Electoral Board Objections Withdrawn

The Electoral Board hearing for next week is canceled. All objections were withdrawn today by the objectors so all three candidates will remain on the ballot. Today was the deadline for filing arguments on the issues raised at the last hearing. From the County Clerk twitter:

"The three objections filed in opposition to the nominations of County Board Candidates PJ Trautman (R-6), Charles Young (D-6) and Christopher Stohr (D-10) were withdrawn by objectors this morning, & all 3 candidates will remain on the ballot for the 11/6/2018 General Election."

 More updates later: e.g. News-Gazette blurb here mostly just reiterates this information.

Electoral Board 9/12/2018

Three objections to candidate nominations were recently filed and an Electoral Board hearing occurred yesterday (News-Gazette coverage here). First a quick refresher on what an Electoral Board is at the County level. From a previous post:

So, what's going on, and what exactly is an Electoral Board? Well, when people fill out and submit an objection (in triplicate!) to the election authority that oversees a particular election, the appropriate electoral board is the one that considers it. In general: the statewide candidate objections will be heard by the State Officers Electoral Board, county candidate objections will be heard by the County Officers Electoral Board, municipal candidates will be heard by the municipal electoral board, with some rules to cover the oddball edges and special circumstances (all laid out here in legalese in the IL Compiled Statutes).

So at the County level here, that'd be the County Clerk, the County State's Attorney, and the County Circuit Clerk, with the County Clerk chair. Each can designate an assistant to sit on the board in their place. And what, you may ask, happens if the objection is to themselves as a candidate or some such conflict? The law says the County Treasurer or the County Sheriff will sit in depending on the situation/eligibility.

The decisions aren't arbitrary and appear to be guided by law and precedent and subject to judicial review. In fact, if you do a word search through the State of Illinois Candidate's Guide, you'll find numerous references to precedent from Electoral Board rulings.

The County Electoral Boards recently were at the Champaign County Courthouse (visitor rules on attire and security) and operated much like you'd expect a civil trial. Whoever filed the objection to the nomination plays a role similar to plaintiff, while the candidate defends their nomination. Lawyers appear to be the norm on both sides as the decisions rest on election law, both statute and court precedents. The three members (or substitutes) of the Electoral Board itself play the role of a panel of judges, with the County Clerk presiding, but a majority needed by the Board for decisions and rulings.

Today's hearing involved three objections to three candidates: Republican P.J. Trautman and Democrats Christ Stohr and Charles Young. Trautman's nomination was being challenged on the fact that he voted in the Democratic Primary this election cycle (which in Illinois serves as a sort of declaration of party affiliation in our primary system) and yet attempting to run as a Republican in the general election, which is typically disqualifying. The Stohr and Young objections appeared to be a question on if their nominations were timely filed.

The merits of the objections were not argued today, only preliminary motions and "arguments on the timeliness of filing of objections." Another hearing will be scheduled after arguments are filed later this week.

The preliminary motions included a request for the County Clerk Gordy Hulten to recuse himself since he had publicly endorsed and pledged to support the candidacy of P.J. Trautman. Court precedent was raised about ensuring fairness and impartiality of Electoral Board hearings and examples where a recusal was deemed appropriate. Arguments ranged from fairness to the objector and the voters of Champaign County and the possibility that decisions could be rendered null and void by a Board not properly constituted. She noted that a substitute with the County Clerk's office is readily available and more appropriate.

Trautman's lawyer, Champaign Mayor Deb Feinen in her capacity as an attorney, argued that political bias has not been held as sufficient for requiring a change of board member or venue. She pointed to a case where bias wasn't a sufficient reason even with long time opponents (a point the objector argued didn't include a direct public statement of support).

The Assistant State's Attorney Steve Zeigler (a Republican who was substituting for the State's Attorney and Democrat Julia Rietz) pointed out that the cited cases didn't point to a direct requirement for recusal in spite of the objector's protestations on the requirement that the Electoral Board be as fair and impartial as one can get. All three Republican board members voted no on the motion and Hulten remained presiding over the Electoral Board. The gallery was largely filled with Democratic and progressive visitors and appeared annoyed, but hardly shocked, with some head shaking.

