Budget, Barrels and Bins

The News-Gazette had a couple city government blurbs today. The first for the City of Champaign's upcoming budget discussions (agenda here), highlighting some budget items:

Champaign's proposed city budget maintains police, fire staffing
Staffing at the Champaign police and fire departments would not decrease under the proposed fiscal 2018-19 budget, which the city council will get its first look at next week.

Among the budget’s line items:

➜ $171,000 to pay for firefighters whose grants run out in February.

➜ About $145,000 to hire police officers in anticipation of retirements.

➜ About $18,000 to make the police department’s property crimes unit a permanent project.

➜ $100,000 for police overtime.

➜ About $75,000 to staff the City Building front desk, including salary and benefits for the new hire and costs such as a desk computer.

➜ About $14,000 in public works overtime to cover special events.

➜ About $7,000 for demolition of nuisance properties.

The council will discuss the budget at Tuesday’s meeting. Final approval could come in June.

Link to that article here. Then there was a blurb for both City of Champaign and Urbana about a rain barrel and compost bin sale, with discounts for residents:

Rain-barrel, compost-bin sale set May 5 outside Urbana City Building
The city of Urbana, the city of Champaign, University of Illinois Extension and Faith in Place will sell rain barrels and compost bins for one day only.

The sale takes place from 9 a.m. to noon May 5 at the corner of South Vine and East Green street in the parking lot north of the Urbana City Building, which is at 400 S. Vine St.

Rain barrels, which include a leaf and mosquito filter basket, an overflow adaptor, a spigot and an overflow hose sell for $49, but Urbana and Champaign residents are eligible for a $25 rebate for barrels with proof of residency such as a utility bill.

A stationary compost bin sells for $46 and a tumbling compost bin for $205.

People who want to pre-order before the event can go online to rainbarrelfundraising.com/Urbana.

That article here.

The Autism Program Struggles

The ongoing State budget crisis is being felt in organizations throughout the area. The News-Gazette highlighted one such program today: The Autism Program affiliate available to local families through the University of Illinois. From today's News-Gazette:

UI's Autism Program affiliate still feeling sting of state-budget impasse
In late June 2016, it looked like The Autism Program affiliate at the University of Illinois — then 11 years old — might close for good. The state’s budget impasse had taken such a financial toll on the program that its future was uncertain. And in 2017, it faced a similar crisis.

Two years later, it’s still operating, but fears that TAP could be forced to close haven’t gone away. “It really makes it incredibly difficult to plan,” TAP coordinator Linda Tortorelli said of the anxiety she has that state funding won’t continue to come...

 TAP, which finally received a check from the state in January, has to spend the more than $200,000 by the end of the fiscal year in June. And while the program is back at full funding, the previous budget impasse left staff with a sour taste in their mouths.

For 13 years, the local community group has been a free resource for parents, professionals, students and anyone with autism. The resource room in TAP’s Family Resiliency Center is covered in bookshelves filled with autism books, pamphlets and programs for anyone who wants them. And it’s open about 44 hours a week.

Oftentimes, doctors will refer kids to TAP, parents will visit in order to learn more about a recent diagnosis and teachers will drop by to look for free classroom materials for their autistic students.

However, what once was a statewide network of autism centers — with a Springfield headquarters — is now a shell of its former self. TAP’s central office closed in September 2015, and centers across Illinois boarded up after funding cuts made it impossible to continue operating.

Full article here. More from UIUC's tap webpage here.

C-U Metro Area Unemployment Down

There were some recent unemployment data from the state about our metro area and county from the News-Gazette (with more information from the Illinois Department of Employment Security here) today along with a couple handy charts in the on-line version:

March unemployment: C-U's rate tied for lowest in state; Danville's is highest
The unemployment rate remains low in the Champaign-Urbana metro area.

At 3.8 percent this March, it is tied with the Bloomington for the lowest unemployment rate among Illinois' 14 metro areas, according to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in Danville is the highest among Illinois metro areas, at 5.8 percent.

But across the state, the unemployment rate continued to drop compared with a year ago.

Full article here.

CU-MTD Renews UIUC Program

For those familiar with navigating campus traffic, you're probably aware of the bus service the UIUC pays for to help manage the chaos. That program was recently extended. From the News-Gazette's coverage of the MTD board meeting this week:

MTD board unanimously approves extending deal with UI until 2021
A 29-yearlong agreement to provide regular bus service to University of Illinois students, faculty and staff will be extended three years under a unanimous vote of the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District board Wednesday.

Under the intergovernmental agreement that runs until June 30, 2021, the UI will pay the transit district $5.53 million in the first year, $5.68 million in the second and $5.81 million in the final year of the contract.

The partnership was formed in 1989, a memo to MTD board members said, to provide safe, evening transit service for students and to meet the campus administration’s desire to avoid more and bigger parking decks...

 Also Wednesday, the MTD board agreed to pay $168,070 to Feutz Contractors for construction of a sidewalk linking MTD administrative facilities at 1101 E. University Ave., Urbana, with its new CDL training facility at 1207 W. University Ave., U.

And MTD Managing Director Karl Gnadt said an open house would be held next week to gauge interest in an on-demand transit service in southwest Champaign.

The hearing will be from 5 to 7 p.m. May 2 at Champaign Fire Station No. 6 at 3911 W. Windsor Road, Champaign, to see whether residents in an area generally bounded by Kirby Avenue on the north, Rising Road on the west, Interstate 57 on the east and Windsor Road on the south would be interested in the service. Under the plan, riders would use an app to request a trip in a small van to one of three destinations: the Stephens Family YMCA, the MTD transfer point on Round Barn Road or a regular MTD bus stop in southwest Champaign.

Full article here.

Urbana Administrator and Fix-it-Tickets

Urbana's new Administrator, filling a long time vacant city position, will be focusing on making local government more accessible and understandable for better engagement. From today's News-Gazette:

Admin pick aims to make a difference
Carol Mitten knows what keeps people from interacting with city government, and she isn’t shying away from it.

