Build Programs Not Jails 6/20

First an important notice for folks thinking of attending future meetings, the next "every other Wednesday" falls on July 4th and public transportation will be limited with the MTD closed for the holiday. The next meeting was moved to July 11th with the every other Wednesday continuing after that.

Updates 
The jail population is a bit higher in may in June (roughly 150 to low 160s), which may just be due to typical summer increase in activity. Reports on events attended included the recent presentation on Pedestrian Stop Data (a Power Point from that presentation has been added to the previous post I had on it). They also discussed the Juneteenth BPNJ table and outreach work.

There was discussion of Electronic Monitoring and the Challenging E-Carceration campaign. There will be an event coming up in Chicago about challenging Electronic Monitoring in Cook County that people from the group will be carpooling to attend. People were encouraged to check out a new blog on the subject: #NoDigitalPrisons. Concerns were raised about the pace of technology and the nonchalant or malicious use of such tracking and surveillance applications versus any real value towards criminal justice goals. As devices get smaller, more functional, and more invasive (from chipping people like pets or advancements in nanotechnology) the civil rights issues continue to grow.

Reforms to criminal justice fines and fees were discussed. A complicated new bill addressing the subject was highlighted in an article referenced in that conversation: Illinois Takes First Step in Criminal Justice Debt Reform With Passage of HB 4594- The Criminal and Traffic Assessment Act.

A few other topics were touched upon, but not substantively due to waiting on more information, responses, or relevant members' next attendance.

Projects
A number of possible future projects were discussed as well as the resources needed versus those available to carry out. The cyclical nature of this university town has a lot less manpower and resources over the summer due to the transient student population. In the short term more focused work on preparing for outreach at CU Day and a possible future local Narcan training project were discussed. More long term projects that would need more manpower resources or collaboration were discussed for a community brake light repair project and a bail fund project.

The brake light repair project would be based on a similar idea in New Orleans. that addresses some of the high costs of low income living and avoiding additional traffic stops in areas with inequity in criminal justice practices. The bail fund project would be part of growing efforts in the United States to deal with unfair bail practices that deny justice and fairness to the accused without resources. Where small infractions they may never even be convicted of can result in crippling economic ramifications as well as long and unnecessary jailing.

A possible community safety night was discussed, based on an Oakland program to bring communities together and mitigate the pressure towards and dangers of over-policing.

Politics
The Champaign County Sheriff's race has a new Democratic candidate that demanded a look at possible future scenarios and a discussion on where the candidates stand on the issues and electoral environment and possible reception. Immigration issues locally and nationally may intersect more and candidates appear to be pro-actively attempting to paint themselves as reasonable and moderate. That strategy may neither appeal to or move the more passionate partisans and ideologues of either side. It could, however, butter up the middle in a "go along to get along" Midwestern town that's desperate for normalcy in abnormal times. I might just be projecting my own concerns there, so take that as you will.

Canvassing and voter registration events are happening for a lot of the local candidates as we're now less than 150 days to the election. The protest against ICE and its heavy handed new mandate in town was discussed. A suggestion to be aware that if anyone joins other groups in the July 4th parade, they may not appreciate signs for other groups being displayed. Check first.

Next meeting
July 11th at 7pm, due to the July 4th holiday interrupting public transportation service.

The Week Ahead: 6/24 - 6/30

*** Next month (July) will likely have a lot of cancellations outside of the regular County Board meeting. Build Programs Not Jails will not be meeting on July 4th due to there being no CUMTD service that day. Meetings will resume every other Wednesday starting July 11th. More info below.  ***

Other Events:

There are a lot of political campaign and organizing events popping up. A long planned progressive organizing meeting is coming up Saturday, more information at their facebook event Building the Blue Wave. Check out your preferred candidates and you will likely see campaign, canvassing, or voter registration events in the area. Many are using facebook to more easily share event information and reminders. Check out the Champaign County Voter Alliance's preliminary general election candidate guide to see who is running. We'll be updating County race information from the primary election to the general soon.
 
Groups that crossover with Racial Justice Task Force recommendations meeting this week:

Build Programs Not Jails doesn't meet this week. Meetings are usually every other Wednesday at 7pm at the IMC. Due to the July 4th holiday disrupting public transportation, the next meeting is July 11th.

