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).

March Urbana City Council and Cunningham Township Meetings

The Urbana City Council had longer meetings this month, even when compared to their usually lengthy meetings. In addition to longer City Council meetings themselves, there were also a couple Cunningham Township meetings and two City Council training sessions before some of those meetings. Most of the meetings were nearly or beyond four hours in length altogether. I'll try to be far more brief in these overviews.

Public Participation across all of the meetings included concerns about utility shutoffs, rental assistance available, police reform and alternatives to policing for mental health and other public needs. There were also concerns about the Human Rights Ordinance language clarification still leaving a need for an enforcement mechanism and ongoing concerns about the background check policy in light of the HRO requirements. There was also support for the City supporting and collaborating with the First Followers Reentry program and the Champaign County Health Care Consumers organization.

The March 1st Committee of the Whole meeting (agenda, video) mainly involved an extensive conversation about the planned development at 602 South Lincoln Avenue (next to campus within the WUNA neighborhood). The developer said he wasn't interested in continuing the process after the City Council voted to hold the issue over for another Committee of the Whole meeting. The board decided to move the issue on to the regular City Council member to see if any council members concerns could be addressed by that time.

Further amended clarifying language for the Human Rights Ordinance was moved forward as well, but still lacked a solution on how the City might be held to the HRO standards. Council member Jared Miller used his time in council comments at the end of the meeting to assure the public that this is not the end of the HRO discussion and the other issues would be addressed.

The March 8th regular meeting (agenda, video) included additional public participation with a large number of residents opposed to the 602 South Lincoln development, petition signatures, and endless criticism of the aesthetics and interpretation of the development guidelines. Council members Brown and Colbrook appear to be the only council members who believe the conditions were met. Colbrook appears to be the only member who had a positive opinion of the aesthetics and building materials. The harshest criticism from council members and the public used the expression, "butt ugly." The development failed to pass.

The rest of the meeting involved an approval of the clarifying and amended HRO language, considering some zoning variances, and then approving appointments. The appointment portion got a bit strained as one of the appointments involved promoting an officer directly involved in the Aleyah Lewis incident. The appointments were approved with Alderman Miller voting against James "Cory" Koker to Lieutenant in the Urbana Police Department.

The March 15th Committee of the Whole meeting (agenda, video) began with the first City Council training session available to the public and allowing participation from current City Council members and candidates. City Administrator Carol Mitten said that a webpage will be set up with all the training sessions for future use. The training session at this meeting was an overview of the City's executive department (jump to link).

After the training session there was a presentation of the 2020 BPAC Annual Report by the Alderman Brown, who is also the chair of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission. Public participation included some criticism of the promotion of an officer involved in the Aleyah Lewis incident and the continued lack of an enforcement mechanism against the city to follow its own Human Rights Ordinance.

The mayor, who is also the current chair of the Regional Planning Commission raised serious concerns about the County government's finance issues and how they may impact RPC grant-based programs and funding for the City. She and the Mayor of Champaign backed an RPC letter to the County Board asking that they fulfill their obligations so critical programs aren't put in jeopardy (more on that in the March County Board coverage here). The mayor announced there would be a presentation on the work on the Use of Force policy and the discussions she described as productive in crafting the new language.

Two items that were moved forward for City Council approval involved support and collaboration with the First Followers Reentry Program and the Champaign County Health Care Consumers organization.

The discussion items on the agenda included the status on the One Door pilot program. Updates included a collaboration with the City of Champaign and a phase-in start as opposed to a comprehensive start to the program. The phased in process can begin sooner, but won't include some alternative responses that don't involve law enforcement. There was also an extended conversation on how much law enforcement funding actually prevents crime as opposed to alternatives that got fairly heated.

There was also a discussion on the appointment process, which in Urbana involves a great number of positions that cities normally make part of a contractual hiring process. There were complaints about the increased scrutiny and public pressure on appointed positions. There were some disagreements on what constituted healthy public interest and simply being too much of a nightmare to recruit people into the confrontations and accusations. The meeting was already running very long so the background check discussion was pushed to the next meeting.

The March 22nd regular meeting (agenda, video) began with another City Council training session, this time with an overview of the organization and funding of the Urbana Free Library. It was at this meeting that the City Administrator noted that these training sessions would all be made available organized on a webpage for future use. Public participation included ongoing concerns about utility shutoffs. There was also concern raised by Meghan McDonald who argued that the pro-police voices during last week's discussion on reforms and deterring crime cut off or otherwise tried to shut down other perspectives. She highlighted the CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon as a potential model to look at.

The mayor noted that the County Board voted to approve emergency funding for the Regional Planning Commission and working towards completing the required finance reports. They're still trying to determine the overall impact of the County's delays.

The Criminal Background Checks discussion (jump to link) began with a presentation and overview of current policies. The overall discussion got into some really nitty gritty issues of legal obligations, language, and precedent for anyone wanting to take a deep dive into the various perspectives.

The Cunningham Township Board had a regular meeting (agenda, video) on March 8th. Township Assessor Wayne Williams reported instead of the Supervisor Danielle Chynoweth who was ill that day. There was an issue with lost data after moving data from the server. By the time the loss was discovered they weren't successful in retrieving the information from backups. The data isn't completely gone, but it will have to be reentered, which he described as tedious work. 

