operators who might be interested in buying the facility and also supported a six-month budget for the home for the fiscal year that begins Jan. 1.

Both votes placed her at odds with the majority of other county board Democrats.

Ingram said the nursing home was a "pretty big" factor in his decision to run for the board. He said he supports keeping the facility publicly owned.

"I don't think there's anything more important on the minds of people right now than the nursing home," he said. "But there are plenty of other things that people are talking about when I asked them what they knew about at the local level."

Young also said the nursing home's future is a top concern of voters.

"The hot topic now of course is that nursing home. I'm sorta like still in the middle with that," he said. "I want to protect the (home), but at the same time, what I've been reading and following is the money issue. We'll see how that works out. I'd like to get there and see how that stuff works."

Petrie said she believes the nursing home has to become self-sustaining.

"I have constantly and consistently said that the county needs to be concerned about positioning that nursing home so it will be sustainable not for one or two years, but for a decade," she said. "This roller coaster ride on the nursing home is exhausting everybody, and the county isn't getting any other work done."

Petrie said she isn't troubled by the regular challenges from within her own party.

"I look at that as positive, though," she said. "That means you go out and you talk to your constituents more often. I do retail politics. I knock on doors, every door."

Nursing Home Reality Debate

The News-Gazette all but called Democrats' continued support for the nursing home delusional as it mocked their moral superiority and accused them of being do-gooder die-hards unbowed by facts. It's pretty harsh. Click here to jump directly to Democratic County Board Member Kyle Patterson's rebuttal.

Incredible divide on nursing home

The Champaign County Board's handling of the nursing home controversy is taking on other-wordly features.

Those who are conflicted in their view or have no opinion on the future viability of the county nursing home need only look at the latest budgetary contortions the board has put itself through.

Last week, in what can only be described as an act of desperation, the board voted 13-8 to fund the financially beleaguered nursing home for six months. The board's majority opted for that questionable course as a means of avoiding a decision on how to cut $1.4 million in spending needed to support the county's statutorily mandated programs so it could continue to fund the purely optional nursing home.

If this isn't a case of the tail wagging the dog, it's darn close.

Further, there appears to be a widespread consensus among board members that this proposal is being held together with bailing wire and chewing gum and might fly apart with the slightest of nudges.

There's the little matter of a $500,000 loan repayment the nursing home is supposed to make to the county's general fund in December. The nursing home's cash balance is down to $19,000, according to county administrator Rick Snider, so how good are the nursing home's chances of meeting that obligation?

Perhaps that's why there has been discussion about the need to issue tax anticipation warrants — a bank loan to be repaid when eventual revenue generated by property tax payments comes in.

The nursing home has all the earmarks of a failing enterprise. Yet to hear some board members talk, the idea of selling or closing the nursing home is unthinkable.

"In my mind, (the county's obligation) never ends because care for the elderly and the people in the nursing home, it never ends. We can talk all we want about kicking the can down the road, but in my mind, there's no can to kick. It's about care for folks who need care, and that's something that's not going to end in this county," said Democratic board member Josh Hartke.

Hartke's words are sincere, but misguided.

If the county nursing home was the only such facility in Champaign County or beyond, there might be some merit to that holier-than-thou position. But there are plenty of private facilities, where current county nursing home residents can go.

Indeed, if there wasn't strong competition from the private sector, the county wouldn't have encountered the seemingly endless problem of not having enough nursing home patients needed to generate the revenue necessary to keep it financially afloat.

So what, in fact, is the county board doing other than playing financial Russian roulette regarding an optional service for which there is limited demand but back-breaking costs...

The article continues here.

Democratic County Board Member Kyle Patterson laid out a step-by-step rebuttal:

Lots to unpack here. Let’s do this chronologically:

The $500K “loan” the republicans blocked the renewal of as a political move to sabotage with no reasonable explanation other than to further manufacture the financial “crisis” at the County Nursing Home. Ask yourself: how can the County “loan” money to itself? Because it is technically an “enterprise” entity, the county cannot simply do a budget transfer to the nursing home the way in which other departments are replenished when they have financial shortfalls, which the county board does for multiple departments every month. There is no running record of “debt” for the other departments that need extra money because of unexpected costs the way the Nursing Home does. This is a red headed step child situation. As Josh Hartke, who they call misguided, once said so well: there are boilers at the nursing home they are failing because the county board chose the architects, approved and funded the construction of the nursing home which has a structural flaw that places the laundry machines too close to the boilers and the boilers acquire debris, so now the county board “loans” money to the nursing home to fix the boilers that failed because of the decision made by the county board, then when if we sell the nursing home, the county will then get paid twice for selling those boilers. Both from the returned loan and then from selling the home. It’s nonsense.

