Local Unemployment Rates Drop

Republicans will probably credit Trump. Democrats will probably point to years long trends that started with Obama. Some wonky independents will probably say that economic forces generally beyond presidential purview are at work while everyone tries to take credit for the good news. No matter where one gives credit, there is good news all around. From the News-Gazette last night:

January unemployment down in C-U, Danville over 2017
The unemployment rates in both the Champaign-Urbana and Danville metro areas continued to drop in January compared with a year ago...

In the Champaign-Urbana metro area, 1,400 jobs were added over the year, including 1,000 in government; 600 in education and health services; 200 each in leisure and hospitality and professional and business services; and 100 each in durable-goods manufacturing, transportation, warehousing and utilities, information, and financial activities.

Meanwhile, retail trade lost 700 jobs, while manufacturing of nondurable goods and wholesale trade each lost 100...

Across Illinois, the unemployment rate dropped across each of the 14 metro areas, and jobs increased in 11 of those.

Full article here. 

BPNJ Update

Build Programs Not Jails (what is this?) meeting last night was a whirl wind of reports of what has been happening in the area on the criminal justice and social services front. Some of the subjects I have write ups on already (e.g. The March Committee of the Whole) and other meetings at the County and C-U local level.

There's a UIUC Board of Trustees meeting tomorrow (agenda here) that may discuss expungement of criminal records and the "Yes Apply" push to have school applications no longer ask about or consider criminal record. [UPDATE: Follow up coverage information: Trustees, Criminal Background and BDS ]

The Housing discrimination issue with the City of Champaign ordinance and Housing Authority of Champaign County was discussed.

There were updates on the CU Bail Watch project to provide oversight on the criminal justice systems treatment of the new Bail Reform Act (more info on that here).

The Urbana development project on top of a former water treatment facility location was discussed in relation to previous developments and concerns with toxicity and health issues such as the one just down the road at 5th and Hill site.

There are concerns with the Sheriff candidates advocacy for Jail expansion in spite of a years long low in demand and need could reignite the debate for expanding the Jail this election year. This could lead to a situation where opponents may be caught with their guard down and a push to expand goes mostly unchallenged behind the scenes to create the dreadful scenario of increasing jail capacity creating pressure to fill it rather than expansion based on actual beneficial need in the community.

There is concern about a button up fascist event that may be happening on campus to dehumanize undocumented immigrants and stoke fears and hysteria about violent crime in spite of the statistical reality that they are less likely to harm anyone in horrific crimes than citizens. How to deal with that without giving it the publicity they crave is an ongoing problem.

On a less cryptic note, the Community of the Whole County Board meetings (calendar) continue to have reports and RJTF specific issues being raised in the coming months, so keep attending and following their work to stay up to date on the latest movement on their recommendations.

Champaign Community Coalition

This post explains what the Champaign Community Coalition is and does. For the 3/14/2018 meeting notes scroll down or click here to jump to them.

The Champaign Community Coalition is a county organization of organizations that includes:

...local government; law enforcement; juvenile justice; behavioral health; education; child welfare; and community based service providers. This network is designed to identify critical community issues that impact the lives of youth and their families. Effective Systems of Care are family-driven, youth-guided, strength-based, culturally competent, and trauma informed in its philosophy and operation.

The Executive Committee of the CCCC provides overall leadership, determines priorities, oversight on activities and facilitates community conversations. Staff support for the project and to the Executive Committee is housed at the Champaign County Mental Health Board.

To promote, inform and facilitate the priorities of the CCCC, three working sections are organized to coordinate activities. These three sections are: Healthy Youth and Families; Community Justice; Education and Youth Development. The sections are the pathways to drive the work of the CCCC. Core priorities, goals and initiatives are identified through monthly community-wide meetings. Each of the three sections, have section leaders to facilitate meeting communication and organization.

A major focus in the CCCC philosophy is to identify, support and expand effective strengths based programs that exist throughout the community. Where that is not possible, new opportunities may be created. We don’t need to recreate what we already have in place.

What they do can be quickly understood from their latest priorities:

Police Community Relations

1. Promote and support and encourage
2. Police/law enforcement leadership, engagement with officers

Mutual Advocacy

1. Support racial justice initiatives
2. Homelessness
3. Trauma-informed community
4. Youth Assessment Center
5. Support mental health awareness

Community Engagement

1. Walk As One events
2. Racial Taboo
3. Promote Coalition activities
4. Targeted neighborhoods – support specific activities

Youth Development

1. Summer jobs
2. Arts/Recreational activities
3. Educational initiatives (truancy discipline)
4. Initiatives: 18-26 population
5. Academic achievement

Community Violence

1. CU Fresh Start
2. School-based violence
3. Trauma-based trainings
4. Community-targeted Neighborhood Activities

Long story short it is an organization that many people thinking of good ideas for our community sometimes doesn't know already exists. Here are the meeting notes from 3/14/2018 if you want to get a feel for what their community wide meetings are like.


Meeting Notes: 3/14/2018: Champaign Public Library 3:30pm

Today's meeting was at the Champaign Public Library. Meeting agenda printouts, additional information from various organizations and sign-up sheets were on the back tables.

