July and August Local Government Updates

Reminder: 2026 Midterm Elections in Less than 90 Days! 

For county government updates (including news on indictments, nursing home beds, homelessness strategies, and more) please see our latest Champaign County government updates here.

City of Champaign:

The City of Champaign is working on its own local “Homelessness Prevention Blueprint.” The proposed draft from June is available here starting on page 32 of the PDF. There was also a recent Study Session on Housing Needs Analysis and Strategy, with the final draft of that available here.

There is an ongoing campaign to get City support and funding towards a Champaign County Reparations Commission. This is being led by the Champaign-Urbana Reparations Coalition.

There is also a growing organized opposition to Flock and other AI based surveillance systems in the area, with the City of Champaign’s systems a major focal point. You may have already seen an increase in signage, social media posts, and local articles in opposition to the systems around town.

Illinois Public Media had coverage of the completed improvements in the Garden Hills Neighborhood involving drainage and Hedge Park. Phase 2 of the Neil Street Plaza project will begin soon. The City passed its Fiscal Year 2026/27 budget at the June 16th City Council meeting. The C-U Reparations Committee started what is to be a monthly advocacy for the City to support a reparations commission for Champaign County at that same meeting.

The City Council also extended an additional year of funding for the Strides low-barrier shelter. This is in collaboration with the City of Champaign Township who operates the shelter, but does not have sufficient revenue for those operating costs.

City of Urbana:

The News-Gazette had an overview of the new surveillance approval process approved by the Urbana City Council this week. That article highlighted Councilor Shirese Hursey’s opposition. Her full remarks are available from the meeting video here.

Dr. Stephanie Renae Stewart-Cockrell was appointed to the vacancy in ward 5 at the June 22nd Council meeting. Grace Wilkins announced her upcoming resignation last month. It’s unclear when she will make the decision final. She was at the most recent City Council meeting on August 3rd, in spite of earlier reports that she was likely to step down towards the end of July.

There had been some audio issues with the City Council meetings and there had been an announcement that council, board, and commission meetings would no longer be livestreamed due to those issues. This issue was resolved with a work around by the time this had been reported, however. The city is continuing to livestream the same meetings and recordings are still available a few days after each meeting (usually with some helpful sound adjustments for the quieter parts).

There was a presentation on the proposed Philo Road Ahead Initiative at the June 8th City Council meeting (video link here). C-U Citizen Access had detailed coverage of the initiative and properties at issue.

There was a great deal of coverage, back in June, over a proposed landmark designation of the old Urbana Civic Center and its possible future use as an MTD transfer station. The landmark designation proposal failed, and the MTD appears to be moving forward to apply for federal funding for the transfer station project. A June 17th News-Gazette article had a helpful overview of the issues surrounding the decision and numerous links to related articles and opinion pieces.

The debate over a proposed apartment project in a West Urbana neighborhood had raised concerns about disparities in zoning, planning, and investment. This particular item was pushed to July 13 for further discussion and a vote, which passed.  There was a large focus on protecting the “character” of neighborhoods, which has some historically problematic ties to previous segregationist policies and rationalizations locally. An example from a 1939 Champaign County Realtor's ethics guide, for example linked character to maintaining racial and ethnic purity of neighborhoods:

The language was softened to a "colorblind" wording after World War II, though the actual policies remained effectively unchanged for decades longer.

There is a very preliminary draft report for the Alternative Response Task Force. It was discussed at the June 25th Stakeholder Meeting. It was noted repeatedly that this preliminary report is still missing several sections expected to be in the final report.

The City Council approved the “community engagement and violence prevention office” at Sunnycrest Mall. The News-Gazette had a brief overview of the concept and the opposition by two Aldermen. There was an Urbana Police presentation at the March 23rd City Council Meeting on the proposed office and team (video of that presentation here).


Other Local Government Updates:

• METCAD: C-U Citizen Access raised concerns about ambulance response times in Champaign County compared to the Eight-Minute Standard.
  
  
• MTD: The C-U MTD board had to redo its annexation vote for areas that would allow a link for local bus routes to Carle at the Fields in Southwest Champaign. There was a technical violation of state law that prohibits meetings on election day (one of the public hearings for the annexation fell on the day of the March primary). There was a new annexation Public Hearing on June 22nd. The board approved the annexation at its June 24th meeting.

June Local Government Updates

[Update 6/11/2026 at 8:17am: The Alternative Response Task Force meeting today (6/11) was canceled and rescheduled for June 25, 2026 at 3:30pm (see notice here). It's listed as a "Focus Group Session" and will likely be scheduled at the IMC again.

There were also delays and movement on a couple of the Urbana City Council items mentioned when this report was written last week. The UPD engagement center at Sunnycrest was approved, and the apartment development in the West Urbana neighborhood was postponed until next month.]

There is a separate post highlighting some of the local Juneteenth events, as well as some other event information for June and in general here. 