The timeliness of filing objections arguments were a bit of a legalese soup to me, so I don't have a great deal of details, but I can give my impressions. These may be a bit imprecise and reflect my personal bias, so take them with a grain of salt.

There were three issues that stood out to me. The first and most critical for folks trying to follow along is that there was an issue of Trautman's arguments on this point not being given to the objector to look over and formulate a response. This is what led to the end of the hearing today with filings on that being required later this week and a date to reconvene to be determined then.

The second issue to me were the arguments themselves taking very partisan divisions. The crux of that argument is on what the appropriate deadline was for an objection to the nomination. There was an accusation of bias against the County Clerk for refusing to address the issue and make the information available about Trautman's primary party affiliation records. Hulten repeatedly tried to link the deadline question to the two Democratic candidates whose nominations were being objected to separately to argue that if one deadline is used for them in this hearing, it must be used for all. There was some confusion at times about which step of the process was being addressed on timeliness (e.g. the objection's timeliness or the timeliness of nominations) and which candidate(s) was at the focus of the arguments being made within the questions being asked by the County Clerk.

At one point the lawyer arguing for the objection to Trautman asked for a moment and the County Clerk flatly said no. The Democrats in the audience were a bit unsettled at that point with some audible grumbles and befuddlement. The arguments on this by the objector is pending, but I got the impression that the Republicans on the Board were attempting to conflate deadline rules to shoot down the objection on a technicality while the Democrats were treating the technicality as manufactured by linking their objection to the two others. A technicality that may rely on the issue of whether or not Hulten had slow-walked the process of releasing information about the candidate's conflict according to Democrats.

And finally, something that stood out to me, was Hulten's admission in the middle of all these arguments, back and forth, and a bit of testiness that the concerns/arguments on the timeliness were being raised by the Board itself as opposed to Trautman's lawyer. Feinen had noted that her arguments on this were formulated the night before when explaining why they hadn't been submitted with the other objector's attorney.

It remains to be seen what the arguments will be after all of this. I'd imagine that Republicans would find the legal technicalities persuasive and proper while Democrats would look at them as straining credulity to justify partisan shenanigans. As an independent I like to imagine how or if the sides would act if the roles were reversed, and whether or not that makes it okay. Technically, legally, or ethically. I leave that to the reader.

Court Fines Amnesty This Week

From the News-Gazette last week:

Amnesty week offers way to skip late fees on past-due court fines
Residents who have run afoul of the law in Champaign County and owe the government money because of it should take note of the chance to pay fines without fees and interest.

Circuit Clerk Katie Blakeman is offering an amnesty week from Sept. 10 through 14.

Residents who have unpaid traffic tickets or past due fines and fees in criminal cases can avoid paying the collection fees and interest for those five days only if they pay the total amount originally ordered in their cases...

Blakeman reminds that all cases must be paid in full. No partial payments or personal checks will be accepted.

Acceptable forms of payment in person include cash, cashier's check, money order or credit card with valid identification.

If paying by mail, acceptable payments are money order or cashier's check or money order.

Full details, including additional hours and benefits, at the full article here.

Carle Tax Fight Continues

Carle took a hit this time on the endless tax dispute between it and local taxing authorities which continues to cost county taxpayers litigation costs. From the News-Gazette last week:

Judge rules officials had right to assess Carle's properties in 2004
Local assessment officials had the right to assess four Carle Foundation properties in Urbana, according to a written ruling issued Tuesday by Champaign County Judge Randy Rosenbaum...

In denying Carle's motion for a summary judgment on a key count of what's become a decade-old lawsuit, Rosenbaum said assessment officials needed to place a value on the properties, so exemptions could be decided by the Illinois Department of Revenue.

Any other view would lead to the "absurd result" that taxing authorities would never be able to review current assessments and exemptions unless the owner notified them of a change, the ruling states.

