Tonight’s County Board Meeting was straight forward. Items 1, 9, 10 and 18 were pulled from the consent agenda, but all passed with no objections and very little conversation. Item 1 was pulled to correct it by adding an amendment for clarification. Items 9 and 10 were pulled for public attention of the actions the County Board is taking to work on next year’s budget. Item 18 was pulled as since it was newly out of committee.

The real action took place before the meeting. I stated to Chairmen Zimmerman that I wanted to make a statement concerning the up-coming Vehicle Policy discussion and also concerning some of the questions that Member Vanderheydt asked the Sheriff three months ago. The Sheriff has yet to answer the questions, one of which involved the usage of the County Motorcycles.

Member Jerry Vanderheydt had asked these questions, which I have posted on my website, and I then asked the Sheriff to answer the questions in a timely manner three months ago. He stated he would look them over and get back to the board. Last month he decided not to answer the questions, so I again made a statement that I would like those questions answered. This month, on Monday, I placed a call to the Sheriff asking him once again to come before the board and answer the questions concerning the use of the Motorcycles in Peoria. The Sheriff was not in the office and I left the message on his answering machine and requested a return call to discuss. I never got a return call and again he choose not to respond to the County Board and thus the public in general.

I had already decided that if the Sheriff was not going to answer the question, then I was. I have been looking into this issue since the question was asked and what I have found is disturbing. Both of the Tazewell County Motorcycles participated in the Ride for the Cure, the motorcycle portion of the Race for the Cure. Both officers where paid to attend and also collected overtime for this event. Two Tazewell County Motorcycles, two officers being paid overtime attending an event that does not even take place in Tazewell County. A call to the Peoria County Sheriff’s office found that they had no vehicles at this event that takes place inside their county.

Add to this the fact that it was just last year I investigated and found that the motorcycles had participated in the St. Jude Motorcycle Ride to Memphis. In this case it was one officer taking the county vehicle to Memphis and while this time he was not paid, the County did pay for the maintenance and for the risk involved with this trip. After this incident, the County Board discussed the facts and while not taking official action, many members stated that this was not the right use of County Vehicles.

The Sheriff was in attendance at tonight’s meeting, along with the officer that was involved in this event, and yet he choose not to discuss with the Board his reasoning.

Right before the meeting started, Chairman Zimmerman called me forward and told me that he had changed his mind and did not want to have this discuss this month. He expressed that he wanted it to go to the HR Committee this coming month. When I questioned him about refusing County Board Members the right to discuss county business at the County Board Meeting, he stated that he was not changing his mind. I expressed that this was a violation of the County Board Rules and also the Open Meeting Act. It is sad that this has to go this far, but I will be placing a call to the State Attorney General’s Office to get a formal ruling. I am confident that it will rule that this was illegal. A main issue I have with this is that Chairman Zimmerman campaigned for more public openness and yet for three months he has assisted the Sheriff in his attempt to bury this information from the public.

As far as where is this going, the Vehicle Policy is coming forward this month at the HR Committee and the Chairman of that Committee, Member Linc Hobson, has already told me that he will let me address the committee on this subject. He also indicated that he will allow the Sheriff to speak on this subject as well, which is what I had been requesting for the past three months.

Tonight’s Tazewell County Board Meeting was mainly straight forward with a little item of interest at the end. As far as the agenda, after three In-Place Committee meetings the Consent was approved minus items 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. Of these, items 10, 11, 12 and 15 passed with full approval.

Item 13 was discussed at this month’s Tazewell County Property Committee Meeting. Member’s Brett Grimm, Joe Berardi, Jerry Vanderheydt and I objected to the winning bidder because of the large differences in bids and lack of information concerning the bids. Before the meeting, Member Grimm let me know that he had investigated the bids and after getting the additional information he requested he would be supporting the bid. With this information, I was comfortable voting in favor of this. Member Vanderheydt also mentioned that he appreciated the additional information, but that he still did not support it. When it came up for a vote, all members voted in support except Board Members Jerry Vanderheydt and Joe Berardi.

Item 14 was pulled by me. In the previous few months, several questions had come forward concerning the status of the selling of the Mackinaw Property that Tazewell County owns. I wanted to make sure that everyone had an opportunity to see what the process was and what was going on as we move forward. Member Russ Crawford took the opportunity to make the statement that he was concerned with the County not being able to get the most out of this property because of the current state of the economy. While I understand his thoughts, and agree with his goal to get the most we can for the taxpayers of Tazewell County, the process calls for a required minimum bid of $300,000. With this, we are guaranteed to be able to get a good value for the property. In the end, all Board Members except Member Crawford voted in support.

The Board heard a presentation from Vickie Clark of the Economic Development Council (EDC) for Central Illinois concerning the final draft of the Economic Overview/Business Outreach Services Report that the EDC has made for Tazewell County.