There’s confusing legalese, required procedures, dense reports and budgets with triple digit page counts — all things that could be difficult for the layman to comprehend.

“I want (citizens) to understand why we do what we do ... so they can give fully-informed feedback with context,” Mitten said. “Transparency can be just providing information, but I’d like there to be a greater understanding.”

As the new city administrator of Urbana, Mitten will tackle that work when she officially starts in early June. Mayor Diane Marlin announced Mitten’s appointment on Wednesday after conducting a nationwide search that received over 60 applicants.

Marlin said the administrator handles the day-to-day operations of city staff and coordinates communication and planning across departments.

The position has been vacant since 2007, when former Mayor Laurel Prussing decided against having one.

Full article here. More from the N-G website, including more details about the position and interviews with the Mayor and new Administrator here.

Also from Urbana's Council meeting this week was the new Fix-it Ticket pilot program explanation (more details at the full article, including exceptions). Also from the N-G today:

Taillight out? 'Fix-it Tickest' may lend hand
...
“Fix-it Tickets” would offer payment vouchers to drivers pulled over by police for broken headlights, taillights, blinkers or license-plate lights.

Preston James, the city’s community relations specialist, said a pilot version of the program would start July 1 and cost $2,500 — an expense the city already has budgeted.

The vouchers would only cover the cost of new car lightbulbs — not the labor needed to replace them. A local auto parts store would partner with the city to fulfill vouchers and shoulder the labor costs as a favor...

James said the city council won’t vote on approving Fix-it Tickets by itself, but the program will be included in the upcoming fiscal year’s budget.

If approved, James said the city will review how the pilot program went — after the $2,500 runs out — and decide what to do going forward.

Urbana police crime analyst Melissa Haynes said that from October 2017 to March 2018, there could have been 172 Fixit Tickets offered at the most.

Full article here. [UPDATE 4/27 at 2:38pm: The News-Gazette editorial board weighed in on this ticket solution, and not favorably. From one of the editorial's today:

Under normal circumstances, motorists would be expected to take the personal responsibility to get a light fixed. But the city is taking the approach — condescending to be sure — that it's unrealistic to expect some people to handle that personal responsibility.

The city expects the motorist to take the voucher to the auto-parts store and get the promised fix. The voucher would expire after 60 days, but is that really enough time to realistically expect the typical responsibility-shy motorist to act?

The sarcasm continues in the full editorial.]

Education Racial Disparity Data

A great deal of new and sobering information was released at the federal level this week on education and racial disparity data (school search tool here). From yesterday's Washington Post:

Racial disparities in school discipline are growing, federal data show
Black students faced greater rates of suspension, expulsion and arrest than their white classmates, according to federal data released Tuesday, disparities that have widened despite efforts to fix them.

The findings, drawn from the Civil Rights Data Collection, come as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is considering curbing the department’s role in investigating racial disparities in discipline. Those probes reflected efforts by the Obama administration to scrutinize schools with unexplained disparities in their discipline rates.

The Civil Rights Data Collection, which contains detailed information for the 2015-2016 school year on more than 96,000 public schools, offers more evidence that certain young people — including black, Hispanic male and American Indian students — face harsher discipline than their white counterparts.

About 2.7 million suspensions were handed out in the 2015-2016 school year, about 100,000 fewer than two years earlier. But the number of students being referred to law enforcement authorities and arrested on school grounds or at school activities increased. About 291,000 such referrals and arrests occurred in the 2015-2016 school year, an increase of about 5,000 from two years earlier.

Full article here. Below are some local district data examples from their search tool. First from Unit 4 (Champaign) schools:

And District 116 (Urbana schools) data charts:

Honorary Street for Hillel Creator

The News-Gazette had an update on last night's City of Champaign Council study session (agenda here and video here when available):

Champaign council advances street designation for founder of Hillel
The city council unanimously granted initial approval Tuesday for an honorary street designation for the rabbi who created Illini Hillel, the Jewish student center on the University of Illinois campus.

Rabbi Benjamin Frankel, who died in 1927, created the first such center at the UI in 1923. Hillels can now be found on college campuses throughout the country...

“Rabbi Frankel created a home for those who did not feel as though they had a home in Champaign; he created a voice for the voiceless and an outlet for students to learn about their heritage,” Cohen said in his application.

Champaign’s honorary street designations are limited to four per year and last for 10 years. This is the second being considered in 2018; Bishop Robert Perry from Grove Street Church recently received one.

The estimated total city cost for an honorary street designation is $1,000 per block, according to a city council report. It includes a street sign being placed at the end of each block, in addition to four commemorative signs.

Full article here.

Urbana Council Preview

The News-Gazette had a preview of a couple issues at tonight's Urbana City Council meeting (agenda here). From the News-Gazette this morning:

Urbana PD Analyst: Racial divide in traffic stops narrows
The police department’s crime analyst said there’s “a meaningful difference” in new traffic stop data that will be presented at tonight’s Urbana city council meeting.

The statistics show how often drivers of different races are stopped by police. UPD’s Melissa Haynes updates the council when new data is available.

Haynes’ latest report will show a reduction in the amount of times officers have stopped black drivers. She said the decline is “stark” and “not a typical fluctuation.”

The new data, which covers the time period of October 2017 to March 2018, shows there were 97 fewer stops of black drivers in the past six months compared to the fiveyear average...

Tonight's council agenda also includes the introduction of a new city program to assist drivers with broken car lights.

Mayor Diane Marlin said the program — called Fix-it Tickets — will provide payment vouchers to drivers stopped by the police for busted headlights, taillights or license-plate lights.

The idea for this program came out of the city's traffic stop task force, Marlin said. An initial $2,500 is being allocated for the vouchers, and Marlin said she'll determine if more should be added once she sees how the project goes.

