Early Voting and Sample Ballots

[UPDATE x2: Corrected sample ballots were printed in today's News-Gazette on pages A5-A8 (available here at their subscription eEdition). Sample ballot mages below have been updated. The County Clerk confirmed yesterday on twitter that personalized sample ballots are now available through a request tool available here. Full specimen ballots like those in the paper today (including races from all districts) will be available on the County Clerk's website when ready.]


[UPDATE 2/5/2020 at 10:49am: There was a notice from the Champaign County Clerk a few minutes ago that the sample ballots in today's paper contained errors. The sample ballots below may not be accurate. Corrected and approved ballots will be in tomorrow's News-Gazette according to the tweet:

]

Updated Original Post:

Early voting starts TODAY, February 6th, and Vote-by-Mail ballots can NOW be accepted as well. The News-Gazette had sample ballots in their eEdition today (subscription) from the Champaign County Clerk's office. Click to enlarge the page images:

Democratic Generic Primary Sample Ballot:

 

Republican Generic Primary Sample ballot:

 

These are generic sample ballots for Champaign County only and include multiple voting districts. Democrat and Republican ballots are on two separate pages each. UPDATE: Personalized sample ballots are now available through a request tool available here. From the County Clerk's Twitter page in response to a question about this:

We are making available the full specimen ballot (Republican and Democratic) on our website and if anyone wants to view their individual ballot they can use the request link to view.

Those full specimen sample ballots should be here when available.


Additional Information and Links:

Non-partisan Candidate Guide from the Champaign County Voters Alliance click here.


More information from the County Clerk's office on Early Voting times and locations here.

More information from the County Clerk's office on Vote-by-Mail applications, ballots and deadlines here.


[Updated: Originally posted on 2/5/2020 at 10:32am.]

Jail Updates

Jail consolidation was discussed at this week's County Facilities Committee meeting (jail consolidation discussion begins at the 11 minute mark). Video of the meeting is temporarily available in the buffer on the County's live streaming page, available on the County Clerk's YouTube channel when posted here. The agenda packet here includes a letter from the County Sheriff starting on page 5 of the packet (page 6 of the PDF file) that explains the current situation of the jails and needs. He explains the situation and needs in relation to desired criminal justice reforms that could further reduce the jail population.

The full letter is worth the read, but below are a couple excerpts starting with a brief assessment:

He also gave a brief overview of potential options being considered, or at least likely to be considered by the County Board:

Full letter available here (page 5 of the packet, page 6 of the PDF file). The Sheriff discussed the letter and explained that this list wasn't all inclusive and more thoughts at the 21 minute mark of the video.

A worthwhile highlight was at the 31 minute mark with a question by County Board Member Dr. Charles Young on comparing to other counties and jail facilities. The Sheriff wasn't able to point to a perfectly similar situation, but he did go over several other scenarios faced elsewhere. He also pointed out that if the worst case scenario forced them to close the downtown jail immediately, what the hurdles would be in finding space for inmates in surrounding areas such as Piatt County. The very next question and answer continued to helped explain some of the logistical situations with keeping inmates with special needs separated and safe.

At the 55 minute mark the chairman and members of the committee clarified where they ended: approving (by a general sense of the committee) getting more information on a compromise plan similar to the Sheriff's #2 option in his letter, but with more flexible housing to offset logistical concerns. It would still have even fewer beds than the full Reifstack study. The goal being to get a solid plan for the board to approve by this summer (possibly as early as June) to move forward. Then there would be a further need for a referendum for the public to approve it.

The next Facilities meeting will be March 3rd.


Background Information:

Below is a little background that could help constituents understand where everyone is coming from in this meeting. The discussion revolved around a jail consolidation study that was recently updated and discussed by the full County Board in October. From a previous Cheat Sheet post:

The Board didn't vote to approve any jail plan at this meeting, the agenda item being changed to "discussion only" on an the addendum. WILL had a nice overview of the Jail issue that night:

An updated proposal for county jail consolidation was brought before the full Champaign County Board for the first time Thursday night. Now county board members must decide how to deal with both a pressing need --- and a daunting price tag.

The plan, from Reifsteck Reid, the firm of Champaign architect Charles Reifsteck, is an update of a previous plan presented to the county board in 2015. As outlined by Reifsteck at Thursday night’s meeting, the plan calls for closing the rundown jail and sheriff’s office built in the 1980’s in downtown Urbana. The 1990’s satellite jail in east Urbana would renovated and expanded to replace the downtown jail’s capacity and the sheriff’s offices. In addition, its design would allow flexibility in separating inmate populations and providing space for inmate visitations and programs.

County board members are trying to come to grips with its cost: $47 million (compared to $32 million for the 2015 jail plan) to close the rundown jail and sheriff’s office in downtown Urbana, and enlarge and modernize the newer satellite jail. The rebuilt jail’s capacity would be 283 inmates, twelve less than the two present jails.

Full article here with some brief perspectives and takes. A more detailed presentation of the plan is available at this Cheat Sheet post.

The full Cheat Sheet post on that October County Board meeting is available here.

County Updates

This post has a couple updates from the County Executive on what that office does and announcing applications for the next term of the County's Supervisor of Assessment, currently occupied by Paula Bates, who is likely to also be in consideration to continue in that role. There's also an update on some local party politics with the County Board Chairman and the District 8 primary race versus challenger Emily Rodriguez.

The County Executive was in the news with an explanation of her job as the County Executive. We've added her description to our Executive page on the Cheat Sheet to help people understand the new Executive form of government the County is organized under. Although there has been a recent local push to go back to the old form of County government with a hired administrator instead. More on that here.

The County Executive is also accepting applications for the currently occupied position of County Supervisor of Assessments. From the News-Gazette last week:

Champaign County Executive Darlene Kloeppel is advertising for a county supervisor of assessments, though current Supervisor of Assessments Paula Bates said Friday she wasn’t planning to resign or retire...