"The court finds that the local assessors had the authority to assess, and, even if they did not, the assessments are still valid because the Board of Review and the DOR (Department of Revenue) had the authority to act," Rosenbaum wrote. "This applies to all the tax years in question. In short, there was no wrongful termination of exemptions as plaintiff (Carle) asserts."

The Carle tax lawsuit is headed to trial in January 2019. The trial is expected to run 15 to 21 days.

More on the pre-trial victory at the full article here.

The Week Ahead: 9/9 - 9/15

*** There is a County Board Committee of the Whole meeting this Tuesday. Agenda here and addendum here (more information below). More information on how to attend a county board meeting here. ***

*** This week is Amnesty Week on past due court fines. More here. ***

*** There is an Electoral Board hearing on objections to candidate filings this week. More here. ***

*** The Public Hearing sessions on the Nursing Home sale are this Thursday. ***

Vote By Mail requests are available to voters generally now. Ballot requests for the November 6th, 2018 General Election have already started and early voting begins later this month! More information on Vote By Mail in Champaign County here. Ballot request direct link for residents here. More information on County elections (including checking your registration, sample ballots when available, and early voting times and locations) at our Elections page.

Other Events:

There are a lot of political campaign and organizing events popping up (e.g. recent meeting of Republican Women of Champaign County and Democratic Party Meet and Greet for County Candidates). 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 every other Wednesday at 7pm at the IMC. The next meeting is September 19th.

The Champaign Community Coalition meeting, this Wednesday, September 12th at 3:30-5pm at the Champaign Public Library, it is likely to be again focused on the uptick of gun violence in our community. There is certain to have a lot of overlap with criminal justice issues and key players from law enforcement, activist, and social service communities there.

At July's City of Champaign Study Session of the City Council, the reentry housing issue was raised during public participation (a full write up of the meeting is here and video here). This is following up on the preview of that discussion at the City Council meeting here: Reentry Housing Issue. The News-Gazette had a couple articles following up on the meeting linked on the Cheat Sheet here.

County Calendar:

*** There is a County Board Committee of the Whole meeting (What is this?) this Tuesday. Agenda here and addendum here. If you'd like to attend a County Board meeting, you can find more information on how to attend here. The items that stand out to me are the Nursing Home items which appear to revolve around debt to vendors if I'm reading it correctly. As we approach the end of the year I imagine the budget information could be worth keeping an eye on as next years budget priorities will soon have to be fought over.

The week kicks off on Monday with a Litigation Committee meeting, but most of that will be in closed session due to the content (agenda packet here).

On Monday evening there is the Nursing Home Board of Directors meeting at the 6:30pm time (agenda here). From the previous month's minutes in this month's agenda packet you can see this is more of a managerial board discussing financials and marketing more than policy or politics, but with the sale of the Nursing Home looming it may have additional related information.

On Wednesday there is a Mental Health Board study session meeting (agenda packet here). This meeting appears to be focused on their work to improve their evaluation processes for MHB programs. If you're interested in finding out more about county Mental Health and Developmental Disability programs and agencies they can be a bit wonky, however, they are also 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. 

There is a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting Thursday night (upcoming agenda here). Board page here. Now that the new Solar ordinance has passed, the race is on for companies to use it: Solar-farm proposals flare up after Champaign County's zoning change (from the News-Gazette last week).


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

PJ Trautman and Electoral Board

There are some new objections for county candidates (details on the last failed objection for another candidate here). I don't have all the details on the other objections yet, but one is an issue with rules on running as a candidate for a different party than he voted with in the primary.

 
More on the objection with PJ Trautman and Democratic calls for the Clerk to recuse himself form the Electoral Board (what is an Electoral Board? More here.) hearing the objection from the News-Gazette last week:

Dems accuse county clerk of trying to impede candidacy challenge
Leaders of the Champaign County Democratic Party issued a demand Thursday that Republican County Clerk Gordy Hulten recuse himself from a hearing on a legal challenge to the candidacy of a GOP county board hopeful — a challenge they allege he tried to stymie.