There was also a special meeting on March 22nd (agenda, video) setting the agenda for its April 13th annual meeting, which has to be in-person as it is for the electors, or voting residents, of the township essentially coterminous with the City of Urbana. There was no public participation at either Township meeting.

The Urbana City Council meets next on Monday April 5th.

Unit 4 Updates: Hybrid Model and SROs

This post previews tonight's Unit 4 Board of Education meeting, coverage and notes on the past few board meetings, and some related Unit 4 news items in the local news. Topics include the district moving towards the hybrid model many parents have been demanding, a delayed look at the School Resource Officer program, empowerment of Black students and teachers, and a deep dive into the district's strategic plan. Smile Politely also had a recent overview of Unit 4's YES employment program for students worth checking out.

The March 8th Unit 4 meeting (agendas available here) will have a review of the districts School Resource Officer program. From the agenda item description:

In response to Section X of the Board Resolution to Declare Racism a Public Health Crisis, District administration conducted a review of the SRO Program that included the voices of students, parents, staff, administration, and the SROs themselves.  Their feedback was captured via surveys and focus groups.  Survey and focus group questions were created by the newly-formed SRO Ad Hoc Committee comprised of:

• students from the Goal Getters group
• parents recommended by PTA Council
• middle and high school teachers and administrators who are also members of either the District Safety Committee or the Discipline Advisory Committee
• the equity assistant principals
• community agency representatives from DREAAM, Don Moyer’s Boys and Girls Club, First Followers, and East Central Illinois Youth for Christ
• the Champaign Police supervisor over SROs. 

Alternatives to the SRO Program were investigated and discussed by the committee, as well.  Tonight, I will present the committee’s findings and their recommendation to maintain the SRO Program with modifications and to add Student Support Advocates beginning with the 2021-22 SY.

A previous discussion on SROs last month was abruptly removed from the agenda in January. At the time there had been legislation that may have made the subject moot, including an Illinois bill that would have eliminated SROs in Illinois altogether. As WCIA noted, that bill has since been tabled (possibly until next year):

House bill 0029 was proposed Wednesday. It’s already been tabled, which means it probably won’t move until next year. Still, school leaders are afraid the idea behind it could re-surface...

The bill also outlines things that should happen if a student under 18 is questioned by officers. It says their parents should be notified, and a parent or someone like a school psychologist or school nurse should be there during the questioning. 

WREX had a concise overview of the bill in their coverage here. At the January 25th School Board meeting, public speakers were frustrated by the agenda change, but took the opportunity to share community concerns on police in schools that night (available at the meeting video starting at the 48:10 minute:second mark here). Board Member, Dr. Baker echoed public comments about the need for a plan to get the district on a path towards in-person learning now. Other board comments explained some of the legal issues with the agenda change.

The News-Gazette had coverage of some of the back and forth on in-person learning at the meeting:

Two Champaign school board members expressed exasperation Monday with Superintendent Susan Zola’s plan for returning to in-person learning...

District principals explained at the last school board meeting that rather than a hybrid model, where a majority of students would simply watch their teacher and have no interaction during class, they preferred a model where all students had access to the same classroom experience.

Zola noted that in the Springfield district, only 40 percent of students are back in class, “which means 60 percent are just watching their teachers teach.”

More at the full article here. Around the same time WICS had coverage of the impact of complex and changing bus schedules and concerns about the impact on the mental health of students.

Soon after the February 8th School Board meeting, the district flipped on the hybrid model decision. From the News-Gazette on February 10th:

The administrators made a case that their setup would be better educationally, with Central Principal Joe Williams saying “Teachers really struggled, thinking, ‘What would it be like for three-fourths of the student body every day to simply be watching TV?’”

But last week, the district announced it would be going with a hybrid plan that more closely resembles the one those parents advocated for...

By the time the changes occur, all staff members who want to be vaccinated will likely have received their second dose. Like Urbana, Champaign plans to begin testing students using the University of Illinois’ saliva test in the coming weeks. Both districts will be able to test their students for the rest of the year thanks to a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.

Full article here. In another reversal, the News-Gazette also reported that some Unit 4 games will allow two spectators per student player.

February also saw the start of a collaboration between Unit 4 and the MTD to empower black girls. From WCIA:

The campaign highlights the importance of positive representation, that the girls who ride the bus to school should see someone who looks like them and feel proud.

When asked how the community can get involved in the campaign, Assistant Superintendent Angela L. Ward said, “This campaign is just about casting positive images. It starts with posting positive things online. It starts with positive things coming out of your mouth. It starts with thinking positive things when you see those young ladies who are carrying the world on their shoulders.”

The “Brilliant, Bold, Beautiful” ads will be posted on the buses for the next two months, and CUMTD said they are looking forward to participating in more campaigns like this one in the future.

That full article and video segment here. More recently, there was local coverage of the Champaign-Urbana Black Teacher' Alliance. From the News-Gazette last week:

Being a Black teacher can be isolating. Only 7.4 percent of Unit 4 teachers and 9.1 of Urbana teachers were Black during the 2020 school year, and even those numbers are higher than the state average. Without a large group of peers, it can be hard to know whether experiences unique to Black teachers are perceived or imagined...

