Decatur Vote Illinois
Feb 15, 2024: Decatur Vote is Temporarily Closed. See the announcement.

Articles

Typical reporting, capturing a story at a particular point in time.

I contacted Josh Tanner on April 5th, with some questions about the results. He replied at 4:44pm the same day. Also, see Election Results According to Josh Tanner, write-in votes (for Richland Trustees Marcy Rood and Tony Albertina) "must be hand counted and will not be available officially...   See Article

Original Report, 04-06-2023

City Council and School Board elections are over, but results could change because over 1500 mail-in-ballots were outstanding at noon on election day. Ballots must be postmarked by April 4th & received at the County Building by April 18th. Leading Candidates, as of April 5th These results may...   See Article

Summary, 04-05-2023

I've covered two elections for Decatur Vote. DV has had 59 new page likes on Facebook since January 3rd, bringing us to 111 followers. We have two monthly patrons at $10 per month, which is about $17.00 per month revenue after Patreon fees. We thoroughly covered the 2023 Decatur election, and did...   See Article

Blog, 04-04-2023

City Council, School Board, and the referendum to eliminate the County Auditor are all up for debate in the April 4th, 2023 election in Decatur, Illinois. Richland Trustees also have some competition now that there are two write-in candidates. There are also elections for Mayor, which has no comp...   See Article

Original Report, 03-30-2023

This is our previous platform summary for Will Wetzel, which was posted on his 2023 candidate page on February 14th, 2023. "I am running for School Board because I believe in accountability, transparency, and always putting students first," says Will Wetzel. He says every decision shoul...   See Article

Meta Report, 03-28-2023

This week we updated several candidate platforms, published endorsements from three organizations, made progress on our comprehensive Voter's Guide, and a few other minor things. This is the weekly update from Decatur Vote, which you'll get if you sign up for emails at the bottom of this page. We...   See Article

Meta Report, 03-24-2023

Some offices have a write-in candidate, which will require you to BOTH fill in the bubble AND write the candidate's name correctly. While you should write their name correctly, some errors may still be counted as you intended, depending on the discretion of the election judge. Note:: In the image...   See Article

Original Report, 03-24-2023

Central Illinois PAC's purpose is to "improve government and business in the State of IL by assisting candidates seeking nomination and election to state and local offices in IL and by supporting or opposing public policy issues." Carla Brinkoetter is the chair and John Skeffington is t...   See Article

Meta Report, 03-22-2023

Macon County Democrats have endorsed several candidates. Macon County Republicans are not endorsing any candidates for Decatur's 2023 election. Bruce Pillsbury, Macon County Republican Chair, says they are not endorsing candidates because municipal elections are traditionally non-partisan, there'...   See Article

Original Report, 03-22-2023

Decatur Labor & Trades Assembly AFL-CIO supports the following candidates for the 2023 Decatur Election: Julie Moore-Wolfe for Mayor. Wolfe is the only option for Mayor. City Council Endorsements (vote for UP TO 3) Karl Coleman for City Council Dennis Cooper for City Council Lisa Gregory for...   See Article

Original Report, 03-22-2023

I covered Mark Reynolds's statement in the CONO School Board Forum, and am sharing my opinion regarding his statement here. Alyssa Patrick asked how School Board members should handle issues surrounding LGBTQIA+ issues & black history. I typically don't insert my opinion into my journalism, a...   See Article

Opinion, 03-18-2023

Valdimir Talley is the safety & security administrator for DPS61, hired in 2023. He ran for Republican Sheriff in 2010. According to WAND: According to DPS, Talley has spent more than three decades in law enforcement, most recently as Chief of Police for the Maywood Police Department, from w...   See Article

Summary, 03-16-2023

Six School Board candidates attended the Coalition of Neighborhood Organization's (CONO) candidate forum and answered questions about student learning, school safety, teacher recruitment, lgbtq issues, and black history. Pictured above, from left-to-right, are: Bill Clevenger, Misty Fronk, Jacob ...   See Article

Original Report, 03-14-2023

Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe and County Board Chairman Kevin Greenfield organized a meeting in September 2019 to discuss Cannabis with mayors across the county and intentionally avoided being subject to the open meetings act: "So as to not violate the Open Meetings Act, please feel free to bring ...   See Article