Introductions. They mean everybody. Tracy Parsons led the meeting and introduced himself as the facilitator of the meeting before handing the microphone to the audience. All (rough guess) 60 audience members stated their name and the organization they were with, including a few who just stated "Urbana citizen" or similar if they weren't with an organization.

From area law enforcement agencies, government, social activist groups, faith based organizations, groups for mental health and other services in the area and related agencies... there were too many representatives from throughout the community to even really keep track of them all. Parsons started by remarking on how remarkable it is to have a community group like this and not to take it for granted.

"Good news" was next on the agenda where they announce good news. Today was a birth announcement.

Representatives of the area policing agencies gave updates on local crime, shootings, and Urbana's burglary rate declining after recent arrests of suspected repeat offenders from an average of one robbery a day to less than one a week. There has been a dramatic start to firearm homicides and shootings in the area noted by both Champaign and Urbana representatives who laid out active investigations and where a suspect was identified.

Unofficial criminal activity appeared to be much lower this year as there were fewer out of town revelers causing trouble and more local University kids celebrating more sensibly.

They plugged the City of Champaign "Youth Police Academy" and various are law enforcement "Citizens Police Academy" events (Cheat Sheet post here).

Anti-Immigrant cards encouraging people to report on suspected "illegals" in the area have been turning up regularly and re-appearing quickly at locations where they are removed. It's causing some fear and concern throughout the community. The police representatives didn't have any information on this and it may not be a police matter due to the nature of the cards not promoting any criminal activity.

A question was asked if there'd be child care at the police academy event for adults and it did not sound like there would be. Another person asked if previous participant evaluations of the program were available for new people to read, but the feedback sounded like it was only for internal improvement use at this time.

The next meeting will have more on Latinx issues and ICE in the community.


Coalition Priorities:

CU Fresh Start explained the process by which they call in those at risk of perpetrating and being victims of gun violence and the difficult odds they face to teach organizational skills, ensure they make it to appointments, evaluate and connect them with services and training, etc. They asked that those with resources to offer get in touch with them on everything from housing to employment. Everything takes resources.

A recent Racial Taboo screening event was discussed. 120 community members stayed for the conversations organized afterward and 83 evaluations were submitted. Organizers highlighted some feedback on what people took away from the experience. The noted an upcoming "Waking Up White" screening about white privilege and how to recognize it even while in the midst of it.

The Youth Assessment Center announced that it is moving to its new location April 2nd and will be having an open house probably in early May. More information on that on the Cheat Sheet here. A basic description (also a fact sheet here):

The Youth Assessment Center staff screen at-risk juveniles and link them and their families with the community’s support and restorative services. Law enforcement personnel typically make referrals to the Youth Assessment Center as an alternative to prosecution and to prevent further delinquent activities. Case managers consider station-adjustment charges, police officer or school official recommendations, family input, and restorative justice methods. (from their website)

Peace and Resiliency Champions (formerly CU Neighborhood Champions) explained their name change and explained some of their training programs for organizations and providers who help people who have experienced trauma.  More under Upcoming Trauma Training Events on their page here.

Youth Engagement: they are looking for creative collaborative ideas for youth engagement as we approach the warm summer months where idle hands with free time can be deadly. They're seeking ideas from organizations and individuals.

They especially thanked the Champaign County Mental Health Board that has provided the seed money for almost all of the projects and efforts being discussed here today.


Information Sharing:

The Youth and Family Peer Support Alliance explained what they are and what they do for families with children with mental illness. They detailed numerous support activities and connections to services. More information at their website here.

National Youth Gun Walkout Activities. A local counselor spoke on the children she's talked to about the issue locally. There is fear every day right here in our community. It's an everyday fear.  Children are feeling unsupported by adults with authority and in power. They are dealing with an endless parade of naysayers telling them they're just kids and they don't know what they're talking about on these issues. They want to see action across systems, not just on staying safe from gun violence, but they want better government results across the board.

The March For Our Lives event is coming up March 24th and organized by local students. They are seeking support from the community:

If you are interested in speaking or performing contact uhanif@illinois.edu. If you are press and would like more information contact aghoganson@gmail.com. If your social justice oriented organization would like to be a community partner contact esinger@illinois.edu.

 With a few comments and questions the meeting wrapped up.

March COW

The County Board Committee of the Whole (what is this?) last night included a Special Meeting about leasing out part of the county nursing home, but the vote had to be delayed. Meeting notes below (jump to meeting notes). Summary from the News-Gazette:

County board puts off lease vote for nursing home, OKs plan to cover payroll
A vote on a proposed agreement to lease space at the Champaign County Nursing Home to Rosecrance Health Systems was postponed Tuesday over questions raised by the Illinois Department of Public Health, while county board members members gave tentative approval to a plan to use the county's general fund as a line of credit to cover nursing home payroll.

Board Chairman C. Pius Weibel said he hoped to bring the lease agreement back before the county board on March 27. As proposed, the county would lease to Rosecrance an unused wing at the nursing home for use as an inpatient drug therapy facility for about 24 patients at a time.