The Housing Authority of Champaign County Board of Commissioners has its monthly meeting Thursday June 28th at 3pm at their offices at 205 W. Park Ave (agenda here when available). 

County Calendar:

The week kicks off Tuesday with the The Local Emergency Planning Committee (agenda here). It deals with issues related to Illinois and Federal Emergency Management Agency issues, including training and response programs. I don't know if they will discuss the tornado siren protocol (recent changed as noted in the News-Gazette). There is public participation on the agenda to hear comments from the public. For an idea of what a meeting is like, check out the previous meeting minutes here. This meeting is held at ILEAS which is just north of Nursing Home, North of Brookens (Map!).

On Wednesday there are the Mental Health and Developmental Disability boards. If you're interested in finding out more about county Mental Health and Developmental Disability programs and agencies they can be a bit wonky. They are, however, very interesting if you want to see all of the gears moving to provide care to so many in our community. If you're interested in what an MHB or DDB meeting is like, here are a couple write up examples: Mental Health Board 2018, Developmental Disabilities Board 10/25/2017.

The Zoning Board of Appeals meeting Thursday night may continue to address concerns with Solar Farm noise and proximity to homes (upcoming agenda here). Board page here.

The full 2018 schedule is 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

Fab Lab Summer Camp and Local Collaboration

An amazing local collaboration resulted in access to a high tech summer camp for Urbana kids. From the News-Gazette Wednesday:

Grant lets C-U Fab Lab bring cutting-edge summer camp to Urbana kids
...
A cutting-edge summer camp offers chances to play "Minecraft," program computers and use 3-D printers. But, often, chances like this come with a price tag.

Jeff Ginger knows. As the director of Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab — short for fabrication laboratory — he's watched as his University of Illinois-sponsored camps draw a similar able-to-pay crowd every summer.

"One of the downsides of these camps is that they tend to be kids that are home-schooled or kids that have access to the university," he said. "We wanted to get out of the university and into other populations."

This year, Ginger and other Fab Lab affiliates didn't go very far: They took their programming to the Urbana Neighborhood Connections Center and organized two, two-week summer camps around space and computer technology...

Since the camp's equipment — computers, 3-D printers and a router, among other items — came from an Urbana-Champaign Big Broadband grant, all of it will remain at UNCC after the camps formally end, meaning Daniels and other kids can pick up right where they left off.

Ginger would like to see the camps' programming expand into classrooms, but noted there are all kinds of "structural barriers," like a class having 30 students and one teacher, or only a half-hour to try to implement technology like Champaign-Urbana Fab Lab offers. If it can't expand via classroom, Ginger said after-school and summer sites become integral for accessibility...

For Ginger, the summer camps represent at least two things. First is the power of local collaboration.

"Janice Mitchell (the director of UNCC) provided the space and UC2B provided the grant," he said. "It wasn't entirely just the university coming in and setting this up."

And second, responsiveness to what kids actually want.

More at the full article here. More information about the Urbana Neighborhood Connections Center here, the Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab here, and Urbana Champaign Big Broadband here.

Area Blood Shortage and Drive

There's an area blood shortage as we approach the July 4th holiday. Here's the full blurb from yesterday's News-Gazette:

Blood donations urged as two products run critically low
Two blood products used by area hospitals are at critically low levels, and donors are needed especially in the days before the July 4 holiday, according to Community Blood Services of Illinois.

The agency called on all eligible donors to step up, saying the supplies of type O and type B red cells have reached critical levels.

The blood center typically experiences a significant drop in donations during the summer, according to Amanda Hess, director of donor relations.

"There are weeks we collect 1,000 fewer units than we normally do in the spring and fall, especially surrounding the summer holidays," she said.

Donations of all blood types and products are needed, but inventories of type O-negative, O-positive, B-negative and B-positive red cells, along with all types of platelet products, are the most urgently needed before July 4, the agency said.

To schedule a donor appointment at a Community Blood Services of Illinois center or mobile blood drive, call 800-217-4483. More information on blood drives is at bloodcenterimpact.org.