"When people are stopped ... they'll get a warning ticket and a voucher," Marlin said. "They can use (the voucher) at a chain auto repair place in Urbana."

Full article here.

Urbana HS Dean Changes

Due to changing roles in a restorative process seeking to address racial disparities in Urbana schools, deans will no longer be used. It's not entirely clear what role the people in those positions will play moving forward it seems. Excerpts from an article in today's News-Gazette:

Owen, for one, is eager to find out what happens in Urbana’s disciplinary process without deans as part of the equation.

“The dean’s role is to process and provide consequences for students who receive discipline referrals,” he said. “The role has evolved and, over time, they’ve become a major force in our switch to restorative practices. But then there’s also this kind of contradiction in that the dean is who you go to to set up a restorative circle and prevent a problem from happening.

“The dean is also the person who’s going to be processing the discipline referral and possibly excluding you from school. That kind of conflicting idea makes it difficult.”

Another problem with the current system, according to Owen: The restorative practices haven’t resulted in black students being punished less than their white counterparts.

In fact, officials found, black students were being more harshly disciplined — even in just the first semester of this school year.

“When we got the data for first semester and did a data dig at the end of September, we saw that it was actually getting significantly worse for students of color,” Owen said.

The acceleration of the divide is what Owen said prompted administrators to start seriously considering the removal of the dean position in January...

“We are not firing these individuals and we are not saying they have not done an excellent job,” Owen said that night. “The primary function of dean has been dealing with student discipline. We want to do that in a system that doesn’t have deans because our restorative practices will be so strong.”

Not everyone was satisfied.

UHS math teacher Daniel Bechdel said he knew from analyzing the school’s discipline data that the racial disparity merited some sort of change, but he remained skeptical that eliminating the deans was the best solution.

“I can tell you based on what I looked at, the disparities are difficult to point toward the deans,” he said. “It’s really hard to use the deans as a scapegoat because I don’t know in which part of this they would be responsible for the disparity. The teachers send the referrals to the deans. The deans would have to be singling out African-American students— I didn’t see it.”

Full article here with more information.

Urbana PD Bike Giveaway

[UPDATE: WAND had follow up coverage after the event, including video reporting here. Excerpt:

The Urbana Police Department made sure many people were prepared for summer on Wednesday.

Officers gave out more than 150 bicycles to local people...

Another man decided to wait more than an hour in line just to give back to a teen who attends his church. He said the teen deserves it.

"He found a bike and he turned it into police," the man added. "He could have kept it, but he thought it was probably stolen. So I think he'll be real happy with this."

Even thought officers and community members had a blast, it did more than just give people a new ride.

"It's a great way for them to get to know us and know that we are human and that we are likable people," Fitzgerald said. "We have officers who are helping people showing them the bikes, and showing them how to fix the bikes who might have some issues. It's a good way to get out and meet some people."]

The News-Gazette had a blurb on an upcoming and popular local event:

Bicycle giveaway this Wednesday
URBANA — One of the most popular services of the Urbana Police Department takes place Wednesday.

The department’s bicycle giveaway gets underway at 10 a.m. at 202 S. Vine St., U, the former Goodyear Tire business, and runs until noon or whenever the bikes are gone.

Started in December 2011, the event features bicycles that have been abandoned or recovered as stolen property being given to citizens of Urbana and Champaign for free in as-is condition.

“We usually get 300 or 400 people showing up. We always have to turn people away,” said Lt.

Bob Fitzgerald, who has been involved with the event since its inception.

This year, the department has about 120 bikes to give away.

More information and contact info at the original article here.

Property Taxes and Burnham Mansion

Property tax liability will be up an average of $375 this year, though that'll lean more heavily in Champaign due to Unit 4 projects. From the News-Gazette today:

Property taxes up in most of area; Champaign schools' spike leads way
Property-tax rates are up this year in most areas of Champaign County, but they're way up in Champaign, thanks to the rate increase for the school building plan approved by voters in 2016.

Most Champaign property-tax payers — those in the Unit 4 School District, Champaign Park District and City of Champaign Township — will see a rate of $9.04 per $100 of assessed valuation this year, up from $8.27 last year.

Most Urbana taxpayers will see a smaller increase in rates, from $10.63 per $100 of assessed valuation last year to $10.69 this year.

Property-tax bills will be mailed out April 30, County Treasurer John Farney said Friday. The first installment is due June 1 and the second Sept. 4.

Property owners can get an advance peek at their tax bills by going to the county treasurer's website.

More at the full article here. The County Treasurer's website is here with a direct link to the property tax lookup here. The County Treasurer noted that the bills will be on-time, unlike many other counties:

Farney said Champaign County continues to be one of a handful of counties statewide that will mail its tax bills on time.

"Being on time gives Champaign County taxpayers the full statutory amount of time between installment payments, hopefully allowing them to budget for tax payments," he said.

More than 2,000 property owners have already paid their tax bills, Farney said. They did so in December to beat changes made in federal tax law that limit annual real-estate tax deductions.

I suppose that's good news, for getting a bill that is. In somewhat related news for Unit 4's projects, a vote Monday on the Burnham Mansion sale was postponed. From the News-Gazette also:

The Champaign school board was due to vote that day on an agreement to move the historic structure and spare it the wrecking ball. But district officials said the deal is still being finalized and will not be ready for a vote then. Exact details were not available.

The district is considering a bid from University of Illinois alumnus Christopher Enck of Wilmette, who has experience in these types of projects.

Dockless Bikes a Step Closer

Following up on potential dockless bicycle programs in both Champaign and Urbana, Champaign took another step towards a potential pilot program. More at this previous post: Urbana Bike Share Consideration. From the News-Gazette today:

Champaign council gives initial OK to dockless bike sharing
This week, the city council gave initial approval to a pilot program for dockless bike-sharing systems.

All council members voted in favor of the program except for Clarissa Nickerson Fourman. The cities of Champaign and Urbana, in addition to the University of Illinois, are looking to make a joint agreement where each entity would regulate the systems the same way...