But nursing home officials received a letter from the Public Health Department late Monday afternoon raising questions about the agreement. County administrators didn't learn of the questions until Tuesday morning.

Also:

The measure to use the general fund to cover nursing home payroll was approved 12-6 at the board's regular committee-of-the-whole meeting, with all "no" votes coming from Republican members Jim McGuire, Jon Rector, Jack Anderson, Brad Clemmons, John Clifford and Stan Harper.

Weibel called the measure "a Band-Aid approach" that will make it easier for the county to cover payrolls, which average about $240,000 every two weeks.

Under the plan, county Auditor John Farney and county Administrator Deb Busey will pay bills submitted by vendors only during payroll weeks. After it's been determined that there is adequate revenue to cover payroll, accounts payable will be prioritized with any remaining funds.

Full article here.

Videos (Special Meeting video and COW video) at the County Clerk YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/champaigncountyclerk


Meeting Notes:

Special Meeting: 6pm at Brookens (agenda) began at 6:04pm

Prior to the Special Meeting Chairman Weibel informed me that the Special Meeting was going to be very brief as the one item on the agenda was delayed. At the meeting itself it was explained that the Illinois Department of Public Health notified them that another step was required to get approval to lease out part of the facility.

Member Petrie asked for further explanation of what the issues were. The IDPH had concerns about staff and management overlapping versus simply leasing out the property. She also raised concern about the medicaid beds and "overbedding" and whether this deal would cause problems for the Nursing Home's medicaid program. These questions are still being worked out with the IDPH and lawyers.

Member Harper wanted to make sure the broker and potential buyer for the Nursing Home were being kept in the loop. He was assured they are aware.

This item will be on the agenda two weeks from now. The Special Meeting adjourned at 6:13pm.


Committee of the Whole: 6:30pm (agenda) began at 6:31pm

Attendance: Quorum. Absent Crews, Hartke, and Marsh

Public Participation: Doctor Dottie Vera Wise (sp?), a Physician in C-U for 4 and half years when she was practicing, has been tracking criminal justice statistics of those in jail. She gave numbers of thos in jail and pointed out that such numbers need to be more easily accessible given the important decisions that the Board makes that should be informed by them. She distributed an information pamphlet showing the numbers over the last six years or so. She argued that things have improved, with a jail population averaging about half of what it was six years ago, but there is still room for improvement.

RJTF Presentation: (direct video link here)

There was a presentation by Ryan Huges and Doctor Carolyn Randolph from the Racial Justice Task Force advocating for the Community Engagement recommendations to be adopted. They discusses a project (more information here and database here) in coordination with Dr. Bev Wilson and U of I students collecting and analyzing criminal justice statistics in the area from the County Sheriff's department, Jail, Circuit Clerk, and four other police departments. One example they noted was that controlling for age, sex, and type of crime across five departments, Africian-Americans were still four times more likely to go to jail than white suspects.

They advocated for making the data more streamlined and contining the data base project with local community groups and the U of I by

1) having better access to data with dynamic records and avoiding access barriers like CAPTCHA that prevent automating data collection.
2) Getting the format of the data across systems in line with one another.
3) Cross-agency integration
4) Establishing analysis of data with diverse groups in the community.

They believe their database project could serve as an example for future databases.

After some discussion about the difficulties and regulatory road blocks in their cross-agency data recommendations, they pointed to a leadership role the County Board can serve as opposed to asking them to try to change regulations outside of their perview. A vote to adopt the recommendations was considered, but due to the complications involved it sounded like Member King was going to put together a committee group to suggest more direct recommendations for the County Board itself per Chairman Weibel's suggestion.

Other Reports:

The Community Reentry Quarterly Report will be presented on March 22nd with the Annual Report

Most of the usual County Office reports were simply filed. The States Attorney argued for her need of an assistant state's attorney to handle the work load while they are already a lawyer short on the criminal side. Staff is overwhelmed having to cover that workload. Concerns about position control (and fears of temporary staff becoming permanent drains on the budget) led to an amendment to revisit the position at the end of the fiscal year (which is the calendar year for the County Board now). The amendment and motion as amended passed with a voice vote with one nay.

Other Finance agenda items passed with a voice vote.

Treasurer and Auditor spoke about their reports. The Auditor noted their staff had won a couple awards in spite of difficult circumstances which received applause from the board.

Interim County Administrator Busey spoke about the Nursing Home report and there was a discussion and Q and A with SAK (the management agency running the home now) about recouping collections costs.

There was a debate on a band-aid measure to ensure payroll is paid even with brief waiting periods between the Nursing Home receipts and payroll needing to go out to staff that has caused consternation in the past. The measure would direct the treasurer to temporarily loan money out to ensure payroll is paid and immediately repay it with Nursing Home receipts when they come in. While nobody seemed to happy about the budget being in a situation where this was necessary, it had a broad support from the Treasurer, the Auditor, and the interim County Administrator.