Web article here. Additional information on local blood donations here: https://www.bloodcenter.org/home.aspx

Census Report Data

The US Census Bureau released updated data on the Midwest this week (direct link to their data browsing tool here). There were a few highlights in the News-Gazette yesterday:

Census: County's Asian population on the rise
Come 2035, the number crunchers at the Census Bureau report, history will be made: For the first time, there will be more people over age 65 (78 million) than under 18 (76.4 million) living in the U.S.

Closer to home, that's a long way from playing out in Champaign County, where the median age remains a smidge under 30 (28.6 for men, 31.5 for women), according to a fresh batch of population estimates due to be released today by the bureau...

— Asians make up 12 percent of Champaign County's population. Accounting for another 14.9 percent: the 32,230 black or African-American residents — though that figure is less unique, putting Champaign at 278th nationally. (For overall population, it's No. 318 — sandwiched between Pennsylvania's Lackawanna County and Alabama's Tuscaloosa County.)

...

— One of a couple handfuls of Illinois counties to grow every year this decade, Champaign (pop. 209,399) should have 10th place on Illinois' most-populous-counties list all to itself for years to come, with 12,947 more residents than No. 11 Sangamon.

More at the full article here. Additional data links from the related Census Bureau news release on the Midwest data:

This is the last of the population estimates for 2017. Previous estimates include national, county, metro area, city and town population estimates. The population estimates as of July 1, 2017, do not reflect displacement or other migratory changes to the nation’s population due to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in August and September 2017. For information on how the country is projected to change through 2060, view our previous release, Older People Projected to Outnumber Children for First Time in U.S. History.

Our QuickFacts data tool is now mobile friendly and updated with the newest population characteristics data released today. Data from today’s release are also available on American FactFinder and Population Clock.

CU Student Activist Organization

 

(Photo from a previous meeting)

A group of area students met Tuesday night to get organized and active in local political issues that affect their lives. The Student Activist Organization (SAO) includes many students and student leaders who had met and organized around the recent marches, walkouts and town halls concerned with gun violence and possible reforms. In last night's meeting of two dozen students, they laid out preliminary organizational structures and broader issue and project teams.

Some of the future work proposed included tutorial videos and educational tools for students to understand how local government works and how to effect policy changes they'd like to see. Issues such as improved sexual education with an emphasis on consent, drug policy and marijuana decriminalization, protections for marginalized groups in the community, as well as gun reform were discussed among others. They will be soliciting input from interested students about interest in committees that would be teams working on various issue areas and administrative roles.

There were a couple local candidates who offered advice and ideas as well. Urbana Alderman and County Clerk candidate Aaron Ammons was in attendance as well as Ben Chapman, a County Board candidate for District 1. Ammons encouraged them to focus their efforts and advised them how to avoid organizational pitfalls that political activist groups often face. Chapman offered examples of similar college organizations and committee structures they could either work from or modify to their specific goals.

Many students were already planning to participate in upcoming political actions on immigration, canvassing for candidates, etc. They already had the beginnings of a newsletter and a broad social media presence to help keep members informed and connected. They had assembled and were expanding a press list and discussed media strategy. Ammons offered advice on using local groups already specialized in various areas and projects to avoid re-inventing the wheel, but also as experts in their own perspectives and concerns to help inform government bodies and leaders of their needs and the issues they face. Local radio show opportunities through WEFT and the Independent Media Center were discussed along with a YouTube channel for more direct outreach on demand.

Overall there was a desire to learn more and help others know how local government works, which government bodies to go to for various issues, and long term solutions as they see projects through from conception to policy and/or law. Like many adults they found the initial foray into local government organization a bit intimidating, but were highly motivated to overcome the learning curve and encourage better civics education among themselves and for future students. They discussed a serious need in our schools to better prepare citizens for participating in their actual democratic institutions.

After having settled on next tasks until their next meeting they adjourned the general meeting and the design committee went to work on some of the logos and graphics they had designed and proposed.

It would have been an impressive start for adults organizing an indivisible or similar political activist group to get involved. I think it's safe to say that these students shouldn't be underestimated. Check them out on facebook, twitter, or their instagram at cu_sao.