Kloeppel said she assumes Bates will be among those who will apply for the upcoming term...

Bates has been supervisor of assessments in Champaign County for nearly four years. She was appointed in April 2016, and before that, was supervisor of assessments in Piatt County and chief deputy supervisor of assessments in Champaign County.

That full article here. More details on the appointment requirements and the February 21st deadline to apply here. For general information and links on County appointments, see our Appointments page here.


County Board District 8 Primary Race Update:

The Champaign County Democratic Party has continued to put its divisions on public display lately, and especially in the Champaign County Board District 8 race. The last Cheat Sheet update on that race highlighted a candidate forum where the incumbent and County Board Chairman compared other County Democrats to Cuban communists. Other updates on the party divisions on appointments, diversity concerns, and insinuations of racism in a contentious January here.

This time, Chairman Giraldo Rosales had put on his campaign website, a message citing Joseph Goebbels to warn voters about propaganda coming from either party. The full message appeared to many, including his local Democratic rivals, to be lumping his local Democratic rivals in with Trump supporters and their tactics reminiscent of Goebbel's propaganda. He went described Trump and those who carry out his agenda "our collective enemy."

He's edited that page and added a clarification insisting that he opposes attacks on fellow Democrats and rejecting interpretations that suggested he did so:

Unfortunately, I have had to edit this page because its original message was gleefully taken out-of-context and reinterpreted with opinions that did not remotely reflect my overarching message--a message that was intended to promote self education, understanding issues and not relying on hearsay to feed and fester false narratives as Trump has apparently done during his reign as commander-in-chief. Taking truth and making it unrecognizable --and his version of Democracy as a banality of normalcy, instead.
​
What separates Democrats from the Party of Trump is that we work from righting wrongs and establishing equity both locally, nationally and globally.
​
If anyone misunderstood the spirit and scope of my original text--I am clarifying now. We, as Democrats should not attack one another--I will not participate in attacks against Democrats. Regardless if we disagree--or not-- about our approach to uphold our Democratic Platform and Preambles--in the end, as Democrats, we are aligned by those basic beliefs.

Full edited page available here. A screenshot of the previous version is available below (click to enlarge) and a snip of the original text below that. I leave it to the reader to decide if they can parse the opposition to and denial of attacking other Democrats with either the current or previous version of the text. For his opponents, they read an accusation of using Nazi tactics leveled against them, or at least a clear and direct implication of the same:

Screenshot (click to enlarge):

Text snippet:

From what I've been able to understand thus far, this was his response to criticisms of his working with Republicans on the board to gain the Chairmanship, on some policy votes, and on some appointment advisory issues. He believes it shows that he's a Democrat who can act independently and pragmatically in the interests of his constituents. Many other Democrats on the board believe he has been thwarting a mandate by their constituents for Democratic policies on the County Board after overwhelming victories in the last midterm.

For voters new to local party politics in the primary, it may be impossible to explain all of the perspectives involved without getting to know the party players and attending organizational meetings where the concerns and personalities interact and sometimes clash. I have a brief overview on the Cheat Sheet here, in my best attempt to describe the party politics objectively. I encourage listening to other perspectives and coming to your own conclusions.

Treasurer Updates

Champaign County Treasurer Laurel Prussing resigned at the end of last week. Before she left, she made one last change to allow the Deputy Chief Treasurer the ability to serve until her replacement is appointed. From the News-Gazette yesterday:

A geologist, Weibel has been working part-time in the treasurer’s office for several months. He was already serving as chief deputy treasurer and is qualified for the job, Prussing said. Prussing resigned her four-year term, with Friday being her last day in office.

Before leaving, she changed Weibel’s status to full-time, effective to the start of the last county pay period on Jan. 26, she said. Prussing said it was necessary to have Weibel in place so he could sign certain documents handled by the treasurer’s office until a new treasurer is appointed...

County Board Chairman Giraldo Rosales said he’ll appoint Prussing’s replacement sometime after Feb. 15. Rosales declined to identify any of the applicants at this time, but said there have been several.

Full article available here. WCIA also had coverage with brief comments by Prussing in the video segment here.

More on the various problems arising in the Treasurer's office under Prussing is available from a previous Cheat Sheet post here: Treasurer told to "Stop the Bleeding." A happier note with the Treasurer helping recover money from the State in the form of finding refunds owed was in the News-Gazette earlier this week here.

WCIA also had an update on Thursday to the issue where taxpayers who had paid their property tax were having their property threatened for non-payment anyways.

Pilarski’s ‘delinquent’ property taxes were paid in June, but she received notices about delinquent property taxes in Oct. and Nov. before the taxes on her home were sold in Dec. to Bass Master Tax Investments, LLC...

Target 3 filed an open records request through the Freedom of Information Act to get additional information about administrative sales in error or a property sold for delinquent taxes...

We received several emails and included in the response was a partial denial, which said our request was in part denied “because no properties were being sold for delinquent taxes.”

Full article and segment here with links to the FOIA materials. This issue was mentioned in a previous Cheat Sheet post here. Relevant excerpts:

Midday Wednesday, more bad news broke on the County Treasurer's office that it had dropped the ball with people who paid their property tax, but still got warnings that they hadn't paid and threatened consequences for non-payment... From WCIA Wednesday:

Imagine you paid your property taxes on time, in full, only to have the county turn around and sell what it says are delinquent taxes...

Four properties in Champaign Co. were impacted by what’s known as an “administrative sale in error,” Pilarski’s included...

It’s unclear how much Champaign Co. will have to pay to settle with the four tax buyers.

Full article here with video segment. After months and months and failing to live up to assurances made, the County Treasurer's Office still has yet to rectify the problem for the tax payers. This was raised along with continued issues for school districts and Republican frustration about their previous complaints and concerns being ignored in their view while the situation deteriorated in the office.

