The Week Ahead 1/7 - 1/13

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

There's a special County Board Meeting before the regularly scheduled Committee of the Whole Board Meeting this Tuesday at 6pm dealing with Nursing Home issues, specially whether to let the broker start receiving bids to sell it. Post with links to the recent N-G article on that here. The agenda lists the various votes:

The 6:30pm Committee of the Whole agenda afterward looks a bit sparse beyond the usual reports and oddball budget items, so the special meeting may be where the fireworks happen... or perhaps just where the fuses get lit. We'll see Tuesday!

The 2018 schedule is up on the Calendar page and the County page. The regular County Board meetings are back to Thursdays until next holiday season.

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

Republican County Board Appointment Notice

If you're a Republican interested in a County Board appointment, there's a brief window to apply and be interviewed by party officials. From their facebook notice:

NOTICE: Special Meeting of Precinct Committeemen in County Board District Two (2) to Appoint a County Board Member

Date and Time of Meeting: Monday, January 8, 2018 6 PM

Location: Rantoul Township Office
121 N Garrard, Rantoul, IL

Any Republican who lives in County Board District Two who wishes to be considered as a candidate for appointment to fill the unexpired term of the vacancy on County Board must complete an application and return it by email to the chairman of the Champaign County Republican party at chairman@champaigncountygop.com no later than 5pm on Saturday, January 6, 2018.

Nursing Home on the Chopping Block and Board Vacancies

Well, that didn't take long. The Champaign County Nursing Home is back on the chopping block straight out of the gate in a special session before the regularly scheduled Committee of the Whole County Board meeting Tuesday, January 9th. I can't tell if there's any new argument other than the financial situation is still dire. Read the full article on for a brief run down of the grim numbers.

Also for folks wanting to become more involved in local government, there's nothing like being in local government. The full article also notes that there are now vacancies on the Nursing Home Board. Applications for appointments are available through the county website appointments page.

For a quick look ahead check out the recent The Year Ahead and County Resolutions posts. 

N-G article excerpt on the upcoming County Board special session.

Tom Kacich: County board diving in head-first on nursing home's future

Champaign County Board members are wasting little time before diving into what could be their biggest issue of 2018: the future of the county-owned nursing home.

They'll meet in a special session at 6 p.m. Jan. 9 to vote on a package of nursing-home-related issues, in particular whether to issue a request for proposals to sell the facility. At one point, former county Administrator Rick Snider said that a broker estimated the county could get as much as $11 million in a sale.

Last April, by a margin of 54 percent to 46 percent, county voters authorized the county board in an advisory referendum to sell the nursing home.

The last attempt to request proposals from private companies to buy the nursing home failed in October on an 11-11 vote, with all but one of the board's 12 Democrats (Pattsi Petrie of Champaign) voting down the motion.

It just remains to be seen if this is all political or if there's actually a chance that someone is realistically expecting a different result from a few months ago.

County Resolutions

Following up from the last Year Ahead post, the News-Gazette laid out some New Year's resolutions as political goals for voters and elected officials alike in a two part editorial (Part 1 here, Part 2 here). County excerpts below:

Resolutions for 2018, Part I of II
For the Champaign County Board: Act on the recommendations from the Racial Justice Task Force.

A month ago, the task force issued its 31-point report. Now the ball is the county board's court. The board created the task force two years ago. It's time for the board members to hold up their end of the bargain and evaluate the report.

Urbana Democrat Robert King, who chairs the board's Justice and Social Services Committee, said he believes the county board won't let the recommendations gather dust.

Given the county's fiscal limitations, acting on some of the recommendations may not be practical. But others, such as releasing defendants before trial rather than holding them in the county jail, may be "low hanging fruit," as one task force said.


Resolutions for 2018, Part II of II
For the Champaign County Board: Sell the county nursing home.

We understand a significant portion of the public wants the Champaign County Nursing Home to remain open as a publicly owned facility. But there are too many factors weighing against that option.

First, the home has been losing money for years. While it continues to meet payroll, the facility owes $5.1 million to vendors and the county government as of Dec. 12. Even with a new management company in charge, the nursing home is still spending more money than it takes in. According to the county auditor, the home overspends revenues by about $130,000 a month.

Second, the nursing home is not a service the county is mandated to provide. By diverting money to the nursing home, other mission-critical services and building maintenance go unfunded.

Third, taxpayers should not be subsidizing a service that the private sector already provides. A private company has to operate within its means, or it goes out of business. When a government enterprise incurs a deficit, it looks to the taxpayers to bail it out.

In April, voters rejected higher taxes to support the nursing home, and they voted to authorize the county board to sell it. It's time for the county board to listen to its constituents.

