Akorn is ending all U.S. operations, including two Decatur Facilities. Four candidates withdraw from Macon County Races. Early voting begins. City Council opposes new TIF District legislation. Masks are now optional at the Health Department. Lake Decatur gets updated rules, fees, and permits. Tax incentives are granted through enterprise zones. The new STEM academy will cost $36 million.
There is additional news regarding schools and a couple other items, including noteable crime cases.
Elections
Early voting started on Thursday, Feb 23rd, and 45 ballots were cast that day in Macon County.
Mail in Ballots were sent from the County Clerk's office yesterday. If you applied for mail-in-voting, you should receive your ballot on Saturday or Monday, says County Clerk Josh Tanner.
Candidates
Jalynn Walker withdrew her candidacy for Decatur School Board due to "unforseen circumstances". She needs to focus on her kids, her job as a funeral home director, and her volunteer position as Director of Youth With A Postive Direction, a violence prevention & intervention program.
Jalynn endorses Will Wetzel and Jacob Jenkins for School Board.
Datrice Weathers withdrew her candidacy for Decatur School Board. She endorses Will Wetzel for School Board. She withdrew because she has learned that she can do more with her "feet on the ground" in the schools, as a teacher.
Gina Taylor withdrew her candidacy for Maroa-Forsyth School Board, according to Macon County Clerk Josh Tanner.
John Leech Jr withdrew from the race for Ward 2 Alderman in Maroa, according to Macon County Clerk Josh Tanner.
Datrice, Jalynn, and Gina withdrew after ballot certifications, so their names will appear on the ballots, though votes for them will not be counted in official results.
Additional endorsements should be covered in next week's recap.
Statements of Economic Interest have been uploaded for all school board candidates. Others will be added next week.
Akorn Facility Closes
Akorn Facilities is ending all U.S. operations and closing two Decatur facilities, as part of a bankruptcy filing, laying off 400+ employees without severance pay or health insurance coverage. Akorn has up to $1 billion in assets and $500 million in debts. Some workers are suing, saying Akorn violated the Federal WARN Act by not giving enough notice.
A timeline of Akorn details some past issues with Akorn, including a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a $74 million class action lawsuit settlement, and more. Workforce Investment Solutions hosted a layoff assistance workshop, Millikin invited ex Akorn Employees to their job fair, and companies jumped on the opportunity to find new employees.
Local Government
Masks are now optional for patients and employees at the Macon County Health Department "in all settings, aside from those where masking is required for state grant funding", after a Board of Health vote on Tuesday. Some state grant masking requirements may end in May when Illinois's official public health emergency ends. See some COVID data charts.
Lake Decatur regulations were updated, slightly increasing some fees, adding new permits, changing the boat no wake speed limit from "10 p.m. to sunrise" to "one hour after sunset to sunrise," and some technical changes. The changes are well-detailed by Herald & Review.
Enterprize Zones exempt businesses from "paying state sales tax on construction costs and the state utility tax for electricity and natural gas." These exemptions were granted by Decatur City Council, for development of multi-enterprise commercial storefront in Mt. Zion and property around former Garfield and Durfee schools. The changes require "the support of all five governing bodies [it encompasses] - Decatur, Forsyth, Long Creek, Mount Zion and Macon County."
The zone around Durfee & Garfield would benefit a $19.6 million dollar project to build 63 apartments for affordable senior living, if tax credits are approved by the Illinois Housing Development Authority. The City agreed to contribute $675,000 to the development. There is potential for further development of apartments and retail in that area.
Schools
Students learn about plant-based meats from Jinsha Li, an ADM representative.
Meridan High School Students learn not to get out of the car if a wreck involves a downed power line, due to risk of electrocution. Donnette Beckett writes "If they are unable to stay inside the car, the students are taught the proper way to exit a vehicle, which is to jump clear, landing on both feet. Don’t touch the car and the ground at the same time. Then scoot with both feet or bunny-hop away from the vehicle, so there will not be a voltage between the two feet giving electricity the chance to flow through the body."
Internships for Decatur Students - There are 34 students and 26 businesses participating in a program that has High School Seniors intern 3 afternoons a week "in a business setting closely aligned to their career goals." In some cases, students will do necessary work for the business, and other times they will primarily observe.
Millikin receiving $124,285 grant "to expand a program for low-income and other underrepresented students," as part of the state's Emergency Education Relief Fund II program. Millikin will use the funds for their EDGE program which "allows a select group of first-year students to move to campus early and build academic and emotional support before classes start," supporting "30 low-income, first-generation and underrepresented students," according to Taylor Vidmar.
American Dreamer STEM Academy will be 81,500 square feet and cost about $36 million. Additionally, the District's new website went live, 2023 & 2024 school calendars were presented (to be voted on at Feb 28th meeting), and several holidays (Indigenous Peoples Day, Veterans Day and Casmir Pulaski Day) will see school in session, with additional days added to breaks like Thanksgiving instead.