Full Cheat Sheet post going into local Democratic Party disputes on this and other matters here. WCIA article mentioned in this excerpt here. One of the political disputes between the County Board's Democratic majority and the Democratic County Board Chairman (who won the seat in a coalition with Board Republicans against most of the Democrats on the board) revolves around how a replacement Treasurer will be selected for appointment. Relevant excerpt from a previous Cheat Sheet post covering a Committee of the Whole meeting where it was discussed at length:

The Chairman then read a statement about the Treasurer's resignation attempting to clear up what he called a lot misinformation. He ran down the details of how the Treasurer's replacement is to be carried out. Applications and resumes submitted before January 31st (the Treasurer's last day in office) will be given full consideration, though they'll still accept applications after that date. He went over the requirements of the statute, including that State law requires a Democrat to replace a Democrat in this situation.

He tried to dissuade concerns about a Republican being appointed to the position in spite of this requirement due to the unusual choice of a Republican, member Goss, as part of his advisory selection committee in addition to Member Fortado, the County Executive, and Deputy Director of Finance Tami Ogden. He pointed out that the term "card carrying Democrat" isn't actually a thing, "We don't have cards." He said that the decision on whether the candidate was "Democrat enough" would fall to the County Chair of the Democratic Party. Due to current political divisions in the party on forming pragmatic coalitions with Republicans, this didn't appear to allay any concerns.

Full Cheat Sheet post here. Full video of the Chairman's comments and discussion from the COW meeting video here. For a rundown of the confusing Democratic Politics going on behind some of this puzzling infighting, see our latest updates on the Champaign County Democratic Party meetings in January here or a general overview of party politics at the County level here.

LWV Candidate Forum Video and Coverage

Last night's Candidate Forum hosted by Champaign County's League of Women Voters, NAACP, and the News-Gazette is available to watch on the Champaign public access channel on-line here. WILL had an overview in their coverage today that focused on the County Board District 8 race. The current Democratic Chairman had one of the more shocking accusations of the night, comparing other County Democrats to Cuban communists:

Democrat Giraldo Rosales became chairman of the Champaign County Board a year ago, with the support of Republicans and a few moderate Democrats, defeating his own party’s nominee. Now Rosales, who ran for re-election unopposed four years ago, is being challenged by progressive Democrat Emily Rodriguez in the March 17th primary...

The two candidates also gave differing answers to a question about whether they would caucus with Democrats, and accept the caucus’ choice for county board chairman. The second part of the question described what Rosales did not do, when he worked with Republicans to gain the chairmanship...

Rosales, who once told an News-Gazette interviewer that he had left the non-partisan Champaign City Council because he wanted to work with Democrats on the county board, gave a more negative view of the caucus experience.

“When we get into these little enclaves, and it becomes very cutthroat, I have to voice my opinion,” said Rosales, who came to the U-S from Havana as a child, leaving behind what he called the “tribal” politics of Cuba’s Communist Party.

Full article here. The District 8 portion of the forum begins just after the 1:16 minute mark on the video here. The News-Gazette's coverage just focused on the judicial and Circuit Clerk candidates so far. Excerpt on Circuit Clerk candidates:

Also given a chance to tell voters about themselves were Democratic circuit clerk candidates Robert “Bob” Burkhalter and Susan McGrath.

Burkhalter, of Champaign, has worked in the Champaign County court system for 13 years, first as a clerk in the circuit clerk’s office and since 2011 as a courtroom clerk to various judges. He’s married and has a daughter.

McGrath, of Champaign, has lived in Champaign County since 1976. A graduate of the University of Illinois and the UI College of Law, she served on the Champaign County Board for 16 years.

That full article here. The Circuit Clerk candidates went first in the video here. The Judicial candidates' portion began at just before the 27:00 minute mark.

The fallout and repercussions of Chairman Rosales' remarks appears to still be playing out between the local Democratic Party leadership supporting the coalition with Republicans and those standing with the County Democratic Party's majority. Early voting and Vote-by-Mail for the Primary Election begins in less than a week. The regular Election Day is on March 17th.

Hold on to your hats. It's gonna be an interesting month and a half.

County Executive Background

The Cheat Sheet has a basic overview of the County Executive form of government we transitioned to from the more common system by Illinois County governments where the County Board oversees an administrator and staff to carry out the County Board's directives. With a recent public push to get rid of the new County Executive position and go back to the old system, it's worth looking at how we got here.

The 2016 referendum for changing over to the County Executive form of government was supported by Champaign County's local Chamber of Commerce and Farm Bureau. This was in spite of their previous opposition to the same idea in the past. From Tom Kacich back in 2016:

Champaign County voters have rejected similar proposals for an elected county administrator on four occasions, the most recent coming in 1998 when the idea was rejected, 57 percent to 43 percent. It also was defeated in 1986, 1988 and 1990...

Ironically the Farm Bureau opposed the proposal on all four occasions, the organization's executive director, Brad Uken, said Wednesday...

[Chris Murray, president of the Champaign County Farm Bureau] denied that the initiative is an indication of unhappiness with the Democratic-dominated county board...

But Laura Weis, president and CEO of the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce, noted that "we have had a long period of time with a lot of unresolved issues (at the county) and I don't know that we can honestly say that this is going to be the thing that solves all those issues. But currently the way we're operating we're not bringing resolution to outstanding issues that are facing the county and with the state of the state it's only going to get worse."

Full article here with additional historical oddities. Kacich had further analysis on the conflicting motives of those suddenly supporting the change here. The County Executive plan was a collaborative project with the local Chamber and Farm Bureau as well as the candidate the role was effectively designed for, Gordy Hulten, then the Champaign County Clerk. From the News-Gazette during the 2018 midterm race that would eventually fill the position:

he political action committee of the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Republican Gordy Hulten over Democrat Darlene Kloeppel to be the county's first county executive.

The unusually early announcement comes almost 11 months before the general election set for Nov. 6, 2018.

"We decided that since the chamber was such a driver for the county executive initiative in the first place we wanted to make sure if we're going to get involved that we want as much of the (election) cycle as we could and to have as much impact as we possible could," said Garret Hill, spokesman for the Business Empowered political action committee.

