by Check CU | Oct 10, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana’s automatic license plate reader (ALPR) proposal, initially presented to the City Council on September 20th, has been tabled by the Committee of the Whole (COW) for the time being. At the October 4th COW meeting, some members expressed concerns about the...
by Check CU | Oct 5, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin has repeatedly abused meetings rules and the Open Meetings Act during her terms as Mayor Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin violating the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA) is certainly not a new phenomenon. Hardly a month goes by where Check CU...
by Check CU | Oct 4, 2021 | Latest Articles
An example license plate capture which flags a driver as a “NON RESIDENT” which has been “Seen 3 times in last 30 days” (image from Flock Safety website) At the September 20th City Council meeting the Urbana Police Department (UPD) presented...
by Check CU | Oct 3, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Officers Andrew Hewkin and Sarah Links, posing for a photo in the Urbana City Building In the spring of 2020 Urbana Police officers responded to a call from a resident who had just been the victim of an assault. The victim ran from the attacker and...
by Check CU | Oct 3, 2021 | Latest Articles
Dan Murdock, a salesperson for ALPR supplier Flock Safety, at the September 20, 2021 Urbana City Council meeting During the September 20th Urbana City Council presentation on automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), a number of issues were raised about the lawfulness...
by Check CU | Oct 3, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin swears in City Clerk Phyllis Clark on May 3rd, 2021 At the November 9th, 2020 meeting of the Urbana City Council, a roll call vote was taken on “Ordinance No. 2020-11-063: An Ordinance Amending Ratification of Extension to Emergency Order No....
by Check CU | Oct 2, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin, City Administrator Carol Mitten, and Lieutenant Jason Norton present to the Urbana City Council on April 27th, 2020 on police use of force and the Aleyah Lewis arrest. Three weeks ago, Check CU published an article which suggested...
by Check CU | Oct 2, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Council members ask questions on September 20th after a presentation urging them to vote for spending on Automatic License Plate Readers to be distributed throughout the City At the September 20th City Council meeting the Urbana Police Department (UPD)...
by Check CU | Sep 30, 2021 | Latest Articles
On September 13th, the Urbana City Council voted on a new Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) contract which effectively locked out any police reform efforts for the next two years. The new FOP contract is largely similar to the prior one, which expired and was...
by Check CU | Sep 29, 2021 | Latest Articles
The City of Urbana continues to struggle with lack of basic transparency. While attempting to perform basic research, Check CU has found that the Urbana City Council has failed to publicly display, and frequently failed to approve, its City Council meeting...
by Check CU | Sep 13, 2021 | Latest Articles
Before voting against Urbana’s new Fraternal Order of Police contract this evening, Council member Christopher Evans broke from his typically low-key presence at City Council meetings and issued a prepared statement which certainly turned some heads. Evans spoke...
by Check CU | Sep 12, 2021 | Latest Articles
Since mid-2020, police “use of force” has become a front-and-center issue both locally and nationally. The City of Urbana has been hearing from residents about the need for police use of force reform for the past 18 months, and City officials have frequently...
by Check CU | Sep 11, 2021 | Latest Articles
A deadly shooting occurred at the far end of this parking lot on Ivanhoe Way in Urbana 12 hours before this photo was taken. The Urbana Police Department announced another shooting death this morning, making a total of three such homicides in just over six weeks....
by Check CU | Sep 7, 2021 | Latest Articles
Ward 3 Alderman Shirese Hursey scoffs at Alderman Christopher Evans for espousing oversight of public officials Urbana Ward 3 Alderman Shirese Hursey interrupted another Council member tonight to express her continued irritation with the ongoing pleas from members of...
by Check CU | Aug 30, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin (left) and Deputy Chief Richard Surles (right) present their revised Use of Force Policy to the Urbana City Council on August 23rd, 2021. On August 23rd the Urbana City Council heard a presentation from Chief of Police Bryant...
by Check CU | Aug 28, 2021 | Latest Articles
The scene of a drive-by shooting on the 400 block of West Illinois Street in Urbana. Urbana Police block the street while searching for shell casings. An otherwise calm and quiet Saturday afternoon in West Urbana was interrupted by a sound that has become more...
by Check CU | Aug 23, 2021 | Latest Articles
On July 27 2020 Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin declares the creation of an “Advisory Committee on Public Safety and Policing” Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin made a number of promises to the public after widespread demand for less violence and greater accountability in...