In a release issued Thursday evening, county Democratic Party Chairwoman Maryam Ar-Raheem, Vice Chairman Wayne Williams and former Chairman Al Klein allege that on his statement of candidacy, P.J. Trautman, the Republican hopeful for county board District 6, falsely reported that he was a Republican primary voter. They claim Trautman actually voted in the Democratic primary in March, which they said makes him ineligible to run for office as a Republican in the same election cycle.

The Democrats allege that, up until he was contacted by an attorney from the Illinois Democratic County Chairs' Association, Hulten refused to allow Trautman's candidacy statement to be inspected.

"Nobody was denied access to anything," he said in response. "Several people asked for copies of documents just prior to the holiday weekend, and often made differing and conflicting requests. After their requests were clarified, we responded with the documents as soon as we were able, during an incredibly busy season for our office."

...

However, Hulten said Illinois law designates him, as county clerk, to chair a potential electoral board, except in cases where the office he is seeking is disputed.

"That is not the case here, and so if an electoral board is convened for these objections, I will chair it, as I have, without issue, all such boards during my eight years as clerk," he said.

Full article here. I hope to be able to attend this Electoral Board on Wednesday. If I can I'll put updates here.

Willow Pond Beach Closing

There was a recent news item involving a closed beach in the Middle Fork River Forest Preserve from the News-Gazette on Saturday:

What needs changing at Champaign County's only beach?
...
"The last several years, we have noticed severe levels dropping in the pond," Kuntz said. "We had an engineer's study done. It was found there were leaks. The floor had degraded."

Kuntz said the pond is 40 years old, and changes are needed.

He said fixing the problem would be a big project that would include draining the pond, digging it out, dredging it and installing a new clay liner before refilling.

"Along those lines, we want to talk to the public about what else would (they) be interested in as far as more amenities, more 'to-do's,' more activities during their stays," Kuntz said...

The low water level could be part of what caused the State Public Health Department to close the beach Wednesday afternoon.

Department spokeswoman Melanie Arnold said high bacteria levels prompted the closure. Health officials test the water at Middle Fork twice a month.

Arnold said several factors can cause bacteria levels to rise, including low water levels and rains that wash sediments into the lake...

Willow Pond is a stillwater with no pure aqua source, which makes maintaining its level a challenge.

More at the full article here. There was a formal meeting for public input the same day as the article. I imagine any minutes would be approved and any followup on that would be at the next Champaign County Forest Preserve Board of Commissioners meeting. That would be "on Thursday, September
 20, 2018 at the Golf Course Clubhouse, Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve, 405 N. Lake
of the Woods Road, Mahomet, Illinois, at 6:00 P.M."

Discovery Partners Institute Updates

[UPDATE to the Updates: The News-Gazette had a couple follow up articles on upcoming investments for the DPI projects. One was a quick blurb about funding across the state here and the other was highlighting a couple specific investments here in Champaign County:

Chunk of DPI funds put UI's planned data-sciences hub on fast track
A "world class" data-sciences center for the Urbana-Champaign campus, in the works for more than a year, is on a fast track because of state funding allocated to the University of Illinois for the Discovery Partners Institute and its statewide innovation network.

UI officials say part of the $500 million allocated to the UI will be used to build a $40 million to $50 million state-of-the-art research and classroom facility where Illini Hall now stands, in the heart of Campustown. The 111-year-old brick building will be torn down and replaced with a larger, five-story 60,000- to 80,000-square-foot center.

The DPI funding will also be used to expand the UI Research Park, Chancellor Robert Jones said Wednesday, though officials had few details about that effort.

The two projects represent the first investments in Champaign-Urbana from the $500 million state capital appropriation for the planned DPI research institute in Chicago's South Loop and innovation hubs in other university communities, called the Illinois Innovation Network.

More at the full article here.]

There were a couple updates this week on the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) project of the University of Illinois System. The first may or may be intended to alleviate concerns that the project will take focus off of the Urbana-Champaign campus and its desires to expand its private-public partnerships towards the new DPI campus in Chicago. From last Saturday's News-Gazette:

UI engineering professor named to lead Discovery Partners Institute
...
President Tim Killeen announced the selection Friday of William Sanders, currently head of the highly ranked Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, as interim head of DPI.