The only reason there is “discussion” of using Tax Anticipation warrants is because the republicans, in a move to sabotage the finances of the home, blocked the county acquiring those rather routine loans. For no motivation other than to hurt he Nursing Home. They are trying to force democrats to sell the home by dooming the Home to financial ruin. They are preventing the home from paying its bills.

Two huge examples of the editors missing the point:

1. we support the Champaign County Nursing Home NOT because there are no private homes, but because we believe in the foundational progressive principal of PUBLIC HEALTH CARE. For profit homes provide worse care than public nonprofit nursing homes and there is plenty of data to back that up. For profit corporations reduce services, cut wages and reduce staffing levels, choosing profits over people. This isn’t news nor is it unique to nursing home care. For profits corrupt access to healthcare across the board. Without a large, quality nursing home that places no restrictions on access for Medicaid patients, many low income individuals will have no where to go in CU.

2. The Champaign County Nursing Home is a SERVICE, NOT a BUSINESS. They only say it’s not financially viable because it can’t sustain itself financially, which, NEWS FLASH, neither does any county department! It’s not supposed to be a 100% self sustaining business like a private home, and it was never intended to be. The home has a bit of a tax levy that some would characterize as a “subsidy”, which is designed to fund the nursing home with revenues generated outside of the services compensated at the home. In the structure, it has never been considered a self sufficient entity. The nursing home provides a SERVICE in which the private industry cannot provide, and that’s universal access for Medicaid patients. Private homes limit access from Medicaid patients because the state is inconsistent with timely compensation for Medicaid patients, which has caused the majority of CCNH’s pain. Our county has always recognized the need to fund a service that offers an outlet for Medicaid nursing home patients by funding the home in a way that the private industry cannot.

And lastly, the editors refer to their not being a “demand” for the nursing home. Let’s get two more things clear:

1. The nursing home cannot fill enough beds right now because...... THE NEWS GAZETTE AND REPUBLICANS KEEP BASHING THE PLACE AND CALLING FOR ITS IMMEDIATE SALE! Our census is low because people are afraid to put their parents in a home that they think is going to be sold soon. You want to place your loved ones in a home that will be consistent for years and not have to possibly move them once they are in nursing home care. The drum beat from the news gazette has caused a low census and the departure of many good staff members that are afraid that once it’s sold, the new for profit company will have mass layoffs, exactly how they did when Vermillion County privatized their home.

2. Look up census data and understand that the demand for nursing homes is going to skyrocket over the next 5-10 years as the baby boomers generation is now becoming nursing home aged. Once that happens, we will have countless residents covered by Medicaid that will need somewhere to go in this community. The pain of sending a loved one to a nursing home, which I personally know well, is very intense, but to have to send them off to another community because of a lack of Medicaid beds in CU, and not being able to visit them regularly is deplorable.

This is about access to healthcare and public healthcare institutions, plain and simple. There’s a reason why Republicans are ravenous to close this thing and make no mistake: the News Gazette editorial board is our very own local Fox News.

This is not about an unprofitable business, this is about an underfunded healthcare institution.

Jail Deadlines and Budget Woes

The News-Gazette laid out the issues facing the downtown and satellite jails, proposals for expansion, budget problems and the work of Build Programs Not Jails in support of reforms and programs that would rely on less jailing. Full text here. Excerpt:

CU-CitizenAccess: DOJ's deadline looms over Champaign County Jail

URBANA — With a U.S. Department of Justice-imposed deadline approaching, Champaign County officials are under increasing pressure to either renovate or close the 37-year-old jail in downtown Urbana.

The county has already stopped using much of the downtown jail — it has a daily population hovering around 45 people, even though its capacity is 113. It has instead relied more on the satellite jail in east Urbana, which has a capacity of 182.

An agreement between the county and the DOJ states that the county must renovate the downtown jail to adhere to Americans with Disabilities Act standards by March. These renovations are expected to cost about $175,000.

In November, the DOJ said it would consider granting the county an extension to come into compliance by Dec. 31, 2018, and would extend the deadline even longer if the county decided to fund a new jail.

With the required renovations pending, county officials have discussed either closing the downtown jail and replacing it with a new facility next to the satellite jail or renovating the downtown jail to make it more suitable for housing inmates, said Chief Deputy Allen Jones.