by Check CU | Jul 12, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin made a curious declaration during the July 6th City Council meeting. After numerous requests from the public that the City continue allowing residents to speak at meetings remotely (such as via Zoom), the Mayor has decided that doing so...
by Check CU | May 18, 2021 | Latest Articles
Champaign City Attorney Frederick Stavins and City Manager Dorothy David Approval of minutes is a fairly typical item to find on the meeting agenda for any public body in Illinois. The minutes serve as a written accounting of the actions and votes of a public body,...
by Check CU | Apr 19, 2021 | Latest Articles
Early last week the Illinois Attorney General website that provides vital services to Illinois residents and governmental bodies was taken down, and it is still down. The mysterious incident has cause the website residing at ilattorneygeneral.net to become completely...
by Check CU | Apr 11, 2021 | Latest Articles
The Mayor of Urbana and the Council who helped her promote content-based speech restrictions at public meetings are struggling to cope with a recent Attorney General determination that their meeting rules violate state law. The Council discussed the AG ruling at...
by Check CU | Apr 7, 2021 | Latest Articles
As reported last night, the Champaign County Clerk’s website went down shortly after the polls closed, which meant that residents could not view the April 6th election results. County Clerk Aaron Ammons began posting large batches of screen shots of text files to his...
by Check CU | Apr 6, 2021 | Latest Articles
The Champaign County Clerk’s website has been down most of the night and residents are left waiting on the vote count for more than a hundred candidates running in various races across the County. Polling places in Champaign County closed at 7pm today, and results for...
by Check CU | Apr 5, 2021 | Latest Articles
The Illinois Attorney General has issued a determination against the City of Urbana in regards to three Open Meetings Act complaints submitted to the Public Access Counselor (PAC) late last year. According to the PAC, Mayor Diane Marlin and the Urbana City...
by Check CU | Apr 4, 2021 | Latest Articles
This election season, Urbana will have a third party candidate on the ballot for the first time since 2009, when an Independent and a Green Party candidate ran for Mayor. Colin Dodson, who is seeking the Urbana City Council seat in Ward 2, is running under the Party...
by Check CU | Apr 4, 2021 | Latest Articles
The February 1st 2021 meeting of the Champaign Human Relations Commission (HRC) revealed a most bizarre and nonsensical City of Champaign policy: according to City staff, the HRC and the public are not allowed to see or know any details about Human Rights complaints...
by Check CU | Apr 2, 2021 | Latest Articles
On March 8th the Urbana City Council finally brought a resolution to an issue that has been under discussion since January. The Council voted to remove City employees and officials from the Urbana Human Rights Ordinance such that residents cannot follow through on a...
by Check CU | Mar 8, 2021 | Latest Articles
Sgt. James Cory Koker helps pin down Urbana resident Aleyah Lewis on April 10, 2020 At tonight’s Urbana City Council meeting, Mayor Diane Marlin will be seeking approval from the Council for the appointment of a handful of positions, such as Deputy Fire Chief and City...
by Check CU | Mar 7, 2021 | Latest Articles
Body worn camera video recovered from the Urbana Police Department shows that police officers and their supervisors seem to have contempt for the public’s right to oversight. In the video, Sgt. James Cory Koker can be heard joking about how he should have told a...
by Check CU | Mar 1, 2021 | Latest Articles
Two vehicles parked just off of West Illinois St in Urbana, all left-side tires punctured. Dozens of West Urbana residents awoke Monday morning to discover one or more flat tires on vehicles parked in the neighborhood. Urbana Police began receiving calls early...
by Check CU | Feb 21, 2021 | Latest Articles
Champaign Police Department staff give a presentation to the City Council on February 9, 2021 On February 9th the Champaign City Council convened with just one agenda item: the “Champaign Police Department Update”. The official update was provided as an 86 page...
by Check CU | Feb 12, 2021 | Latest Articles
On January 15th, the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) convened for an appeals hearing in regards to a handful of police complaints filed more than a year prior. A number of issues arose which seem to indicate that due process is of little concern in regards...
by Check CU | Feb 9, 2021 | Latest Articles
University of Illinois Professor and Urbana City Council member Erik Jakobsson University of Illinois Professor and former City Council member Eric Jakobsson has joined the small group of conspiracy theorists who believe the City of Urbana is under attack by...
by Check CU | Feb 8, 2021 | Latest Articles
Erik Sacks, Appointed to the Ward 2 City Council seat by Mayor Marlin in late December The newly seated Alderman for Urbana City Council Ward 2, Erik Sacks, has an interesting take on the upcoming Primary election in Urbana. According to Sacks, the wave of...