Sanders, who also has directed two campus-wide research centers during his 20-plus years at the university, officially started his new role Aug. 16 pending approval by the Board of Trustees in September. He will earn $387,000 annually, which includes the stipend from his endowed professorship.

Sanders was appointed without a search, which is why his title is “interim,” at least for now.

“The project is moving fast and we needed an experienced leader as soon as possible to help guide it,” said UI spokesman Jan Dennis.

Killeen said Sanders will be in charge of all aspects of launching and operating DPI, a public-private research institute intended as the cornerstone of the proposed Illinois Innovation Network...

Faculty members, state legislators and community leaders have expressed concerns about DPI draining resources from the Urbana campus. [Chancellor Robert Jones] said the fact that Sanders hails from Urbana “doesn’t hurt,” but it’s not “the major driver.”

Full article with all sorts of biographical and detailed project information here. Today the News-Gazette had even more information on the status of the project:

Killeen to legislators: Discovery Partners Institute still work in progress
The University of Illinois could receive $50 million to $100 million from the state for the proposed Discovery Partners Institute during fiscal 2019, the governor's budget director says.

The rest of the $500 million appropriation for DPI, the anchor of a statewide "innovation network," would then be allocated over several years, Hans Zigmund told legislators Tuesday at a hearing of the Senate Higher Education committee.

Lawmakers hungry for concrete details on the proposed DPI — and how it will use a half-billion dollars in state money — also asked the University of Illinois for monthly progress reports going forward...

[Sen. Scott Bennett, D-Champaign] raised concerns voiced by constituents in Champaign-Urbana and others about DPI becoming a "fourth campus" of the UI, as Rauner once said, that would drain resources from the three existing campuses. He also cited comments by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who said at one point that the UI is bringing "computer science and engineering to the 78th."

"There's a lot of concern that we've taken our focus off of a campus that has served us for 150 years," Bennett said.

DPI's new interim director, Bill Sanders, head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Urbana, promised that "the college of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is not moving to Chicago," Sanders said. "And we're not creating a fourth campus. We're creating something very new."

The goal is to create a "collaboration place" bringing together people from all three campuses, along with entrepreneurs and industry to "allow things to happen that can't at any individual hub."

Full article with a lot of additional information and concerns here.


[Originally posted 8/29/2018 at 9:52am]

Nursing Home Public Hearing - UPDATE

[UPDATE - CHANGE OF VENUE - Due to concerns about accessibility at the IMC the State board has changed the venue to the Hyatt Center. From Today's News-Gazette:

Public hearing moved to Hyatt Place
A state board acted swiftly to change the location of a public hearing on the sale of the Champaign County Nursing Home after concerns were raised about the first spot chosen.

Next month’s hearing will now be at the Hyatt Place Hotel at 217 N. Neil St., C, according to Courtney Avery, administrator of the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board...

The hearing time remains the same — from 2-4 and 5-7 p.m. Sept. 13.

Testimony taken at the hearing will be considered by the state board at its next session Oct. 30.

Full article here at the eEdition. More on the concerns about the IMC location in yesterday's paper in an article available here.]

We're approaching the final steps and final opportunities for public input for the sale of the Nursing Home that is a near certainty at this point. From the News-Gazette today:

State board sets public hearing on sale of county nursing home for Sept. 13
A state board plans to spend four hours hearing public testimony in Urbana next month about the pending $11 million sale of the Champaign County Nursing Home.

The hearing before the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board has been scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center, 202 S. Broadway, U...

Terms of the July 23 agreement between the county and Altitude Acquisitions LLC call for the Urbana facility to continue to be a used as a 220-or-more-bed nursing home through 2027. Also through that date, at least half the licensed beds must be reserved and certified for Medicaid-managed eligible patients and priority must be given to county residents for admission.

The sale is being brought before the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board because the board has legal oversight over certain medical facility construction projects and certain health facility sales and closures, among them the sale of a county-owned nursing home.

The hearing in Urbana will precede an Oct. 30 board session in Bolingbrook at which the proposed nursing home sale will be considered.