The Week Ahead 12/31 - 1/6

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

The 2018 schedule is up on the Calendar page and the County page. The regular County Board meetings are back to Thursdays until next holiday season. This week starts off with a couple swearing in ceremonies and an amendment on solar farms according to the Environmental and Land Use Committee agenda.

The real excitement probably starts next Tuesday with the Committee of the Whole looking at where they landed in from 2017 and towards the financial hurdles and goals of 2018 in an election year full of State and federal issues that could squeeze local budgets even harder!

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

The Year Ahead

First of all: Vote!

Upcoming Elections:
Primary: March 20, 2018
General: November 6, 2018

But be informed when you do it! Tom Kacich laid out some of the promises and statements at various levels of our government by the politicians we can either hold accountable to their word or slip by another year. This year is an election year so expect a lot of big talk overshadowing real record. Here are the excerpts about the county:

Tom Kacich: Officials at all levels of government look ahead to 2018

Remember how Congress and the Trump administration couldn't get anything done all year until the GOP tax plan was passed in December, how the Illinois Legislature and Gov. Bruce Rauner couldn't get a budget passed for more than two years and how the Champaign County Board couldn't get anything done about the financially plagued county nursing home?

Next year should be better, your elected officials say.

The nursing home "will have to be dealt with," said county board Chairman C. Pius Weibel...

Perhaps this will be a year of action.

At the county level, a decision on putting the nursing home up for sale "is a possibility," Weibel said coyly.

"Obviously, the nursing home issue is one that will have to be dealt with" in 2018, he said.

"We also need to find direction on the downtown jail. We've talked about it, but we've never really said this is what we're going to do and how we're going to do it," said the county board chairman who is not running for re-election.

There's plenty of county board support for closing the jail, he said, but there's no consensus on whether to add onto the satellite jail in east Urbana.

"I would like to close it, but you have to have a plan to do that," he said. "It's an old building that is taking a lot of money. It has ADA problems. Plus, it's inefficient both from an operations viewpoint and a financial viewpoint."

All politics may be local, but a lot of our local politics is a nightmare because State and federal funding that, regardless of your political philosophy, involves your tax dollars coming back to fund basic services most of us do want and support through those local governments. When the State and federal government cut funding they rely on without any alternative, the people who rely on them to keep our communities safe and taken care of during the worst of times are devastated.

Local politicians sometimes like to talk about local government as if it is in a bubble. All of it is connected. Get the whole story and demand it acts in your interests, not their party's.

Jimmy John's Owner Aids Local Criminal Justice Program

A program designed to keep kids out of the criminal justice system is getting a new home, thanks to a donation from a local business owner. From the WCIA news Illinois Hompage.net:

Donation provides new home for youth program

State's Attorney Julia Reitz announced Jimmy John Liautaud and his wife gave $50,000 to support the Champaign County Youth Assessment Center. It needs to find a new facility.

It was using space, rent free, from Unit 4, but district leaders say they now need that space.

Jimmy John's sandwich restaurant chain is owned by the same. The Chicago Tribune had an interview with and about him recently about his business and him no longer big game hunting after a controversy that still haunts his image to this day.. As far as PR goes, this is certainly better than the news about his chain this time last year when he was settling a labor dispute with the Attorney General.

Regardless of any speculation on his motivations this was a definite need of a local program that has had objective results, so in the end a welcome bit of philanthropy this holiday season.

Nursing Home Lawsuit and County Board Summary

[UPDATE 12/22: Notes from the meeting added below (jump to here). Also the County Clerk uploaded the video, available here: https://www.youtube.com/user/champaigncountyclerk ]

In the ever dire news of the Nursing Home debt, a vendor is suing over a chunk of the roughly $2.7 million owed to vendors overall (not including subsidizing loans from the County or other budget issues). Excerpt from the N-G:

Former county nursing home vendor sues over $235,000 in unpaid bills

A Pennsylvania-based company that once provided dietary and housekeeping services at the Champaign County Nursing Home has filed suit against the nursing home and the county, alleging breach of contract and asking to be paid about $235,000.

Health Care Services Group of Bucks County, Pa., filed the lawsuit earlier this month, saying that the nursing home was behind in its payments.

According to the suit, the nursing home was to pay HCSG $60,955 a month for services provided. But as of Oct. 31, the suit said, the county owed the company $234,622.

Last week, in a report to the county board, County Auditor John Farney said that HCSG had been owed $234,610 on Nov. 8 but that by Dec. 12, the sum had been reduced to $182,278 after a payment on Nov. 29.

In the County Board meeting, the N-G had a summary, excerpts with a quick run down quoted below:

Champaign County Board OKs hiring law firms to sue opioid makers

Champaign County Board members voted unanimously Tuesday to join other Illinois counties that have hired law firms to pursue claims against drug makers believed to be partly responsible for the nation's opioid crisis.