Mayor Deb Feinen told city staff this week that the security-deposit price should be pitched up, but not so high that it becomes unaffordable.

With dockless bike share, bikes are distributed around town by a company and a user can unlock one with a phone app. They pay through the app to rent the bike, which has GPS, so companies can monitor where it is at all times.

If given final approval, Champaign's pilot program would run until June 2019. Associate city planner Ben LeRoy said pilot programs allow the city to tweak specifics faster and easier than formally amending approved city codes.

Full article has a bit more detail on licensing for operators here.

Charter School Documentation Submitted

Following up on the application process for a potential charter school in Champaign. More on the previous meetings and applications at the previous post here: Charter School Questions Remain. Update from today's News-Gazette for the requested documentation and answers from the last school board meeting:

Charter-school proponents turn in answers to Unit 4 board's questions
Backers of a proposed charter school say they hope the 20-plus pages of documentation submitted Wednesday will provide the clarity Champaign school district officials said was missing during a contentious hearing earlier this month.

School board President Chris Kloeppel confirmed to The News-Gazette that the district received the addendum to North Champaign Academy’s application before the end of business Wednesday, the revised deadline Unit 4 set last week.

Among other things, the NCA packet includes a more detailed budget breakdown. It calls for the district to provide $11,876 to cover the cost of each student’s attendance — what’s known as per-capita tuition. With enrollment at the K-5 school now projected to be 128 students, that amounts to $1,520,128...

The next known key date in the process is 13 days away. At 5:30 p.m. May 2, the district will hold a special meeting to provide “a final written decision on approval or denial of the NCA’s February 26 proposal,” Zola informed NCA leaders in an email.

Full article here.

Champaign Council Update

[UPDATE: In another meeting this week, yet another hurdle in the planning process was overcome as well:

Developer tight-lipped about Campustown high-rise after alley vote
The developers behind the 17-story highrise coming to Campustown said there are still several steps to go before they can talk about their project.

The Champaign City Council approved two items Wednesday that will allow CORE, a Chicago-based firm that specializes in college-town developments, to build around and widen the alley north of The Clybourne at 706 S. Sixth St.

“That was a big step, but there are several others in the process that all need to happen,”

said Tom Harrington Jr., CORE’s director of acquisitions.

While building plans have yet to be submitted, city council documents indicate the project would be 175 feet tall with about 300,000 square feet. The first floor would be commercial and the upper floors residential.

This would be the sixth highrise built since 2007, coming shortly after a development company from Minnesota announced plans in January to build a 14-story tower at the northwest corner of John and Fourth streets.]

The City of Champaign's Council helped clear a hurdle for a building project's planning process last night. The project is still in the planning stages and would need further approval beyond that. This is bound to raise concerns about affordable housing availability locally in contrast with this, which may be likely end up being more high end student housing. The News-Gazette had coverage of that and other items addressed at the meeting:

Deal paves way for new Campustown high-rise
The city council has signed off on an agreement on an alley with developers planning a 17-story high-rise on the east side of Sixth Street in Campustown.

The agreement, approved unanimously and without comment Tuesday night, is with CORE — a Chicago-based firm that specializes in college-town developments. It allows the company to modify an alley north of The Clybourne, including digging beneath it, building above it and widening it from 10 to 20 feet to allow for a fire lane and better access for garbage trucks for trash collection for surrounding businesses...

Blakeman said CORE doesn't have more exact project plans or a building permit yet.

The developer is "still basically contemplating the project and couldn't move forward without having this step clarified," Blakeman said about Tuesday's council vote...

In other business, the city council approved several liquor-code tweaks that are slated for implementation this fall:

— The changes include designating a "Downtown Festival District" for public areas near drink-serving establishments. Alcohol carrying and consumption will be legal in those areas. District rules will be followed during special events, like Friday Night Live, and won't last for more than 12 consecutive hours...

— Another tweak is permitting alcohol consumption at specialty grocery stores — also known as Sip 'n' Shop. This won't be allowed in Campustown and will be limited to 5 percent of an establishment's total sales...

— The cap on the city's Class A/AP liquor licenses will also be expanded under the changes. It will increase from 60 to 75 licenses, and will automatically expand by five licenses every five years — unless the council decides to delay or limit it.

Full article here.

[Originally posted 4/18/2018 at 12:07pm]

Urbana City Council Update

The News-Gazette had an update on last night's Urbana City Council meeting:

Urbana council OKs permit for OSF's first urgent-care facility in area
The city council gave its approval Monday to a special-use permit that paves the way for the opening OSF HealthCare's first urgent-care outpatient clinic in the area.

The clinic at 520 N. Cunningham Ave. needed the permit to open in its zoning district. The facility, which will be near the recently renamed OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center, joins OSF's 13 other PromptCare centers in Illinois...

In other business, the city council voted to allocate its $4,331,250 private activity bond cap for 2018. It decided to equally split the money between its Mortgage Credit Certificate 2018 Program and the Eastern Illinois Economic Development Authority.

The EIEDA will use the funds for "possible neighborhood initiatives in the community, such as multi-family affordable housing developments," according to a council report.

The mortgage-credit program is federally authorized and allows homebuyers to "qualify for a federal income-tax credit equal to a percentage of the interest paid on their home loan each year," according to the report.

More details at the full article here.

Plaza Planning

The News-Gazette had some updates on potential ideas for a future Champaign "Neil plaza." From today's paper:

Champaign city planners test fitting Neil plaza ideas
City planners working on a downtown public plaza are putting ideas to paper and seeing what sticks.

Faced with a parking lot about the size of a football field, located at the corner of Neil and Washington streets, the planners will see which publicly-submitted plaza ideas are physically and financially feasible...

Some specific plaza features that the public has expressed interest in, according to Rains-Lowe: — An open-lawn area with some form of grass or seating.

— Ground-level water features that people can

interact with but aren’t like a children’s splash park.