Standing in the way: funding issues and the efforts of local activist groups who oppose any new facility.

Board Member Pattsi Petrie had a couple comments as well, that pointed out the Mental Health Board (MHB) doesn't seem to get enough attention for many of these program issues as the full County Board meetings do:

If the downtown jail is closed for whatever reason and the satelitte jail does not have additional provisions constructed there, then the projected cost to out source is 1M/annually. And the sheriff inquired whether nearby counties have space and willingness to house the out sourced inmates. The responses across the board is negative. The next step will be to out source at jails many hundreds of miles away fro C-U, making family visitations very difficult, let alone the cost of deputy time to transport to and fro along with gas costs. Approximately there are 40 inmates plus or minus at the downtown jail. Just do the math.

CB member appreciate once again pointing out that there has never been a plan to build a new jail, not even back to the first consultant report. That is a narrative conjured by the Build Programs, Not Jails folks.

Indeed, the county does have a hard time educating the public about all of the issues that the county has before it to solve. CCNH has been sucking the ether out of the air for years along with money. There is a bit of a domino effect in play--solve the nursing home one way or the other, move to relocating the sheriff's office, this opens up what to do with the downtown jail. If the decision is to close that facility, then the county can repurpose the building and land, which might mean selling both. The resulting funds can be turned toward county building maintenance. The more that the decision on the jail and building maintenance is kicked down the road, the over all costs continue to increase. Just think had the sales tax passed--the county would already have done phase one of the ten-years plan on maintenance, used tax dollars in the most efficient possible way, and stayed ahead of the CPI.

And she continued in a second comment:

One more clarification--the CCNH is an Enterprize Fund. By definition this type of fund is constructed such that the entity being funded is resonsible to pay for any and all expenses associated with the entity. The nursing home is not part of the county general fund. So, yes, the CCNH is responsible for all expenses and debt. You are correct in that the county owns this home so the buck stops with the county, including all associated debt. This is one of many reasons that you do not hear a discussion about closing the home because doing so would, in essence, bankrupt the couny  This stated if there is not the launch of the RFP so the CB can find out if there is a buyer(s), then the next step will need to be putting in place a contingency plan to close the home. Because the county is ultimately responsible for staff IMRF and FICA along with regularly making payroll, the county has loaned the home a lot of money, in addition to having forgiven a large amount of loan monies.

For whatever reason, citizens have a hard time understanding these financial facts.

The facility sales tax, as I have written all too often, would have paid as we go for county building maintenance. On one hand people comment that the county can not even maintain the buildings and the downtown jail is in terrible condition Then on the other hand, the same citizens argue for social programs, many of which could be funded and supported by the 4.5 M/annually received by the MHB. Why is it that these concerns are not regularly presented to that board and the CUPHD board or the two municipalities and hospitals, etc.?

Right now the county is moving toward a historic repeat that resulted in the DOJ telling the county we will build a new jail if you do not. The result was the downtown jail. This jail is about to cost the county millions of dollars, per the information in the above article.

All of the county budget/finances are on the county web site.

CU-CitizenAccess appears to have a lot of helpful information about local politics and issues. I'll try to get more information about it and pass it along. In the mean time here are links to their on-line material:

CU-CitizenAccess main website is available here: http://cu-citizenaccess.org/
And also on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cucitizenaccess/

County Board 11/21 Meeting

Highlights:

Well for starters we have a 6 months (option B) budget that doesn't resolve the Nursing Home issue either direction in finding money to save it or that forces it to be sold, but perhaps inevitable depending on which party you ask. I didn't catch the exact roll call, but Chair Weibel said it was 13-8 of which I definitely heard Pattsi Petrie vote for with the Republicans. Fortado summed up the Democratic feelings about the 6 month budget: It is not a responsible precedent. It is a collective failure, including herself in that failure, not to have a 12 month budget. It's something we will all regret and it will be felt sharply later this year. The associated levy passed without opposition shortly after.

There were some goodbyes. It was County Administrator Rick Snider's last meeting as well as County Treasurer Dan Welch's. Both were thanked and had standing ovations by the board and others.

The replacement process was moved along further along last week, as noted by the N-G, as well as with additional votes tonight that were unopposed:

URBANA — Champaign County Board members Tuesday agreed to begin negotiations to rehire former county Administrator Deb Busey as interim administrator.

The current county administrator, Rick Snider, has resigned in order to become the village administrator in Rantoul later this month.