Issue highlights:

Gun Violence: There have been numerous incidents of gun violence in recent weeks. The Police Chief Updates at the June 10th Community Coalition meeting will likely be the best source for more general updates. That meeting starts at 3:30pm, but will also be available online as early as the next day at this link.

Homelessness: Both the City of Champaign and the CSPH (Champaign County Continuum of Service Providers to the Homeless, operating out of the Regional Planning Commission) are developing strategic plans on the issue. The CSPH process involves the national consulting firm Homebase and is working towards “a community-wide plan to achieve functional zero homelessness by 2028.” 

A draft version of the City of Champaign’s Homelessness Prevention Blueprint was included in the Study Session report on May 26th (starting on page 32 of the report here). The City’s planning already includes a proposal for a new “homelessness and community services manager” position. The position and its duties are expected to evolve, with decisions on permanently funding the position after the initial three years. I’d expect the final vote(s) on the finalized blueprint to happen with the Fiscal Year 2026/27 budget votes this July.

Aging Care: There will be a public hearing on an application by Advocates for Aging Care for 120-licensed skilled nursing beds, as part of its efforts to address the local need. The hearing will be held at the Savoy City Council Board Room (611 N. Dunlap) on Tuesday, June 9th from 1:00-4:00 pm. Those wishing to submit a letter of support must submit them no later than June 20th. AAC's flyer is information, regardless of your views on the topic (click to enlarge):

Champaign County Health Care Consumers has a lot of additional information on the project being proposed and discussed at this Public Hearing here. 

Municipal and other Local Government:

City of Champaign: See the highlight on the homelessness blueprint above. There is additional information on the homelessness blueprint and public input efforts at the Engage Champaign website here. The C-U Reparations Coalition will be attending city council meetings in both Champaign (6/16) and Urbana (6/15) this month. They will be pushing for the cities to support establishing and funding a Champaign County Reparations Commission for African Americans. Like many modern reparations movements, the efforts are aimed at education and addressing harms that are often far more local and recent in nature.

There were positive updates, both organizational and financial with the City of Champaign Township and the Strides Center earlier this week (that video presentation is available here). The Council also recognized Gun Violence Prevention Week with a proclamation highlighting local organizations and organizers attempting to implement the gun violence prevention blueprint.

City of Urbana: Chaundra Bishop has passed away. Last month’s report noted that she had resigned for health reasons related to her extended battle with cancer.

There will be a vote at the next City Council meeting for the final approval of the “community engagement and violence prevention office” at Sunnycrest Mall. The News-Gazette had a brief overview of the concept and the opposition by two Aldermen. There was an Urbana Police presentation at the March 23rd City Council Meeting on the proposed office and team (video of that presentation here).

There has been a controversy about a possible apartment complex project in a West Urbana neighborhood. Smile Politely has had a couple articles on it, including one that took a stance in favor of supporting the project and another opposed. Local officials like Danielle Chynoweth have come out publicly in favor of the project as a necessary step towards addressing the general housing shortage and its impact on affordable housing as well. Alderman Christopher Evans has posted a four part opposition on social media (example from Smile Politely comments on facebook here: part 1 of 4).

The next stakeholders session of the Alternative Response Task Force will be June 11th at the IMC from 3:30 to 5pm.

MTD: Last month’s report pointed out that the C-U MTD board will redo its annexation votes for areas that would allow a link for local bus routes to Carle at the Fields in Southwest Champaign. There appears to have been a technical violation of state law that prohibits meetings on election day (one of the public hearings for the annexation fell on the day of the March primary). There will be new Annexation Public Hearing on Monday, June 22nd at 5pm, held at Curtis Road Church of God in Champaign

June Events Highlight: Juneteenth and Jettie Rhodes Community Events

I'd like to start off by highlighting a few of the many Juneteenth celebrations and activities happening this year, as well as the annual Jettie Rhodes event. People may have different opinions on these events. Some are clearly more secular in nature and others more overtly religious depending on your own preferences and interest. 

For our purposes at the Cheat Sheet, they tend to involve a great deal of local political information and outreach: from tabling by various organizations, voter registration events, and often a lot of education on local issues and advocacy. 

This list is in order of starting date/time. The flyers are by city location:

• June 13th, 12pm-3pm: Champaign Park District Juneteenth celebration including a lot of tabling and other events.
  
  
• June 19th, 10am-3pm: DREAAM hosting a Freedom Bike Ride, festival, basketball shootout, and voter registration events at Stratton Elementary campus. 
  
  
• June 19th, 2:30pm-5pm: The Well Experience is hosting a parade and celebration in Urbana starting and occurring at the Sunnycrest Mall parking lot.
  
  
• June 19th, 6pm-8pm: Champaign Park District hosting a free concert at Douglass Park. 
  
  
• June 27th, 12pm-4pm: Jettie Rhodes Day which will include tabling and other events.
  
  
• Wednesdays in June, 6pm: Juneteenth Bible Study via Zoom featuring AME pastors from Champaign, Bloomington, and Minneapolis.