Aquifer Gas Leak Issues

Residents discussed the gas leak ramifications and possible solutions in a public meeting yesterday night. From today's News-Gazette:

Water issue 'getting worse'
...
At the meeting, officials with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Oil and Gas Resource Management outlined their efforts on the issue, including 3-D modeling by the IEPA of below-ground areas. That will help determine where the remaining leaked gas might be trapped, so relief wells can be installed to "flare off" the gas.

And Mike Mankowski, director of the state's Oil and Gas Resource Management office, outlined new federal rules regulating underground natural gas storage, prompted by other leaks across the U.S.

But he emphasized that Illinois needs its own more stringent regulations, ones that would allow more monitoring of the state's 1,186 underground gas storage wells, bring tougher enforcement measures, lead to more personnel inspecting oil and gas wells, and provide more funding to make it all happen...

The task force of mostly local and state government officials, as well as experts from water-related organizations and agencies, is in the early stages of delivering groundwater protection recommendations to the state by year's end. But on Monday, members focused most of the meeting on the Peoples Gas situation, which began to unfold in late 2016 when some residents in the Mahomet area began noticing issues with their well water.

More on the leak and legal ramifications at the full article here. More on the Mahomet Aquifer Task force at their website.

Invasive Plants and Awareness

When it comes to landscaping and planning for all these parks and plazas hockey stadiums, there can be threats to the eco-system by invasive species. In a region that relies on agriculture and ag science, that could be more than a mere annoyance. From the News-Gazette a few days ago:
In the Garden | Fighting invasive plants
Many of us are utterly unaware of the serious threat these plants present to the native plant diversity of our natural areas.

Thankfully, there is a group of trained ecologists, volunteers and other plant enthusiasts who focus on invasive-plant issues and fight these destructive plants on a daily basis in central Illinois.

The Headwaters Invasive Plant Partnership was formed in 2015 to raise awareness of the invasive-plant issue by making sure area residents have access to information in order to recognize problematic plants and their negative effects on the environment. The group has produced excellent informational materials (such as the Invasive Plants and Beautiful Native Alternatives brochure), sponsors educational events and organizes volunteers to hit the front lines in the battle against invasive plants.

The group established the first Cooperative Weed Management Area in central Illinois, although many others exist across the country. These areas typically rely on voluntary participation from government agencies, nonprofit organizations, private landowners and concerned citizens.

The partnership's mission focuses on reducing the impact of invasive plants in central Illinois, including everything from awareness and early detection of invasives to rapid response and control of invasive-plant populations.
The full article is here and explains a recent awareness project that had odd synthetic plants popping up around downtown Champaign. They had advice for folks with gardens and their own landscaping work:

The take-home message is that we need to be more responsible for plant material we buy and exercise our right as consumers to carefully select the plants we buy. Since all of the invasives I listed above are currently for sale at local retail outlets, it's really important to understand the plant you are taking home.

Kaleb Lukens, the local partnership's newly hired program coordinator, offers some expert advice if you would like to be more proactive in stopping the spread of invasive species: "Gardeners should aim to identify the scientific name of what they're planning to buy, which can be used to search an Illinois invasive-species list.

"It can also be helpful to check guides and find suppliers that sell natives," Lukens said. "This way, gardeners are not only ensuring that they aren't part of the problem, but also helping to be part of the solution. Both an invasive species list and a native-plant-purchasing guide can be found on our website, Ilhipp.org."

CU Fresh Start Call-Ins

A local program that tries to help those most at risk to be part of gun violence down a different path has started it's latest "call-in." More on the CU Fresh Start program from their website here, or a Cheat Sheet overview here. From the News-Gazette last week:

CU Fresh Start's fourth 'call-in' group has six members
At the community's fourth CU Fresh Start "call-in" intervention to stop local gun violence, facilitator Tracy Parsons acknowledged that the program continues trying to find its footing.

At Thursday night's event, part of a broad initiative to curb a spate of shootings locally, a group of six black men heard stern messages from local law enforcement, government and community members. The men were encouraged to put their guns down in exchange for resources that can help rebuild their lives.

