Second Amendment -- Why Not?

Although it was reported out of committee, the Illinois Second Amendment Resolution failed to gain the support of the Champaign County Board. I support the Second Amendment rights of all citizens of Illinois. Our Constitution seems clear about this and the Supreme Court now has spoken on the error of general bans on guns in local jurisdictions. While this can be a controversial subject, I feel that government intrudes too readily on the rights of citizens on this and a number of other issues. Government should stick to addressing problems that are solvable. Pursuit of issues that only undermine the freedom and liberty of Americans are unwise and do little to reduce violence when they concentrate on restricting the rights of citizens.

Energy use and investments in smarter energy use

In contrast to the concerns expressed about the nursing home's borrowing from the general fund, there has been little to nothing said about surpluses and skewed priorities at other facilities who enjoy regular surpluses in their county budgets. The county assesses a sales tax to meet its criminal justice needs. Yet, utility bills have been paid out of the county's general funds. Given that it enjoys adequate funding as well as a surplus, I don't understand why utility payments aren't funded by surpluses in funds dedicated for this purpose. A recent budget proposal for the county's 2009 fiscal year suggested shifting $400,000 to pay for utility costs out of the $4 million surplus currently in the criminal justice fund. I support such a move and would insist that future costs be similarly funded, rather than being subsidized from the general fund.

Furthermore, the county should do an energy audit of all its property, then develop a plan for the investment needed to limit future energy use to no more than 80% of 2008 usage by 2012, a modest 5% reduction in energy use in each of the next four years. This includes both buildings and vehicles. Such a policy will have both financial and environmental benefits.

Speaking of Justice

The county enjoys a beautiful new courthouse and is working on finalizing the refurbishment of the old courthouse it is connected to. Part of this work is restoration of the old clock tower to its original height. As a historian, I appreciate a beautifully restored classic building.

But at the same time, Champaign County's drug court remains less than fully funded and unable to admit all who qualify for it. While I have great concerns about treating what is largely a health issue as a criminal justice one, those who are addicted to drugs are far more likely to make positive contributions and require fewer future public investments if all those who qualify for the drug court have it as an option.

I oppose building a new jail, as it will only be filled to capacity by a legal system that for too long has been more interested in body counts and not nearly enough interested in documented results that improve the quality of life for everyone in the county.

Furthermore, I support fully funding the public defender's office. Adjusting case loads so that both the State's Attorney and public defenders have roughly the same resources available makes constitutional sense and gives a priority to use of the least damaging options in dealing with those who are involved with the criminal justice system. When using a hammer, everything looks like a nail to many bureaucrats, especially so to those who've set policy in Champaign County's justice system for many decades. We should concentrate on dealing with those who hurt others, leaving other problems to those best equipped to deal with them, whether it is family problems, drug addiction or lack of opportunity. We can't afford to rely on incarceration any longer. Instead, we need smarter policies, instead of courting insanity by repeating the same dead-end behavior over and over, while expecting different results.

There is a considerable literature of how our current system fails both society and those imprisoned by it. The Sentencing Project report on Incarceration and Crime and JFA Institute's Unlocking America both demonstrate that the current urge to treat every social ill as a criminal justice issue is shortsighted, deceptive about the limited gains it creates, and is economically unsustainable.

While the county board has only budgetary authority over the criminal justice system, I believe it is important that the board begin exercising a more critical oversight of it that demands results, rather than re-election soundbites from politicians.

Open meetings and transparency

There is a need for a presumption that favors openness when doing the public's business. There should be no exceptions to this, except for statutory exceptions that involve privacy and other issues where there is clear-cut legal basis for keeping information confidential. There are no "secrets of state" discernible in Champaign County. Any claims to that effect should send up red flags about what might be revealed by information that is withheld and those who seek to restrict public access to it. The vast majority of the county's business should be conducted in public, with the process easily discernible by visiting the county on the web to find out what is going on.

School construction sale tax

The sales tax referendum, a proposal on the ballot in November, is dedicated to school construction. I have misgivings about it due to the fact it is regressive and places the heaviest tax burden on those at the bottom end of the income scale. The facts are that this is the only available method currently of additional school funding and sadly was the thing that the state legislature could agree on to address the problems with our educational systems needs for investment in better infrastructure. All of this is in spite of the fact that the Illinois constitutional requirement is that the state should provide adequate educational funding. Thus, it represents the latest, irresponsible legislative evasion of the constitutional requirement to fund education in Illinois, as well as creating a fable about how NOT to adequately fund essential public services.

Yet the needs of our schools are so critical that there is little choice, particularly with regard to improvements needed to conserve energy and build sustainably. Unless action on these points is taken soon, the educational budget crisis will balloon larger. Some have expressed concerns, with their argument being it has no sunset provision, but the constitutional requirement to fund education doesn't have one either.

Ultimately, we need a new approach to educational funding at the state level, even if everyone in Springfield needs to be replaced to get it. With some regrets and in full knowledge of the needs to support education adequately, I reluctantly support the sales tax for school facilities as the best option available at this point.

County Board Size

A recent proposal is to reduce the size of the county from 27 to 18 members. Thus each district will have only 2 representatives, rather than 3. It is a solution in search of a problem. Past county boards had 50+ members, thus I believe that the current 27-member board is not a problem, other than the fact that the two parties currently represented spend too much time trying to play gotcha politics with each other, while neglecting important issues like the nursing home.

The current 27-member board is a reasonable compromise. Suggestions to reduce the size of the board are a solution in search of a problem. A smaller board will result in representative government more accountable to partisan leadership and campaign funding than to voters. It will bring the worst parts of the mess in Springfield into our county government. Remember that it was the shrinking of the legislature that was in large part the catalyst for the failure of the state government to fulfill its responsibilities in recent years. Finally, but just as important, a smaller board will have less diversity, something which our county government badly needs more of, not less.