Local Government September Updates

Reminder: 2026 Midterm Elections in 60 Days!

Election Updates:

• Early Voting starts September 24th! See Early Voting locations and times here at the Champaign County Clerk and Recorder's Website.
  
  

• Illinois Public Media 2026 Candidate Interviews: in collaboration with the NAACP Champaign County Branch and the LWV of Champaign County.
  

• LWV Local Candidate Guide: available through Vote411.

• Reminder for the Next Election (It may be sooner than you think!): Municipal and many other local elections such as school board elections will be occurring early in 2027. The process to getting on that ballot has already begun. See the 2027 Abbreviated Election Calendar for more key dates and deadlines!

City of Champaign:

The City Council passed two major policy frameworks at their August 18th meeting:

• Homelessness Prevention Blueprint
  
  

• Enacting a policy based on the Housing Needs Analysis and Strategy

I’m still looking into the changes made to the zoning code which the City Council replaced at the September 1st meeting.

There is a continuing campaign to get City support and funding towards a Champaign County Reparations Commission. This is being led by the CU Reparations Coalition.

Earlier last month there was a controversial special use permit that the City Council failed to approve for a commissary kitchen for local food trucks and catering business needs. The commissary kitchen would have been located in the North End and there was local pushback on that location. Approval required a supermajority vote, but the measure only had a simple majority in support.

Unit 4:

The Board of Education approved a ballot referendum on bonds towards new middle schools and other facilities improvements. This is following the findings and presentation of the facilities committee. The consent agenda also included details on repairing the Kenwood playground recently damaged in a fire.

There was a great deal of public participation at the August 17th Board of Education meeting, especially in regards to the implementation of the new enforcement process for residency and district boundaries.

• WCIA had coverage of some of the new registration struggles families were facing this year, including a statement from the districts chief communications officer.
  
• Fox Illinois' coverage included a statement from Board President Tony Bruno.

Superintendent Ponce put out a public statement on the district’s appreciation of NAACP Champaign County Branch President Pearson and the NAACP's work towards addressing and resolving the registration issues moving forward. She also spoke at the August 17th meeting. Superintendent's statement from an email sent to the district after that meeting:

Charlisa Hart, a regular speaker during public comments at Unit 4 and other local government bodies, announced her candidacy for Board of Education in public comments. Four out of the seven school board seats are up for election during next year’s municipal elections. There were an increased number of interruptions and outbursts from the audience throughout the course of the 3 hour meeting.

There's been continued calls for school board seats by sub-district in Unit 4, as opposed to only at-large members for the entire district. Smile Politely's Editorial Board appeared to give cautious support to the idea, noting that "we have seen how the neighborhood sub-district model hasn’t always worked for Urbana."

City of Urbana:

Grace Wilkins announced her resignation a couple months ago and that became official on August 24th The City of Urbana is now accepting applications for the vacancy, to be appointed by Mayor DeShawn Williams. The deadline for applying is 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 11, 2026. Residency and other requirements are listed on the application page here.

Last month’s political action report noted that there had been some audio issues with the City Council meetings. The technology team for the City found a workaround to avoid interruptions to livestreaming. There are still no real-time adjustments for some sound issues, but significant discrepancies can be adjusted afterward for the streaming / recording. There had been an announcement that council, board, and commission meetings would no longer be livestreamed due to those issues, but that appeared to have been released prematurely given the workaround.

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.

Unit 4 Updates for 2025 So Far

The last few months of Unit 4 School Board meetings have continued to be contentious with a great deal of frustrations aired on process and personalities. This was especially pronounced through the local elections where five seats were being filled (three seats for a four-year term, and two seats for a two-year term). Three of the current board members, including President Baker, were not running for re-election. 

Two seats were already set for an election due to being vacancy appointments, including Mark Holm's (who was running as an incumbent). Sam Bank's seat was vacant and unfilled since his resignation 12/15/2024. WCIA had coverage of his resignation here. The News-Gazette also had an article on the three recent Unit 4 resignations here.

The News-Gazette has local election results here. This post begins with a couple general highlights so far in 2025 and then some brief highlights and related news coverage links for the meetings thus far.