We also heard from Dawn Cook, the Director of the Tazewell County Emergency Management Agency, concerning the great work that has been and will continue to do for the Citizens of Tazewell County.

Finally, Board Chairmen David Zimmerman explained a new understanding of the Board Rules concerning Section H of the County Board Agenda. Section H is for Communications from Elected and Appointed County Officials. Chairmen Zimmerman wanted to change the rules so that County Board Members that wish to ask other County Elected or Appointed Officials questions must submit them to the individual 10 days in advance of the County Board Meeting and then the Official being ask the question will decide weather of not they wish to attend and answer the questions.

I made a statement that I supported changing the rules, but that I wanted to make sure that other Elected or Appointed Officials realize that when a County Board Member ask them a question, he or she is not simply a Board Member asking a question; he or she is the Elected Representative of the Citizens of Tazewell County asking them. As such, if they choose not to answer the question, they are basically disrespecting the Citizens of Tazewell County.

With that, I made the statement that I felt it was important that Member Jerry Vanderheydt’s questions from the last Board Meeting be answered soon. I have listed the questions concerning the activities of the Sheriff’s Office below. Any County Board Member that request information from an elected County or Appointed County Office holder should have those questions answered, regardless of position, political party, ect. Too many County Board Members have asked questions that have not been answered lately. While I am not one of them waited to have my questions answered, someday I may have questions in need of attention. The County Board is the people’s voice in County Government and other Elected or Appointed Officials need to show respect to the voters of Tazewell County and be more transparent with the actions of their office.

Member Russ Crawford also pointed out to Chairmen Zimmerman that in order to change the rules of the County Board, it must go forward for a vote of the full County Board, not just one committee, and must receive the support of 2/3’s of the Board Members. I support this change as I feel it puts the pressure on the elected or appointed officials to answer the questions of County Board Members. With this we will have a formal process and those that choose not to participate in this process would do so against not just the one County Board Member, but against the County Board as a whole. This process should also remove all reasons for not answering questions, as the Official being questioned will have plenty of time to come up with the answers. Also, while this new rule would affect question from Board Member’s, if their questions are not answered the County Board Member can bring these questions before the Board as a statement rather than a question, thus letting all of us know who and what is not being answered and allowing us to ask why.

Great Board Meeting, but then again I am in such a great mood with the birth of my son that it would be hard to bring me down from this high! As far as the Consent Agenda, items 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15 & 16 where pulled. Items 6, 7 & 15 where pulled because they where new additions to the agenda and it is procedure to do so. They all passed with no objections. Item 4 was pulled from the agenda.

Item 1 was pulled by Member Sinn who had some concerns with the additional traffic on Springfield Blacktop. I agree with him that the message needed to be made that we wanted limited access only to Springfield Blacktop, but I feel that message was sent without a no vote. After a first vote against the rezoning and then some more clarification of the issues, Member Hillegonds made a motion to re-consider the vote which was seconded by Member Sundell. On the vote to reconsider, all voted yes. I suggested this use of Parliamentary Procedure. Back to the original rezoning vote, this time all voted yes with the exception of Members Sinn, Donahue, Harris and Carius.

I pulled item 8, which was the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Correction Officers from last month. Before it went up for a vote again, Chairmen Zimmerman once again asked that all members vote for this agreement. I stated that I would not be voting in support of the agreement because I felt that while the County Administration did make a mistake in not presenting the County Board with all of the options in a more timely manner and thus not the officers fault that we did not act, I would not have voted for this agreement at any time. I still think the pay agreements are way too high (9%+ when you add in the automatic step increase) and also other minor issues like the fact that officers can now live outside the county limits. Again, County Administration, headed by Chairmen Zimmerman, was at fault here I would have voted against and did vote against this agreement no matter when it was brought forward. All other Board Member voted in favor of this agreement with mine being the only no vote.

I also pulled item 14, which was the Information Technology Policy. I stated that while I supported the creation of this policy and think it is long overdue, I disagreed with the part of the policy that allowed for Personal Use of the County Equipment. I feel that there is never an allowed use of County Property at the cost of the taxpayers. I also stated that the other many County Board Policies I had seen in surrounding counties and also the policies I had seen in many of the local private businesses did not allow for any Personal Use of Business Equipment. While others stated that they agreed, they all though a policy was better than no policy. When it came time for the vote, I was once again the only no vote.

Item 16 was pulled by Member Sundell so she could abstain from the vote. Passed with all other Members voting to support.

In other business, Member Vanderheydt asked the Sheriff to come forward and answer some questions. The only question he was able to ask before being cut off by Chairmen Zimmerman concerned use of County Vehicle outside the County in the past few months. The Sheriff said he did not know the answer to the question at that time. Chairmen Zimmerman asked that Member Vanderheydt present his questions to the Sheriff in writing and that the Sheriff respond to them. Member Stanford asked that the Sheriff answer these questions in a timely manner. I do not know what the other questions where, but I will keep you up to date.