More information at the full article, including a potential new name indicated in the paperwork, here.


[Originally posted on 8/23/2018 at 10:16am.]

Chasing the Sun

Champaign County appears to be off to a running start now that the County Board has approved its new solar rules. From a News-Gazette editorial earlier this week:

Editorial | Champaign County moves into solar-power age
...
There already are seven applications to build solar farms in the county, said Zoning Administrator John Hall, with most of them in rural areas on the eastern side of the county near St. Joseph and Sidney.

Just because there are seven proposals for solar farms in the county doesn't mean that broad areas of some of the richest farmland in the world soon will be covered with solar panels. Each of the solar farms proposed in the county will require waivers in order to be built, Hall said. And the sheer number of projects proposed in Illinois — Kankakee County alone has 25 — makes it unlikely that they'll all be feasible.

But the first two solar farm proposals for Champaign County, both from Community Power Group LLC, already are on the agenda of the county zoning board of appeals this week.

Full editorial here. The St. Joseph project appears to be making a reasonable request for bending those new rules since it will be right by the interstate:

Solar-farm developer already seeking exception to county's new rules
...
Maryland-based Community Power Group LLC will go before the county’s zoning board of appeals next week seeking approval for two solar farms. One of them would be located north of the St. Joseph Sportsman Club, northeast of the village, putting it in violation of the new rules, which say solar-farm panels must be at least a half-mile away from a city limit. Community Power Group is asking for that distance to be reduced by about 75 percent, to 725 feet.

John Hall, the county’s director of planning and zoning, said the company is trying to play nice.

“When you look at the site plans in the context of the development that’s around the solar farms and the larger regional pattern of development, the one near St. Joseph is on the other side of the interstate,” Hall said. “When you look at the whole picture of what’s proposed, I think it seems to me pretty clear to me that the solar-farm developers are trying to be sensitive to each location and responding to those locations as best they can.”

I can't help but imagine that this could still cause some concerns about precedent straight out of the gate. Time will tell. [UPDATE: There are some concerns, including future growth of the village and how locals would benefit from credits: Solar-farm company owner pledges power discounts for St. Joe residents.]

Zoning board information and agenda here. Community Power's waiver memos here and here.

CU at Home Moving to TIMES Center

[UPDATE x2 - The plans appear to be finalized. From the News-Gazette this past Saturday:

C-U at Home moving into former TIMES Center in September
C-U at Home said it has finalized a lease with Rosecrance to move to the former TIMES Center building at 70 E. Washington St., C.

C-U at Home's Phoenix daytime drop-in center for the homeless will move from 34 E. Green St., C, to the TIMES Center building owned by Rosecrance next month.

That building will also become the new home of C-U at Home's administrative offices and location this winter for the community men's emergency shelter.]

[UPDATE 7/30/2018 - The News-Gazette had more details about the transition this past Saturday:

Winter shelter for men may be moving
...
The Rev. Sheryl Palmer, senior pastor of Faith United Methodist Church, said tentative plans call for her church to continue to operate the men's shelter for this coming winter and for other local churches and volunteers to continue to be involved, with C-U at Home taking over running the shelter the following winter...

C-U at Home is already planning to move its headquarters and daytime drop-in center to the TIMES Center building if it finalizes a lease with Rosecrance. The building became available after Rosecrance ended a transitional housing program there June 30...

C-U at Home Executive Director Rob Dalhaus said his agency is working with leaders of the men's emergency shelter and others in the community to eventually bring several services for the homeless under one roof.

More details at the full article here.]

CU at Home, a homeless ministry and service provider in Champaign-Urbana, well known for its Phoenix Drop-In Center may be moving soon to a Rosecrance facility no longer in use. Rosecrance has become a central provider for mental health and other social services in the area after acquiring many individual local providers under their single umbrella. From FoxIllinois:

C-U at Home considers relocating to TIMES Center facility
There is always room for improvement and expansion, and that is why C-U at Home is considering the former TIMES Center facility as its future location...