She wanted to create an organization that focused on inward support rather than outward messaging...

In the future, Thomas hopes that teachers aren’t as exhausted as she is as she tries to play the role of support person and mentor to Black students, which outnumber White students in both the Champaign and Urbana districts.

That full article here. There was additional coverage by WICS here:

The group was created in 2019 with just a few faculty, but now it is comprised of over 75 educators from all departments in schools from Champaign-Urbana.

Its goal was focused on connecting Black educators for support purposes, but 2020 took its mission in a different direction.

It's now finding new growth after the pandemic and serves as role models and mentors for students of color.

That full article and video segment here.

Unit 4 Strategic Plan Assessment

For folks who really want a deep dive into the Unit 4 strategic plan, including early successes in implementation, and other findings and recommendations of the FourPoint assessment, you're in luck! The February 22nd meeting had a presentation on all the nitty gritty here at the 34 minute mark.

For folks who want to see a brochure style overview of the district's Strategic Plan, Unit 4 has a page here offering it in multiple languages. Folks who work with corporate bureaucracies might be a bit more comfortable with the "synergistic" lingo. At times, I find myself pondering whether certain sentences or paragraphs actually managed to avoid saying anything at all. You're not alone if you have to pause and look up "unit 4 RTI" on google more than once. Also Response to Intervention is an important part ensuring students who need help get it. Here's a couple sentences from the Unit 4 page explaining RTI that seemed to get the gist:

The problem solving method is used to match instructional resources to educational need...

Use progress monitoring data to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention plan.

There was quite a bit between those two sentences, but as best as I can understand, they're just trying to ensure that a student who needs help gets some follow up if the help isn't working. I leave it to the reader to interpret and judge from there.

Urbana City Council Updates 2/22

This week the Urbana City Council followed up on many of the Committee of the Whole items from last week's Cheat Sheet post. The main resolution passed by the City Council was affirming the council's priority on de-escalation policies in the Use of Force policy being worked on by the City, Urbana Police Department, and the community. From WICS:

On Monday night, the Urbana City Council passed a resolution that prioritizes tactical deescalation as a police response when appropriate...

The resolution was amended to require multiple reports a year on officers' use of force policy.

It also pushes the Use of Force Review Board to add at least one new member that must be a civilian.

Full article here. The News-Gazette had additional details and an explanation of the bill this week as well:

Its sponsor, Ward 1 Alderwoman Maryalice Wu, said the resolution isn’t meant to be an update to the use-of-force policy, which is in the process of being updated.

“The purpose was not to fully go through the entire use-of-force policy here,” she said. “The purpose is to say the intent of city council on how we want that direction of the use-of-force policy to move forward.”

The police department had planned to finish updating its use-of-force policy by Jan. 31 to qualify for certain federal funds, Chief Bryant Seraphin said last month, but after pushback from the local NAACP and ACLU chapters, it met with them and is still working on the update.

That full article here. The recommendations and drafts from the local ACLU and NAACP are available on the local ACLU website here.

Another contentious issue before the City Council was on clarifying the language of the Human Rights Ordinance to exclude the city from the current enforcement mechanism for violations which poses some longstanding conflicts of interest and logistical issues. The clarification would have still left enforcement for City violations of the HRO left to be determined, but the language was sent back to committee for further revisions. The language will be considered again at the next Committee of the Whole meeting on March 1st (agenda).

Meeting Writeup:

The meeting began with a presentation by Alderman Brown and a report in his capacity as chair of the Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee. He laid out various options and recommendations for the Kickapoo Rail Trail path through Urbana and entertained questions along with the staff on what the details and timing would look like if approved. He will be returning with a resolution for the Council to consider in the near future.

Public participation was more contentious than usual. A lot of regular speakers took criticism from other public speakers upset at the the accusations and numerous complaints. Accusations of frivolous complaints, weaponizing complaint processes and at significant costs to the cities started out this portion of the agenda. The regular speakers for their part rebutted and counter-accused others of smears and conspiracy theories. Others accused the regular speakers of being variously ignorant or malevolent "trolls."

In the back and forth some speakers raised concerns about language exempting the City from enforcement of the Human Rights Ordinance, complications with an annexation item, and Use of Force policy details. Reverend Dr. Evelyn Underwood encouraged folks to embrace more love and kindness with each other and offered her appreciation of the work and consideration on the Use of Force policy by the City and various organizations.

The Mayor shared her presentation on the proclamation marking Supermarket Employee Appreciation Day. Council comments consisted of Alderwoman Hursey making a correction on the context of statement by her that was referenced in public input.

The Council passed its action items on the agenda except for the Human Rights Ordinance issue which was sent back to committee. The de-escalation resolution was passed with some minor language tweaks. The annexation approval included direction to City Staff for outreach for further annexation offers to the remaining unannexed portion of that neighborhood.