Meta Report, 03-14-2023

Coalition of Neighborhood Organizations (CONO) hosted a Candidate forum for City Council and School Board candidates on March 8th, 2023. Each candidate was allowed an opening & closing statement, plus 2 minutes to answer each question. There was limited time for questions, so many of them wer...   See Article

Original Report, 03-10-2023

Hannah Wolfe says "I love this community" and that the "School Board is the cornerstone of everything good that happens in this community. We can't succeed without the school succeeding." She's focused on improving the school district's reputation to increase the tax base and ...   See Article

Summary, 03-09-2023

Pat McDaniel's says he's a good pick for City Council because he has previous experience on council, was born and raised in Decatur, is on a couple boards, and says he makes a point of "Knowing what's going on. I keep my ear to the ground." This is a recap of a March 3rd interview on WA...   See Article

Summary, 03-09-2023

In a video clip of the February 14th School Board meeting, DPS Superintendent Dr. Rochelle Clark said she had received a "very concerning" email from one of the staff. Read the full email (pdf download) Clark said the district needs help from parents and community members to address fig...   See Article

Original Report, 03-07-2023

"When I initially ran for the city council, I did not run on a platform that focused on a specific issue(s), but simply on the idea that I wanted to make decisions that would positively impact our community. The same holds true for my re-election efforts this year." Answers were provide...   See Article

Original Report, 03-07-2023

This week's recap just captures election-related news and highlights a couple noteable articles. Comprehensive weekly news recaps will return soon, but right now our priority is candidate and election information. We're working on a comprehensive Voter's Guide, which will be available mid-March. ...   See Article

Meta Report, 03-03-2023

Mark Reynolds is running for School Board because he thinks he can make a bigger impact as an elected official than as a substitue teacher in the schools, according to his WAND interview. He says he read a Wall Street Journal editorial "a couple months ago" that "really had [him] q...   See Article

Meta Report, 03-03-2023

Misty Fronk is running for Decatur School Board because she went to an event hosted by the Illinois Family Institute (IFI) and was told that Illinois schools had a graduation rate of 80% in 2019, but only 12% of students were proficient in reading & writing and 6% of students were proficient ...   See Article

Meta Report, 03-03-2023

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...   See Article

Meta Report, 02-24-2023

Jalynn Walker believes DPS 61 "needs accountability!" and has withdrawn from the race because she does not feel she will be able to "put her best foot forward" and be one of those accountable members, due to unforeseen circumstances at this time. Jalynn says her time is split ...   See Article

Original Report, 02-24-2023

Bill Clevenger is a candidate for Decatur School Board in the 2023 race. He previously served as the Executive Director of the Decatur Park District from 1988 until 2021. View his 2023 Candidate Profile   See Article

Summary, 02-23-2023

To Donate to Will Wetzel's campaign for School Board, use one of the following: Act Blue Paypal Venmo Cashapp: $Friendsofwillwetzel   See Article

Summary, 02-21-2023

This week we cover Will Wetzel for School Board, leadership changes in the Health Department, an ADM Strike, fighting at Decatur Schools, and the City Council agenda. The Council agenda includes a report on the budget, a resolution regarding TIF Districts, new spending contracts with businesses, ...   See Article

Meta Report, 02-17-2023

"I am running for School Board because I believe in accountability, transparency, and always putting students first," says Decatur School Board candidate Will Wetzel. "I believe in the power of public education. I believe that we can do better for our students, and everything has t...   See Article

Original Report, 02-14-2023

Howard Buffett is a son of Warren Buffett. He manages the Howard Buffett Foundation. He provides funding to local government, police, and others. He is a former Macon County Sheriff & intended to run for Sheriff in 2022, but withdrew due to training requirements. There is much more to say abo...   See Article

Summary, 02-10-2023

Updates on City Council ordinances and funding, fire union negotiations, fraud charges, city departments, and more. City Council Decatur City Council - $800,000 for Home Repair & Accessibility Program, for roof replacements & accessibility improvements in the urban core. The program will ...   See Article

Meta Report, 02-10-2023