Approval of the Agenda

One of the changes for Board of Education meetings heading into 2025 was the removal of the "Approval of Agenda" from the meeting agendas. This resulted in an extended back and forth about whether the Board was adhering to Robert's Rules. This occurred at the beginning of the 1/27 meeting. Statements from the former Board parliamentarian Vazquez, Board President in her dual role as Board President and Parliamentarian, argued that the Board wasn't required to have it and that it had to be removed to avoid arguments like they were having now. Members Armstrong and Holder took issue with the removal, at least without a more formal statement that Board was suspending the use of Robert's Rules.

The discussion ended with the understanding that the Board is not required to follow Robert's Rules and the President has the ultimate authority per the Board's Policy's to suspend Robert's Rules:

Rules of Order

Unless State law or Board-adopted rules apply, the Board President, as the presiding officer, may use the most recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, as a guide when a question arises concerning procedure.

The Board President, or a majority of the Board may suspend use of Robert's Rules at any time.

This appeared to satisfy the initial question of whether Robert's Rules was being suspended in the affirmative. It may lead to more questions about whether that suspension was permanent for all meetings going forward as the "Approval of the Agenda" has not been on any agenda since. This will likely be addressed by the new board when it is seated after the election is certified.

Sam Banks Vacancy Appointment:

There was a bit of process towards a possible appointment for the vacancy created by Sam Banks, including public candidate interviews for Joseph Abrisz, Q’keomi Clemmons, and Kelly Ransom. WCIA had coverage of the candidate interviews here. The News-Gazette also covered the deadlock on the Board to move forward with the appointment process from there. 

The process of the appointment would normally go to the Regional Board, but according to the Regional Superintendent the upcoming election made the appointment such a short term prospect, that he viewed it as more disruptive than simply waiting for the election results. None of the applicants interviewed for the vacancy appointment ran in the recent election.

2025 Meeting Highlights through March:

As of this posting, there are meeting minutes available for all of the Board of Education meetings through the end of February 2025. Other meeting highlights so far this year (all agendas and meeting documents are available here on BoardDocs):

March

3/24 meeting (video) had appointments for the assistant principals at Central HS. The News-Gazette had coverage of that here. There was a long presentation on the English language curriculum for grades 6-12 (following up on previous curriculum for earlier grades). This will be voted on at the next Board meeting. President Baker took the opportunity to comment about her experiences on the Board and airing a long list of grievances against a couple other board members.

3/10 meeting (video) included the approval of a "Special Education Student Settlement Agreement," although there didn't appear to be any public details on this yet. There were a number of public and board comments related to the upcoming election, support for the Superintendent and accusations against Amy Armstrong and Betsy Holder.

February

2/24 meeting (video) included the appointment of the new principal at Central High School. The News-gazette had coverage of that moment and some of the remarks by Dr. Montia Gardner which included her family history and struggles. Public comments were related to the election again and included two candidates for Unit 4 Board of Education seats: Al Molina and Tony Bruno. President Baker noted the decision by the Regional Superintendent not to attempt a short term appointment process with an election coming up to fill the vacancy and most of the other seats in a few weeks. 

2/10 meeting (video) included an appointment for the district's Special Education Administrator: Jacquelyn Teague. WCIA had coverage of that appointment here. A couple of the public comments raised concerns of an appointment prior to the Special Education audit that may have recommendations on what roles this new position should take on.

At this meeting, the board also appointed a Campus Level Administrator for the International Prep Academy and renewed the American Institute for Research Contract which comes with State funding.

2/3 meeting (video) mentioned above included Board vacancy applicant interviews, with a deadlock on selecting one for a short term appointment prior to the upcoming election.

January

1/27 meeting (video) mentioned above included the dispute over the removal of "Approval of the Agenda" from the meeting agendas starting this year. Public participation included support for the Superintendent and concerns about immigration raids on school grounds.

There were reports on the fiscal year 2023-2024 audit by the outside auditor Baker Tilly (full report here, financial report, with a helpful overview on pages 4-7 of the PDF, here) as well as a presentation overview of the district's capital and maintenance plans and a chart of its needs list.

