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ALLOW THE VOTE
Sangamon County Board Chairman Andy Van Meter claimed his use of county board rules to block my effort to place on the ballot a binding referendum on whether county voters should have the power to recall our sheriff was only done to uphold the Open Meetings Act (Letters to the editor, Aug. 22).
My resolution proposing an advisory referendum on whether Sheriff Jack Campbell should resign was on our agenda. After the agenda was published, but before our meeting, Campbell announced he would resign by the end of August. Therefore, prior to the meeting I filed an amendment to change the referendum to a binding one on whether county voters should have the power to recall our sheriff. Even though the amendment clearly was on the same subject, Van Meter ruled it "out of order" as being "non-germane," blocking the board from voting on it, as Illinois Times accurately reported ("County Board blocks referendum," Aug. 15).
My motion to overrule Chairman Van Meter's ruling was defeated on a party line vote, with all six Democrats at the meeting voting to overrule, and all 21 Republicans voting no.
Assuming for the sake of argument that Chairman Van Meter was correct in his ruling, after our August board meeting, I put out a call for a special board meeting to be held Aug. 19 to take up my binding referendum measure. That was the deadline, under Illinois law, to put a referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot. It takes 10 county board members to call a special meeting.
I emailed all 28 of my colleagues. While some members responded yes, neither Chairman Van Meter nor any of the Republican members agreed to the special meeting, so I didn't get the required 10 (only eight Democrats are on the board). If Van Meter was so concerned about upholding the open meetings law, as opposed to defeating recall, he would have said yes to the special meeting and encouraged his GOP members to do so.
Chairman Van Meter's letter also attacked my efforts, asserting that my coterie (small group) only seek issues and advantage. Like all of us on the County Board, I was elected to serve the people of my district, and that's what I was doing. I received more constituent emails and phone calls on this than any other issue. At our August County Board meeting, 17 citizens told us they want the board to enact recall. In all my years on the city council and County Board, I have never seen this many people speak out on anything.
I will introduce a new resolution to put a binding referendum on recall on the ballot in the April 2025 Consolidated Election. We shall see if Chairman Van Meter allows a vote on this.
Sam Cahnman
County Board Member, District 18
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DON'T BLAME THE SHERIFF
When we experience a senseless tragedy, the natural reaction is to remedy the cause to prevent it from happening again. We want change and accountability. Emotion drives us to action, but for our efforts to be successful, emotion has to propel and logic drive.
I don't think Jack Campbell should have resigned. He was elected to be sheriff. That means he was in the position to lead the people that chose him. I also don't think he should be held accountable for the county's hiring practices. All sectors are governed by the board. He is the sheriff, not human resources. He might have interviewed Sean Grayson, got a recommendation and given the OK, but one in his position would assume that the candidate had been screened before that point.
It is mandatory for all candidates being considered for employment working with the public or in a position of trust to pass a background check. The pre-employment background check requires you to be fingerprinted and is done by the Illinois State Police. It looks like ISP dropped the ball on this one. The officer should have been the subject of extra scrutiny having undergone the pre-employment background check, the FOID background check and the background check for a license to conceal and carry. One would assume the state police would also be aware of the officer's previous employment history and conduct, having worked in other police departments in the state. It's high time the state police stand accountable. Unlike the county sheriff, these officers are not elected.
Kendra Barlow-Johnson
Springfield, Illinois
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COUNTY BOARD CAN DO BETTER
The recent letter from Sangamon County Board Chair Andy Van Meter is amusing. He claims an "irrevocable resolution to do better." How about doing this better: Vote in favor of the special session that was called for in order to address the open meetings issue, instead of voting (with all the other GOP board members) to suppress the special session and kill the referendum idea?
I'm no expert, but who says that home rule counties can't vote to have recall of an elected county official? Some guy at the Board of Elections? It's clear that home rule municipalities have that power; it's been exercised in the past.
Van Meter claim the board is somehow powerless to address what he calls "Cahnman's coterie," which apparently represents almost every speaker at the County Board meeting who addressed it, including me, and a significant percentage of informed citizens who have always thought recall should exist. Not only could recall have affected the community positively in the instances (yes, plural) of Sheriff Campbell's issues, it can aid the community in the future if other elected officials exhibit misfeasance or failures (e.g., the Coroner Susan Boone debacle of 2011).
Van Meter's "irrevocable resolution to do better" has begun with appointing a hiring committee to replace Campbell that excludes anyone from recognized social justice groups or anyone from the public defender's office – but it has two prosecutors, of course.
Talk is cheap. The board can clearly do better.
Don Hanrahan
Via illinoistimes.com