— Movable seating and spaces to eat and work outside.

— Being family-friendly and pet-friendly.

— Shade and areas for kids to play.

— Components that change throughout the year to keep people coming back.

Because the plaza is being planned to occupy a parking lot, the city could replenish the lost spaces in different areas. Rains-Lowe said it will be a tricky decision because some people want to keep the same amount of parking spaces, while others don’t mind letting them go.

The city’s Neil Street corridor, which spans from Interstate 74 to the future plaza, is also being redeveloped. Planners on each project are working together to make sure that none of their designs clash, Rains-Lowe said.

A combination of private, public and grant dollars will go toward building the plaza. The city has created the website planourplaza.com for the public to describe their preferred plaza vision in five words or less.

Full article here.

Reentry Housing in Champaign

For the last couple of weeks the "Week Ahead" posts have been talking of potential updates from various local organizations working on the housing recommendations from the Racial Justice Task Force. There's still plenty of updates I'm waiting on this week, but I have some updates from the Reentry Council (more in this post on their last meeting here) involving the Housing Authority (HACC)'s attempts to institute a pilot program for reentry housing. I also have updates on CU Indivisible's latest meeting with Mayor Deb Feinen on those recent updates and previous tension with the County Board vote urging their action on the ordinance.

First, here is the CU Indivisible's position statement on the City of Champaign housing ordinance exemption: Full Statement in PDF format

And a few quick excerpts (though the full statement has the history, legal nitty gritty, supporting data and materials, links etc and is worth the read):

I. Our Position

CU Indivisible believe it's high time that the Champaign City Council strike Section 17/4.5 of its Human Rights Ordinance. This exemption puts renters with a conviction record at risk for discrimination from landlords at a time when they are in most need of sensible housing options up to 5 years after they’ve completed their sentence. We join many other groups in the conviction that this exemption restricts housing options for people of color, constraints opportunities for community and economic development, compromises the moral standing of our community, and may constitute a violation of the Fair Housing Act.

II. Background

In 1970s, the Cities of Urbana and City of Champaign updated their municipal code chapters on Human Rights to prohibit discrimination in the areas of employment, credit, housing and access to public accommodations on the basis of a person’s “prior arrest or conviction record.” Read the full ordinance here.

III. The Problem

In 1994, the City of Champaign added an exception to this ordinance that protects housing providers that choose to discriminate against housing applicants that have lived outside of jail or prison for at least five years. This exemption, Section 17/4.5 of its Human Rights Ordinance (HRO, henceforth), worsens Champaign’s existing housing problems by putting renters with a conviction record at risk for discrimination from housing providers.

IV: Reasons for Urgency

Given the wide support this action has received and its absence in Urbana’s City code, it is our position that the City of Champaign ought to strike the provision without a study. We believe the problem is one of political will, not a lack of evidence or voices of support. We believe the study session called for recently was aimed to provide a middle ground for council members and the information gained from those sessions as a means of justifying their decision. Two extenuating factors make striking the exemption even more necessary.

First, with expected cuts to federal spending on the horizon, advocates such as the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF) and the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) worry that existing housing problems will develop into crises for localities like Champaign.

Second, the exemption stands as mark against our county that detracts from our ability to attract attention from programs and initiatives that would provide opportunities to improve life for all in our county. Earning the support of organizations such as the Vera Institute would ease Champaign’s housing issues. Both the incoming and outgoing Executive Directors of the Housing Authority of Champaign County recently spoke of their intention to apply to take part in a trial program that would open up more housing for the reentry population. The Vera Institute would supply funding for this program, and housing programs outside of the HACC would benefit. Recently recognized as an Innovator County for its work in criminal justice reform, the Directors believe that Champaign County could be a competitive candidate for this funding. However, they believe the exemption would greatly damage our chances.

The Mayor has promised to review the materials provided and invited CU Indivisible back for a follow up to see where any changes, if any, could be worked on. There is a balance of issues at hand that have to be weighed, from safety concerns that cannot be ignored to the rights of those involved. How the language is changed if not outright struck has consequences on how effective the change could be in improving the odds of reentry success stories. The goal is to have a safer and more equitable community by legal and better landlord screening, all while helping ensure less recidivism for the individuals and the community at large.

One issue mentioned above that came up is the confusion about the County Board vote to urge the City of Champaign and Housing Authority to make the changes recommended by the Racial Justice Task Force. That County Board action itself was recommended by the Racial Justice Task Force (page 55 of the final public report). It specifically cited the City's own Human Relations Commission's support and apparently many County Board members assumed that the Champaign City Council would see it as supportive of their efforts to make the change (efforts that had not yet begun, as it turns out). The unanimous vote instead was interpreted by some council members, most notably Clarissa Fourman, as a critical or even possibly patronizing move.

The County Board members may have erred in not reaching out and contacting the Council members about details of the action ahead of time, perhaps assuming the Council was not only aware, but already working from the same recommendations. At least some board members seemed genuinely surprised by the Council reaction and their own surprise.

Hopefully that communication hiccup won't derail a recommendation that has wide and growing support from people across the community — from activists to law enforcement to various government bodies familiar with the issue. It'd be a shame for politics to derail what appears to be a nonpartisan pragmatic reform.

There are a lot of delicate issues and community interests to protect along the way. I hope to add voices and concerns here so people reading here can be informed and make up their own mind and support what they believe is the right thing.

Wind Generated Revenue

The News-Gazette had a bunch of information today on what those wind turbines all over the County are generating, and it's not just electricity. From today's paper:

Analysis: Four wind farms, 329 turbines generate $9.9 million across area
For those whose homes butt up against one, wind turbines can be the sort of nuisance that leads to less sleep, more trips to the car wash and spotty TV reception, critics charge.

But for cash-strapped school districts, community colleges and township governments around the area, those tall, white, spinning electricity generators you see up and down Interstate 57 help pay the bills — and then some.

