June County Board Meeting and the Internet

I attended the June 13 County Board meeting. This was one of the quickest meetings I attended, barely lasting 1/2 hour. I've been to most of the Board meetings since last September. This was the second meeting I attended where my opponent was absent. The Board Chairman said the absences were excused each time so I presume there was a compelling reason for both.

For the last two months the board voted on county appointments without announcing to attendees the names of those being appointed and to what committees. I'm sure that information is attainable by asking a Board member, inquiring at the County Board offices, or waiting for release of the official meeting minutes, but I don't know why the board should force people to jump through an extra hoop to get basic information. Additionally, at all meetings, the public are given meeting agendas, but not copies of motions being considered.

I would like to see the county use the internet to make this kind of information more easily available to the jasminlive pubic. Motions, budgets, appointments and other agenda items should be posted on the Sangamon county website before each meeting so that it can be viewed by the public. That will make it easier for citizens to find out what their county government is considering in advance and make their opinions known before decisions are made.

I've heard people respond to this and similar proposals by saying that no one really cares about county government, so why bother? It’s true that most people don't pay close attention to county government but that shouldn't be an excuse for being more withdrawn from public oversight. When lack of interest is used as a reason for not reaching out to the public, it eventually becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Most local governments won’t receive public feedback if they don’t seek it out.

Rather than using apathy as an excuse, it should be a motivator for public officials to make people aware of how county government is effecting their lives. Many local governments have been using the internet to make their actions more accessible to the public for years. It's time for Sangamon County to catch-up.

Letter regarding county appointments

On April 19, the State Journal-Register published the following letter to the editor which I wrote:

Dear Editor,

In the January meeting of the Sangamon County Board, I appreciated hearing county board member Tim Moore speak out against politically motivated appointments to county committees.

Moore objected to the appointment of Sangamon County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Timoney to the Springfield Metro Sanitary District because he felt politicians should be kept off such committees. I agree that county committees should be filled by those with expertise in the subject area instead of those who are merely being rewarded for service to either political party.

During the April county board meeting, Sangamon County Republican Party Chairman Tony Libri was nominated to the same Springfield Metro Sanitary District to which Tim Timoney was previously appointed. Tim Moore seems to have forgotten his objections to politicians serving on that committee because he voted in favor of the appointment without comment.

After searching the minutes of other county board meetings I have yet to find one example of Moore voting against the appointment of any Republican elected official to a county committee.

True reformers speak out against politically motivated appointments made by both parties, not just the opposing one.

Confusing the Voters

One of the issues I raised during this campaign is public participation in county government. I cited the selection of the new voting system as an example where the jasminelive public should have been invited to participate to a greater extent earlier in the process.

Several months ago I filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the County Clerk to get information about the committee that selected the new voting machines. I wasn't given any public meeting notices or official minutes, as I requested, but I did get a series of meeting "notes" that were informative. I scanned one page of those meeting notes for this blog because it best illustrates my criticisms. You can click on the image below for a larger image of a page I received from the County Clerk's office.

In the January 28, 2005 meeting of the election machine committee there was discussion of a good proposal to allow voters to review competing voting machines and give their feedback. That would have been a good way to invite public opinion, but the committee decided that would be too "confusing" for voters. They further decided not to hold any public demonstrations until the final decision had been made as to which voting system they would select for the voters without their input.

The voting machine committee had competent people, some of whom I know and respect, but this is a course of action that I would have never consented to had I been a member. Because this is a decision that effects all voters in the county, I would have made every effort to encourage more voter participation in reviewing different voting systems.

It was the responsibility of the Election Oversight Committee, chaired by my opponent, and the County Clerk, to ensure the average voter was fully informed and involved in this process. The fact that the election machine committee included a few Democrats did not make it an inclusive process since the average voter wasn't asked for their opinion. After doing a search in the State Journal-Register archives, the first story I could find about this committee was in August of 2005, when their work was nearly completed.

One of my strongest political values is the idea that the public should have as much direct control over the actions of government as possible. This is one example of what I mean when I say that I want to change the way county government operates.

District 22 Boundaries

People often ask me to describe the district, which isn't easy because of its odd shape. The picture of the district I posted here can be enlarged by clicking on it.

The district includes Capital precincts 43, 46, 50, 52, 56, 58, 65, 94, and 96. I live on Pasfield Street in precinct 96. Two easy ways to find out if you live in the district are to check your voter registration card, or enter your address at this page on the https://www.chaturbaterooms.com website.

South Grand runs right through the middle of the district. The eastern border is 9th Street. It goes as far South as Outer Park Drive and North to Edwards. Most of the Western border is MacArthur Blvd but it also jets over to Orendorf Parkway, on the edge of Washington Park. If you live in the district you'll probably find me knocking on your door during the next few months!

I'm also frequently asked about the political leanings of the district. The area is almost evenly divided between the two parties. John Kerry won this district in 2004, but by less than 100 votes. Voters here frequently split their votes between Democrats and Republicans, voting for the person rather than by straight party line.

The Republican Chorus

The Sangamon County Board Republicans sent out another mass mailing. While it’s written in the first person, as though it’s a personal letter from each candidate, I was not surprised to find that once again, the same exact mailing with the same wording was sent under the name of all Republican candidates. The only variations appear to be each candidates name and a short "P.S" at the end.

A recent column in the SJ-R pointed out that their previous cookie-cutter flier gave credit for accomplishments of the current County Board to a candidate who has never served on the Board. This new mailing has the opposite problem of having language that makes sense for a first-time candidate, but sounds odd for an incumbent.

For example, the first paragraph in this mailing, which carries my opponent's name and signature states: "Over the past few months, since I've been running for this position, I've been researching the issues that the board has been dealing with."

Really? Just for the past few months? If someone who has been on the County Board since 1999 just started researching the issues a few months ago, then we have a real problem. Somehow, I doubt that is the case. I give him more credit than that.

The same paragraph says, "At least if the length of this report is any proof, you can be sure that I would really like to represent the neighborhood." That's an odd statement since no one knows who actually wrote this lengthy report that is being sent out under the name of all the Republican candidates. How does anyone know that their particular Republican candidate had anything to do with it at all? It seems disingenuous for individual candidates to imply taking credit for a mass mailing that is identical for all of them.

The County Board Republicans have become the Greek Chorus of local politics. They speak in unison with one voice. I’m waiting for someone to post a response to this post calling it “silly” since that is the word of choice they repeat endlessly against any Democratic criticism of county government. If the County Board Republicans are all going to repeat the same lines then I don't know why we need 25 of them.