Starting on page three of the meeting minutes, there is a helpful overview of some of the other agenda items voted on at this meeting, including the Centennial softball field renovations, the demolition of a district owned house near Franklin, and a couple items related to the 2024-25 ISBE Discipline Improvement Plan. The News-Gazette had coverage on a couple of these items here. WCIA had some background on a Title IX (discrimination) complaint related to the softball field renovations.

Board communications rehashed some of the discussions and disagreements about the use and disuse of Roberts Rules. The Superintendent expressed frustration at the amount of questions and requests from board members and concerns about "gotcha" questions. She openly asked whether a couple board members were trying to run her out of the district. An extended discussion among board members and various arguments ensued. The News-Gazette highlighted some of the back and forth in its coverage of the meeting here.

1/13 meeting (video) was the first meeting without an Approval of the Agenda item on the agenda. There was a discussion by the board on selecting a process to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Sam Banks. The board was split on whether a short term appointment was the best option with the upcoming elections. They agreed to a timeline and process, including public interviews of applicants. The News-Gazette had coverage of that portion of the meeting here. WCIA had a shorter blurb here.

There was a discussion of capital and maintenance plans prior to approving projects on the agenda. The conversation led to an agreement for a presentation and vote on the projects afterward at the next meeting, although not before an extended bit of arguing on motivations and intentions for the delay. The News-Gazette had coverage on that delay here.

There was also a lot of discussion and clarifications prior to votes related to the district's legal bills passing unanimously. 

City of Champaign Summer Updates

This post has updates from the last few summer months, including potential council pay raises, filling a council vacancy, and a lot of economic development updates. A separate post will be dealing with gun violence updates in C-U generally. The vacancy for District 3 was filled in June. The News-Gazette had coverage of Jamar Brown being appointed and sworn in.

New member Jamar Brown took his seat on the Champaign City Council for the majority of Tuesday’s meeting following a 7-1 vote instating him to represent District 3.

Just three months earlier, Brown resigned from the Unit 4 school board less than a year after being elected...

He’s filling the seat vacated by Danny Iniguez on May 14.

Brown has just under a year to finish out the remainder of Iniguez’s term, which ends May 6, 2025.

That full article here. The News-Gazette also had more on Brown's background the day before here. Last month's Cheat Sheet on the Champaign City Council had a brief overview and links about the resignation, application process, and other applicants. WCIA also had brief coverage of Brown's appointment here with some additional links to more background information.

Council Pay Increases:

It always appears to be a contentious issue as to whether elected representatives should get a pay raise. Like everybody else, there are concerns about retention, inflation, and budget priorities. From the News-Gazette:

Five members of a Champaign City Council Compensation Task Force voted unanimously Thursday afternoon to recommend raising council members’ annual pay from $5,000 to $7,000 and the part-time mayor’s annual salary from $35,000 to $45,000.

The mayoral raise would bump Champaign from fifth place to fourth on the area compensation charts, leapfrogging Rantoul ($36,000) and trailing only three cities and villages where the job is full-time: Danville ($100,000), Urbana ($73,217) and Tilton ($60,000).

The recommended raise for council members would match what Urbana pays its aldermen, tops among area cities and villages. Rantoul, Clinton and Sullivan each pay $6,000 annually.

That full article here. The staff report on the task force was brief in its recommendations and reasoning. It was presented at the last study session where the council gave the initial go ahead (agenda, video). A final vote by the council is still required to approve the pay raises. The News-Gazette had an earlier article with a comparison of area mayoral pay.

Downtown Plaza:

Construction has begun on the Downtown Plaza project after the schedule was moved up and approved at the beginning of July. From the News-Gazette: .

City officials have rearranged the construction schedule for Phase 1 of the Neil Street Plaza project in hopes of addressing concerns from local businesses.

The Champaign City Council will vote on two agreements related to Phase 1 of the project at their 7 p.m. meeting Tuesday: an approximately $3.26 million construction contract with A&R Mechanical Services and a $298,500 construction engineering contract with Clark Dietz.

That full article here. These changes were approved for the Plaza construction timeline at the July 2nd City Council meeting (video jump to). WAND had coverage of the City Council approval and new schedule here. WCIA highlighted the upcoming public ground breaking event this past Friday here. WCIA also had coverage of the ground breaking itself with a video segment here.