The men — selected by law enforcement — are all at least 18 years old, on probation or parole, connected with a recent violent crime and have a prior felony arrest, gun arrest or violent crime conviction...

Those who commit to Fresh Start will work with community liaison Donte Lotts. He transports them to job interviews and help them get in touch with new opportunities. But he said it isn't easy to work around employers who won't hire those with conviction records, or temp agencies that don't help with finding sustained employment.

"It's a community decision on how supportive we're going to be of these men," Lotts said. "If they're staying away from guns, then what will the benefits be?"

More at the full article here. A previous story on the last call-in here.

The Week Ahead: 6/17 - 6/23

*** There is a County Board meeting this Thursday. Agenda here. If you'd like to attend a County Board meeting, you can find more information on how to attend here. ***

Other Events:

The CU Student Activist Organization will be meeting on Tuesday June 19th from 6-8pm in the Busey Bank Conference Center on the second floor of the Champaign Public Library.
 
Groups that crossover with Racial Justice Task Force recommendations meeting this week:

Build Programs Not Jails meets Wednesday, June 20th at 7pm at the Independent Media Center.

County Calendar:

The week kicks off Monday with the County Executive Transition Committee that is establishing the rules and guidelines for the new County Executive form of government. Previous minutes, handouts, and agendas here (under 2018 meetings - note that the most recent minutes are in the next meeting's agenda packet awaiting approval). These meetings are open to the public and held in the Putnam Room (map).

On Tuesday there is a Litigation Committee meeting, but most of that will be in closed session due to the content (agenda packet here).

There's also a County Board of Health meeting Tuesday at 5:30pm at the CU Public Health Department building at 201 W. Kenyon Rd (map) in Champaign. Agenda here.

There is a County Board meeting this Thursday. Agenda here. If you'd like to attend a County Board meeting, you can find more information on how to attend here.

The full 2018 schedule is 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

Committee of the Whole 6/12

 
In the wake of the Champaign County Nursing Home vote to sell last month, this meeting was far less contentious (and shorter). The video is available on the County Clerk's YouTube Channel here. Here's a quick write up:

Public Participation:
Claudia Lenhoff of the Champaign County Health Care Consumers asked the board, and the general public watching, to ensure the terms and conditions of the county nursing home sale are upheld, including it's capacity and employee protections.

Mark Sheldon of the Recorder's office spoke against a referendum being put on the ballot to merge the County Recorder's Office into the County Clerk's Office. He argues that it is better to keep it independent and accountable. He made arguments along cost and impact to services to support his opposition. [UPDATE: The News-Gazette argued that it should be merged afterward in an editorial column here.]

Communications:
Jon Rector spoke up about his frustration with the tornado sirens not sounding with two funnel clouds. He was not satisfied with the explanation by the director of the Emergency Management Agency that it technically was within protocol not to without more verification. McGuire thanked the first responders.

Petrie asked interim Administrator Busey to go over the details of the Nursing Home process regarding the terms and conditions Lenhoff  had raised in Public Participation.

Marsh highlighted the upcoming aquifer meeting in Mahomet Monday, June 18th at the High School auditorium at 10am (expected to go to noon or possibly later). They will be discussing possible legislation to protect the aquifer over the gas leak controversy.

King highlighted a couple Juneteenth events on the weekend.

General Agenda Items:
The rest of the agenda started with a change. The Rosecrance agreement to be considered wasn't ready yet and rescheduled. They then moved on to submitting reports by the committees.

There were several appointments approved (see agenda packet for details) without opposition and more reports submitted.

There was a motion to defer the recorder consolidation vote until next month. The reason appeared to be a need for more research according to Stohr. McGuire asked why given other pressing needs to drag the vote out that's come up in the past. Crews, who asked to put it on the agenda is absent today. Stohr asked to wait for her. Rector called it borderline ridiculous and political that it even got put on the agenda. He asked to get this over with. Summers argued for letting the voters decide finally. Anderson said he was in favor of keeping the Recorder office and questioned the need for a referendum since this doesn't save or cost the voters any fee or tax. He said there haven't been any complaints or problems for a need to have a referendum.