The chamber of commerce along with the county Farm Bureau and Hulten, currently the county clerk, and state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, were the chief proponents of the county executive proposal which was narrowly approved by voters in November 2016 by a margin of 50.26 percent to 49.74 percent.

That full article here. The Farm Bureau also endorsed the presumptive candidate a month later. The public arguments danced around the thinly veiled partisan motivations and focused on urban versus rural divisions between the parties and specific policy issues dividing liberals and conservatives to paint the Republican backed move as non-partisan. To be fair, partisans on both sides believe that their positions are what's best for the County, not simply partisan battles. A cynical person won't believe their rationalizations. A more optimistic person may give more of a benefit of the doubt until their actions remove that doubt.

The surprise victory by Democratic Darlene Kloeppel was a shock to many, including Hulten who dismissed the possibility as realistic prior to the election. Since that election his and Republican Party desires to have veto power over the Democratic majority County Board have disappeared.

What has happened since has been frustrating and confusing for many Democrats hoping to consolidate those gains towards more political victories after the 2018 "blue wave" as they like to call it. Instead the Republicans have formed a coalition with self-described pragmatic Democrats on the County Board and elected Giraldo Rosales as Chairman of that coalition majority.

The Chairman and the Republican coalition have acted as an interim check on the Democratic Party's majority on some of the very issues Republicans hoped Hulten would play as County Executive. This appears to be a limited and temporary solution to their original goals, however. The ability to elect a Republican County Executive in a couple years is far from certain. The fractured Democratic party may be infighting before a primary election now, but that's not certain to continue either. The coalition some Democrats have formed with Republicans is causing serious resentments and bizarre power moves that could result in a very different situation heading towards or after the general election.

One of those coalition members, Democratic County Board Member Dr. Charles Young is the other half of the Reform Champaign County's bipartisan effort to eliminate the County Executive now. He has been a frequent and relentless critic of his party's own County Executive, Darlene Kloeppel. His appointment to personnel and policy committee chair by Chairman Rosales has allowed him to use his time to regularly and publicly admonish the County government's structure and Kloeppel for a litany of complaints.

The stated motivations and rationalizations may be more or less sincere. I've highlighted the public comments and disagreements in previous Cheat Sheet posts here for readers to make up their own mind:

• Fears and Loathing at the County Board: an expansive overview of Champaign County Democratic Party divisions, background, and coalition politics.
• Party Politics: a brief overview of the complicated party politics ahead of the 2020 primary election.

State Politics, Investigations and County Government

The Cheat Sheet of Champaign County and C-U Local attempts to stay focused on their respective local government bodies, but sometimes State politics barges in. This past week or so there have been updates on three separate State political stories that each have related investigations and that have either involved County government offices or required they step aside from their normal duties.

In one example, there was an e-mail suggesting that a rape in Champaign was covered up by a political appointee in a shady lobbyist email involving State Democratic Party players. From the Chicago Tribune:

Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz said she had spoken to the attorney general’s office Thursday afternoon and would be assisting OEIG’s investigation to unravel the meaning of McClain’s reference to a “rape in Champaign.”

“Certainly, if there’s a victim in my county I want to do everything I can to bring the perpetrator to justice,” she said.

This followed reports from WBEZ and Capitol Fax that Rietz was not going to get involved and had argued that there wasn't enough specific information to open an investigation at her office. A more recent update on the ongoing scandal at the State level here.

In another recent news story, a local State Representative for the Champaign-Urbana area was accused of stealing a purse in Urbana. The News-Gazette had coverage explaining that a special prosecutor has been assigned instead of having the Rietz's office investigate:

Last week, Presiding Judge Tom Difanis appointed the Office of the State’s Attorney Appellate Prosecutor to review Urbana police reports generated about a Jan. 7 incident in which Ammons allegedly took a Coach purse from the Carle Auxiliary Resale Boutique, 810 W. University Ave., U...

In her motion asking for a special prosecutor, Rietz said that “prosecution of the suspect in this matter by the State’s Attorney’s Office could be a conflict of interest for the office or alternatively could create the appearance of an impropriety.”

The apparent conflict is that Rietz’s office represents the county clerk’s office. Rietz and the Ammonses are all active members of the Champaign County Democratic Party.

That full article here, with a lot more details. Capitol Fax had an update earlier this week on other local coverage here.

And finally, in a third State political issue, a computer hiccup with the State's automatic voter registration system has had the Champaign County Clerk looking into potential impacts locally. From the News-Gazette earlier this week:

Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons said he has purged from the voter rolls seven non-citizens who were registered here due thanks in part to a glitch at the secretary of state’s office.

In Champaign County, two such people were wrongly allowed to vote in the 2018 general election. A third voted in the 2006 general election, well before automatic voter registration was in place...

In both elections, Champaign County results show that no race was close enough that one or two votes would have changed the result.

Ammons said he’ll continue to investigate the matter and turn over his findings to the state’s attorney’s office.

Full article here with an additional link to a WDWS podcast interview with County Clerk Ammons. WCIA had more here. The Chicago-Sun Times had an update on the glitch and the governor arguing against Republican calls for a pause in automatic voter registration since it has been fixed here.

County Updates

This post covers some recent County government updates and news on upcoming judicial vacancies and appointment applications, a local bipartisan project to reform Champaign County government, the annual Point-in-Time homeless survey, and a reminder of warning siren testing this week.

First, there was a press release out of the Supreme Court of Illinois about local judicial vacancies and the application process for appointing judges to them:

Justice Rita B. Garman of the Supreme Court of Illinois has begun an application process for two vacancies in the Sixth Judicial Circuit.

One vacancy will be created by the retirement of Judge Jeffrey B. Ford on March 25, 2020. Judge Ford was elected as a Resident Circuit Judge in 2006. A second vacancy will be created for the position of Resident Circuit Judge when Judge Heidi Ladd retires on July 1, 2020. Judge Ladd was elected as a Resident Circuit Judge in 2004.