Economic Development News:

The Yards: In the latest update on long stalled development project around the Illinois Terminal called "The Yards," developers are looking for input on whether there's interest in going forward or not. from the News-Gazette:

It’s really just an opportunity for the neighborhood to speak and say, ‘Hey, we’re excited about this, let’s keep working on it’ or maybe ‘Now’s not the time’, in which case, that’s OK as well,” said Royse and Brinkmeyer CEO Collin Carlier. “We could stop working on it. But it does take a lot of time and energy, and it’s a long entitlement period, so we’re just looking for, I guess, to be nudged whether we should continue to move forward or alter our thoughts based on feedback from the neighborhood.”

That full article here. 

County Fair: It's looking like everything is set for the redevelopment of the long stagnating County Fair Shopping Center and surrounding area. The plan relies on a TIF district (what is a TIF district?) as a funding strategy:

At 217 acres, the proposed Springfield and Mattis tax-increment-financing district isn’t the largest in the city, but it’s up there, said T.J. Blakeman, the city’s economic development manager.

He estimated it’s probably the second biggest after the 507-acre Garden Hills TIF district...

The boundaries of the proposed TIF district include the Country Fair Shopping Center, the Champaign Park Apartments, the Country Brook Apartments, the Round Barn Shops, the Shops at Glenn Park, the Schnucks Plaza and the former C.S. Johnson Factory.

That full article here, which goes into a great deal of detail on how the process will likely play out from here (including another public hearing, a meeting of the Joint Review Board, and a final City Council vote). This follows up from previous coverage on plans to redevelop the Country Fair Shopping Center area. Also from the News-Gazette:

The 32-acre Country Fair site, which has been on the market for more than a year, is under contract to a team of investors who are doing their due diligence before closing on the property, Senior Planner for Economic Development TJ Blakeman wrote in a report to the council...

He added that the potential buyers seem very willing to work with the city of Champaign and local developers to incorporate the city’s priorities into the project, including “walkability, high-quality design, new public streets and circulation patterns, and the reintroduction of transit to the development.”

City Manager Dorothy David has authorized a cost-share agreement to engage an architectural firm that can begin work on a conceptual plan for the project.

That full article here.

Economic Development Manual: The City Council recently had a Study Session where they had a presentation on and discussed a "New Economic Development Manual" (staff report, presentation video). The presentation and discussion included incentivizing development and possible changes to improve those incentives with increased costs. A key part of the council feedback was on exclusions (e.g. gambling establishments). The Council's technical questions and input begin at the 26 minute mark (jump to video link). The discussion ended with City Council direction to staff to move forward (with that input). 

WCIA had a brief overview of the issue:

The Council is in the process of drafting a new Economic Development Manual. The current manual went into effect in 2012 and ends this year. As part of the new manual, the city council is looking at revising the Redevelopment Incentive Program and implementing three small business assistance programs.

The Redevelopment Incentive Program, established 30 years ago, assists redevelopment projects with up to $150,000 or 20% of the cost. Since then, it’s provided more than $5 million in grant funding.

Under the new Economic Development Manual, a few changes would be made to the Redevelopment Incentive Program. The cap would be increased to $200,000 with a bonus of $10,000 for projects that can be occupied immediately upon completion. Criteria and percentage of eligible costs would also change.

That full article here.

Downtown Housing: There were also some concerns about affordable housing with a redevelopment project near downtown. From the News-Gazette:

Royse and Brinkmeyer is seeking city approval for a planned unit development on 10 properties it owns in the block bounded by South State Street, South Prairie Street, West White Street and West Springfield Avenue...

Gil Terriberry, case manager at the Strides Shelter, said at the commission’s meeting last month that he appreciates the variety of density incorporated into the project.

However, he added that there is a “serious housing problem” in Champaign and surrounding counties and was curious to know if the development might include “affordable, low- and moderate-income or subsidized housing,” as a lack of affordable housing is a major contributor to homelessness.

That full article here. This issue was discussed at the Plan Commission last week (agenda, video). Towards the end of that meeting, it appeared that the Plan Commission approved an amended version of the redevelopment plan for the City Council to consider (with the Plan Commission's recommendation to approve). The tentative date for the City Council to look at this item is September 17th.

Other City of Champaign Government News:

• Kathy's Mailbag delved into cellphone reception issues in Champaign and some of the city planning and regulations that go into possibly resolving them.
  