Member McGuire raised concerns about the idea getting expanded down the road beyond payroll and whether this creates a loophole around the usual appropriation rules requiring 15 county board votes and the $250k limit. What a vender sues and demands repayment through this process? The argument broke down with Busey's side saying it simply prioritizes pay roll and arguing it can't get out of control as it only risks AP payments to prioritize payroll. McGuire's side pointed to the lack of limits on teh spending and believed it would be a slippery slope to other costs. He pointed to the history of Nursing Home band aids getting out of control in spite of best intentions.

The measure passed 12-6 with a roll call vote (no votes in the N-G excerpt above).

After that the board seemed anxious to wrap up and quickly passed the remaining items on the agenda by voice vote, and approved the upcoming consent agenda items and adjourned at 8:26pm about as fast as I could write that down.

Special Meeting Tonight VOTE CANCELED

[UPDATE: The paperwork for the special meeting's item wasn't ready to vote on tonight. The COW is still at 6:30pm.]

Tonight, Tuesday March 13th at 6pm, just before the normal COW meeting, there will be a special meeting to lease out part of the Nursing Home to Rosecrance for addiction treatment (Attend a Meeting!) From the News-Gazette:

Proposal would put empty wing to use
County board members will hold a special meeting today to consider a lease agreement with Rosecrance Health Network to use one wing of the Champaign County Nursing Home for addiction treatment for about two dozen patients.

The meeting, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Brookens Administrative Center, will precede a regular county board committee-of-the-whole meeting.

No details of the agreement were included in the special-meeting agenda.

But a request for proposals issued last month in connection with the possible sale of the nursing home disclosed that the county has been approached by a nonprofit corporation about leasing an empty wing of the nursing home on a short-term basis — six months, with a clause allowing month-to-month extensions — that would yield the county more than $16,000 a month.

More information at the full article.

[Originally posted 3/13/2018 at 5:35am]

Early Voting Expands Today

Early Voting locations and times at the Champaign County Clerk website and below. If you still need to register to vote, more information on Grace Period Registration here. If you're voting by mail and waiting until the last minute, you're here at the last minute. More from the News-Gazette:

Early voting now in high gear: 8 voting sites available today for casting ballots
Early voting in Champaign County expands to eight satellite sites today, and County Clerk Gordy Hulten said he thinks that 5,000 or more people could vote before Election Day.

That would be well over 20 percent of the anticipated turnout of around 24,000 to 25,000 total votes.

“We’re at 2,700 ballots cast right now,” he said Monday afternoon, “and we still have 1,000 Democratic voteby- mail ballots out and 500 Republican ballots out, so I think it’s reasonable to think that three-quarters of those will come back. That’s another 1,200 votes.

“That gets us to 3,900, and I think we’ll certainly be over 5,000 ballots cast prior to Election Day, maybe significantly beyond that.”

Once voters try voting by mail or early voting one time, he said, “they very rarely go back to voting on Election Day.”

A possible indicator of University turnout being lower was also mentioned last night in the web N-G:

Turnout for UI student elections doesn't bode well for primary
If student elections held Wednesday and Thursday at the University of Illinois are any indication, the prospects for campus turnout in the March 20 Illinois primary don't look good, especially since it falls during spring break.

Campuswide participation in last week's election was just 11.78 percent, down from just under 15 percent in 2017.

Only time will tell if the student Get Out The Vote efforts by the various campaigns and non-partisan groups will prove that prediction wrong.


Early Voting Locations and Times:

Office of the Champaign County Clerk

1776 East Washington Street, Urbana - Map

• Thursday, February 8 through Friday, March 9: weekdays 8:00am - 4:30pm
• Monday, February 19: President's Day open for voting only 8:00 - 4:30pm
• Monday, March 12 through Friday, March 16: weekdays 8:00am - 7:00pm
• Saturday, March 17: 9:00am - 4:00pm
• Sunday, March 18: 9:00am - 4:00pm
• Monday, March 19: 8:00am - 7:00pm

UI Campus: Illini Union - Room 213

1401 West Green Street, Urbana - Map

• Tuesday, March 13 through Friday, March 16: 10:00am - 6:00pm
• Saturday, March 17: 10:00am - 1:00pm
• Sunday, March 18: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
• Monday, March 19: 10:00am - 6:00pm

North Champaign: The Church of the Living God

312 East Bradley, Champaign - Map

• Tuesday, March 13 through Friday, March 16: 10:00am - 6:00pm
• Saturday, March 17: 10:00am - 1:00pm
• Sunday, March 18: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
• Monday, March 19: 10:00am - 6:00pm

West Champaign: Leonhard Recreation Center

2307 Sangamon Drive, Champaign - Map

• Tuesday, March 13 through Friday, March 16: 10:00am - 6:00pm
• Saturday, March 17: 10:00am - 1:00pm
• Sunday, March 18: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
• Monday, March 19: 10:00am - 6:00pm

Southwest Champaign: Meadowbrook Community Church

1902 South Duncan Road, Champaign - Map

• Tuesday, March 13 through Friday, March 16: 10:00am - 6:00pm
• Saturday, March 17: 10:00am - 1:00pm
• Sunday, March 18: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
• Monday, March 19: 10:00am - 6:00pm