Under the Illinois Constitution, judicial vacancies are filled by Supreme Court appointment. The application process will lead to the final Court approval. Applicants will undergo an evaluation and screening process.

Notice of the vacancies have been posted in the courthouses throughout the Circuit. The application form and instructions may be obtained by visiting the Illinois Supreme Court’s website at www.illinoiscourts.gov and following the instructions in the latest news scroller announcing the Sixth Judicial Circuit vacancy.

Deadline for submission of an application is Tuesday, February 18, 2020. 

More details at the full press release here. There was additional information about the process in the News-Gazette coverage this morning:

Garman has assembled a panel of citizens to help screen the applicants. The two appointees will serve until the first Monday in December 2022.

“We will attempt to identify persons who will be capable and committed to serving the people in this important position,” Garman said when asked if she plans to appoint only people who intend to run for election in November 2022.

That article available here in the eEdition (subscription). Interviews with Judge Ford and Ladd were highlighted in a recent Cheat Sheet post here. For upcoming judicial races in Champaign County, check out our Judicial races page and an upcoming forums with local judicial and other candidates starting tomorrow.


Former school board member and perennial local conservative candidate John Bambenek has joined Democratic County Board member Dr. Charles Young as part of an announced reform project for Champaign County government on their website here. Bambenek recently called for a series of reforms at the December County Board meeting during public participation (video here). County Board member young has been a regular public critic of the Democratic County Executive Darlene Kloeppel and regularly notes his opposition to politics as usual and desire for an overhaul of the current County government structure.


The annual Point-in-Time homeless survey and count will be happening tomorrow in Champaign County. From Smile Politely this week:

 To take stock of where Champaign County stands vis-à-vis homelessness, this year’s Point-in-Time count of individuals and families experiencing homelessness will take place on Thursday, January 30th from 5:30 to 8 p.m. This annual survey is mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and helps determine federal funding allocations for programs assisting homeless individuals and households. It’s organized locally by the Champaign County Continuum of Service Providers to the Homeless (CSPH). If you are interested in volunteering to help ensure success of the 2020 Point-in-Time survey or to otherwise join efforts to end homelessness in Champaign county feel free to contact CSPH coordinator Thomas Bates at 217-328-3313 or tbates@ccrpc.org.

More at the full article here. Additional information from the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission here.


A quick reminder that the County's emergency siren system will be tested this week if you hear warning sirens being tested outside of the usual 10am on the first Tuesday of the Month and get concerned. More at the Champaign County EMA website here. More recent coverage and details at the News-Gazette from earlier this week here.

Health Updates and Data

[UPDATE x2: Coverage from yesterday's forum with local health officials on preparations and proactive steps being taken in regards to the Wuhan coronavirus and the need to be vigilant about the flu season in general. From Illinois Newsroom:

Health officials in Champaign County say they are ready, if any cases of the novel coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China should turn up locally. But they say no cases have shown up so far.

As of Tuesday, five cases of the coronavirus have been reported in the United States, with one reported in Chicago. In Champaign County, officials with the University of Illinois’ McKinley Health Center say they determined that one person showing possible coronavirus symptoms did not have the illness. The vast majority of reported cases are in China, with the World Health Organization reporting more than 4,593 cases as of Tuesday morning, including more than 100 deaths.

At a news conference at the U of I, McKinley Health Center director Robert Parker says he emailed each of the 146 students who came to the Urbana campus from Wuhan, with information related to the virus. He says several wrote back to say they had not traveled to Wuhan during the university’s winter break that ended last week, which means they are not at risk of bringing the virus with them. And for those who had traveled to Wuhan, Parker said several said they had decided to “self-quarantine” themselves.

Full article here. Illinois Newsroom has been adding updates at their information post here. WAND had an overview of the forum here with a video segment. There was additional coverage in the News-Gazette this morning here.]

[UPDATE: Another update on the local coronavirus response since I posted this earlier this morning from Illinois Newsroom:

[Tuesday, January 28th], health officials in Champaign will discuss their response to the coronavirus at a forum on the University of Illinois campus. The forum will take place at 9:00 a.m. at the Fire Service Institute at 11 Gerty Drive. Champaign Urbana Public Health administrator Julie Pryde will answer questions. She’ll be joined by Robert Parker, the director of the U-of-I’s McKinley Health Center and Janet Jokela, the acting dean of the University of Illinois’ College of Medicine.]

First, the latest updates on the Wuhan coronavirus. The CDC's risk assessment has been updated to describe an important exception to the overall low risk to Americans in general:

The risk to individuals is dependent on exposure. At this time, some people will have an increased risk of infection, for example healthcare workers caring for 2019-nCoV patients and other close contacts. For the general American public, who are unlikely to be exposed to this virus, the immediate health risk from 2019-nCoV is considered low.

More at the CDC website here. The Daily Illini had an update on campus precautions yesterday:

After coronavirus spread to the United States, McKinley Health Center has been taking precautionary measures to make sure everyone on campus is healthy.

According to a Massmail sent around noon Monday, there have been five confirmed cases of coronavirus in four states, including one in Illinois.

Since then, one University student has shown possible symptoms, but it was determined to not have been coronavirus...
On Friday, McKinley started contacting students with a known connection to Wuhan City, China, where the virus first started. Some students who traveled home to Wuhan City have chosen to self-quarantine, monitor themselves or wear a surgical mask.

More at that full article here. The News-Gazette's eEdition had an update this morning noting the increased sales of face masks and other precautions given our international community:

“We know there are no symptomatic individuals right now in this community,” he said. The UI contacted students with a known connection to Wuhan City on Jan. 24, according to UI McKinley Health Center Director Dr. Robert Parker. All students coming to the health center with respiratory symptoms are being masked at the door and told about how to keep themselves healthy, he said in an updated email to the campus community Monday.