  
• Champaign Fire Department looking ahead to replace Ladder 161, from the News-Gazette's "Meeting Minutes" feature.
  
  
• Two more signs have been added to the Champaign County African American Heritage Trail, including one in downtown Champaign to remember the JCPenney boycott and picketing here, according to the News-Gazette.
  
  
• Honorary street signs for a local community organizer and a local music producer were approved this month. There was a previous overview on the proposal from the News-Gazette here. WCIA had a short blurb on the music producer, Mark Rubel here.
  
  
• There has been a great deal of public comment about the conflict between Israel and Gaza, generally asking local governments to divest from Israel and take a stand against alleged war crimes. See the public comments section at the 7/2 regular City Council meeting and 7/9 City Council study session for examples.
  
  
• City looking at a possible local historical landmark designation on nearly 100 year old home, according to the News-Gazette.

Urbana City Council Updates

Looking forward to next year's municipal elections, Mayor Marlin will not be running for a 3rd term according to Illinois Public Media. This post, however, is more of a round up about current business before the board and recent news coverage. It's been a while since our last City of Urbana Updates earlier this year.

The Daily Illini has a had a great deal of meeting coverage on what we've missed (agendas, minutes, and video links available here on the city website):

• March 18th City Council Meeting: Coverage of the compromise ceasefire resolution, public comment, and text.
  
  
• March 25th City Council Meeting: Included debates about plastic bags and potential taxes on their use at stores.
  
  
• Tuesday April 9th Cunningham Township Annual Meeting: which included its own referendum, including one on the Gaza conflict.
  
  
• May 27th City Council Meeting: Coverage of the City's financial plan and discussion of the role of social services in it. More on this meeting's dispute on appointments was covered in the News-Gazette and highlighted later in this post below.
  
  
• June 3rd and June 4th Committee of the Whole Meeting. The most recent City Council meeting was a Committee of the Whole meeting that was overwhelmed by public opinion on police hiring and alternative responder model issues. The meeting was continued the next day after it had initially gone on for a few hours. The first day of the meeting made it through item F. 6. (the police staffing presentation) before it was recessed. More coverage on those issues later in this post below.

Redistricting:

As with other local government bodies, the latest Census information has led to a new proposed ward map for the Urbana City Council as well. From Illinois Public Media:

Starting with the spring 2025 municipal elections, the new map will set boundaries for the next decade for the seven wards represented by the seven aldermen and alderwomen on the Urbana City Council...

The Census lowered Urbana’s population count from 41,250 in 2010 to 38,336 in the new Census, a population drop of about seven percent. Marlin says the decrease in population translates into a roughly $750,000 decrease in state and federal tax revenues coming to the city every year.

Marlin says the lower census count is not due to an actual decrease in Urbana’s population, but to a pandemic undercount of University of Illinois students. She argues that this is evident in the census data, which shows the greatest population losses in and around the University of Illinois campus. Students dominate the population in that area, and many of them went off campus during the time the census was taken, because it was also the peak period of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

That full article here. The City's web page for the ward map details is here.

Police Budgets:

One of the more hotly contested aspects of the budget has to do with the City's long term plans with policing, crisis intervention, and alternative approaches to police calls for certain situations. Previous consulting recommendations focused primarily on more traditional staffing needs for the Urbana Police Department. From Illinois Public Media:

The national consultant hired by the city of Urbana has released its first report evaluating the police department. In this report, BerryDunn, a national consulting firm, recommends hiring more police officers, which would cost the city millions and involve raising taxes. 

According to the report, more than 64% of calls for service don’t involve criminal activity. Those calls, activists argue, don’t need a police response. Instead, many residents want Urbana officials to establish alternative responses for these calls, involving domestic violence experts, social workers and mental health professionals.

That full article is available here. The News-Gazette had additional coverage earlier this month here and a more recent update from last week. Excerpt from that update:

The latest report from a multi-phase review of the city’s public-safety services said the city stands to benefit from developing alternative methods for how its police and fire agencies respond to calls for service.