The move to rehire Busey, who would be limited to 600 hours of work under Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund regulations, was made by Republican board member Aaron Esry but approved unanimously.
...
Also Tuesday, the board unanimously approved the appointment of John Farney as the new county treasurer, beginning Jan. 1. Farney, currently the county auditor, will replace longtime treasurer Dan Welch, who is leaving office 11 months early. Both Welch and Farney are Republicans.

As pointed out in an earlier update, this means that there will be an abbreviated ballot petition period for any candidates wanting to run for County Auditor in the 2018 elections. That same link notes some of the early candidates seeking appointment to the fill the vacancy in the mean time by the Champaign County Republican Party.


Other Meeting Notes:

Public Participation included complaints about dilapidated properties and numerous citizens asking the Board to consider the Racial Justice Task Force recommendations for everything from pre-trial hearings, treatment programs for addicts, mental health care services outside of the jail system, etc. Build Programs Not Jails had a strong presence and pleaded with the Board to take significant action on these issues.

Illinois Bicentennial flag arrived and will be up in front of the Court House soon. Chair Weibel also noted a Chair/Vice-Chair meeting about the agenda that is poorly attended after Republican complaints last week at the COW about difficulties getting an item on the agenda.

"Visit Champaign County" had a presentation on marketing Champaign to outside visitors with a video presentation and a run down of numbers brought in through tourism and visitors. Stohr asked that taxicab services be better highlighted in their printed publications along with Uber/Lyft. The sheer number of independent cab companies (>50) makes it easier to link to in on-line materials.

Apparently "cornhole" is a popular game that has a following and events here in Champaign. It was mentioned and nobody snickered. I feel as though a college joke went terribly wrong somehow. They also brought up that the State Farm Center does not have a good layout for large (2000+ person) trade shows and it makes it difficult to host large events in Champaign County because there is not a large convention center that's ideal for the task compared to other regional ones.

The Youth Assessment Center (more info) via the Regional Planning Commission is looking for a new space and highlighted the Racial Justice Task Force recommendations as well. Their work with restorative justice in the community. After fielding some questions on staff and space requirements, it was pointed out (by Circuit Clerk Katie Blakeman, I believe) that it's a fairly unique program on the cutting edge of  criminal justice reform. Sounds like a program I need to learn more about for a future post.

Other agenda items were passed smoothly by voice vote or roll call as required.

The meeting adjourned at  8:37pm. Not 12:53am the next morning like the last COW. So YAY!!! YAY for THAT!!! Phew!


Reactions [Updated 11/22]:

The News-Gazette's Tom Kacich has more details and specifics, including this excerpt on the budget vote:

County board avoids cuts by funding nursing home for only 6 months

URBANA — Champaign County Democrats were unable Tuesday night to pass a county budget guaranteeing 12 months of operation for the county-owned nursing home.

Instead, by a 13-8 margin, the county board approved a fiscal year 2018 budget that includes only six months of funding for the financially troubled facility.

And because of savings from operating the nursing home for only six months, the approved budget doesn't include any of the $1.425 million in staff cuts, polling-place consolidations, capital reductions (including almost $400,000 for police radios), or program cuts (such as the Youth Assessment Center and re-entry council) discussed in recent weeks.

But county officials cautioned that there's great uncertainty about the budget, including a $500,000 payment the nursing home is to make to the county general fund in December and the need for tax-anticipation warrants to help fund the facility's continued operation.

"I don't think passing a six-month budget for any part of the county budget is a responsible precedent," said Democrat Stephanie Fortado.

And she urged county department heads to "keep your wallet in your pockets for the next six months, especially for big-ticket items. If there's something you can wait on, please wait."

And outgoing County Administrator Rick Snider predicted that the board would have to make "significant budget amendments" throughout 2018.

Voting for the budget were all 10 board Republicans and Democrats Pattsi Petrie, Chris Stohr and Shana Jo Crews.

Voting against it were eight Democrats: Fortado, Steve Summers, James Tinsley, Lorraine Cowart, Josh Hartke, Robert King, Kyle Patterson and board Chairman C. Pius Weibel.

Champaign Democrat Giraldo Rosales was absent from the meeting

I'm not seeing any other reactions yet today, but I'll update if I do.

The Week Ahead 11/20 - 11/26

I'm posting an image link to the clickable PDF weekly calendar at the County main website again:

This week's county board meeting is certain to have contentious debate on the Nursing Home again. Last week's Committee of the Whole went on for nearly 6 and half hours between reports and Nursing Home arguments: reactions here, notes here. As always links to recent Nursing Home news and resources will be added to the Nursing Home issues link at the top of the page as I have time.