by Check CU | Feb 7, 2021 | Latest Articles
It seems the City of Urbana will finally be rectifying a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) violation which has been ongoing for multiple months. At the February 8th City Council meeting, Mayor Diane Marlin will designate a FOIA Officer, a position which is...
by Check CU | Jan 31, 2021 | Latest Articles
More than two months after primary candidate petition filings were due, newcomer candidates are still finding themselves in the crosshairs of seasoned politicians. On January 26th Adam Rusch, an Urbana City Council candidate who is running as a Libertarian in...
by Check CU | Jan 31, 2021 | Latest Articles
Law Enforcement Officer Wearing an Avon PC50 Gas Mask and Riot Helmet (the same equipment ordered by the Urbana Police Department) Though the overwhelming demand from the residents of Urbana is to move their police department toward a less violent and more...
by Check CU | Jan 29, 2021 | Latest Articles
After a failed attempt by Police Chief Bryant Seraphin to get Council approval for a new Police Use of Force Policy, the Champaign County ACLU and NAACP are taking a more hands-on approach. On January 11th, Seraphin presented an updated version of the Urbana Police...
by Check CU | Jan 24, 2021 | Latest Articles
Who can vote? US Citizen, by birth or naturalizationAt least 18 years old on or before the next election (born on or before April 6, 2003)If you will be 18 on or before the next General election, you may register and vote in the PrimaryLived in Illinois and in your...
by Check CU | Jan 22, 2021 | Latest Articles
At the Urbana Committee of the Whole meeting on January 19th, City Administrator Carol Mitten brought forth an ordinance change that would exempt City employees, elected officials, and appointed board members from being subject to anti-discrimination laws. Check CU...
by Check CU | Jan 18, 2021 | Latest Articles
The City of Urbana is once again moving in the opposite direction of the overwhelming public demand for increased equality and accountability. City Administrator Carol Mitten is urging the Council to exempt the City and all of its staff from Urbana’s Human...
by Check CU | Jan 11, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana 2020 Electoral Board: Maryalice Wu, Bill Colbrook, (not pictured: Phyllis Clark). Hearing Officer Deanna Mool, and City Attorney James Simon. At least two complaints have been filed with the Illinois Attorney General in regards to the Urbana Electoral Board...
by Check CU | Jan 11, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin gets upset at a City Council meeting on January 4th, 2020 over allegations that she frequently tries to deceive the public At the January 4th City Council meeting, Mayor Diane Marlin finally commented on the numerous Open Meetings Act (OMA)...
by Check CU | Jan 6, 2021 | Latest Articles
On November 2nd, 2020, Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten spoke about a mysterious memo regarding the legality of the obstacles she had placed in front of Urbana residents attempting to submit police complaints. The memo was in regards to the filing of...
by Check CU | Jan 2, 2021 | Latest Articles
On December 29th, 2020, the Office of the Attorney General of Illinois issued a determination on a Freedom of Information Act dispute regarding Danville Police Department records. Chief Deputy Attorney General Brent Stratton declared that Danville violated FOIA...
by Check CU | Dec 28, 2020 | Latest Articles
On October 5th, within an Urbana City Council discussion about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin attempted to parade the “enormous expenditure of resources” that the City incurs in fulfilling FOIA requests. She did so by claiming that...
by Check CU | Dec 27, 2020 | Latest Articles
The League of Women Voters of Champaign County has announced that it will host “Candidate Forums” for the positions of Champaign Township Supervisor, Urbana Mayor, and Urbana City Council Wards 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7. The League is seeking input from local residents on...
by Check CU | Dec 22, 2020 | Latest Articles
Attorney Ben Gehrt, hired by City Administrator Carol Mitten, argues that Urbana’s Civilian Police Review Board should not be allowed to accept police complaints based on video evidence. The Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) met on December 17th, though...
by Check CU | Dec 16, 2020 | Latest Articles
Champaign Mayor Deborah Feinen Champaign Mayor Deborah Feinen has finally recused herself from an Electoral Board hearing after issues have been raised about her personal bias in the matter. Some of those issues have been described in a recent Check CU article,...
by Check CU | Dec 15, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin Two days after losing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin sent out a press release in an attempt to cast blame on a third party. The FOIA lawsuit sought records related to the alleged purse theft by State...
by Check CU | Dec 15, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana Council Member Jared Miller proposes a new meeting agenda item where individual Council members can bring up new items of concern/discussion at any Council meeting (December 7, 2020). The December 7th Urbana City Council meeting demonstrated that the Council...