The “Essential Calls for Service Report” from BerryDunn, a national consulting firm the city hired in 2023, determined that expanding supplements to the Urbana Police Department’s response model — like telephone units, online reporting services and co-response teams — could help free up officers to answer more urgent calls and provide appropriate resources for those in crisis.

The assessment ties into the first phase of BerryDunn’s review, which recommended that Urbana police hire seven sworn officers and six non-sworn community-service responders, a potential 22 percent increase in the agency’s staff levels.

That full article here.

[Update 6/10/2024: The News-Gazette had even more coverage on this issue in today's paper here. It covers last week's City Council meeting and some of the disagreement on the police portion of the budget. Excerpt:

Police department officials presented proposed staffing increases as part of last week’s budget discussions, which started Monday night and continued into the wee hours of Tuesday after the council voted to take a recess due to the late hour.

Boone said he is requesting the following new positions, which are currently included in the city’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2025:

• One deputy chief to oversee operations
• One training sergeant
• Three patrol officers
• Two non-sworn community service responders
• One social worker “in support of alternative response models”
• Three community engagement officers]

More Budget Items:

The City of Urbana, unlike the City of Champaign, appears set to absorb the loss of the State grocery sales tax revenue, according to the News-Gazette. The City Council will also be looking at its financial plan, with approval of that plan coming up at their June 24th meeting. Excerpts from the Daily Illini:

According to the proposed budget, investments will be made in public safety and public works, such as 911 services like fire, EMS and police, as well as city infrastructure. Other investments will be used to support the mayor and city council’s strategic goals. 

In addition, the budget proposed a local motor fuel tax rate increase, with all tax revenue to be dedicated to transportation infrastructure improvements.

The budget also proposed investments into research of the connection between the maintenance of housing and community well-being and occasionally crime. Council members also seek to increase funding for nuisance abatement, or the elimination of harmful property conditions.

That full article with a lot more additional information and links here.

Appointment / Reappointment Disputes:

Disputes about appointments continued to plague the Council. People familiar with the Urbana City Council will be very aware of a years long crusade to remove City Manager Carol Mitten from city government by more openly left-wing board members and public commenters. From the News-Gazette Meeting Minutes feature:

Things took a turn for the awkward at this week’s city council meeting after Alderwoman Grace Wilken, as she did in 2022, motioned that Mayor Diane Marlin‘s recommended one-year reappointments be voted on individually and not lumped together.

Chris Evans took it from there, reading from lengthy prepared comments all the reasons he wasn’t supporting the appointments of City Manager Carol Mitten, who was sitting just down the table at the time.

That full article here.

More City of Urbana News:

• Kathy's Mailbag answered a question about ambulance contracts with the City.
  
  
• The News-Gazette had some updates on the fire station projects back in April.
  
  
• Urbana joined other local government bodies in supporting a program to expand flight service out of Willard, according to the Daily Illini back in March.

City of Champaign Updates

Danny Iniguez of District 3 (map) announced his resignation last month, which will create a vacancy on the board. The City Council has 60 days from May 14^th to fill the seat temporarily until the results of the 2025 municipal elections in the Spring. The process was laid out in a staff report here. Interviews for applicants (the application deadline has already passed) will be conducted on this Tuesday, June 11^th. The News-Gazette had an overview of the appointment process and the three applicants yesterday:

One of the two Unit 4 school board members who resigned in frustration in March — and one of the 28 who applied to replace him — are among three applicants for the District 3 vacancy on the Champaign City Council.

The three will be interviewed at Tuesday's study session for the seat vacated by Danny Iniguez, according to the council agenda made public on Friday.

It's a short-term assignment that expires on May 6, 2025.

That full article here. A final vote on the appointment to the City Council would be as soon as the following week, with the selected appointee sworn in immediately afterward. There is a separate Unit 4 Updates Cheat Sheet post here.

Recent Meetings Coverage:

The Daily Illini had coverage of the most recent City Council meeting on June 4th this week. Excerpt:

On Tuesday, the Champaign City Council held its weekly discussion, primarily focused on passing a number of resolutions related to infrastructure improvement. 

The meeting began with the introduction of three new members of the city staff. 

Following this, a proclamation was made by the council on the topic of raising awareness of state-wide and national gun violence. 

More at the full article here. The Daily Illini also had coverage of the May 28th meeting here, which included updates on the Garden Hills drainage project.