Crime
Brent Fischer's attorney "is arguing the alleged offense — granting a waiver to [Howard] Buffett to serve as a sworn officer although he was short of the training hours needed — has no connection with Macon County and neither does Fischer." Scott Reuter is arguing to keep the case in Macon County. Judge Jeffrey Geisler is presiding over the hearing on March 23rd, 2023 at 1:30pm.
Eldon Cusey, a former Wapella Township road commissioner "is charged with one count of theft, four counts of official misconduct and 17 counts of forgery" by the Illinois Attorney General's Office, which alleges Cusey "used a township credit card to buy personal items..."
Gregory Hostetler was found not guilty in a case regarding stolen catalytic converters. Tony Reid writes "The judge said, and Hostetler admitted, he had not followed all the legal rules for recording ownership information for customers who came to him selling the converters, which have a high scrap value," but that the judge said "prosecutors had not made the case that Hostetler was aware the property he was buying had been stolen."
City Council opposes new state legislation
New Illinois TIF District Legislation is opposed by Decatur City Council, in a 6-1 vote. The two proposed bills would allow "mega projects" (such as a newly proposed Bears stadium in Arlington heights) a 40 year TIF District designation, would shorten other TIF Districts from 23 years down to 20 years and allow school districts to opt out, among other changes. At least 103 Illinois cities have passed similar resolutions opposing this new legislation.
David Horn voted 'No' on the resolution because council has not made a habit of supporting or opposing state laws. Lisa Gregory voted 'Yes', but voiced concern about setting a precedent, and suggested "that we do be consistent with it," saying there is power in "grassroots advocacy." No comments from the School Board were noted in Herald & Review's coverage.
TIF Districts allow city governments to collect increases in property tax revenue that otherwise would have gone to other local taxing bodies, like School Districts. TIF Districts don't increase property taxes. Rather, when a TIF District is created, there is an assessment of how much property tax revenue each local taxing body is receiving. During the 23 year period following, those taxing bodies will continue to collect that amount of revenue. Any increases in property tax revenue, caused by real increases in property value, are collected by the city during that time.
Supporters of the new bills say current TIF law "funnels tax revenue to private developers at the expense of local schools while increasing the property tax burden on small businesses and homeowners," according to Herald & Review's Brendan Moore. Opponents of the new bill (City Council & City Staff) say TIF Districts have been crucial to local improvements like Downtown Decatur renovations, and that issues with TIF Districts should be addressed on a case-by-case basis.
Other
Decatur union leader honored by state treasurer in Black History Month event - "Decatur Trades and Labor Assembly President Lamarcus Williams was among those honored by Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs at a Black History Month event in Springfield on Wednesday afternoon." Williams was "elected by delegates of 33 local unions that represent more than 13,000 union members and retirees in Macon County" and "is currently president of United Steel Workers, Local 193G, which represents employees at Fuyao Glass in Macon County."
Awards for 'doing great things' in Decatur were handed out by the Greater Decatur Black Chamber of Commerce, recognizing William Oliver, the first black man on Decatur City Council, Noah Hayes who helped organized St. Teresa's first MLK Celebration, Vivian Goodman who is the executive director of Decatur Community Partnership, and several others.
Thank you!
Thank you for reading. This week was heavily focused on reporting from Herald & Review, and there was a fair bit of candidate news. To cover all the stories, I tried not to go more in-depth than what Herald & Review did, and I'm making a greater effort to identify potential bias.
As always, there are several stories that weren't a priority. Some are cut due to time constraints, and some are cut due to having little relevance to local public policy.
Thank you to my sponsors Drew Laney & Dough Schumann. You too can be a sponsor for $10 per month on Patreon @DecaturVote, or send one-time sponsorships at paypal.me/DecaturVote.
Notes & Disclaimers
Akorn - I wrote "companies jumped on the opportunity to find new employees", whereas the Herald & Review headline read "area companies welcome former Akorn employees." My summation gives the impression of opportunistic employers, whereas Herald & Review's headline gives the impression of folks trying to help out the community. I'm inclined to believe it is a bit of both, but I don't know the motivations. I merely skimmed that H&R article, but read some of the other Akorn coverage in full.
TIF Districts - I don't have a position on the new legislation. However, Herald & Review's article appears to show slight bias in favor of the councils position. They primarily cited opponents of the state's legislation, including city council, city staff, and the Illinois Municipal League, and went into some depth about the benefits of TIF. Their coverage of supporters of the state's new legislation was very limited, and no comments from School officials were cited. TIF districts reduce tax revenue that schools receive. I think TIF seems like a good thing. I'm just nowhere near informed enough to take a position on the specifics of how TIF districts should be implemented.
Other Stories of Interest
- Central Illinois grapples with prosecutor shortage - This was covered in the Feb 3rd recap, but H&R published a new article that adds some additional information. It is very similar to their Jan 28th article.
- Feb 17th Letters to the Editor