Mahomet: Lake of the Woods Pavilion

Lake of the Woods Road, Mahomet - Map

• Tuesday, March 13 through Friday, March 16: 10:00am - 6:00pm
• Saturday, March 17: 10:00am - 1:00pm
• Sunday, March 18: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
• Monday, March 19: 10:00am - 6:00pm

Rantoul: The Gathering Place (First United Methodist Church)

200 South Century Blvd, Rantoul - Map

• Tuesday, March 13 through Friday, March 16: 10:00am - 6:00pm
• Saturday, March 17: 10:00am - 1:00pm
• Sunday, March 18: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
• Monday, March 19: 10:00am - 6:00pm

St. Joseph: Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

802 East Douglas, St. Joseph - Map

• Tuesday, March 13 through Friday, March 16: 10:00am - 6:00pm
• Saturday, March 17: 10:00am - 1:00pm
• Sunday, March 18: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
• Monday, March 19: 10:00am - 6:00pm

Tolono Public Library

111 East Main Street, Tolono - Map

• Tuesday, March 13 through Friday, March 16: 10:00am - 6:00pm
• Saturday, March 17: 10:00am - 1:00pm
• Sunday, March 18: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
• Monday, March 19: 10:00am - 6:00pm

The Week Ahead 3/11 - 3/17

[UPDATE x2: The special meeting item's paperwork was not ready so there won't be anything to vote on tonight. The COW is still at 6:30pm tonight though.]

[UPDATE: Tuesday at 6pm, just before the normal COW meeting, there will be a special meeting to lease out part of the Nursing Home to Rosecrance for addiction treatment. More information here.]

REMINDER: Voting has begun! Early voting and Vote-by-Mail has started for the March 20th, 2018 Primary! We're within 28 days of the election so if you still need to register to vote there is Grace Period Registration. Grace Period Registration is available at early and regular polling locations. More information here. Sample ballots are available here. 

Other Events:

Champaign and Urbana Local Government March Meetings.

Groups that crossover with Racial Justice Task Force recommendations meeting this week:

Urbana Human Rights Commission meeting on Wednesday, March 14th at 5:30pm at the Council Chambers at City Hall at 400 S. Vine Street (info pamphlet)

Champaign County Community Coalition Wednesday, March 14, 3:30-5:00 PM at the Champaign Public Library meeting room.

Build Programs Not Jails meets Wednesday, March 14th at 7pm at the Independent Media Center.

Champaign County Board: Committee of the Whole has specific RJTF crossover this month (more information below) Tuesday, March 13th at 6:30pm at Brookens.

There are candidate events happening for races up and down the Democratic and Republican ballot, so get your sample ballot, read about and meet the candidates. Forums, questionnaire, and other Candidate Information mentioned in the Cheat Sheet organized in this post. The News-Gazette has interview podcasts on their website. Candidate websites and social media links at the CCVA Candidate Guide is a good place to start looking at candidates.

Make a plan to vote. Election day itself falls within Spring Break if you're going to be out of town. Early voting and Vote-by-Mail have begun.


County Calendar:

The week kicks off with the Nursing Home Board of Directors meeting at it's new 6:30pm time. From last month's agenda packet you can see this is more of a managerial board discussing financials and marketing more than policy or politics.

[UPDATE: Tuesday at 6pm, just before the normal COW meeting, there will be a special meeting to lease out part of the Nursing Home to Rosecrance for addiction treatment.]

This month's Committee of the Whole (what's a COW?) has a Racial Justice Task Force crossover. The Justice & Social Services Committee will have a "Presentation on the Database and Recommendations of the Community Engagement Subcommittee" and the "Community Reentry Quarterly Report."

The Zoning Board of Appeals is probably self-explanatory. This week, technical rule changes on wind and solar farms appear to be the focus (agenda). [More information in the New-Gazette today 3/15/2018: Resident offers cautionary tale on wind farms ]

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

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

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

Where is Brookens?

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

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










[Originally posted 3/9/2018 at 5:05am]

Circuit Judge Appointment Primer

The News-Gazette had an expert explanation of the recent Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge appointment today (previous post on that appointment here):

Deliberate process in appointing a judge
...
 The retirement of Judge Jones created a vacancy in the office of circuit judge in the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Champaign County, Illinois. The Illinois Supreme Court justice responsible for this area, Justice Rita Garman, had a choice to make. She could have chosen to leave the position open until it could be filled by the general election of 2018. This would have left a busy court shorthanded, creating an adverse impact on the court’s ability to address cases in a timely fashion.

In the alternative, Justice Garman could have sought out a person who agreed to serve in the interim but not run. Typically, this “caretaker” role would be undertaken by a retired judge or senior lawyer willing to step out of the practice for a limited stint on the bench. The pros and cons of this approach could fill the balance of this column. Suffice it to say that the cons outweighed the pros in this situation and another approach was employed.

Justice Garman decided that the position would be filled by a person who would be willing to run for the seat in 2018. Filling the open judgeship in this manner is a task for the Illinois Supreme Court with Justice Garman taking the lead due to the location of the judicial vacancy. A notice of the vacancy was published in a variety of ways and interested candidates were given directions regarding the application process.