by Check CU | Dec 14, 2020 | Latest Articles
New Urbana Community Engagement Coordinator, Lemond Peppers, speaks at a Human Relations Commission meeting on December 9th, 2020. Check CU is in possession of records from the City of Urbana which reveal more about the recent hiring of Lemond Peppers as their...
by Check CU | Dec 12, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten and City Attorney James Simon. Mitten has administratively overthrown the outcome of a Human Relations Commission hearing wherein the Commission reversed the wrongful denial by James Simon of a human rights complaint against the...
by Check CU | Dec 11, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Attorney James Simon enters the Champaign County Courthouse to defend the City from a lawsuit on their denial of a public records request seeking the police reports on the alleged purse theft by State Representative Carol Ammons. On the morning of December...
by Check CU | Dec 9, 2020 | Latest Articles
Ward 5 Candidate Meghan McDonald (left) defends against an objection submitted by Cunningham Township Assessor, Wayne T Williams (far right). Williams was represented by his attorney, Abraham Mattew (middle). The hearing took place within the Council chambers of the...
by Check CU | Dec 7, 2020 | Latest Articles
Front (left to right): objector Michael Langendorf, attorney for both objectors Abraham Matthew, objector Wayne WilliamsRear: City Clerk Phyllis Clark, Ward 1 City Council member Maryalice Wu, Ward 6 City Council member William Colbrook This afternoon, Urbana convened...
by Check CU | Dec 7, 2020 | Latest Articles
In January of 2020 there was a big kerfuffle over the alleged theft of a purse from the Carle Auxiliary Resale Boutique, 810 W. University Avenue. State Representative Carol Ammons was named as the suspect and naturally, with very little information, everyone...
by Check CU | Dec 6, 2020 | Latest Articles
In Champaign, a prior staff member of the City is attempting to dismantle the candidacy of one newcomer to the political arena. Rochelle Funderburg, who was the Assistant City Attorney for the City of Champaign from 1988 to 1996, filed a formal objection against...
by Check CU | Dec 6, 2020 | Latest Articles
The candidate petitions for the City of Champaign 2021 election, to be held on February 23rd, are now available in Check CU’s records database. Thirteen candidates filed petitions for seven different positions: Township Assessor, Township Supervisor, and City...
by Check CU | Dec 6, 2020 | Latest Articles
One of the four candidates in the Democrat mayoral race for the City of Urbana has received a formal candidacy objection from the Diane Marlin camp. Michael Langendorf, who donated funds to Marlin’s 2017 mayoral campaign, is arguing to have newcomer candidate...
by Check CU | Dec 5, 2020 | Latest Articles
Curt Borman, serving as Urbana’s Freedom of Information Act Officer, has become known for numerous illegal records denials and fees in regards to resident requests for police records. Records provided by the Village of Carpentersville have Urbana residents...
by Check CU | Dec 4, 2020 | Latest Articles
Cunningham Township Assessor Wayne T Williams hired Chicago firm Matthew & Drnovsek Law to author his formal objection against newcomer candidate Meghan McDonald. McDonald is running against Williams’s partner, Chaundra Bishop, and Williams wishes to see...
by Check CU | Dec 2, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten claims that the City will sanction its public board members to prevent them from disclosing what happens in closed sessions. On the evening of November 30th, the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) assembled for an appeals...
by Check CU | Dec 1, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin has received four applications for the Ward 2 City Council seat left vacant when Council member Julie Laut suddenly resigned on October 28th. Laut was appointed by Marlin to fill the Ward 2 spot after Eric Jakobsson resigned in June,...
by Check CU | Nov 27, 2020 | Latest Articles
Just four days after being hit with an Open Meetings Act lawsuit, the City of Urbana is now facing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. The complaint, which was filed with the Champaign County Sixth Judicial Circuit court of Illinois on November...
by Check CU | Nov 26, 2020 | Latest Articles
A series of email snafus by Champaign County ACLU representatives has exposed a rather unsavory face of the civil liberties organization that we generally expect to act in the interests of the public. Champaign County ACLU president Carol Leff attempted to send an...
by Check CU | Nov 23, 2020 | Latest Articles
The candidate petitions for Urbana’s 2021 primary election, to be held on February 23rd, have all been processed by the City Clerk. Twenty-four candidates filed petitions for eleven different positions: Mayor, City Clerk, Township Assessor, Township Supervisor,...