Consolidated General Election and Early Voting

The Consolidated General Election is Tuesday, April 6th, 2021. Early voting begins for everybody March 12th, (after the primary election results are certified). There are some folks who can Vote Early now if they weren't eligible to vote in a primary (outside of Champaign or Cunningham precincts). There is an explanation on Smile Politely here for Early Voting eligibility dates. You can also request your Vote By Mail Ballot here on the Champaign County Clerk's website.

The News-Gazette highlighted an extremely helpful election information resource and non-partisan candidate guide in today's paper here. It's put together by the Champaign County Voter Alliance in collaboration with the local League of Women Voters. From that News-Gazette coverage:

Want to know what Champaign City Council candidates are thinking ahead of the upcoming consolidated election? Wondering about the most pressing needs for the Urbana Park District?

...

Starting March 2 and continuing to March 11, the League is conducting a series of candidate forums on Zoom.

"The League has a really important role in today's democracy," said Trisha Crowley, president of the Champaign County chapter. "Being a nonpartisan organization, we talk with Democrats and Republicans and try to support our mission, which is to provide information to voters."

Full blurb here. More information at the League of Women Voters of Champaign County website here and links to the previous primary candidate forums here. The Champaign County Clerk has a simple list of the candidate's running on their website here: Meet the Candidates. Note that there are several write-in candidates who may be running in your local races at the bottom of the listed candidates! One Urbana Park District board candidate withdrew from the race already. From a letter to the editor in today's News-Gazette:

If you're like most people, you probably weren't even aware that we just had an election this week. Some only noticed when all the headlines and coverage exploded at once upon the election results themselves. It was a consolidated primary election for municipal offices and it had some painfully low turnout. From WCIA earlier this week:

5,127 out of approximately 68,000 eligible voters, that’s just over 7.5%, cast a ballot in Champaign County’s primary elections.

“This was actually lower for Urbana than it was in 2017,” County Clerk Aaron Ammons said. “It’s unsettling and it needs to change.”

...

“Unfortunately, turnout in the primary consolidated elections and general elections usually see this type of turnout in Champaign County,” Ammons said.

That full article here. The News-Gazette had more coverage on the turnout here. 

You'll likely be hard pressed to find anyone who likes the timing of these local consolidated elections. The candidate calendar is even more bonkers as the work to get on the ballot begins before the previous giant even-year general election is over. So why do we do it? Well, according to this twenty year old news story from the year 2001 (oof!):

Before 1982, each unit of Illinois government held its own election, where and when it chose. With consolidated elections, mandated by the state in 1982, elections are set in the same places on the same dates, rotating local races with general elections for county, state and federal government offices...

The goals of holding a consolidated election were to increase voter turnout and save money by doing it all at once.

"Neither has happened," [Whiteside County Clerk Dan Heusinkveld] said.

Full article here. Changes would have to occur at the State level and it may be difficult to find agreement on what might actually increase awareness or interest... a better date? Better outreach? Better civics education? I leave that to the reader to decide.

Preliminary and Unofficial Primary Election Results

There are still some mail-in ballots that may be on their way in that could be counted, but here are the preliminary and unofficial election results for the Champaign and Urbana so far:

Champaign County unofficial results from the County Clerk website here.

The Champaign County Clerk also has an early listing for the April 6th, 2021 Consolidated General Election candidates here.

Illinois Newsroom had an overview of the Urbana, Champaign and Decatur races with a preview for the general municipal election on April 6th.

WCIA had a highlight of the Urbana Mayor's race here and other local race results listed here.

Smile Politely had informational blurbs up on individual races:

Urbana:

• Urbana Mayoral primary: Diane Marlin defeated Andy Ma, Dennis Roberts
• Urbana City Clerk primary: Phyllis Clark defeated Titianna Ammons

• Urbana Ward 1 primary: Maryalice Wu defeated Jake Fava
• Urbana Ward 2 primary: Christopher Evans defeated Erik Sacks, Christopher Hansen
• Urbana Ward 3 primary: Shirese Hursey defeated Deborah Liu
• No Ward 4 primary (early general election candidate information here) 
• Urbana Ward 5 primary: Chaundra Bishop defeated Meghan McDonald
• No Ward 6 primary (early general election candidate information here) 
• Urbana Ward 7 primary: James Quisenberry defeated Jared Miller

Champaign:

• Champaign Township Supervisor primary: Andy Quarnstrom defeated Rita Conerly

Urbana School Board Updates

At the most recent Urbana School Board meeting (agenda, video) there were updates on in person learning plans, a presentation on the district's Farm to School program, and the approval for a housing program in collaboration with Cunningham Township government.

First there was a presentation (jump to video) on the Farm to School nutrition program by folks from Sola Gratia and the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. The presentation slides are available here. The program is now up on social media (facebook and instagram) and has a website here. WAND had coverage of the program earlier this month:

The project is a collaborative effort between Urbana School District 116, Sola Gratia Farm, and the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, along with support from a USDA Farm to School Planning Grant.

It is being informed by school district members and other local partners. The organizations are launching this project in February and intend to spend the next six months soliciting ideas and planning, with implementation to begin in late 2021...

After piloting the project in Urbana schools, the coordinating team hopes to expand to involve the Champaign Unit 4 School District as well.

More at the full article here. Smile Politely highlighted the public input the program is requesting from the community with links to their survey and email here.