More at that article on A1 of the eEdition here (subscription). Previous updates on local reactions to the Wuhan coronavirus risk are available on the C-U Local Cheat Sheet here.


In other local government health news:

Our local health district administrator received an appointment from the governor. From the News-Gazette earlier this month:

Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Administrator Julie Pryde has been appointed to a three-year term on the Illinois State Board of Health.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced seven appointees to the board on Monday, pending confirmation by the Illinois Senate.

Full article here.

The C-UPHD also announced that they're gearing up for the latest local health assessment (the 2017-2020 assessment is available here with a treasure trove of data) with additional grant funding. From the News-Gazette a few weeks ago:

The newly awarded $10,000 federal grant is aimed at a more meaningful inclusion of the needs of people with disabilities in the next three-year community health needs assessment, according to the public health district Administrator JULIE PRYDE.

Historically, people with disabilities are under-represented in planning processes such as these, Pryde said...

The health district works with the Carle Health System and OSF HealthCare on a community-wide health needs assessment every three years.

That full article here. There was also an overview of the assessment and an interview with Pryde in Smile Politely last week:

When we first started collecting this data about 20 years ago, it was part of a requirement for the Health Department, and it was just sort of a joke.

It was just 10 people sitting around a table putting 10 things on paper and then putting the report on a shelf and do nothing with it. However, every year we try to do better with how we do it. We use a process called MAPP (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships).

This year (as they prepare the 2021-2023 report), we are doing even more. We are going to start this month. And if you are interested in being on that group, we would love it. We try to get a huge array of people involved. Media is important. People don’t realize it, but the media is very important.

Full article here. The 2017-2020 assessment is available here and has a lot of data looking at different impacts to different neighborhoods, demographics, racial disparities, etc. The introduction explains the structure of the assessment and how it's put together:

The Champaign County Community Health Plan provides a current portrait of the health assets and needs of the residents of Champaign County. Illinois state law requires every local health department to participate in this process, called the Illinois Project for Local Assessment of Needs (IPLAN). This process must be conducted at minimum every five years. The detailed assessment and plan provides the foundation for evidence based health planning and decision-making.

The essential elements of IPLAN are:
1. An organizational capacity assessment;
2. A community health needs assessment; and
3. A community health plan, focusing on a minimum of three priority health problems. 

The Champaign County Community Health Plan was created using a model called Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP). This collaborative approach to community health planning was developed by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) in cooperation with the Public Health Practice Program Office and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). MAPP helps communities form effective partnerships that can better identify their unique circumstances and needs and use their resources wisely.

Full assessment here. The C-UPHD's facebook page also highlighted the issue of redlining and the legacy that housing discrimination continues to have on health incomes in this article from Shelterforce. For more on segregation in the Champaign-Urbana area, check out this C-U Local Cheat Sheet post: C-U Segregation.


[This post has been updated. Originally posted at 8:11am on 1/28/20.]

Makeup Waste Collection Event

Following up on a Cheat Sheet post about problems with last year's hazardous waste collection event by the IEPA in coordination with local governments. A make-up event for those who were unable to participate last year due to long lines and other logistical problems has been set for April 4th with registration beginning next week. From the News-Gazette earlier this month:

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to return to Champaign County to collect the household hazardous waste items from hundreds of people who signed up for a collection event this past October but couldn’t get through the backed-up line.

For now, the collection is open only to about 600 people who have been sent letters about the make-up date.

They all reserved an appointment slot at the Oct. 26 collection, but couldn’t get in, according to Nichole Millage, environmental sustainability specialist for the city of Champaign. Those households have until Jan. 31 to sign up for a time for the make-up event, set for April 4.

That full article here. Event registration page here. Smile politely had a blurb with latest dates, locations, and links here:

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency will be hosting another of these collections in Champaign on April 4th at Marketplace Mall. The event is open to all Illinois residents, but you must register for ahead of time. Registration opens Monday, February 3rd.

This collection is for all sorts of materials that shouldn't go out in the trash, from household batteries to paint thinner to pool chemicals. You can find the full list of items here. The event last fall was overwhelmingly popular, and many did not get to drop off their materials. Hopefully this will be an opportunity for those folks. 

That full blurb available here.

What is the CAFR?

It comes up regularly at County Board meetings in regards to the County's financial situation. At this week's County Board hearing Member Goss asked for an update on the Fiscal Year 2018 CAFR status. The Auditor answered that it's still in a rough draft form and needs refinement. He pointed out the need for some additional numbers about the Nursing Home and that he was working with the Chief Deputy Circuit Clerk on another issue. Earlier in the meeting County Board Member Young pointed out that as a newer member he didn't even know what a CAFR is yet. Here's a Cheat Sheet post on the CAFR. 

It's a term that comes up often, but probably as confusing to the public as it is for many in the County government itself. Listening to the meetings, you'll almost always hear it pronounced as "caf'-er" with the first syllable like a domestic cow's young: "calf." I strongly recommend avoiding spelling it out phonetically as it could be picked up as a variant of one of the most heinous racial slurs in English speaking South Africa. Something to be aware of given our international community here in Champaign County.

The Fiscal Year 2017 CAFR is available here as an example of what one is exactly. The introduction lays out the general idea:

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) of the County of Champaign, Illinois for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 is submitted herewith. The CAFR is management’s annual financial report to its taxpayers, governing board, oversight bodies, investors and creditors.

This report consists of management’s representations concerning the finances of the County of Champaign. Consequently, management assumes full responsibility for the completeness and reliability of all information presented in this report. To provide a reasonable basis for making these representations, County management has established a comprehensive internal control framework that is designed both to protect the government’s assets from loss, theft, or misuse and to compile sufficient reliable information for the preparation of the County’s financial statements in conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). 