Grocery Sales Tax:

The City of Champaign, like many local governments, is looking at a way to deal with the loss of grocery tax revenue with the latest changes in the State budget. The News-Gazette laid out the problem and the City Council's dilemma earlier last month:

As the budgeting process continues, Champaign city leaders are divided on how to make up $2.7 million in revenue that will be lost if Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposal to eliminate the state’s 1 percent grocery tax moves forward.

While some city council members feel the best approach is to raise the home-rule sales tax, others are interested in alternative options, such as establishing a packaged liquor tax...

Proceeds from the grocery tax go entirely to local municipalities, and the question of how to fill in the gap was the focal point of Tuesday’s budget discussion.

That full article here. The News-Gazette had a more recent update showing that the council was "leaning towards" increasing its own grocery sales tax rate at their May 21st Study Session on the budget (the staff report from that Study Session is available here).

Downtown Plaza and Downtown Entertainment District Updates:

Most of the other policy news coverage this month involved development of the downtown Plaza and the downtown entertainment district centered on Market Street. The News-Gazette had coverage of some of the State grant funding being used for the Plaza project. The News-Gazette also highlighted local concerns about the Plaza project's impact on businesses in that area.

The Daily Illini had coverage of the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Downtown Entertainment District here. There was also News-Gazette coverage on the recent City Council vote to increase security for the downtown entertainment district and the context of the recent highly publicized shooting on Market Street. Similarly there were also local business concerns about the downtown entertainment district's impact. WCIA had a brief overview of "The Beat" initiative to highlight and attract entertainment and customers to the downtown entertainment district. More at The Beat website here.

Other City of Champaign News:

• A portion of Park Street was ddesignated in honor of Reverend Claude Shelby, community organizer and retired long-time pastor of the historically Black Salem Church.
  
  
• The City allotted additional funding to 40 North to expand its Friday Night Live entertainment project according to the News-Gazette. 
  
  
• The City's Plan Commission is looking at updating the land use rules for large solar arrays. Currently such installations require a special use permit be approved each time.
  
  
• The Plan Commission was also looking at approving a possible large scale data center at the University's Research Park, according to the News-Gazette.
  
  
• The City launched an interactive tool to compare historic maps of Champaign from the 1880s to 2024, according to WCIA.

Unit 4 Updates: Board Appointments

The Regional Office of Education appointed two new members to the Unit 4 Board of Education to fill two vacancies due to resignations. This was after months of disagreements on the process with the remaining board members. The News-Gazette had an overview of the process and the appointed officials last week last week:

The retired CEO of the Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club and a local business owner who ran in the last election will fill the two vacant seats on the Champaign school board.

Regional Superintendent Gary Lewis brought an end to a monthslong saga Friday when he announced the selection of Sam Banks and Mark Holm to fill the seats vacated in March by Jamar Brown and Mark Thies.

They’re short-term positions, expiring in April, when the seats currently held by board President Gianina Baker, Heather Vazquez and Bruce Brown will also be on the election ballot.

That full article here (and some previous coverage of the Regional Office's process here and here). Illinois Public Media had similar coverage here and WCIA also had brief coverage on the new appointments.

A lot has happened since our last Unit 4 update in early April. At that time we had a Cheat Sheet post laying out the controversies heading into the local appointment process. That process fell apart as disagreements arose between two board members and a three member majority of the remaining (five of seven) Unit 4 Board of Education members. There was an initial meeting establishing some details of the appointment process, but that fell apart when the remaining process details were decided by the Board President without an additional public meeting of the Board.

The dispute resulted in the minority members using the parliamentary tactic of blocking a quorum to delay the process so that the Regional Office of Education would have to take over the process. From the News-Gazette last month:

The saga that has been the Champaign school board since two members resigned in frustration two weeks apart in March is about to enter a new phase — a do-over in the effort to find replacements for Jamar Brown and Mark Thies.

As was expected and is mandated by state statute, Regional Superintendent of Schools Gary Lewis — not the five remaining members of the Unit 4 board — will assume control of the process starting Monday, which will mark 60 days since Brown stepped away.