They had a roll call vote to vote on the matter or continue discussion of the recorder merging... that was very confusing. I couldn't tell if the 2nd vote was to clarify what people were voting for or another vote. The end result was that the vote was deferred to the next county board meeting in July (not the one next week).

Two budget amendments passed for the Regional Planning Commission to use new grant funding for their housing programs. Questions for the RPC (Petrie raised some) will be addressed later on the program by a representative from the RPC.

The Treasurer's report sounded less dire with recent tax revenues coming in and less future concern about the Nursing Home. An upcoming property sale has the interest of Nasty Joe and will be highlighted in the local press (link to the WCIA coverage here). To jump to the Treasurer's explanation of the upcoming Delinquent Tax Auction and Surplus Sale (in response to costs related to that sale) click this link here in the meeting video. Petrie had a question about whether the properties could be used for housing programs, but the Treasurer explained that they're not up to the standards (often being trashed, condemned or mobile homes more valuable as scrap, etc).

The Auditor submitted her report. Petrie had the only question on the Nursing Home population (roughly 140). The Clerk answered a couple quick questions about a state grant that helps pay for support of the voter registration system. Approval of the "acceptance agreement" to get the grant passed.

The Nursing Home report by the interim Administrator showed improvement for the month after a couple "lousy months" as Weibel described them. Goss had some technical questions on the Accounts Receivable (AR) issues of being on the books and the money that the County is owed by the Nursing Home. The interim Administrator said that the details would be dealt with more specifically in a future contract with SAK (a financial contract in addition to their management contract).

The Administrator report mentioned they received an award in recognition for distinguished budgeting. The deputy administrator then went through various budget details. The salary and insurance recommendations for non-bargaining County employees were approved. The interim Administrator explained the thinking behind the numbers, such as inflation and comparison to other workers asked by Fortado.

No other business. Fortado's Finance Chair's report asked for input from everybody towards the upcoming budget work. Offered to come to members' districts and hear concerns and ideas. Petrie suggested everyone meet in retreat fashion so everybody can learn about each other's districts. One on one only advantages to the finance chair alone (as opposed to all members benefiting).

Weibel pointed out that there aren't usually extraneous meetings in July and pointed out that many will be canceled and a Committee of the Whole will not be held. There may still be a zoning board meeting due to Solar Farm concerns, but that's not confirmed yet.

New Court Services Director

In a followup on the Director of Court Services post a month ago (text below), a new director has been announced. From today's News-Gazette:

Champaign County's new director of court services has done it all
A longtime Champaign County employee with lots of different experience in the justice system has been named the county's new director of court services.

Mike Williams, 59, of Champaign has been selected to succeed Joe Gordon, who retires June 29 after 41 years with the probation department, the last 25 as director.

Williams' appointment was made public by Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Rick Broch and Champaign County Presiding Judge Tom Difanis.

More at the full article here. More on the previous director and what the job entails from a previous Cheat Sheet post:

Mary Schenk recently interviewed the Court Services Director with some insight on a few aspects of our local criminal justice system. The News-Gazette website has the article and a link to the interview here.

Legally Speaking: Joe Gordon
In Illinois, the Legislature has mandated that for most crimes, judges should first consider giving an offender a community-based sentence. The job of overseeing people sentenced to probation falls to the Champaign County Probation and Court Services office.

Court Services Director JOE GORDON supervises a staff of about 62 at the Juvenile Detention Center and in adult and juvenile probation at the courthouse...

"With this community, we are very fortunate. We are rich in resources, in comparison to many other communities. The problem we have experienced is not so much the resources not being available. It's more of getting individuals to appear and comply when they are referred."

Regarding mental health resources specifically: "I don't think we have enough for the number of individuals presenting themselves to the court system."

Full article here. Link to the interview audio here.

Douglas Chosen for District 6 - UPDATEx5

[UPDATEx5 The Champaign County Democrats have finally nominated someone to the vacant district 6 seat after a previous kerfuffle about the rules and nomination process (see updates below). This time they have chosen Tracy Douglas. More information on her here. She was the candidate who had not recently lost a primary for the other seat in the same county district (that primary race information here). There was a blurb on the News-Gazette website tonight:

On second try, Dems nominate Douglas for county board seat
In the latest twist in a monthlong drama, Democratic precinct committee members have chosen attorney Tracy Douglas to fill the 22nd seat on the Champaign County Board.

