March City of Champaign Council Meetings

The March City of Champaign government meetings covered some pretty serious topic this past month, including a study session on food insecurity, free pantry regulation and enforcement during the pandemic, approving the City's Annual Action Plan, and supporting services for the most vulnerable in our community.

The March 2nd meeting began with a brief monthly City of Champaign Township meeting (agenda, video). Along with some brief updates the Town Board approved the annual township meeting agenda. There were no public comments during this portion of the meeting.

The regular March 2nd City Council meeting (agenda, video) began immediately after the town board meeting. A few appointments were approved including:

• Lonndon Blake to the Human Relations Commission
• Davon Prude as Youth Commissioner to the HRC 
• Medra Seals to the Citizen Review Subcommittee (a police review board)

Later, in general public comments, former Citizen Review Subcommittee chair Emily Rodriguez (now County Board member) highlighted some of her frustrations trying to effect change within the City's board and commission bureaucracy. Her comments were a condensed version of her fuller detailing of her experience and frustrations on the subcommittee. Excerpt:

We have a public participation problem- not due to a lack of community interest, but active suppression from the Council. Today, I look at three years of my work and know that even if I rally residents to speak up in public participation opportunities for change the City Manager and Mayor will (a) find some way to justify inaction, (b) use official communications to gaslight and confuse, and then (c) pacify residents with a listening session or 60-second presentation at a Community Coalition meeting.

Her full statement is available online here. Another commenter raised ideas on police reform tried in Berkeley and a gun culture paradox in America. Other agenda items passed unanimously without controversy.

The March 9th Study Session (study session report, video) began with a staff presentation on food insecurity and local programs to address it in Champaign. A lot of the presentation focused on more traditional food pantries and programs before getting to the pop-up free pantries around town. The study session report describes the City's legal complication with those:

Most programs discussed in this report are being operated in compliance with existing City codes. Some of the mini pantries are located on private property and appear to be in compliance with the City’s Municipal Code. However, some of the mini food pantries that have emerged during the pandemic appear to be in violation of one or more sections of the Municipal Code. Three of the seven mini food pantries are fully in compliance with the City's codes, while four of the mini pantries are in violation of the City's prohibition of unattended property on the ROW.

It goes on to list the specific code issues that are at issue:

For example, the Municipal Code does not allow for the placement of unattended personal property in the right-of-way (ROW). Signs accompanying the mini food pantries on the ROW are also in violation of the Zoning Ordinance. Mini food pantries on the ROW or on private property also have the potential to be in violation of the nuisance section of the Municipal Code. Examples of potential nuisance violations include perishable food that begins to rot, food containers infested with insects, discarded food containers from on-site consumption of food items, and indoor furniture or mattresses left outside as a donation.

After some technical questions by City Council members, the public weighed in (jump to link) on the report and presentation with a large number of people in support of allowing the free pantries to continue either with a code change or enforcement exemption. Many volunteers and pantry creators commented about the importance, need, and continued use of the pantries by their neighborhoods. They argued it filled a gap in food insecurity programs where many people otherwise might fall through the cracks. They gave examples of how some people may have time constraints, transportation issues, or face other restrictions to meet their needs.

There were also numerous comments in favor of current and expansion of community gardens. Other comments focused on structural racism and how they believe that is playing a role in the scrutiny of the free pantries. Some raised concerns about police being called to enforce code violations on issues involving vulnerable communities as opposed to traditional code enforcement methods used in majority white neighborhoods.

Council comments were generally supportive of ensuring the free pantries could operate safely and figuring out some way of ensuring that the City isn't opening up a Pandora's box of future code violations unrelated to food pantries. Council member Fourman stressed the need to address the lack of investment in neighborhoods that have become "food deserts" and concerns about using police to intervene with food pantry use and code issues. Member Gladney noted that when the City wants to incentivize investment, it has been able to incentivize investment when it had the will to do so.

Deputy Mayor Bruno took an opposite tact and criticized public commenters who view these and other problems as part of systemic and structural issues with our community and nation's history of white supremacy. He specifically took issue with the assumption of bad motives of City Council members and City staff. He accused them of "virtue signaling," a term activists often use to disparage folks who use a cause to make themselves look good, rather than actually doing impactful work.

The Council agreed to give staff direction to taking a more active role in food insecurity and a temporary moratorium on code enforcement for the the code issues surrounding the current free pantries while the City is under the pandemic emergency order.

Many of the public comments that came during the general comment period at the end of the meeting took issue with Bruno's statements. Some responded to his criticisms with explanations of the structural issues at hand and possible solutions. Local activist Allen Max Axelrod took the opportunity to continue to advocate for people still facing utility shutoffs as he has been doing at public input opportunities at local government bodies throughout the pandemic.

The March 16th regular City Council meeting (agenda, video) passed a number of non-controversial items as well as the naming of a portion of Chester Street in downtown Champaign as "Black Lives Matter Honorary Street" (Council Bill and information here). Council member Fourman reiterated that this small measure is is a slap in the face compared to what the City should be doing. Council member Beck said she supports the measure, but also reiterated her belief that this small step is severely lacking compared to the substantive changes needed. Mayor Feinen said she echoed those statements. The Bill passed along with the other items on the agenda.

Public comments ranged from traffic concerns around around a bus stop, support and criticism of policing locally, and advocating for those facing utility shutoffs, trauma and mental health support (including police themselves).

The March 23rd Study Session (report, video) dealt with the Annual Action Plan and the budgetary issues that go along with that. From a previous Cheat Sheet post explaining the concepts around the Annual Action Plan:

The Annual Action Plan is a document mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that outlines local affordable housing and community development needs and identifies strategies for addressing them. The plan identifies activities that the City expects to undertake through direct action or through the provision of funding to other entities. In addition to outlining housing and community development strategies, the Annual Action Plan includes the City’s application for the federal grants received from HUD. These grants, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and the HOME Investment Partnership (HOME), fund the majority of the affordable housing and neighborhood improvement programs provided by the City. The City of Champaign receives CDBG funding directly from HUD and HOME funding through the Urbana HOME Consortium.

After the presentation on the there were public comments from people advocating for vulnerable community members, including organizers from CU at Home and First Followers Re-entry Program and a couple other local activists. Council comments were also supportive of initiatives with homelessness and reentry. Council member Kyles highlighted programs that deal with youth and workforce development as well.

The Council gave direction to staff to finalize the Annual Action Plan (draft is included in the study session report in Appendix B) and direction for funding the CommUnity, homelessness and reentry program funding.

General public comments included an argument for reparations, building off the initiative in Evanston (Smile Politely had a recent editorial promoting such an argument). The Mayor made a statement in support of the local Asian and Asian-American community in light of the recent attacks in Atlanta, Georgia and other increase in crimes that appeared to target Asian American and Pacific Islander communities across the United States. The meeting ended after a closed session on an employment matter.

The next Champaign City Council meeting will be Tuesday April 13th (it was announced that there would be no City Council meeting on Tuesday April 6th due to that falling on the local election day).