I do know of one resent time that the Sheriff authorized the Tazewell County Motorcycles to recently participate in the Race For A Cure Parade. I asked the Sheriff to report back to us on this but I have already been gathering information which includes the fact that the individuals who participated where on County Time. The taxpayers of Tazewell County paid for two individuals to participate in a parade that never entered Tazewell County. I am still looking to confirm, but I have heard that not only did they get paid, they got paid overtime. This is a serious misuse of County Vehicles and is exactly why I am pushing for a County Policy on this subject.

Very good and very important County Board Meeting tonight. On the Consent Agenda, Items 8, 9, 18, 19 and 20 where pulled. I pulled 8 and 9 to bring more public attention to the status of the Copper Road Project. This is a Tazewell County/Deer Creek Township Road Upgrade project that is being paid for with a $300,000 grant from Senator Dan Rutherford’s Office. The Tazewell County Transportation Committee, which I am a member of, worked with Deer Creek Township to get this funding and tonight’s action was to approve the bids to get work started.

Items 18, 19 and 20 where pulled for procedural purposes and 18 and 20 passed with no objections. Item 19 was a very important accomplishment for Tim Neuhauser and the rest of the Finance Committee. They looked into what would be the savings if the County pursued re-financing the remaining balance left on the payments of the Justice Center, with the thought that since the marked has changed they may be able to get a lower interest rate. The results they found were a savings of over $100,000 in interest charges. The County Board voted to approve this action with on Present vote by member Carroll Imig. Anytime a committee finds a way to save the County Taxpayers over $100,000 is very good news and should go a long way towards showing the County Boards efforts.

In other action, Member Mike Harris updated the Board on a tour given to staff members of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Environmental Protection Agency of the Pekin Landfill. This is continuing work towards capping that abandoned landfill and ridding the County of a serious Health Hazard.

I went next and took the time to recognize the efforts of some fellow County Board Members towards resolving the Tremont Facility Storm Shelter Issue I raised last year. Here is what I said: "Mr. Chairman, I want to take this moment to point out the outstanding performance by some of my fellow board members.

Last year I brought up the lack of Storm Shelters at our Tremont Facility and the need for us to provide our employees with safe working conditions by installing proper storm shelters. My hope was we would start looking into the issue and develop a plan and maybe within five years start installing the shelters that are needed.

Shortly after bring this issue up, Property Chairmen Carroll Imig and Board Members Tim Neuhauser, Jerry Vanderheydt and Dean Grimm formed a sub-committee to look into the issue and I am happy to see that less than a year later they have already increased our shelters capacity to now cover over 65-75% of our employees, depending on the time of day and they are actively working on plans for the placement of the remaining shelters needed.

This is exceptionally outstanding work in such a short amount of time and I want to thank and congratulate these County Board Members and the Department Heads and staff members working with them for this work to improve our facilities for our employees. This is simply service far beyond the normal expectations."

Member Paul Hahn raised the issue of the waste of all of the paper packets that are currently being sent and given to County Board Members and asked that staff look into ways to cut the amount as to save not only material cost but also staff time. Member Mel Stanford went last and asked that the County Sheriff attend the next County Board Meeting and gives the full County Board the update he gave the Human Resources Committee concerning the status of current litigation.

Tonight’s Tazewell County Board Meeting was very long but very, very important. Two big items took up the majority of the time. During the Public Discussion portion of the Board Meeting, Rev. Mark DuBois of the Judah International Ministries in Mackinaw made a presentation to the full County Board concerning the church purchasing the 50 acres the county currently owns in Mackinaw and is in the process of selling. This issue was discussed at a recent Tazewell County Property Committee meeting, which I am a member of. While I cannot discuss the conversation at that meeting, as it was in Executive Session, I can tell you my views of this issue which I have expressed to Rev. DuBois.

While the church is interested in purchasing the property and I would like to see them purchase it, I am against the County Board negotiating directly with them on this purchase because it would be outside our past practice of selling county property. Currently, we auction county property off to the highest bidder, so that everyone who is interested in said property can have a chance to purchase it. If we make an exception this time and sell it to a private individual, in this case the church, we are excluding all others that may be interested and have just as much right as the church to purchase it. It is not right to favor one individual over others when dealing with the people’s property, no matter how good the cause or individual is. The church does have the right and ability to bid for this property just like everyone else does.

The second issue came during the In-Place Human Resources Committee meeting, a committee which I am not a member of. The committee was to review and recommend action on the recently arbitrated ruling on the three-year Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Correction Officer’s Union. The agreement called for a massive hike in pay, more carry-over on Compensatory Time, changes made to allow for housing outside of the county, and any more costly increases for the Correction Officers at a time when no other County Employee is receiving these increases. The pay increase was the most discussed. I voiced my view that I would be voting against this agreement if it made it out of committee and came before the full County Board.