C-U at Home now hopes to take over the facility after the executive director, Rob Dalhaus III said their lease at the Phoenix drop-in center is almost up. C-U at Home hopes to relocate and operate the drop-in center, emergency shelter and administrative offices at the TIMES Center facility in Champaign, which is why the organization is finalizing an agreement with the facility's former operator, Rosecrance.

"It’s critical that we keep these services locally here in our town,” former volunteer at C-U at Home, Brian Chaille said. “We do need more and this is a good opportunity for that where [those in need] can be safe and secure and trust the people that they're working with.”

Under the TIMES Center, Rosecrance helped men transition into independent living and employment. The remaining clients successfully completed the program which led Rosecrance to discontinue it...

“We are very excited about C-U at Home being able to expand,” director of clinical services at Rosecrance in Champaign-Urbana, Juli Kartel said. “It’s a great win for the community as serving individuals who are homeless is what C-U at Home does so well.”

No word on when Rosecrance and C-U at Home will finalize the agreement.

More at the full article here. The News-Gazette also had similar coverage here. Rosecrance is also looking to relocate from it's Fox Drive location among other moves. From a News-Gazette article last month that also noted a couple of the acquisitions Rosecrance made locally:

Rosecrance planning facility changes now that acquisitions are complete
Some Champaign building changes may be on the way for Rosecrance, a provider of mental- and behavioral-health services in the area.

The Rosecrance facility at 1801 Fox Drive, C, is for sale for $2.9 million. Rosecrance eventually plans to relocate the administrative offices and counseling services at that address to a smaller building in Champaign, according to Chris Gleason, executive director of Rosecrance Central Illinois.

Rosecrance is also looking at replacing its longtime residential treatment facility at 122 W. Hill St. in downtown Champaign with another building, Gleason said.

The Fox Drive building was the longtime headquarters for the former Community Elements, a mental- and behavioral-health agency acquired by Rockford-based Rosecrance in 2016.

The Hill Street treatment facility had been operated by Prairie Center, the local substance-abuse treatment agency also acquired by Rosecrance at the start of this year.

More at the full article here.


[Updated. Originally posted 7/7/2018 at 9:05am]

County Board 8-23-2018

Following up on last week's County Board meeting (News-Gazette overview in previous post). Agenda here, addendum here, and handout here. Video here at the Champaign County Clerk YouTube Channel.

The board seated and swore in Pranjal Vachaspati, James Quisenberry, and Jodi Eisenmann replacing open seats due to previous resignations. For more on the recent changes and turnover on the board: Tom Kacich | Turnover plaguing Champaign County Board.

Public participation included one of those previous board members, Brooks Marsh, giving his view on County's future as it plays catch up on facilities and other budget issues now that the Nursing Home is sold. He looked forward to a couple years from now when the County has caught up on those issues and can do some great work for the community.

The solar ordinance on the agenda had a few supporters and detractors. A developer in support, a homeowner pleading for sound limiting rules to both physically reduce the sound generated and consideration for actual decibel levels, rather than distance alone. A couple landowners looking forward to the opportunities and a harbinger warning not to count on that solar money in the long run as it dries up over time.

Friends and family of a local victim of "Nasty Joe" begged the board to do more to address his scam of buying pieces of people's yards and other property that they assumed was theirs, but through various discrepancies didn't include a small strip or section here or there (sometimes under their porch or through their fence in this case). The County has a way to search to see if your property has one of these sections so people can resolve it before this guy buys it and essentially holds it for ransom. Links from a previous board meeting:

An issue with an orphaned land parcel was talked about being dealt with to avoid another Nasty Joe situation. There was a reference to the GIS map app to help people find these problems and fix them on the web. There was a presentation at the end of this meeting here.

This particular situation appears to have gotten particularly nasty as the guy profiting off these discrepencies was harassing a homeowner trying to fight the loss of a strip of her property. While being spotted in the area hopping over fences to scope out pieces of property the fence of this previous victim was damaged. This left the owner feeling unsafe in her own home with little recourse. She complained that no matter where she turns, every agency tells her it's not their problem.