A citizen panel was created to review applications, check references and evaluate the candidates. In addition to lawyers, this group included business and community representatives. These people were asked to perform an important task. They accepted the invitation and jumped to the challenge. The members of the panel did not receive compensation. They certainly deserve our thanks.

Several lawyers applied for the position. Interestingly, the number was smaller than the number of persons who recently sought the position of associate circuit judge. Given that the circuit judge position carries a larger salary and is a higher rank in the judiciary, the reader may be puzzled by this disparity. In my mind, it is explained by the fact that the person appointed will have to run for the seat in the 2018 election. The prospect of running for office causes some to forgo the pursuit. Some people consider this a flaw in the system. They think people who would be good judges are deterred. Others reject that and claim that the position should be held only by those willing to go through the campaign process. All those who applied deserve credit. They put themselves out there and faced the consequences. Having faced citizen panels and judges in the appointment process (including times when I was not chosen), I know that this is difficult and stressful. There was one position to be filled. As a result, each person seeking the position faced disappointment.

As has been reported, the Supreme Court chose Jason Bohm as the circuit judge replacing Judge Jones.

 Full article here.

Willard General Update

The Urbana City Council will host a Willard representative who will give details on our area airport. The News-Gazette blurb today:

Willard Airport update on agenda
URBANA — The city council will receive a briefing about Willard Airport on Monday night, almost a year after United Airlines joined American in flying out of Savoy.

Mayor Diane Marlin said a Willard representative will discuss flight data and give a general update.

Willard saw a 12 percent increase in departing

passengers last year, according to Executive Director Gene Cossey.

That increase was aided by the 16,896 departing passengers on United flights last year, he said.

[UPDATE: From the News-Gazette coverage of last night's Urbana City Council meeting (agenda here, video here). The airport report (direct video link here) showed the highest traffic in a decade:

In other business, the city council received an update on Willard Airport from Gene Cossey, its executive director.

Willard added its second airline, United, last June, and Cossey said it hasn’t taken anything away from the airport’s American Airlines flights. That and the addition of some more American flights helped 2017 become “a record year over any other years we’ve had since 2007,” he said...

2017 also saw a new Willard website where flights can be booked directly and the addition of an Einstein’s Bagels — the airport’s first concessions offering since about 2000, Cossey said.

Coming to the airport this year is an automated parking system that aims to speed up the parking process.]

Democratic Party State Central Committeewomen [UPDATED]

If you pull a Democratic Party ballot this primary, you might see a contested race for State Central Committeewoman. The 13th and and 15th Congressional District both have contested races for Democratic Party State Central Committeewoman. Information about the candidates for each is below. So what is that? The Democratic Party's State Central Committee is chaired by the Speaker of the General Assembly, Mike Madigan and is made up of one committeeman and one committeewoman from each Illinois Congressional District. They essentially run the state-level Democratic Party of Illinois.

[UPDATE: Mike Madigan, in efforts to protect his job, has started a campaign against progressive Committeewomen candidates who oppose his leadership. Madigan isn't accused of sexual harassment himself, but failure to protect women in the party from credibly accused men in the party. From WTTW Chicago:

As he deals with the fallout of sexual harassment allegations in his office, House Speaker and Democratic Party Chairman Michael Madigan has indicated he isn’t going anywhere. In fact, his desire to stay in power may be stronger than ever, according to several Democratic political candidates who say he is retaliating against them in their races because they have refused to pledge their support for him.

More information on Madigan's mailers and attacks at The Intercept here. More information on the the Our Revolution slate of State Central Committee candidates here at the Our Revolution website.

News-Gazette Interview 3/14/2018: Full article here. Excerpt:

Gronemeyer said she doesn't know why the head of the Democratic Party is using robocalls against her or mailers against some of her colleagues.

"I don't know why Madigan would be afraid of us. We don't want to throw everything away. Gosh darn it, I supported a tax increase because we have to do something with our budget," she said of the state income tax increase last year. "They shouldn't be afraid of us. They should want people to be involved, and that's what our goal is...

Mazzotti declined to return messages seeking a comment.

An update with some of the spending numbers of Madigan's campaign on committeewomen here.]

Click here to jump to the 15th District.

13th Congressional District Race:

Mazzotti Gronemeyer

The race on the 13th Congressional District's Committeewoman is between Jayne Mazzotti (incumbent) and Pamella Gronemeyer. The Springfield Journal-Register has some helpful information in their article on these previous ballot rivals:

Schoenburg: Bernie-backing Gronemeyer vs. Clinton delegate Mazzotti for Dem post
There will be a rematch in the March primary for a place on the Democratic State Central Committee.

PAMELLA GRONEMEYER, a pathologist from Glen Carbon, is running against incumbent JAYNE MAZZOTTI of Taylorville as 13th Congressional District state central committeewoman.

The same two candidates faced off in the spring of 2010, with Mazzotti winning by 53-47 percent. Mazzotti was unopposed in 2014.

“I think I represent the grassroots,” Gronemeyer now says. “I get out and demonstrate and deliver letters to our congressman each month and work hard to promote polices and issues.”