As Ford County officials prepare to meet Monday to discuss whether it's time to lift their six-month wind farm moratorium, The News-Gazette analyzed two years' worth of property tax revenue data to determine which towns, townships, districts and counties benefited most from the area's turbines — now at 329 and counting.

Among our findings:

— In 2016 and '17, the three area counties with wind turbines — Champaign (32 of them), Ford (144) and Vermilion (153) — received more than $9.9 million in tax revenue from wind farm projects.

— Between them, the tiny Armstrong High School and Armstrong-Ellis Grade School districts — which pull in approximately 210 students from Champaign and Vermilion counties — received more than $2 million in wind farm tax revenue the past two years.

— Fire districts in the three counties received $191,650 last year alone. That went toward purchases that ranged from new gear to replacing an old fire truck, which the Vermilion County village of Rankin did.

— Parkland College received just over $40,000 in revenue last year — far less than the $135,479 Danville Area Community College took in but still "very meaningful," said Christopher Randles, the Champaign college's chief financial officer and treasurer.

"That's about the rate of a full staff member," Randles said. "And there's other ways you can try to translate it."

The article then has this chart (click to enlarge) and another blurb on Champaign County specifically:

For Champaign County, the $60,000 in annual wind farm revenue is "nice," as Treasurer John Farney put it, "but a drop in the bucket" in the grand scheme of a $115 million budget.

In Vermilion County, it means much more.

The presence of wind farms has allowed that county to keep its tax rates low — "and lessen them even," Treasurer Darren Duncan said.

"Wind farms are among the top 10 taxpayers in Vermilion County," he added. "In our county, revenue and economic development have been stagnant. So they're a blessing there."

What both Vermilion and Champaign counties have in common, though, is the way the tax bills vary from turbine to turbine, land parcel to land parcel. Sometimes by just a few dollars at a time.

One parcel in the California Ridge Wind Farm, for example, pays $1,971.24 annually to the Champaign County government. Another pays $1,965.16. Another, $2,029.60.

Sasha Green, tax extension specialist with Champaign County, explained that variations in taxing districts make those totals different. They're based on different assessed values, which can vary by just a few hundred dollars. But they're all meant to be about the same.

More area-wide information and other details in the full article.

Community College 4 Year Degree Bill

A broader version of a bill that would allow two-year colleges like Parkland offer a four-year nursing degree is starting to move through the Illinois Senate. From the News-Gazette today:

Tom Kacich | Parkland president stumping for nursing-degree bill
Controversial legislation pitting two-year community colleges in Illinois against four-year universities is scheduled for a return trip to the Senate Higher Education Committee this week.

Tom Ramage, president of Parkland College in Champaign, will be among the chief proponents of legislation that would permit community colleges to offer four-year baccalaureate degrees in nursing.

The bill (SB 888) suffered a setback in the committee last May, although that was a different version. That measure would have restricted the initiative to 11 community colleges — among them Parkland and Lincoln Land in Springfield — and to no more than 7,000 students. The original version of the bill permitted as many as 20 community colleges to offer a four-year nursing degree.

Under this newest version, the limitations are off...

 Last year, the same committee voted down a different version of the bill 8-7. The two local senators on the panel, Democrat Scott Bennett of Champaign and Republican Chapin Rose of Mahomet, cancelled out each other’s vote. Bennett voted for it; Rose was opposed.

Bennett said last week that he needed to review the new proposal before making a commitment. Rose said he’s interested in the legislation and the issue but that he thinks it ought to be part of a broader plan for administering higher education in Illinois, something a bipartisan higher education working group of legislators is reviewing.

The full article has more on the resistance to upending the separation between community colleges and four-year institutions as well as support for the idea given the economic realities people are facing in Illinois.

Charter School Questions Remain

[UPDATE: The timetable has been adjusted for the charter school applicants to address questions on their proposal by the board. Excerpt from an article in yesterday's News-Gazette:

Charter-school proponents get more time to answer Unit 4 board's questions
...

Pressed by board members during Monday's hearing to provide answers to 116 questions about an application lacking in detail, North Champaign Academy founders frequently deferred, asking for the chance to provide clarification later.

The deadline set at the meeting — of noon today — has been pushed back to Wednesday, Unit 4 Superintendent Susan Zola informed NCA in an email obtained by The News-Gazette.

That's two days fewer than NCA asked for but still came as a relief...

For now, the district's plan is to provide a written decision about the charter school at a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. May 2.

That's later than the original timeline, which called for a ruling on April 23.]

In a packed school board hearing the proponents of a new Charter school were grilled on their application with a litany of questions, many of which proponents said they'd have to follow up on. Here's an excerpt from the News-Gazette website last night:

Unit 4 board grills charter-school proponents about gaps in plan
...
Under state law, Unit 4 must reach a decision within 30 days of Monday.

After Kloeppel finished his questions, other board members asked ones of their own in a similar vein, attempting to understand perceived gaps in the budget or instances in which the proposal failed to align with state law.

Most questions were again answered with a request for a delay, which NCA members said they were doing on behalf of the public, who, by 8 p.m., had not had a chance to comment about the proposal.

When the public did get a chance to speak, comments ranged from uncertainty about the application due to lack of clarity to pleas directed at board members to support a charter school whose founders say is aimed at improving academic progress in low-income and low-achieving students within the Champaign school district.

"Seven of my nine students are African-American," said Joel Wright, a special education teacher at Jefferson Middle School. "I am highly concerned with several of the gaps (in the proposal) — these kids need very intensive support.

"The other thing I wanted to say to the board, regardless of your decision, what you're seeing tonight is that the stakeholders — the black community — feel like they don't have a stake to hold. I think there's serious problems in the application, but I think Unit 4 needs to figure out a way to include these stakeholders. Everyone in this room has the best interests of students in mind. But how to do that will be the challenge ahead."