The 21-0 vote came without debate.

Under the agreement, three Illinois law firms will split 25 percent of the gross amount recovered on behalf of the county...

Meanwhile, the board deferred action until January on two items related to the county-owned nursing home.

One was to renew $500,000 in loans from the county's general corporate fund to the home. The original terms said they had to be repaid by Dec. 31.

The second item calls for the issuance of more than $1 million in tax-anticipation warrants —essentially short-term loans to be repaid with property-tax revenue in the spring — to help the nursing home's cash-flow problems.

Champaign Republican Jim McGuire said he asked for the deferral on the nursing home issues because "we just need more time to accomplish some things. There is a lot going on in the background, and we just weren't ready tonight."

"We're discussing things and working together to get some things accomplished," McGuire said. "Some financial issues have come up, and we're just waiting to see what happens. We're trying to settle things down. We're getting there, but we're not there yet, so in January we hope to get some things accomplished."

Board members also approved, 19-1, the county's participation in an application to establish a land bank that advocates say would be a more efficient way of acquiring blighted properties and redeveloping them. The village of Rantoul is the lead agency in the application to the Illinois Housing Development Authority, along with the cities of Champaign and Urbana and the county. One goal of the land bank, said county zoning director John Hall, is to make the agency self-sustaining.

Also Tuesday night, the board approved the appointments of Richard Barnes of Urbana to the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District board; Susan Fowler and Thom Moore, both of Champaign, to the county mental health board; and county board Republican Diane Michaels of Rantoul as the new county auditor, effective Jan. 1. She succeeds John Farney, who will become the county treasurer, replacing Dan Welch, who is retiring after 19 years in that position.

Also, the board named a five-person committee to review the upcoming transition to a county-executive form of government. Champaign County will elect a partisan county executive next November, and the powerful position will become effective in December 2018. Appointed to the committee were Democrats C. Pius Weibel, Kyle Patterson and Steve Summers, and Republicans Jim Goss and McGuire.

Board member James Tinsley, an Urbana Democrat, was absent from Tuesday's meeting.

Amy's 12/19 County Board Notes:

The January County Facilities Committee meeting (scheduled for Jan. 2) was canceled. No public participation at this meeting. During the Communications portion, upcoming events that were announced include a January 12 Martin Luther King event at Vineyard Church in Urbana and a February 25 Art Fair organized by the Friends of the Champaign County Nursing Home.

During the Finance portion of the meeting, resolutions 10187 and 10188 both received a motion to defer the decision to January. Both times, the motion was raised by Councilman McGuire and passed on a voice vote.

Resolution 10186, Authorizing Purchases Not Following Purchasing Policy was for several thousand dollars in extra Nursing Home supplies (from janitorial, soap, etc) according to the full agenda. The motion passed.

Resolution 10191 Establishing a County Executive Style of Government Transition Committee was approved. Wiebel said that the committee would consist of Patterson, Summer, McGuire, Goss and Wiebel.

Three agenda items of the night received the most discussion.

The first was Environment and Land Use Resolution 10166 Authorizing Champaign County Participation in a Joint Application with Municipalities for the Illinois Housing Development Authority Land Bank Capacity Program. I believe that Esry gave the presentation and stated that the short notice to this request was due to a grant deadline of 1/15. This grant will offset the costs of creating an operating land bank to more efficiently address and dispose of damaged properties. Rantoul will lead the agency, with duties to include a feasibility analysis, developing operational plans, and initiating the land bank. It is anticipated that the agency will become self-supporting through income from the land bank with no cost to the cities involved. Questions were raised to Mr. Hall (Head of Planning and Zoning Department) regarding whether or not a board would be established and questions about liability issues.

The second were the Rural Transit Service Report for FY2017 and the approval of a Budget Amendment for State Capital Grant toward Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Software to improve services. Zoe Keller reported on the implementation and growing ridership of the Rantoul Deviated-Fixed Route, available for just over a year.

The third was regarding Resolution 10195 to pursue claims against opioid manufacturers. This was pretty well covered by the News Gazette. The only addition that I’d add is, as Council member Furtado pointed out, this request is rather timely given last week’s COW approval of additional funds to the coroner’s office needed to fund, in part, the increased number of tests for an ever-changing range of opioid compositions on the street.

Committee of the Whole - N-G

Video of the the 12/12 meeting is available at the Champaign County Clerk's YouTube Channel Link.

A little late, but here's the N-G report from the Committee of the Whole (more about what this is at Attend a Meeting) County Board meeting last week (full story here):

Longtime Rantoul banker slated to become county's next auditor

On Jan. 1, the Rantoul woman will succeed John Farney as Champaign County auditor. Farney is in line to become the new county treasurer when Dan Welch retires.