Full report here (page 1 of the introductory section starts on page 13 of the PDF file). This introductory guide by Jayden Sangha on a website for Municipal Bond information explains it with a bit more detail from the perspective of an investor reading a CAFR. Except:

As an investor in local government debt instruments, you might often hear the term ‘CAFR’ and its importance in maintaining financial transparency for local governments for financial markets and their investors. As the name suggests, a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is a set of financial reports produced by local governments, states and other entities to comply with the reporting rules set by Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB). GASB also serves as the oversight board to ensure compliance and communicate any new updates or changes to reporting methods. In addition, an independent auditor audits the CAFR using GASB standards prior to their publication.

The local and state governments produce many comprehensive documents and reports; however, the CAFR and the entity’s budget book are typically considered two of the most important documents. Where the budget is a forward-looking document that plans for the future fiscal year and shows how the revenues will be allocated, the CAFR shows the actual numbers of financial activities for the previous fiscal year. In this article, we will take a closer look at different sections of the CAFR and how investors can find information pertinent to their investments in a particular local government’s CAFR.

That full article here. If this wonky explanation is still clear as mud, don't worry. This stuff can be complicated for the folks who work with it regularly. The Virginia Government Financial Officers' Association has slide presentation that helps walk people through the parts of a CAFR. This is intended for people on government boards who may be new to the concept as well.

Hopefully this information can help anyone from a curious constituent to a freshman board member wrap their heads around this critical accounting tool. It's key to other institutions, organizations, investors, etc to know the financial situation of a local government body so that they can make informed decisions in their interactions with it.

Fears and Loathing at the County Board

It's been a busy week just since the last post on the County Board's Committee of the Whole meeting and other County updates (available here). A lot of it involves another contentious Democratic appointment on the County Board so there are links to a lot of party inside baseball in this post. Here's a quick summary of recent events and updates:

• Sunday afternoon, the Champaign County Democratic Party Precinct Committeemen and women of Champaign County District 9 voted to recommend Jen Straub for the vacancy in District 9.
   
• Midday Wednesday, more bad news broke on the County Treasurer's office that it had dropped the ball with people who paid their property tax, but still got warnings that they hadn't paid and threatened consequences for non-payment.
   
• Wednesday night, the Champaign County Democratic Party had a contentious three hour meeting where they passed new bylaws, with specific revisions to respect the voting recommendations of Precinct Committeepersons for vacancies. There was also an impromptu debate after Chairman Giraldo Rosales' primary opponent introduced herself during candidate time. The Chairman's wife, Melodye Rosales began repeatedly questioning her husband's opponent, suggesting her vision for the County Board wasn't valid. The candidate, Emily Rodriguez acknowledge they had a different vision, but that the voters should decide their vision for the County Board.
   
• Also on Wednesday, Judge Bohm ruled against a potential Republican primary write-in candidate for Treasurer who had filed too late on the primary calendar, but could still potentially be slated by the party or run as a write-in candidate in the general.
   
• Cynthia Fears was appointed by Chairman Rosales for the vacant County Board seat in District 9 over the recommendation of the County Party for her primary opponent Jen Straub. Other Democrats on the board warned Republicans that they believed this sets a precedent for any future chair to ignore the recommendations of either party when they have a vacancy. Again a coalition of Republicans and a handful of Democrats on the board voted against most of the Democrats on the board.

This post expands on all of those items, including last night's County Board meeting. A few other County updates follow (jump to link here).

Sunday Democratic Party Vacancy Vote:

The party meeting was held at the Urbana Free Library on Sunday afternoon. Frustrations of various participants emerged afterwards. Jen Straub eventually won over the attending Precinct Committeepersons 3-1 with a weighted vote for their districts of 751-393. Given the recent party politics, many people seemed certain that Chairman Rosales and his coalition with Republicans would approve her opponent, Cynthia Fears, instead. That's exactly what happened last night at the County Board meeting. More on that below.

At the Sunday meeting the Party Chairwoman Maryam Ar-Raheem, who has stood with County Board Chairman Rosales with his coalition with Republicans for certain issues and appointments, was said to have made her displeasure with Precinct Committeepersons vote clear.

Jen Straub put out this statement the next day after repeated inquiries:

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to present my case for the appointment of Pranjal Vachaspati's vacated seat to the Precinct Committeepeople of County Board District 9. This appointment will fill the seat until the election in November decides a permanent replacement to take the seat in December.

It was a pleasure to meet my primary opponent. I enjoyed the chance to speak with everyone about the issues currently facing the County Board. Because I have been at every County Board Meeting, Committee of the Whole, and Democratic Caucus since announcing my intention to run, I have a lot of ideas.

I am proud to say I won the support of 3 of the 4 voting Precinct Committeepeople in attendance. The appointment, however, is ultimately decided by the Chair of the County Board, and will be announced Thursday evening.

That statement available from her campaign facebook account here.


Wednesday Democratic Committee Meeting:

At a packed, standing room only Champaign County Democratic Committee meeting Wednesday night, the previous minutes passed out with the agenda foreshadowed the next three hours of deliberations. The October meeting's Precinct Committeeperson's report reiterated the Chairwoman's concern about diverse representation in the party:

This mirrors her public complaints the next day on October 24th after the District 10 vacancy was filled by the County Board Chairman also over the recommendations of the Precinct Committeepersons. That time it was in front of the Champaign County Board and leveling criticism generally against racism in the Democratic party and white Democrats challenging black Democrats for offices and political positions (more on that here, video here). County Board Member Charles Young has recently agreed publicly with Chairman Rosales and the Chairwoman Ar-Raheem. This is also in addition to a history where he has repeatedly implied other Democrats have attempted to block him on account of his race since joining the County Board. From August of 2018:

It’s local Democrats’ second show of support this summer for Young, a retired education historian at the University of Illinois.

He was led to believe he was in line to take Hartke’s seat after precinct committeemen chose him in a vote on May 17. But a few days later, Democratic county board Chairman C. Pius Weibel announced he wouldn’t recognize the selection, pointing out that the short notice given for that meeting — 48 hours — violated the bylaws of the county party’s central committee and left several of the elected precinct committee members unable to attend.