Click to enlarge the images for the event flyers.

Champaign:

 

Urbana:

 

Online:

There are some events in June for Pride month, but the larger local Pride Fest event usually occurs in the fall here when the students are in town. For more information on local Pride events, reach out to the Uniting Pride Center. The UP Center is generally a good starting point for events and organizing around LGBT and related issues.

Of course there are always a lot more events going on locally, many may be directly related to your political interests or issues that you care about. It can be difficult to keep up with everything going on and many organizers struggle to get the word out on their events to a wider audience. 

The Champaign County Community Coalition may be a good starting point for most people learning about all the organizations and organizers out there related to local issues: on everything from gun violence to rental assistance, from youth programs to the need for nursing home beds.

Local Government Updates

We'll be trying out a little bit of a new format to try to have more regular and concise updates moving forward.

General Updates:

Elections:

Election day for this year’s midterms is November 3rd, 2026, with Early Voting starting around October 24th. You can find the local primary election results here on the News-Gazette website. There are new local party chairs, with Urbana Mayor DeShawn Williams chairing the Champaign County Democrats and perennial local candidate Jeff Brownfield replacing Susan Mantell in the County GOP.  

Federal Changes / Local Impact:

So-called “work requirements” for food assistance are going into effect. Champaign County Health Care Consumers have a great deal of information and assistance available on how to navigate the new hurdles for those having to prove their eligibility, exemptions, etc.

Gun Violence: The latest updates, including the police chief updates, can usually be found at the monthly Community Coalition meetings available here. There has been a number of recent shootings, many involving minors, in recent weeks. Unsecured guns, lost or stolen from homes and vehicles here and across the country, appear to be a major source for guns used in these types of crimes. Sheriff Heuerman noted that in one recent car theft, at least two guns were taken from a local unlocked vehicle. As we have seen, time and time again, if someone wants a gun, they just have to check enough car door handles in any given parking lot or neighborhood.

There still remain severe challenges in ensuring school attendance across both local school districts here with dozens of kids in each at ongoing and regular risk. There was a detailed discussion on those challenges at the recent Race Relations Subcommittee of the Community Coalition last month.

Local Government Roundup:

Municipal / School Boards:

City of Champaign: The affordable housing crisis has been a longtime and ongoing issue for the C-U. According to the housing needs assessment report and presentation earlier this year, the City is expected to present “the final document to the stakeholders and to the City Council for approval and moving into the implementation of the Housing Needs Analysis and Strategy” this month. 

The annual township board blocked an agenda item for an advisory referendum related to a state law restricting boycotts of Israel. The same referendum passed in Cunningham township at their annual meeting and several other township meetings around the state.

Champaign Park District: The Champaign Parks Foundation is looking for four new members. This organization helps raise money for unmet needs of the park district itself. Elections for Champaign Park District commissioners occur staggered in odd election years, with two commissioner terms expiring in 2027.

City of Urbana: The Alternative Response Task Force (re: policing / 911 calls) had a community engagement event with video available on the Urbana Public TV YouTube page here. President Pearson has been actively working with the stakeholder meetings over the past several months, looking at various alternative response systems around the country and possible local implementations here.

Unit 4:  The Board of Education has approved some of the new cabinet members for the incoming new Superintendent, Dr. Geovanny Ponce, who will begin that role on July 1st of this year. The district approved a separation agreement with former Central High School Principle Montia Gardner, with both sides agreeing not to sue each other in the aftermath of the falling out in a short, but apparently contentious year.

The district renewed its contract for Student Resource Officers. The News-Gazette had details of the contract, including the limitations on officers to issue tickets and other issues here.

MTD: The C-U MTD board will likely have to redo its annexation votes for areas that would allow a link for local bus routes to Carle at the Fields in Southwest Champaign after a technical violation of state law that prohibits meetings on election day (one of the public hearings for the annexation fell on the day of the March primary).

Champaign County Government:

The County’s budget process has begun with the Budget Director’s financial forecast presentation at the April County Board meeting. The board is openly considering across-the-board cuts, especially in light of the recent voter referendum supporting cuts to staff and services and opposing any new tax revenues.

The long-delayed Fiscal Year 2024 Audit is still being processed by the external auditor (Clifton, Larson, Allen LLP). There was an update on that process at the last Committee of the Whole (page 54 of the agenda packet). In March there was a presentation on the history of audit issues that led to our current predicament (video and slides).

The expectation is that these continued delays will impact funding, with the county likely missing out on funding it may have otherwise qualified for (e.g. through the state and federal government). The work on the 2025 audit is also being delayed while the County attempts to complete the 2024 audit.

The County Board also passed a one year moratorium on massive “hyperscale” data centers, as part of a process that may lead to blocking their construction here completely. The centers tend to have massive electric and water needs. As the recent mapping of the Mahomet aquifer has confirmed, however, those impacts may still threaten Champaign County if one is built in neighboring counties.