On Tuesday night, the Champaign County Board's committee of the whole unanimously recommended appointing Michaels to the position. A formal vote is set for Dec. 19...

In other business:

— The county board voted 12 to 9 against a resolution dissolving the County Nursing Home Board of Directors.

"My request was to bring more accountability to the county board," said county board member Jim Goss.

"The board of directors is an advisory board. It has no fiscal responsibilities," said county board Chairman C. Pius Weibel.

"If this body doesn't exist, what is it that you are proposing to replace it with?" asked County Administrator Deb Busey.

— By voice vote, the county board voted recommended issuing $1,076,760 in tax anticipation warrants for the nursing home.

"The deficit at the nursing home continues to grow throughout the year," Farney said. "The home is losing about $130,000 a month."

"It is important that we develop a buffer to pay the employees first," said board member Brooks Marsh.

Nursing home officials reported that census numbers are up, but expenses are also up.

"We have a long way to go to balance this out," said board member Pattsi Petrie.

— The county board recommended by voice vote renewing $500,000 in unpaid loans to the nursing home.

— The board unanimously approved endorsing the Illinois Bicentennial Celebration.

Committee of the Whole Preview

More information coming soon, but a quick run down of the Committee of the Whole on 12/12:

1. New auditor appointed-Diane Michaels.

2. Roll call requested for the resolution dissolving County Nursing Home Board of Directors. Discussion followed. Fails on a roll call.

3. Last item on the agenda was an approval to create a "County Executive Style of Government Transition Committee." It will be a 5 member committee, with members selected at next week’s meeting.

The Week Ahead 12/11 - 12/17

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

Big highlight this week. The Committee of the Whole County Board meeting is this week.

There's a vote on dissolving the Nursing Home Board of Directors that could be contentious. There are also end of the year issues with Nursing Home loans and aftershocks of last month's budget seem likely (at least from a peek at the agenda). Board Member Diane Michaels, I believe, is set to be appointed to be County Auditor in the latest county GOP musical chairs.

The Committee of the Whole and regular County Board meetings are on Tuesdays again due to the holidays. The main monthly calendar is  at the county website. 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

Public Primary Primer

A local group is offering a public information meeting on primary candidates in January for the upcoming March 20, 2018 primary elections. Here's their banner and facebook event link:

Event details from the facebook event link:

The Primary is coming! The Primary is coming!

March 20, 2018 is Primary Election Day. Primaries have historically had terrible voter turnout and then people don’t like their ballot choices in November! Let’s change that.

Join us on January 21st at 2pm in Robeson Pavilion Room A for a Primary Primer. We’ll go over all the races, candidates, seats, and ways to vote in this year’s Primary.

More information about them is available from their facebook page, their website, and this quick blurb from the about section:

Our goal is to build community while realigning the local elected officials, boards, commissions, and policies to reflect a People's Agenda that supports our safety net programs, addresses institutionalized oppression and gives a voice and power to the most marginalized community members. This an opportunity for us to get to know our neighbors, learn about the rich legacy of local victories for equity & justice, and strategize to build political power in CU.

Last Minute County Candidate Filings

Among the numerous candidate filings this week, I'd been keeping up fairly well on the election page and the county office races page. But I have two more to add tonight. From the News-Gazette:

Two surprises in last day of candidate filings for March primary

— Six more people — four of them Democrats — made official their candidacy for Champaign County seats. They include Democrat Darlene Kloeppel of Urbana for county executive, Champaign Democrat George Danos for county auditor and former Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing for county treasurer.

Diane Michaels of Rantoul became a Republican candidate for county auditor and Greg Worrell of Thomasboro became a GOP contender for sheriff, joining Allen Jones of Rantoul.

Pranjal Vachaspati, a Democrat, filed to run as a candidate in County Board District 9, where Incumbent Democrat Shana Jo Crews is not running for re-election.

Former Champaign County office holders were also running elsewhere in the state, for those keeping tabs:

— Tio Hardiman of Calumet City, a Democratic candidate for governor, along with his lieutenant governor running mate, Patricia Avery of Champaign. Avery is a former chair of the Champaign County Board.

...

— Champaign Democrat Mike Frerichs, seeking a second term as state treasurer. A Republican candidate, Jim Dodge of Orland Park, also brought his petitions to the State Board of Elections.

For those just becoming active in politics, or more active than general presidential elections, these past few months have been the time when races really begin and are shaped for the upcoming year. It's not too late to get involved and influence the choices (down to which choices survive to be on the general ballot). But when all your friends were saying they're sick of politics, now is not the time? This is exactly when people miss out on a lot of democracy. With regular citizens collecting ballot petitions all over town and fund raising numbers starting to show the viability (or lack thereof) of candidates ability to raise money and compete.