She is co-president of the Illinois chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, a coordinator of Progressive Democrats of America in Illinois, and was a BERNIE SANDERS supporter who was on the platform committee of the 2016 Democratic National Convention. She also coordinates a progressive group called Southern Illinois People for Progress.

“My goal is to try to activate people and I try to represent people that are pushing for more progressive ideals,” Gronemeyer said.

Mazzotti, a French teacher, union member and wife of Christian County Democratic Chairman JACK MAZZOTTI, is on the Democratic National Committee. She was also a convention delegate for former President BARACK OBAMA in 2008 and 2012 and for HILLARY CLINTON in 2016.

Mazzotti said via email that she wants to “continue the work that’s already in action, including meeting regularly with other members of the Democratic Party in our state and working together to improve polices rooted in fairness, justice and opportunity — opportunity like access to quality education. As an educator and a parent, I understand the importance of quality schools and learning tools that our young people so deserve.”

She said such access was recently “made possible to students throughout our state” by school funding reform sponsored by Sen. ANDY MANAR, D-Bunker Hill.

Manar supports Mazzotti for re-election.

Mazzotti has a personal facebook page and a committee named Citizens for Jayne Mazzotti, but I couldn't find a campaign page or website.

Pamella Gronemeyer has a campaign facebook page. [More information at the Our Revolution endorsement page here and the N-G interview here. Excerpt from the Our Revolution page:

Pamella Gronemeyer, M.D. is a physician and a small business owner. She takes pride in the fact that her hard work insures that her employees have excellent health insurance for themselves and their families without paying any premium or deductible. She is an involved single payer activist who works nonstop for its implementation.

She is the Co-President of PNHP IL and the Vice President of the board for the Illinois Single Payer Coalition. As an activist, she is the organizer of a progressive group in Edwardsville, IL that was begun in 2005. She has been a longtime member of PDA and is the Co-State Coordinator for PDA IL.]

15th Congressional District Race (currently vacant seat):

The candidate information here was a bit harder to track down and still a bit scarce.

Vivian Robinson has a facebook campaign page.

Tonya Loker and Rena Elkins Bever met while waiting in line to file as candidates before realizing they were going to be running against each other. NPR story here. I couldn't find campaign websites for either, but Bever pops up on the Wabash County Democrats facebook page a couple times and the Daily Egyptian had Bever's political origin story:

Like Mendenhall the 2016 presidential election inspired Rena Bever to run for state central committeewoman for the southern Illinois congressional district 15.

“After the election, I felt the need to talk to like-minded women,” Bever said.

Bever had coffee with six other women, which then grew to ten.

That was the beginning of the organization, League of Like-Minded Resistors, which is based in Wabash County. The league now has 75 members, both men and women.

The league provides members a space to have positive interactions with each other and has joined with the local democratic party.

I couldn't find any campaign websites or other information on Diana K. Douglas yet either.

Germaine Light is also a Vermilion County Board candidate and has a facebook campaign page. [More information at the Our Revolution endorsement page here:

Germaine is a retired public school teacher, having taught biology for 27 years at Mahomet-Seymour High School. She has extensive experience as a labor activist. Her first union experiences were with Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) as a city bus driver for Bloomington-Normal Public Transit and attending solidarity rallies for the Normal, IL firefighters locked in jail for striking.

Germaine was a member of Mahomet-Seymour Education Association/IEA/NEA for 27 years, and held many union positions, including Area Representative, Local Treasurer, Local President for four years, Region Council Representative, Delegate to the IEA & NEA Representative Assemblies for over 10 years, IEA Grassroots Political Activist for 6 years, Region Chair and Vice Chair and IEA Delegate to Champaign County AFL-CIO Local Labor Council for 15 years.

Upon retiring in 2013, she became a member of IEA-Retired. In these positions much time was and still is spent lobbying public officials, noting their responses and performance in office, helping to run candidate endorsement meetings for IEA, and organizing union members to participate.

She has worked for many years to enhance community coalitions in local labor groups like AFL-CIO and Central Illinois Jobs With Justice, where she is a founding member.] 

Germaine Light also has a recent article in the CU-IMC's Public I arguing for fair income taxes in Illinois here.

[originally posted 2/7/2018, 4:40AM]

C-U Fresh Start "Call-Ins" Begin

The News-Gazette had an update on the C-U Fresh Start program today. More on CU Fresh Start on this earlier post.

Focus returns to ‘call-ins’
As it begins its second year, the CU Fresh Start program to curb gun violence will refocus on “call-in” interventions and social services...

Thursday’s nine “call-in” participants were at least 18 years old and on probation or parole, had a prior felony arrest, prior gun arrest or violent crime conviction and were connected with a recent violent crime based on credible information.

At the Illinois Terminal, the group heard from local government and police officials, community members impacted by gun violence and faith leaders. Their message: Commit to leaving gun violence behind and receive services to rebuild your life. If not, expect harsh and swift consequences.

The participants have a week to decide if they’ll commit to the program. If they do, they’ll receive help from Donte Lotts, the program’s community liaison, for things ranging from job searches to finding mental-health services or resuming education...