Darlene Kloeppel and another resident talked about their concerns with the campus voting location change and previous voting patterns in hopes of persuading the board to find a better solution with more convenient access for voters on campus than the current plan on the agenda.

The rest of the meeting was mostly covered by the News-Gazette summary from last week here except the tourism presentation and the campus polling place debate. There was a presentation on tourism by Visit Champaign County available here on all the work done to bring and promote tourism to the area. It's roughly 15 minutes long.

Campus Polling Places:

The discussion on the polling place that was consolidated with the Illini Union due to renovations got a bit testy. There was a noticeable division between campus concerns and rural concerns. While the newly seated Vachaspati talked about the confusing layout and having to leave and come back to vote due to long lines as a student rural members chastised citizens who couldn't be bothered to put in "a little effort" to vote. Member Goss said Mahomet has long lines too, more voters, they have to drive to their polling places that aren't walking distance, and yet they vote in every election, he said. He argued if you're worried about long lines, vote early.

McGuire pointed to the County Clerk's report at the previous Committee of the Whole meeting about a lack of better options and the issue being mostly out of his or their hands due to a renovation. He later pointed to the unique rural and military difficulties of voting that are a part of the process in comparison.

Summers and Patterson felt the unique roadblocks need to be addressed. Patterson said that the University, knowing that the Illini Union is a required voting location by law should be doing more to accommodate the County. The interaction between he and the Clerk got a bit contentious with Patterson talking about people rolling their eyes and the Clerk getting visibly irritated and sarcastic about how awful the union is that so many people prefer to vote at.

Douglas asked him if there's even another place available with only two months left to go. The Clerk admitted he hadn't checked as he viewed the consolidation at the union as the only and obvious solution. This led to Patterson stating his disappointment and the Clerk shortly replying, "Noted."

The Clerk's argument against establishing another location points to the fact that almost every organization, partisan and non-partisan and even his own office have made the students aware of the union as a universal voting location and that's where the students will go, regardless of whether they set up an additional location (if one is even available). Many of the Democrats remained skeptical. Former County Clerk primary candidate on the board, Rector, blamed the division on them playing politics.

In the end voting it down could have meant that there would be no realistic time for a vote and notification for a new location which could mean setting up an outdoor tent at the current location being renovated, which generally appeared untenable to all. The vote to consolidate the voting location at the union passed, but with a handful of protest votes.

The meeting ended with resolutions honoring previous board members who recently resigned and a reminder about the budget books needing to be brought to the budget meetings this week and started being read through. Going towards the end of the year, the County budget will probably be one of the bigger issues... other than an election and possibly even more turnover, of course.

County Board Overview

I wasn't able to make it to last night's County Board meeting, but I'll have more information once the video is available from the County Clerk YouTube Channel. The News-Gazette had an overview today:

Champaign County Board approves zoning changes for solar farms
...
On Thursday night, the Champaign County Board voted 19-3 to amend the county zoning ordinance to allow photovoltaic solar farms on certain agricultural properties...

Seven applications to build such farms around the county have already been submitted...

Board member Jim McGuire expressed concern about the impact solar farms may have on the value of nearby properties.

But Zoning Administrator John Hall said multiple studies have found solar farms have no significant effect on property values...

In other business:

The county has three new county board members.

After the board voted unanimously to appoint Jodi Eisenmann to Brooks Marsh's former seat in District 1, Pranjal Vachaspati to Shana Jo Crews' former seat in District 9 and James Quisenberry to Robert King's former seat in District 10, all three took the oath of office from County Clerk Gordy Hulten.

The new board members will serve terms through Nov. 30.

The board also voted to approve a budget amendment appropriating $4,611,946 for the Champaign County Nursing Home to cover expenses until the home's sale to two Evanston-based companies is closed.

And board members voted 13-8, with one abstention, to approve a resolution moving Cunningham 3's polling place from a University of Illinois residence hall currently undergoing renovation to the Illini Union.

More at the full article here. The various Election and office pages will be updated with the new appointments and candidates soon. There were some new candidate filings this week with a little overlap with those appointments. More details on what led to the Nursing Home and Polling Places vote available at the Committee of the Whole post here.