Douglas, a supervising attorney at the University of Illinois College of Law's community preservation clinic, received more votes than Pattsi Petrie and will be nominated for the District 6 seat vacated by Josh Hartke on June 21, board Chair C. Pius Weibel said Sunday.

Full blurb here.]


[UPDATEx4: County Board Chair Weibel has set forth the steps he'd like to see followed for filling the vacancy in District 6. Here's the blurb from today's News-Gazette:

From the eEdition page here.]

[UPDATEx3: Former Board Member Hartke weighed in on the fray over his vacant seat in today's News-Gazette (the article didn't mention whether or not the delay in seating a new member will affect tonight's Nursing Home vote). The title was a better summary of his thoughts than any excerpt I could choose: Ex-county board member on process to replace him: 'Ham-handedly crooked']


[UPDATEx2: There's a disagreement between the County Board chair and the chair of the Democratic Party of Champaign County. From today's News-Gazette:

On Friday, Democratic Board Chairman C. Pius Weibel rejected party members' selection of precinct committeeman Charles Young to fill the vacancy left in District 6 when Josh Hartke resigned April 30, expressing displeasure with the procedures used in the vote. He said he believed that only elected precinct committeemen should get to vote on filling county board vacancies and that their votes should be weighted only by the number of Democratic voters who reside in both their precinct and the county board district whose vacancy is being filled.

Late Tuesday, Champaign County Democratic Party Chairwoman Maryam Ar-Raheem issued a press release disputing Weibel's assertions, pointing to a state statute that allows both appointed and elected committeemen to vote on filling vacancies and asserting that state law does not allow a precinct committeeman's weighted vote to be divided in the manner Wiebel suggested. She said the selection of Young was the fourth county board vacancy to be filled during her tenure as county Democratic Party chairwoman and that the same process was used in all four.

More at the full article and today's Cheat Sheet post on the upcoming vote to sell the Nursing Home here.]


[UPDATE: Not so fast. There may be a re-vote. From the News-Gazette today:

County chairman: Re-do vote to fill vacant board seat
District 6 precinct committeeman Charles Young was selected Thursday night to fill the District 6 county board seat of Josh Hartke, who resigned. Precinct committeemen selected Young in a weighted voting process over two other contenders, Tracy Douglas and current county board member Pattsi Petrie, who lost in her bid for re-election in the March 20 primary.

Maryam Ar-Raheem, chairwoman of the county Democratic Party, notified board Chairman C. Pius Weibel about the selection Friday morning. Several hours later, Weibel expressed displeasure about the procedure used to elect Young because both elected and appointed precinct committee members were permitted to cast votes, and some were allowed to use weighted votes from areas of their precincts that were outside District 6.

"I have consistently believed that the selection of county board candidates should be accomplished by having only the elected precinct committee people nominate the candidates, and by the vote of only elected precinct committee people, with the votes being weighted by the number of Democratic votes in the district that are within their respective precincts," he said in an email to Ar-Raheem.

The disagreement could have changed the outcome (more information Tracy Douglass here and Charles Young at the primary race page here), as shown in this chart that highlights the concerns of some local Democrats (click to enlarge):

This definitely earns readers local political wonk points for the week.]

 From the News-Gazette website last night:

County Democrats choose Young for vacant board seat
Champaign County Democrats have selected a new county board member to fill Josh Hartke's seat.

At a meeting on Thursday night, precinct committeemen from District 6 chose Charles Young to serve. He'll succeed Hartke, who resigned ahead of a move to Colorado.

Maryam Ar-Raheem, chair of the county Democratic party, said Young defeated current board member Pattsi Petrie, who lost in her bid for re-election in the March 20 primary, and Tracy Douglas in the voting.

Ar-Raheem said Young's name will be forwarded to County Board Chairman C. Pius Weibel for ratification by the full board.

More information on Young and Petrie from the recent primary race won by Mike Ingram here.


[Originally posted 5/18/2018 at 6:29am]