That led Maryam Ar-Raheem, chairwoman of the county Democratic Party, to express in a letter her frustration over what she called Weibel’s repeated attempts to dictate how she performs her duties.

Young sat out the June 10 re-vote that went Douglas’ way. The night she was seated, he had strong words for Weibel "and his sneaky Democratic colleagues and friends," saying: "Your political process of voting with the new female candidate that you always wanted is illegal, unconstitutional, a scam, a hoax and a dishonor to the entire" party.

That full article here. Young and Chairwoman Ar-Raheem have regularly pointed to Weibel's decision as a precedent that makes the turnabout fair play. More details about the controversy surrounding that decision, including the concerns about short notice and weighting votes from outside the district from the News-Gazette here, and from the Cheat Sheet with vote breakdowns here. The Board Member who vacated the seat accused the Party Chair of acting "crooked" in packing the vote, while the she implied the board Chairman was attacking her on account of her race. Young for his part blamed the decision on race and gender.

So... that's just some of the public spills of local Democratic Party inside baseball behind the current situation that can appear very odd to political newcomers to the scene. It's impossible to explain the full history and motivations of all the players along this power rift, and disagreements about that history and possible motivations is part of it. Which brings us to the bylaws passed Wednesday night that attempt to distribute party power among the heads of the standing committees and make it less centralized with the Chair and Executive Committee, while also laying out clarifying rules for advisory recommendations for filling vacancies.

Former Party Chair Al Klein had very specific amendments to address and debate issues he and others wanted considered and discussed, requested with roll call votes. He argued that he didn't want the bylaw changes to be done cavalierly and by voice vote. He also argued in favor of a strong Chair. The amendments eventually failed and the revised bylaws passed with the required two-thirds majority, with only a few nays, including Klein. Of all the arguments about the recommendation process, there was agreement that the ultimate decision for vacancy appointments was out of their hands.

As mentioned above there was a bit of an impromptu debate early on in the meeting during candidate time between District 9 candidate Emily Rodriguez and her opponent, Board Chairman Giraldo Rosales' wife, Melodye Rosales who asked a series of pointed question after Rodriguez spoke. The questions revolved around the statutory obligations of the board as opposed to services not currently within the County Board's purview or matters within the purview of Mental Health Board. The confrontation follows Melodye Rosales accusing Rodriguez and others of being part of a concerted effort against black people in positions of power within the Democratic party by predominately white progressive groups. More on that background on a Cheat Sheet post here.

The back and forth ended with Rodriguez repeating that she had a different vision for the County Board and felt that voters should decide what that vision should be. Rosales remained unsatisfied with the answer, but otherwise agreed to moved on.


Thursday County Board Meeting:

County Board Chairman Rosales confirmed suspicions soon after the County Board meeting began last night by announcing his own choice for the vacancy, Cynthia Fears. He listed off the reasons he felt she was better qualified and ideal for the position, highlighting her work with prisoners and legal assistance in light of upcoming jail and alternative programs issues before the Board. Other Democrats expressed their continued concerns about ignoring the recommendation of the County Party and the precedent that sets for future Chairmen appointing vacancies of opposing parties as well.

Rosales contrasted his work with County committees and his perspective versus Precinct Committeepersons who he argued don't show up and vote like it's a popularity contest. He stood by his right by statute to have the authority to appoint who he wishes. Republican Board Member Jim McGuire once again dismissed any concerns on the Republican side for a cross-party precedent.

The appointment passed with the support of Rosales' coalition and the Republicans over the opposition of the majority of the Democrats. Cynthia Fears was sworn in and took her seat on the Board immediately after.

Most of the rest of the meeting time was taken up by votes and discussions related to the County Treasurer's office which had even more bad news break the day before. From WCIA Wednesday:

Imagine you paid your property taxes on time, in full, only to have the county turn around and sell what it says are delinquent taxes...

Four properties in Champaign Co. were impacted by what’s known as an “administrative sale in error,” Pilarski’s included...

It’s unclear how much Champaign Co. will have to pay to settle with the four tax buyers.

Full article here with video segment. After months and months and failing to live up to assurances made, the County Treasurer's Office still has yet to rectify the problem for the tax payers. This was raised along with continued issues for school districts and Republican frustration about their previous complaints and concerns being ignored in their view while the situation deteriorated in the office.

A vote on approving the budget items, even though the money has already been spent was blocked by Republicans wanting to make a point that they refuse to approve of the situation. Democrats argued that it would only put another black mark on the budget, but Republicans dismissed that as insignificant compared to all the other problems and how they have hurt the County's financial reports. Republicans used the opportunity to encourage voters to vote for competent candidates as opposed to party affiliation in future elections.

The other items went through without any significant discussion beyond a technical question or two.


Other County Updates:

The Champaign County Emergency Management Agency is putting out the word that they're doing a warning siren test on the new system at unusual times and dates.

C-U, Savoy, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign outdoor warning sirens to be upgraded and tested between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, January 27th-31st. See press release below for more information.

More information at the link with a graphic of the full press release here. More at the Champaign County EMA website here.

WCIA had an interview with the County Executive, Darlene Kloeppel (video only), on issues facing the County.

WDWS had an interview with Champaign County Clerk Aaron O. Ammons today on Penny for your Thoughts.

The Census is still doing outreach to hire Census workers in Champaign County at a higher pay than initially offered. From the News-Gazette today:

If you’d like a temporary job paying $20.50 an hour and you’re willing to talk to people on their doorsteps, has Uncle Sam got a deal for you.

Hundreds of census workers are still needed in Champaign County and others in the area, and the jobs come with paid training and flexible hours across days, nights and weekends, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The application process is being handled online.

Lower unemployment is making it somewhat more challenging to hire enough census takers compared with a decade ago, according to Jeanine Beasley, media coordinator for the regional Census Bureau office in Chicago.

Full article here. More information at the Census 2020 hiring website here.