Full article here with more details on the questioning and remaining questions. In other business Centennial High School got a familiar face as their new principal:

The Unit 4 school board on Monday night named Associate Principal Chuck Neitzel to succeed first-year Principal Brian Riegler, whose resignation takes effect on June 30.

Neitzel has been Centennial’s associate principal since 2012. Before that, he was the school’s assistant principal (2009-12) and dean of students (2008-09)...

Earlier this year, about seven months after replacing Greg Johnson as Centennial principal, Riegler announced he was stepping down in June, citing separation from his family as the motivation.

[Originally published 4/10/2018 at 4:07am]

School Property Tax Update

Upcoming property tax bills will reflect changes in local school district moves. From the News-Gazette today:

Coming property-tax bills include first bump for Champaign schools
The first financial sting from the Champaign school district’s building improvement plans will be arriving in mailboxes soon.

Bills for 2017 property taxes — payable this year— are set to go out April 30, and they’ll give Champaign taxpayers their first look at how much $183.4 million in bond issues approved in a 2016 referendum will actually cost them.

In simplest terms, expect to pay about an additional 76 cents for every $100 of assessed valuation over last year.

That’s based on a Unit 4 2017 tax rate of $5.0299 per $100, compared to its 2016 rate of $4.2704 per $100, according to numbers supplied by the county clerk’s office.

On a $150,000 house with the standard homeowner exemption, the higher Champaign school rate will mean about $334 more in school taxes over last year, or about $28 more a month...

 The new, higher tax rate for Champaign schools closes at least some of the gap between Champaign and Urbana school tax rates.

Urbana’s 2017 school tax rate, set at $5.9684, is a bit over 4 cents per $100 more than its 2016 rate, and will cost the owner of a $150,000 Urbana home about $19 more than the previous year.

The Urbana school rate — traditionally higher than the Champaign school rate because so much property in the Urbana school district is tax-exempt — is about 94 cents-per-$100 higher than the Champaign school district’s rate, even with the Champaign school bonds factored in.

Better news for Urbana taxpayers is they can look forward to a school tax decrease next year, with payments on an Urbana school bond issue nearing an end.

Full article here.

University Ventures

A bill in the State legislature that would promote business ventures locally with ideas developed at the University of Illinois is making it way out of committee. From the News-Gazette today:

State Senate panel advances Rose's bill to let UI take researchers' work to market
Legislation that would allow the University of Illinois to form limited liability companies with the inventions or technologies of researchers or faculty members has been approved by an Illinois Senate committee.

The Senate Higher Education Committee voted 10-0 this week in favor of legislation (SB 3568) proposed by Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet. Rose said the measure would give more flexibility to people affiliated with the university who develop new intellectual property.

“The nice thing about this is that it gives a lot of flexibility to individual researchers at the university and professors at the university because a lot of what already exists — for example, the Illinois Ventures — maybe there are other things out there that aren’t on the scale of an Illinois Ventures but they could go ahead and license that technology,” Rose told committee members. “It’s just another tool in the toolbox for our researchers and professors to take their ideas and their creativity to market.”

The UI would have to have a majority ownership interest in any company formed under the legislation, he said.

Full article here.

Champaign Council and Bristol Place

There seems to be an obnoxious provision required for the federal funding, but I don't completely understand it. It may relate to this funding announcement and refer to this program. If I'm wrong it might at least get those looking for more information a starting point to keep looking. More Bristol Place project information on the City website here. From the News-Gazette coverage of last night's City of Champaign Council's regular study session meeting: 

Champaign council members raise concerns with Bristol Place details
Although unhappy with one aspect of the Bristol Place development, the city council is preparing for the affordable-housing neighborhood to break ground.

Council members on Tuesday discussed the requirement that a family must first rent a single family home for 15 years before being allowed to apply for a mortgage to buy it. Several of the officials said that’s too long of a period to wait.

“It’s really hard for people who don’t have anything and come from nothing,” said councilwoman Clarissa Nickerson Fourman. “Fifteen years seems like forever.”

But Kerri Wiman, the city’s neighborhood services director, said the Bristol Place project financially relies on federal low-income housing tax credits, which can’t be received unless the 15-year rental period is part of the deal.

The project’s developer — Jim Roberts with minority-owned, Chicago based AHDVS LLC — said that over the course of the 15 years, there will be education programs for renters — some of them mandatory — on topics including financial literacy, creating good credit and home maintenance. AHDVS plans to partner with local banks to administer the programs, he said...

The Bristol Place neighborhood is slated to be built between May 2018 and November 2019, Wiman said. The area is bordered by East Roper Street on the north, North Chestnut Street on the east, East Bradley Avenue on the south and North Market Street on the west.

Full article here.

Urbana Bike Share Consideration

[UPDATE: The N-G had a followup of the board's discussion here. A quick excerpt:

In response, council member Eric Jakobsson said what happens would depend on the city's culture.

"My guess is ... that the system will be respected and used properly," he said. "If you have good reason to hope ... it's really better to make decisions based on that hope, rather than on the fear that something might go wrong."

Urbana City Planner Kevin Garcia said bike theft isn't typically a problem for dockless-bike-sharing companies because the branded bikes don't have much resale value, are hard to break down into usable scrap components and have tracking devices in them. He said employees of those companies will retrieve an abandoned bike in at most three hours on a regular day and 12 hours on off days.

Some city council members said there should be certain circumstances where a bike is retrieved as soon as possible, such as if it's in the middle of the road. They also suggested lowering the recommended number of bikes each company could bring, which was initially set at 500. Garcia said at least seven companies have expressed interest in the CU area.]

In a Committee of the Whole meeting the Urbana City Council will be considering the dockless bike sharing project for the area (agenda and relevant report here). From the News-Gazette today:

Urbana to join bike share? Possible regulations under review

Tonight, the city council will consider a proposal to roll dockless bike sharing into Urbana.

Dockless bike sharing allows cyclists to rent rides with a phone app that locates bikes via GPS. Payment is processed by the app to unlock the bike, which has a locking mechanism on the back wheel, and a rider can place the bike anywhere around town when finished.