 “Building trust and confidence in these guys that they can be successful is very difficult,” Parsons said. “Then there’s the reality that employment is very difficult for a person with a felony.”

Thanks to funding from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, Parsons said Fresh Start can improve its rehabilitation offerings to committed “callin” participants. He noted how mental health plays a major factor in the lead up to a shooting, whether it has been diagnosed or not...

This week’s “call-in” happened a day after Champaign’s first homicide of 2018. A 26-year-old Chicago man was shot around midday Wednesday in the 1300 block of Sunset Drive.

Full article here. Related article today with an update on Champaign's first murder of the year:  Suspect, 39, sought in fatal shooting: Police confirm alleged shooter knew victim, 26

Water Rate Increase

Some Champaign County residents may see a slight increase to their water bill due to a rate hike approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission, a State agency. From the News-Gazette:

Rate increase taking effect next Friday

Aqua Illinois customers in Champaign and Vermilion counties soon will pay a little more every time they turn on their faucet.

But the water rate hike approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission this week is significantly lower than the increase the utility company originally requested 10 months ago.

Under the increase, which takes effect Friday, the average monthly residential bill will go from $55.34 to $57.15 — an increase of $1.81...

In May, Aqua Illinois asked the ICC for about a $12 million increase to pay for infrastructure improvements to increase reliability and water quality throughout its systems. Under that scenario, the average residential bill would have increased by $5.42 a month to $60.76.

Ervin said the lower rate was made possible by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts of 2017, aimed at cutting taxes on individuals and businesses, stimulating the economy and creating jobs. It substantially reduces the corporate

tax rate from a maximum of 35 percent to a flat rate of 21 percent, and is estimated to save the water company about $4.5 million.

Full article here.

Race and Housing Discrimination

Smile Politely had an article about the Racial Justice Task Force's housing recommendations yesterday. Specifically it argued that, unintentionally or not, the exemption for renters with a criminal conviction in the City of Champaign's Human Rights Law has a disproportionate effect by race. It argues this is because it plays off of racial disparities present in our criminal justice and economic systems. From the article:

For some reason, in 1994, we decided that instead of disallowing discrimination based on any prior conviction, instead, we should disallow discrimination based on any prior conviction if the convicted person is five years clear of the offense (and any incarceration that might have resulted thereof). Again, it might seem innocuous; after all, we don’t want violent or drug felons living in our nice neighborhoods, right?

Did you catch yourself nodding along? If you get caught with a baggie of weed in Illinois (10 grams), that’s a misdemeanor. Get caught a second time, that’s a felony. Some very nice people in very nice homes in very nice neighborhoods have 10 grams of weed at home right now. They just haven’t been caught.

Who’s likely to get caught? Well, based on national and local statistics for policing, Black people. What we know from national studies is that while minorities don’t commit crimes at a rate greater than that of Whites, Blacks and Latinos are much more likely to be detained and searched (and with flimsier justification) than Whites. What section 4.5 amounts to, in effect, is housing discrimination not targeted at “crime” so much as it is at minorities.

The Champaign County Board, the City of Champaign Human Rights Commission, and the Champaign County Racial Justice Task Force have all called for the repeal of section 4.5. Champaign City Council member Alicia Beck (District 2) has proposed a study session to begin the process of repealing the offending text in section 4.5, and council members Will Kyles (at large) and Matthew Gladney (at large) have signed on. Two more signatures are needed to effect the study session.

Full article here. It has contact information for City of Champaign Council members. More information, including maps to look up your district and representative here. County Clerk tool to look up your districts and representatives here. Or click on the map below to find your district directly: 

What might not be so obvious is that the exemption applies only to renters who tend to be lower income than home owners and landlords themselves. In other words if you can afford to own the property then you're protected. In fact you could legally discriminate against renters convicted of the same crimes as yourself.

Proponents point out that ending this exemption brings Champaign and Urbana laws closer in sync and would still allow vetting of lessees by landlords. It simply wouldn't allow for blanket bans that only take into account convictions of specifically just those people who can't afford to buy property.


More information:

More on the Racial Justice Task Force here.

More on the recent Champaign County Board vote to urge the City of Champaign to change the ordinance here: Committee of the Whole and RJTF Recommendations

CU Indivisible's statement on the RJTF recommendations: CU Indivisible and RJTF Recommendations 


Related: Housing Authority of Champaign County rules

The RJTF Housing recommendations also included changing a similar issue at the HACC.
Housing Recommendations

1. The Housing Authority of Champaign County should change its eligibility policies to provide fair housing rights to all applicants with criminal conviction records except when U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rules require a public housing authority to reject an applicant due to criminal record.
2. The Champaign County Board should urge the Housing Authority of Champaign County to change its policies as described above.
3. The Champaign City Council should repeal Section 17.4-5 of the city code.
4. The Champaign County Board and local law enforcement officials should urge Champaign City Council members to repeal Section 17.4-5 of the city code to help reduce recidivism and racial disparities in the criminal-justice system.

Quick Overview of the Housing Authority of Champaign County here: New Housing Authority Director