The Superintendent had a presentation (jump to video) on upcoming plans for in-person learning for District 116. The News-Gazette had coverage last week:

The Urbana school district is looking at ways to get more students in the classroom for the fourth quarter, particularly at the early-childhood and elementary levels.

Administrators will send out surveys to families of all elementary school students Friday, with the hopes of receiving commitments by March 1 from families of students who want to return to in-person classes....

At the middle and high school level, Ivory-Tatum said, the sticking point is lunch. Currently, the district has allowed back students who need extra support, which is decided at the school level. Ivory-Tatum said schools are reaching out to students who have been given the option to return but have not and are looking to eliminate barriers for those who can’t come at a specific time because they’re home with siblings or at work.

More information at the full article here. This presentation focused on the 4th Quarter. January's in person report was more in depth and covered the 3rd Quarter (jump to that report in the January 19th meeting). There was also a general COVID-19 Update at the February 2nd study session meeting (jump to that video here).

Most of the items on the agenda passed without controversy in the consent agenda. It's worth highlighting one approval, however: an intergovernmental agreement with the township to "assist in making adequate housing available to homeless families within the Urbana School District boundaries." WICS had coverage earlier this week:

On Tuesday, the Cunningham Township Supervisor's Office and Urbana School District drafted an agreement called the Emergency Shelter Program, providing resources and shelter to families in need.

"Right now this is a program that serves families that don't have another place to stay," Cunningham Township Supervisor, Danielle Chynoweth said.

Having had 26 households with 11 students go through the program informally already, it is a need they are ready to meet.

That full article here. Illinois Newsroom had even more coverage on the program earlier this month after February's Cunningham Township Board meeting (Cheat Sheet post on that meeting here).

The regular Superintendent's report included an overview of the winter teacher's institute and a thank you to local health care workers from Urbana Middle School students.

School Board member Dimit praised the social distancing and work of the people working in drama projects through the pandemic. He also praised local News-Gazette writer and Urbana High School student resource supervisor for his writing, insight and efforts.

Urbana City Council Clarifying the HRO

Tonight's Urbana City Council meeting (agenda) will likely clarify an ambiguity in the City's Human Rights Ordinance that has existed since its passage. There are also a couple resolutions supporting the FirstFollowers Reentry program's services and on prioritizing de-escalation tactics by the Urbana Police Department. Most of the discussion and details of the items on tonight's agenda were had at last week Committee of the Whole meeting (agenda, video).

WICS had a brief overview of that meeting here. WCIA had a bit of additional information in its preview of the Use of Force related resolution prior to the meeting here.

In other Urbana news, the Urbana Poet Laureate is looking for public input and has a listening session Wednesday of this week. More information and links on that from Smile Politely here. Tom's Mailbag also had a couple Urbana related questions and answers on things like public and private sewer and septic systems and historical buildings here.

2/17 Meeting Writeup:

The meeting originally set for 2/15 was rescheduled due to the winter storm last week. It began with a presentation by Scott Allen of the Citizens Utility Board and Allen Max Axelrod, a local activist trying to stop utility shutoffs, especially to vulnerable populations. During the Q & A it was explained that there is an effort to get support from local governments throughout the state to help put pressure on the governor and relevant state agencies to put a stop to the shutoffs. The Mayor highlighted a local program through the Regional Planning Commission offering rental and utility assistance to Champaign County residents who qualify.

The public comments afterward raised concerns about application process and barriers that could create for some residents, especially those in the most desperate of situations. There were also concerns raised about the language in the Human Rights Ordinance and the need for the language to apply to the city. The language of the de-escalation and transparency resolution was criticized as insufficient to prevent past tragedies.  There were comments in support for funding and collaboration with the FirstFollowers reentry program as well.

The staff report included an update on the local Emulsicoat Inc facility. Data from the company and the Illinois EPA is being collected to help the council better understand the materials and safety issues involved. There is also going to be City Council training for current and prospective City Council members coming up soon. Starting on March 1st from 6-7pm there will be public meetings where the public may watch while candidates and incumbents participate in the training prior to City Council meetings.

The Mayor and Council member Brown highlighted some ways to get information out to the community on the RPC rental assistance program, including meeting with FirstFollowers and utilizing the list of big and small landlords registered with the City.

The presentation and discussion on the FirstFollowers funding is available here in the City Council video. There is a brief overview in the resolution document here. Excerpt:

First Followers is requesting funding for the Welcome Home Program to assist persons exiting the prison system. Many leave the prison system with few resources to help successfully reenter into the community. The Welcome Home program provides a safety net to provide support and resources to individuals returning to this community during the COVID crisis. The program anticipates serving twelve people through December 31, 2021.

The funding is coming through a small portion of the COVID related Community Development Block Grant money the City has received. From a post last year on CDBG block grants and jargon:

Some of the jargon and acronyms can get mind numbing on coronavirus relief funding that the federal government included with the CARES Act. The mechanisms that already existed for federal dollars to reach local programs were used to avoid re-inventing the wheel. So, in local government meetings, you'll hear Council members rattle of terms like "CDBG-CV funds." You probably don't need to know that it's referring to additional COVID-19 related spending in addition to the usual federal Community Development Block Grants. I didn't even like typing that last sentence. It's federal relief funding due to the pandemic.