Urbana's look at dockless bike sharing comes after the Champaign city council approved a similar proposal at the end of last year. Urbana City Planner Kevin Garcia said the plan going forward is to create a uniform set of regulations if both cities and the University of Illinois approve the activity.

For Urbana and Champaign, Garcia said both city staffs are aiming to have dockless bike sharing and its regulation system all approved by May...

These are some of the proposed dockless bike-share regulations, according to a city staff report that the council will review tonight:

— Creating one dockless bike sharing license for Champaign, Urbana and the UI, which would be administered by the city of Champaign as the lead agency.

— A non-refundable, annual license fee of $600 that Champaign would receive the largest share of.

— A $1,000 security deposit that dockless bike-share operators pay to both Champaign and Urbana ($2,000 total).

— Each operator could have a fleet of 500 bicycles.

Full article here.

Charter School Arguments

The News-Gazette highlighted a personal story along with local arguments surrounding the achievement gap along racial lines in Champaign. Excerpts from the News-Gazette today:

Proponents ready to argue case for new Champaign charter school
...
At 5:30 p.m. Monday at Unit 4's Administrative Center, founders of the North Champaign Academy will make their formal case for why Unit 4 should support a new charter school, to be housed in a 15,000-square-foot facility at 1400 W. Anthony Drive. The request seeks a $14,845-per-student-per-year investment by the district.

School board President Chris Kloeppel has said a decision is expected within two weeks of Monday's hearing...

Central to local charter school supporters' proposal is six years' worth of standardized testing data, taken straight from the "report cards" compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education from data provided by each district.

NCA founders focused on data from 2011 through 2017, hoping to illustrate a point about the achievement gap in Unit 4:

In 2011, test results showed that black third-graders within Unit 4 comprised 15.2 percent of the lowest-achieving members of their demographic.

By 2017 — following several statewide shifts in assessment standards, types of tests administered and scoring changes — the number of black third-graders within the lowest-achieving category had reached 52.1 percent...

Some community members say the numbers show what was already common knowledge: that the district achievement gap is a significant one, necessitating a bold, new approach.

But Unit 4 officials argue that the issue is more complex than two numbers reveal. They attribute the widening of the gap to a number of factors — including a shift in testing, from the Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT), which was used in 2011, to the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career Readiness (PARCC) test in 2015. That, they say, caused a downward spiral in test scores and negated the ability for the numbers to be compared at all...

The effect those changes had on students across the district, however, wasn't uniform.

After PARCC was implemented in 2015, 9 percent of white third-graders fell into the Level 1 — or "did not meet expectations" category. For black third-graders, that number was 39.1 percent.

By 2017, 11.8 percent of white third-graders were in Level 1 compared to 52.1 percent of black third-graders.

"The 'apples-to-oranges' argument because the test changed is bogus," said NCA steering committee member Craig Walker. "The percent drop by black students is way larger than the percent drop by white students in the same time period."

Full article here.

Boneyard Cleanup

In some more inspiring news volunteers and local organizations, in coordination with the Champaign Park District, braved the elements recently to help the environment. From today's News-Gazette:

Volunteers brave cold for Boneyard Creek cleanup

Hundreds of volunteers — some wearing orange Boneyard Creek cleanup T-shirts over their coats — pulled litter and invasive plants from the Champaign waterway and other local sites Saturday morning, as part of the 13th Boneyard Creek Community Day.

At least 200 people, according to an unofficial lunchtime count by Zoe Stinson of the Champaign Park District, searched waterways in Champaign, Urbana and Savoy for trash despite the day's cold weather.

"At this time, we have 391 volunteers registered through the website. We have walk-ups the day of the event as well," she said before the cleanup.

It was only 27 degrees out midway through the event, which began at 9 a.m., but by the time things wrapped up and volunteers were munching on Jimmy John's sandwiches at Scott Park near noon, the sun was out and the temperature had climbed to about 32. That was an improvement over last year's event, which had been rained out...

Stinson said the volunteer event promotes appreciation, stewardship and naturalizing of urban stream corridors.

In addition to the original members that created the event — the University of Illinois; city of Champaign and Champaign Park District; city of Urbana and Urbana Park District; and the Prairie Rivers Network — other groups have taken on an involved role, she said.

They include Champaign Rotary, Champaign Rotary West, Savoy Rotary, Champaign County Design and Conservation Foundation, Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club and Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Urbana Dual-Language Program

Urbana's school district is looking to expand its dual-language program. More information in yesterday's News-Gazette:

Urbana district's dual-language program looking to expand
The Urbana school district's dual-language program is looking at a possible dual-level expansion that could begin this fall.

The move comes after the English-Spanish program's initial class entered sixth grade this year. Since their introduction to the program in kindergarten in 2012, the students, both native Spanish speakers and native English speakers, have spent the intervening time in the same classroom, receiving instruction in both languages, and watching them progress has been "amazing," said Guadalupe Ricconi, director of the Elementary Bilingual Program...

The question facing the district is less about whether it wants to expand the Spanish program and more about how and where that will happen. Officials recently solicited input from parents and community members via an online survey where they chose from three options:

— Create a single dual-language school within the district. According to an explanatory video by Joe Wiemelt, the district's director of bilingual and multicultural programs, this would allow the district to centralize materials, resources and specialists but could create the possibility that non-dual-language students would have to be moved to another school.

— Expand the program at Dr. Williams and Leal, which could also necessitate the transfer of some staff and non-dual-language students.

— Expand the program to a third school, which would mean less transferring of staff and students but would make it difficult to collaborate among buildings and could raise "growing pains" with a new program.

"The cons in all three options are not insurmountable," Wiemelt added. "Ultimately, the most important part is the magic that happens inside the classroom in the teaching and learning."

Nearly 600 people provided feedback, with most preferring the third option. But the district's decision is still up in the air.

More at the full article here. More from the district website here.