That full article here with a lot of additional information on the disputes. Some of the clashes appeared to go beyond process and policy and into the personal. The News-Gazette reported on the Superintendent's correspondence that the disagreements arise from "sheer hate," while others point to her remarks as exemplifying the leadership issues they're taking issues with.

There has been heated debate among local activists, especially many within the local Black community, about the role of white supremacy and racism in the criticisms of the Black women leaders of Unit 4 as Superintendent and the Board of Education president. This has been especially directed at the Unit 4 Families for a Smarter Solution group that formed during the last Unit 4 "Schools of Choice" reorganization proposals. Some local media has viewed the group as having both valid concerns, but also some arguably problematic ones. Another local media outlet has depicted the group as anti-desegregation or anti-equity, which appears to be strongly disputed within the group's facebook page.

There is a local history of school segregation and reactionary politics against reforms and desegregation efforts here, but the degree to which the past is replaying a role in the current situation, I leave to the reader to determine. One can find much agreement, at least in principle, on many of the desegregation and equity goals among the opposing factions (both on the Board and their constituents).

There appears to be a general consensus that the district is facing ongoing and persistent problems that pre-date the current Black leadership of the district, but there is a dispute about how much opposition is reasonable versus a racial double-standard. 

The newly appointed school board members will be sworn in at the next Unit 4 Board of Education meeting on June 10th.

Cell Phones:

The News-Gazette also highlighted various local and area policies on cell phones in schools. It also published a variety of views on the issues and complications involved with setting a cell phone policy in public schools as part of its Meeting Minutes feature. An excerpt from the article from a local Unit 4 parent and activist, Rita Conerly:

As a mom, having my older kids carry a cellphone to school is important to me for several reasons.

Firstly, it provides a means of communication in case of emergencies or unexpected changes in plans. Secondly, it allows me to stay in touch with them throughout the day, ensuring their safety and well-being. Additionally, having a cellphone can facilitate learning by providing access to educational resources.

That full article here. This follows a previous Meeting Minutes article looking at the district cell phone policies last month here.

Gun Violence Reduction Blueprint Funds:

There was a bit of an update last month on the City of Champaign's additional ARPA funding to the school district to collaborate on programs looking to deal with gun violence and its underlying causes from WCCU:

In 2022, Unit 4 was offered over $526,000 through the blueprint to fund their own gun violence prevention programs. But in September of 2023, the City of Champaign shared that the Unit 4 school district turned down the money. Unit 4 at the time said they turned down the money to focus on academic and social emotional support.

That changed shortly after a shooting right next door to Booker T. Washington Elementary School this fall. The shooting left parents asking Unit 4 why they had not taken money for gun violence reduction from the City.

In December of 2023, Unit 4 ended up taking money from the Gun Violence Reduction Blueprint, though for a lesser amount than the original contract. The original contract gave the Unit 4 school district $526,620 to use towards gun violence reduction programs. However, the new proposal with a $91,000 reduction brings the district's new total to $435,000.

That full article here. WCCU had a recent article on ongoing concerns about gun violence near Booker T. Washington school here.

Other Unit 4 News:

• With Champaign Police staffing issues slowly being rectified, Unit 4 has approved a new contract for School Resource Officers for next school year, according to the News-Gazette. 
  
  
• The former principal of Booker T. Washington school, a central figure in recent board divisions and accusations of retaliation by the district administration, is now at Rantoul Schools, according to the News-Gazette.
  
  
• Three Novak Academy students receive Resilience Scholarship, from the News-Gazette.
  
  
• The News-Gazette also reported on the CU Schools Foundation presenting this year's Mann-Hankel Award.
  
  
• There was a Meeting Minutes feature comparing various graduation costs for local school districts.
  
  
• There was a Kathy's Mailbag question that looked at the evaluation process for the Superintendent of Unit 4. The Board President also had a recent "My Turn" piece in the paper on what the school board does. That article elicited a response from the local NAACP president.
  
  
• There have been a number of concerns about Special Education students, their needs, staff issues, and more at recent Unit 4 school board meetings and in public criticism on social media. WCIA had an overview of these concerns in a recent article here. One of those stories was highlighted in the News-Gazette Guest Commentary last month.
  
  
• Promise Healthcare received grant funding towards establishing a health center in collaboration with Unit 4 schools, according to the Daily Illini back in April.