Regular CDBG pop up a lot in city budgets outside of pandemic issues. For a general idea of how that federal money normally works its way to local government budgets, check out this link on the Illinois Department of Commerce page. 

The discussion on the resolution prioritizing de-escalation and transparency in the Urbana Police Department was discussed here in the Council video. It's worth noting that this is primarily direction and guidance to the Mayor, city staff, and police leadership on their expectations in policy. It specifically states the City Council's priority for de-escalation in the upcoming Use of Force policy changes and additional transparency in the UPD more generally.

The discussion on the Human Rights Ordinance, its application to the City Government, and how that might be enforced was a bit more complicated and is available here in the video. There was a presentation by the City Administrator Carol Mitten attempting to clarify the two issues involved. In a previous presentation at the January 19th COW meeting, there was a dispute about whether the options suggested by the Human Relations Commission were properly presented by the City Administrator.

At this meeting the Council decided to more narrowly tackle the clarification of the Human Rights Ordinance language. While the City Council members all agreed that the City must abide by the requirements of the Human Rights Ordinance, they are still looking for workable enforcement mechanisms. Part of the issue is the logistics of the City, or boards serving under the City's authority, attempting to enforce the ordinance against the City if it is in violation. 

The mechanisms to ensure an independent and fair hearing could be prohibitively expensive or leave potential conflicts of interest. One idea proposed was an intergovernmental agreement with Champaign that has a similar ordinance and Human Rights Commission structure. While clarifying the HRO language, the mechanism to enforce the protections is still left to be resolved.

At the end of the meeting Alderman Roberts had some updates on the Urbana sister-city program relating to Thionville. There is work being done towards a French/English exchange where Americans could practice their French and the French could practice their English. There was also a musical collaboration project in the works.

There were also some final thanks to the city staff and public during the winter storm, helping each other out, and clearing snow. Alderwoman Wu noted that the 217 area code will soon be one of two local area codes, so people may have to update their phones to include the area code if they haven't already.

Champaign City Council and Gun Violence Programs

There is no Champaign City Council meeting this week due to it falling on election day for the Consolidated Primary Election. Early voting has already begun (News-Gazette coverage, County Clerk early voting information) and there is more candidate information on the Cheat Sheet here.

Last week's Champaign City Council meeting (agenda, video) included a Study Session (report, video) focused on local programs attempting to address gun violence and the equity issues in Champaign neighborhoods. WCIA had an overview of the meeting afterward:

City and community leaders met Tuesday night to address a rise in gun violence in Champaign.

Officials reported in 2020, there were 189 confirmed shooting incidents, up from 100 in 2019. There were 57 shooting victims in 2020, compared to 34 in 2019. There were 9 gun-related homicides in 2020, up from 2 in 2019.

The cities of Decatur, Peoria and Urbana also shared their shooting data with Champaign. All of them also saw an increase in shootings and shooting victims.

That full article here. The News-Gazette had additional coverage the next day:

In addition to various efforts with community organizations, [Community Relations Manager Tracy Parsons] said the Community Coalition has also partnered with the Community Data Clinic at the University of Illinois to collect data and evaluate the various initiatives in place...

“Whatever we’re doing, we need to be doing something else, because it’s not working,” said council member Clarissa Fourman, who suggested a gunshot-detection system and encouraged more engagement with the First Followers prisoner re-entry program and more community-developed programs. “We need something new.”

That full article here. The full Study Session report is available here and goes into detail about local responses to gun violence, beginning with a brief summary on the first page going through recent years. On pages 3-5 there is breakdown of local gun violence data and comparisons. Following that is a deep dive into current programs, updates, and work going forward. There was a correction on one graph in the Study Session report versus the presentation given at the Study Session. The "Confirmed Shooting Incidents" were higher in Peoria (Council Member confirmed this in the Q&A time with the Deputy Chief). Here is the corrected graph from the presentation: 

Meeting Writeups:

The regular City Council meeting (agenda, video) began on time. The Council Bills on the agenda were all quickly approved and without controversy. Public participation included a University student proposing game day liquor changes to encourage tailgating and alcoholic beverages at Grange Grove. He proposed setting age limits at the bars from 19 to 21 for those days. He also suggested offsetting bar owner concerns by allowing space for them to serve drinks at Grange Grove as well. The Mayor is also the City's liquor commissioner. Council member Fourman encouraged her to look into the proposal towards the end of the meeting.

Other public comments raised concerns about continued water shutoffs in the area and wanting action from the city to put an end to it. Two other comments revolved around police reform. One highlighting the intimidation and attacks suffered by reformers relative to the safety of speaking out in support of police. Anthony Tassone of pitched a pilot police reform program with his company GreenKey and Amazon for body camera analysis that would also help offset some costs.

There was general support for all the hard work that went into clearing snow by city staff with some extra praise from MTD relayed by the Mayor. The City Manager noted that next Tuesday is an election day and there will not be a City Council meeting scheduled.