I also stated that it was within the power of the County Board to decide whether or not to outsource or privatize the staffing of the Tazewell County Jail. When answering a question from Member Mike Harris about this possibility of privatizing the Jail Staff, County Administrator David Jones said that the decision would have to have to Sheriff’s support. He was incorrect. Financial decisions are the responsibility of the County Board, not any other elected official. The Sheriff makes the decision of who he hires and what he pays individuals, but the County Board has the ability to remove the cost of the staffing of the Tazewell County Jail and making a new line item in the Sheriff’s Budget for Contractual Services. If this action takes place, the Sheriff would only be able to use these funds for Contractual Employees.

Another conversation point was the fact that the Arbitrator's decision was final since the 20 day period for appealing this decision had passed. The full Tazewell County Board was never made aware of this time table and many County Board Members made statements that a Special County Board Meeting should have been called. Regardless, the commit was also made that a vote against this agreement would be pointless at this time. I objected to this and stated that my voting power was given to me by the citizens of Tazewell County and no-one but they could control that vote. No outside Arbitrator’s decision controlled my vote.

In the end, the Tazewell County Human Resources Committee voted 8-3 against this agreement. Committee Members James Carius, Russ Crawford, Jan Donahue, Dean Grimm, Michael Harris, Carroll Imig, Tim Newhauser and Committee Chairmen Lincoln Hobson voted against this agreement, which I would have also voted against had this agreement made it to the full County Board. Since it failed to make it out of the committee meeting, the issue was removed from the County Board Agenda. As a point of reference, County Board Chairman David Zimmerman made several comments before and after the vote in support of the committee passing this agreement, which the committee did not do in the end.

On the Consent Agenda, items 19, 22 & 23 where pulled with all others passing without dissension. Item 23 was pulled, as you read above, because it did not make it out of committee. Item 19 was pulled by Member Mike Harris who had questions concerning the cost to the county, which is that this has no cost implication to the county. Item 22 was pulled by Member Mel Stanford so he can review some other changes that need to be made.

Very quick meeting tonight. After a presentation from Ann Fox and a Board Member of the local American Red Cross, the County Board passed a Proclamation recognizing their efforts. As far as the Consent Agenda, items 1, 2, 8, 13 and 20 where pulled.

All but item 1 passed with no issues and with full board support. Item 1 also passed with full board support, but has some continuing action and more decisions that need to be made. The item involved the County Property, 50 acres, in Mackinaw. Late last year the Property Committee and County Board took the steps to sell this property. In the coarse of this process, the land needed to be rezoned Residential, which is what we voted to do tonight.

As this rezoning proceeded, it came to several Board Members attention, including mine, that the Church adjacent to this property is interested in purchasing some or all of the 50 acres. Tonight's action had nothing to do with who would buy the property, but was a step at being in a position to sell the property.

After several exploratory questions from Member Harris, I made mention that I had talked before the meeting with Property Chairman Carroll Imig and that this issue will come before the Property Committee next month, which is the proper committee to review these options. At this committee level, we will be able to take a closer look at what would be the best options for the county and what we may be able to do to assist the Church. Look for more information concerning this in the coming months.

The only other action was a formal request by Member Mel Stanford that the Sheriff attend the next County Board meeting and discuss with the board questions that have arisen concerning the County Jail. Member Stanford and I made a similar request last month.

Meeting was very short and to the point tonight. The meeting started with an update from Christal Dagit from the Tazewell County Historic Places Society. She discussed the great work they have done and the fantastic future possibilities. A few months ago I wrote about the tour my wife Maria and I received of their facilities and my strong support of the organization. I encouraged her to come to the Finance Committee and make a request for financial support.

As far as the Consent Agenda, only items 4, 5, 13 and 14 where pulled. Item 4 was also pulled because of not enough information available. Item 4 concerned the request by the Village of Morton for the Tazewell County Board to endorse their PPUATS funding request involving the upgrades to the intersections of Detroit and US 150 and Detroit and Muller Road / Jefferson. Over the past decade, the County has done this with the City of Washington and City of East Peoria on the Summit Road Extension and Centennial Road Upgrades and with the City of Pekin on the Broadway Upgrades. This is a great way for the County Board to assist the municipalities.

Item 5 was an Traffic Sign Upgrade Program involving the townships and municipalities. The County Board will be receiving financing from the state to upgrade all of the traffic signs in the county with more reflective material that will make them easier to see at night. The townships and the municipalities will upgrade the signs they have and turn the bills into the county, who will be the "bank" for the state grant money.

Items 13 and 14 where pulled for procedural purposes. All items passed with no objectors.