If you're curious about learning more about how your county government works, it's easy enough to live stream a meeting or go in person: Attend a Meeting.

*Meeting is broadcast live on Comcast Public Access and at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/champco1776

Where is Brookens?

Brookens Administrative Center
1776 East Washington Street
Urbana, Illinois 61802-4581
Phone: 217-384-3772

*After 4:30 the Washington Street side Parking Lot is Closed See Maps for the North East Parking Lot Access

Possible Auditor Replacements - UPDATE

[UPDATE 12/5: GOP Auditor Candidate selected. County Board Member of District 2 Diane Michaels]

[UPDATE 11/21: A quick answer on the Auditor being appointed *and* elected

Q: Pardon a dumb question, but just to be clear. If that happens as described, then there would be an election for Auditor as opposed to an appointed replacement? 

Champaign County Clerk: There will be both. The Board will appoint a replacement who will serve from 1/1/18 until a successor can be elected next November who will take office 12/1/18.]

[UPDATE 11/20: Some confusing information out of the County Clerk's office today. I'm not entirely sure (will update tomorrow), but it sounds like the Auditor's position will be elected if he resigns tomorrow, not appointed. From the County Clerk's facebook post:

From a note sent to our local Party Chairs, regarding the upcoming vacancy in the office of County Auditor:

"If the County Board tomorrow night votes to finalize John Farney's appointment as County Treasurer effective January 1, 2018, then Mr. Farney intends to resign as County Auditor on Wednesday, November 22, effective December 31, 2017.

Mr. Farney's resignation on November 22, 2017 creates a vacancy in the office of Auditor. Though his resignation isn't effective until December 31, the Election Code considers the vacancy to be created as of the date of his resignation. Because he is submitting his resignation during the current petition circulation period, statute says that candidates interested in running for the Auditor's unexpired two-year term may circulate petitions beginning on November 22, and file them during the normal filing period (November 27 through December 4).

I'm aware that this creates a very abbreviated circulation period, but the statutes are clear. If you have a candidate who can't gather the required signatures by December 4, please be aware that other options for winning nomination are still available (write-in candidacy; post-Primary party slating)."

So, tomorrow I suppose we find out if County Auditor Farney still resigns tomorrow, and if so, whether I need to update the County elections page.]

The headline is about another headline causing confusion in a Congressional race, down below it had some other local political tidbits including potential County Auditor candidates to fill John Farney's seat when he takes the County Treasurer job being vacated by a retirement. It's a bit of musical chairs, but hopefully the other County Offices page can explain the musical chairs going on better than I can in a paragraph. I'll try to update the office races as it becomes official.

Here's that News-Gazette article and relevant excerpt:

Tom Kacich: Misinterpreted tweet about Davis ruffles feathers
...
Champaign County Board member Diane Michaels of Rantoul on Tuesday became the first Republican to express interest in replacing John Farney as county auditor. Farney is in line to become the county treasurer when Dan Welch retires about 11 months early on Dec. 31.

Farney was the only person to apply to become treasurer and was selected by Republican precinct committeemen Monday night.

A similar process to replace Farney will begin soon, culminating in a Dec. 4 meeting when a new auditor will be appointed. Republicans get to name the new officeholders because voters chose Republicans in the most recent elections (2014 for treasurer, 2016 for auditor).

Michaels is the only person to go public for the auditor's position although GOP Chairman Mark Ballard said two others have expressed some level of interest.

"My 40 years of experience in banking and finance, as well as eight years service as a county board member, have given me the skills and knowledge I need to make a difference as county auditor," Michaels said. "The financial challenges facing Champaign County are enormous, and my experience can help us navigate toward solutions."

Also a good reminder to verify sources and context before jumping the gun on news these days. I try to be good about it, but it takes eternal vigilance. Especially these days. 

County Board and Nursing Home This Week

Sunday's News-Gazette mentioned the upcoming fight in a local political roundup article. Here's the relevant excerpt:

It's not clear what's going to happen at Tuesday night's Champaign County Board meeting regarding the county budget and the county-owned nursing home.

But things aren't getting better at the home, says County Auditor John Farney.

It has tapped the last $100,000 from a total of $500,000 the county board loaned to the facility earlier this year from the county general fund. As of Friday, he said, the nursing home had $380,000 on hand. But with an expected payroll of about $250,000 on Wednesday, that could knock it down again. And the facility owes $4.6 million to vendors and the county.