Study Session:

Tracy Parsons, a Community Relations Manager for the City of Champaign and also the facilitator for the Champaign County Community Coalition led the presentation on local gun violence and community response along with Champaign Police Deputy Chief Matthew Henson and Mary Catherine Roberson, a City Community Relations Specialist (report, video). As noted earlier in this post, there was a correction on one of the graphs from the report in the video presentation itself (confirmed in the Q&A section).

Discussions noted the difficulty in addressing gun violence, especially watching the increase locally and across cities in Illinois and the country again. There were many technical questions about what we can truly know about a shooting, from the suspected shooter(s) or why the shooting happened in Champaign as opposed to somewhere else. Council members Brix, Kyles and Fourman encouraged more collaboration with First Followers.

Jamar Brown introduced himself during the public comments as the new chair of the Countywide Coordinating Committee. He has been part of the CU Fresh Start program to interrupt gun violence locally. He pointed to a need from community members for a commitment of time, manpower and energy to deal with these problems.

Local activist Haki Shabbazz (who sometimes also introduces himself as Drake Materre) chastised the City Council for failing to listen to community members and activists that have been pushing to dismantle structural racism. He raised concerns about adding investment and manpower into a system of policing and surveillance that he believes only ensures the disparities in our system.

Mike Emery, Law Enforcement Coordinator for the US Attorney in Central Illinois praised the Community Coalition and its adaptability in programs and in comparison to his work across the State and in other counties. 

Local municipal candidates also made public comments. Rita Conerly, on the Democratic ballot for the Supervisor's race in the current primary election talked about her experience and work in Garden Hills. She raised concerns about the way policing is done by outsiders to the neighborhood and called for more radical and intentional changes. She also called for the Council to be more inclusive of radical voices and voices of the impacted communities.

Of all the Council Comments, Council Member Clarissa Nickerson Fourman were the most direct and urgent. She explained how she lives in the middle of these gun incidents. She hears the gun shots and her constituents call her from the floor during shootings. She called for more dramatic action, gunshot detection systems, and the end of gatekeeping important voices out of the discussion and collaboration.

The Council gave unanimous direction to the city staff to continue supporting the Community Coalition and its programs on gun violence.

C-U Candidate Forums - UPDATED

Early voting has already begun for the February 23rd Consolidated Primary Election and there is a lot of information available on the candidates available now. Below are links to a non-partisan candidate guide, candidate forum videos, and election information on how to register, early voting options, etc.

Non-Partisan Candidate Guide from the Champaign County Voters Alliance in cooperation with the League of Women Voters of Champaign County.

The League of Women Voters of Champaign County (along with the local NAACP and the News-Gazette) have several Candidate Forum videos on-line for Champaign and Urbana municipal candidates.

Urbana Alderman Candidate Forum videos:

• Urbana Ward 1
• Urbana Ward 2
• Urbana Ward 3
• Urbana Ward 5
• Urbana Ward 7

Other Consolidated Primary Election candidate forums:

• Urbana City Mayor

WILL and Illinois Newsroom had additional Urbana Mayoral coverage of the Democratic primary here and here. The News-Gazette also had an overview of the Urbana Mayoral candidates here.

• Urbana City Clerk
• Champaign Township Supervisor

There were also two People's City Council candidate forums so far:

• On Ending Chronic Homelessness: 

The discussion focused mainly on eradicating homelessness and included questions and responses from the public. Write-in candidate for Champaign City Council District 3 Justin Micháel Hendrix facilitated the meeting. Incumbents Jared Miller (Urbana City Council Ward 7) and Clarissa Nickerson Fourman (Champaign City Council District 1) participated. WCIA had a short overview:

They all agreed homeless is something that can end and that having a roof over your head is a fundamental to human life.

“Estimates show that Champaign County had over 5 thousand vacant rental units in 2019. Whereas Champaign County counted 140 hut homeless community members in 2020,” Hendrix said.

Some of the suggestions included permanent housing — not just shelters. They also said access to resources for jobs and other necessities could help.

That full blurb is available here. The conversation referred to a Cunningham Township report that had a lot of data on local housing, affordability, and poverty available on the Township website here.

• On Defunding the Police on 2/4:

WCIA also had coverage of that event here.

They’re a group of activists who were involved with Champaign County’s anti-racist coalition. Many took part in protests, demonstrations and community outreach projects over the summer.

Thursday night’s Q&A focused on defunding the police and its implications...

Their next discussion will take place on February 18th. In that discussion, the council will discuss ideas on how to tackle domestic violence in the city.

Full WCIA article and video segment here. Video of the event is available on facebook here. The Daily Illini had additional coverage here.

• The third People's City Council event was on Closing Gaps in Domestic Violence Survivor Support and available on the Central Illinois News facebook page here.

Smile Politely asked the Urbana candidates their thoughts about improving and enforcing the nuisance laws in Urbana here.

General election candidate forums are already in the planning stages. Update on that in the News-Gazette here. 

Voting Information:

The Champaign County Voters Alliance has a helpful page for voters here. The Champaign County Clerk has official election information here.

Currently the only Early Voting location is at Brookens Administrative Center (Maps!). Other Early Voting locations will be opening closer to the election on February 15th. All Early Voting locations and times available here.

The Champaign County Voters Alliance has a Candidate Guide in collaboration with the local League of Women Voters available here.

The County Clerk's office has several helpful links on its website:

• My Voting Information
• Meet the Candidates (note there are some write-in candidates this election)
• Vote by Mail Ballot Request
• My Registration Status

Sample ballots are available here. There is additional candidate information for voters on the County Clerk's unofficial Meet the Candidates page.

[Originally posted on 1/23/2021 at 1:21pm. Updated with additional candidate forum information and links 2/7/21 at 10:56am and 2/20/21 at 3:59pm.]

UIUC Updates

This post covers numerous recent news items and updates on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign related to policy and government. There's a separate Cheat Sheet post on recent news and updates on the University of Illinois Police Department and public safety here.

At the recent Board of Trustees meeting, a tuition freeze was approved. From Smile Politely:

The Board of Trustees announced last week they would be freezing tuition rates for incoming in-state freshmen and non-resident undergraduates for the 2021-22 academic year...

The board also approved small increases in room and board fees.

Full blurb here. Full news release from the Board of Trustees meeting here. President Tim Killeen reiterated the need for additional aid last week, noting that the pandemic may end up costing the University system half of a billion dollars altogether:

Killeen and other university presidents in Illinois sent a letter last week to federal legislators seeking more aid as a new COVID-19 relief package is being debated...

In the first relief bill passed in March, the UI got about $66 million, about half of which went to emergency financial aid for students.

In the second bill passed in December, the UI got about $95 million, with a third of that going to emergency financial aid, Killeen said.

Full article at the News-Gazette here. Presidents of other universities have also joined in calls asking for debt relief.

There were a couple updates on renewable energy on campus. The new solar farm on campus is up and running. From the News-Gazette last week:

The new 20,000-megawatt-hour solar farm at the northwest corner of First Street and Curtis Road went online last week...

In addition to the 7,000 megawatt hours generated by the first solar farm on Windsor Road, the new one will help the UI meet the 25,000-megawatt-hour goal set in its Climate Action Plan.

Solar Farm 2.0 features “bifacial” panels, which take in energy from both sides and rotate with the sun to maximize output.

Full article here. Tom's Mailbag also had some additional information on the embedded solar panels on the new Sidney Lu Mechanical Engineering Building on campus and answered other questions on the University's various renewable energy projects here.

There were some updates on future education opportunities to prisoners. From WCIA:

Federal financial aid to prisoners has been restored. The U.S. Department of Education now has until 2023 to reinstate Pell Grant access to people who are incarcerated.

The grants were previously banned in 1994. Pell grants are typically awarded to low-income undergraduate students.

“We would like to see a lot more universities and colleges across the state, both public and private involved in providing higher education in prison, and Pell Grants can make that much more feasible for those institutions,” UIUC Criminal Justice Rebecca Ginsburg said.

Full blurb here. Illinois Newsroom had more coverage on the issue nationwide here. The pandemic is still limiting UIUC's education outreach to incarcerated individuals. From the Education Justice Project main page: 

We have suspended programming at Danville Correctional Center, and all events and activities on campus and in the community. The suspensions are indefinite, but will almost certainly be in place throughout 2020. Please stay posted.

EJP students completed the Spring 2020 semester via correspondence. They received grades, course credit, and “good time” credit as normal. We plan to offer correspondence courses again in Spring 2021.

In a recent Cheat Sheet update on local libraries, we highlighted a couple events with UC Books to Prisoners as well.

WAND had coverage of a recent winter firefighting training event at the University's Illinois Fire Service Institute:

The 26th Annual Winter Fire Training Event brought in first responders from around the Midwest to better their skills. Most of the participants are Volunteer Firefighters from smaller counties...

First responders take in classroom courses throughout the event and then apply that knowledge into their hands-on training. Classes such as saving a family from a burning home or forcing their way inside a locked door. "They can utilize their skills and hone their skills in that environment the same environment that they'll respond to, in their community,” [Director, Tom Shubert] says...

Each year, IFSI trains over 60 thousand first responders. In 2020, the number dropped to 52 thousand because of COVID-19. But IFSI is hoping the numbers increase in 2021. 

Full article here.

There was also some new doppler weather equipment for . From WCIA:

Some students at the U of I will now have the opportunity for hands-on field training. The Department of Atmospheric Sciences is getting a multi-million dollar mobile radar.

The Doppler on Wheels will allow students to collect data on rain and wind systems. The doppler is basically a radar on a truck. This then allows students to research tornadoes, hurricanes, and winter weather.

The contract also comes with three other vehicles, which includes three weather balloon launch systems and several other features.

Full article from WCIA here. Additional coverage from the News-Gazette yesterday here.

The University's plan to handle Native American imagery released last December was discussed in the local Smile Politely editorial section:

Nevertheless, it’s important that the U of I has a blueprint, even a flawed one, to move toward that more inclusive future. Though some of the components of this report genuinely induce eye-rolls, there are plenty of promising proposed changes. You can find a link to the entire report here. There are many points of discussion in the document, but we’ve narrowed down three main ideas worth highlighting below.

More at the editorial here. Full University Native American imagery implementation plan here.