One major legal question facing the nursing home and the county is what happens when that $500,000 loan comes due at the end of December? Does it have to be paid immediately or does the county get in line with all the other vendors owed money, three of which are individually owed more than $300,000?

A lot of items got moved from the Committee of the Whole meeting last week to the full board due to the 6 and a half hour marathon that became. Reactions on that meeting here. Notes on that meeting here.

The Week Ahead 11/13 - 11/19

This week is a very busy week, so I'm posting an image link to the clickable PDF weekly calendar at the County main website:

A major meeting is the Committee of the Whole (what is this?) which will have some fireworks on the Nursing Home budget that the County Clerk as part of his County Executive campaign has been saying would cut 1.4 million into sheriff's jobs, threaten ballot boxes by reducing polling stations, etc... while Democrats find that to be patently false, from the full number and where costs can be saved, e.g. $300k for radios that will be obsolete in 5 years.

*Meeting is broadcast live on Comcast Public Access and at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/champco1776

Where is Brookens?

Brookens Administrative Center
1776 East Washington Street
Urbana, Illinois 61802-4581
Phone: 217-384-3772

*After 4:30 the Washington Street side Parking Lot is Closed See Maps for the North East Parking Lot Access

Nursing Home Reactions

Last night's six and half hour meeting (notes, notes, and more notes here) was a long train of budget discussions and dire warnings for the upcoming 2018 budget. The Republicans and department heads painted a pretty bleak picture. When they were going through each department on the areas of each budget, keeping in mind that everyone is jealous of their own funding, it did start to paint a picture of agencies already with a reduced staff making do with the bare essentials. e.g. Blakeman with the secretary for three lawyers, doing ones own IT, PR, relying on loaned free real estate for a program and relying on various outside grants to round out the numbers. 

I try to stay a bit cynical as politics is necessarily theatrical in part. But, it was hard to come away from that meeting without Snider's statement about the budget/cuts not having recovered from the great recession ringing true.

County Board Member Joshua Hartke shared this response:

The nursing home can be very sustainable. You just never hear about the 95% of its history when it was.

3 years ago, we had almost a million dollars in the bank, 200 residents, and 3 and 4 star ratings on care. Since Rauner came in as governor, they have gradually strangled the Medicaid approvals so much that we have fallen behind on payments.

Private nursing homes all over the state are declaring bankruptcy because of this. Our public facility is insulated from some of that, but only for a while.

This is publicly subsidized health care. If you believe in single payer or universal coverage or a public option, you need to be supportive of the nursing home.

Of COURSE administrators claim to be short staffed. I don't think I've ever been in a budget meeting where one of these folks came in and said, "Nope. Don't need anything new. We're doing just fine."

Where the problem is in our county is the fact that almost twenty years ago we installed PTELL property tax caps. That keeps the levy we can raise from being increased any more the CPI. Health care costs are constantly double that in how they increase.

So, again, single payer would be a solution. In the meantime, we have to fight for what our priorities are as citizens of this county. For me, that is providing nursing care to our oldest and most vulnerable citizens. Far more than anyone worried about whether their lawyers have enough secretaries.

Tom Kacich had a photo of the turnout:

Here's an excerpt from the News-Gazette which had an article on the meeting: Nursing home's future more uncertain after marathon meeting

URBANA — Taking advantage of the absence of two Democrats, a majority on the Champaign County Board on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning delivered a series of damaging blows to the county-owned nursing home.

Democrats Robert King and Shana Jo Crews were missing from the nearly 6 1 / 2-hour committee of the whole meeting that ended at 12:57 a.m. Wednesday, during which the board's 10 Republicans and Champaign Democrat Pattsi Petrie failed to approve separate motions to renew or rescind $400,000 in loans made earlier this year to the nursing home from the county's general fund.

The result is that County Auditor John Farney, in one of his last official acts before he becomes the county treasurer, would have to collect on the loans to the nursing home on Dec. 29.

The current treasurer, Dan Welch, told the county board that the nursing home already is cash strapped, with only $117,000 on hand Tuesday and another biweekly payroll due next week.

The first vote, to renew the loans, failed 10-10.

The second one, to rescind the loans, lost 11-9.

Rescinding the loans would have meant that the county would recognize the loans as "bad debt since there's no likelihood of repayment," resulting in a $400,000 loss to the county's general fund.

It's unclear whether the county board can revisit the issue — and possibly take another vote — next Tuesday.