by Check CU | Nov 23, 2020 | Latest Articles
On Friday, November 20th, a complaint was filed in Champaign County Sixth Judicial Circuit court of Illinois alleging Open Meetings Act Violations by the Urbana City Council and the Mayor of Urbana Diane Marlin. The lawsuit cites multiple Urbana City Council meetings...
by Check CU | Nov 22, 2020 | Latest Articles
Demonstrators amass just north of the Urbana City Building on June 1st, carrying signs for George Floyd, Aleyah Lewis, Black Lives Matter, and innumerable slogans for police reform and accountability. After the killing of George Floyd in May, almost every government...
by Check CU | Nov 20, 2020 | Latest Articles
A young male screams out as Urbana Police Officers use a prohibited drive-stun TASER technique to inflict pain. The individual had not been suspected of having committed any crime, did not have any weapons, and showed willingness to comply before being tackled to the...
by Check CU | Nov 16, 2020 | Latest Articles
The November 16th Urbana City Council meeting brought greater insight into the heavy-handed and poorly defined public speaking rules imposed last month. Apparently, the rules created by Mayor Diane Marlin which disallow “negative comments”, as well as “abusive”,...
by Check CU | Nov 15, 2020 | Latest Articles
It has been more than 7 months since the violent arrest of Urbana resident Aleyah Lewis. Tens of thousands of people have watched the videos of Urbana Police Officers throwing Lewis to the ground, pinning her, punching her in the head, and kneeing her in the...
by Check CU | Nov 15, 2020 | Latest Articles
U of I Assistant Professor Erik J. Sacks Threatens Lawsuit Over Zoning Proposal One Urbana resident and U of I Professor is particularly unhappy with a proposed zoning change to a row of houses on West High St in Urbana. The proposal is to rezone 5 contiguous...
by Check CU | Nov 12, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Use of Force Listening Session (Mayor Diane Marlin, Chief Bryant Seraphin, Lieutenant Joel Sanders, Community Engagement Coordinator Sherman Lemond Peppers) An Urbana Police Listening session revealed some disturbing behavior from Urbana’s new...
by Check CU | Nov 12, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Use of Force Listening Session for Youth (Mayor Diane Marlin, Chief Bryant Seraphin, Deputy Chief Richard Surles, Community Engagement Coordinator Sherman Lemond Peppers, Lieutenants Joel Sanders and Matthew Bain, School Resource Officer Chad Burnett. ...
by Check CU | Nov 11, 2020 | Latest Articles
On the evening of November 10th, a special hearing of the Urbana Human Relations Commission was convened at the City Building for an appeals hearing to a Human Rights complaint. I filed the complaint myself on September 14th, and City Attorney James Simons...
by Check CU | Nov 10, 2020 | Latest Articles
On Tuesday November 10 at 5:30pm, a special hearing body of the Urbana Human Relations Commission will consider an appeal to a discrimination complaint that was dismissed by the City Attorney. Urbana City Attorney James Simon, for the second time this year, has...
by Check CU | Nov 10, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin continued her new tactic of actively muting residents for criticizing public officials at City meetings at the November 9th City Council meeting. Since March, Urbana has been holding all of their meetings using the Zoom conferencing...
by Check CU | Nov 6, 2020 | Latest Articles
I just received a rather concerning email from Daniel Larson of the Urbana Human Relations Commission. In preparation for a hearing in regards to a Human Rights complaint that I filed in September, I made a number of inquiries with Larson, who is to serve as...
by Check CU | Nov 5, 2020 | Latest Articles
The November 5th meeting of the Urbana Plan Commission contained more of the same: a small number of West Urbana residents upset at virtually any kind of change near their neighborhood. The Commission held two hearings. The first was a fairly simple request by...
by Check CU | Nov 5, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten speaks to the Council on November 2nd, 2020 City Administrator Carol Mitten gave a presentation at the November 2nd Urbana City Council meeting in regards to a contentious police complaint requirement that has been under...
by Check CU | Nov 2, 2020 | Latest Articles
Council member Bill Brown earned an opportunity to wield Urbana’s new speech restrictions at the November 2nd City Council Committee of the Whole. The past president, and current steering committee member, of the Champaign County ACLU showed the public that not...
by Check CU | Nov 2, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Attorney James Simon continues to exhibit general incompetence on a regular basis. This morning, Simon sent an accusatory email to Urbana resident Adam Rusch, telling him to recuse himself from an upcoming Plan Commission Hearing because he had...
by Check CU | Nov 1, 2020 | Latest Articles
I have been speaking at Urbana Civil Service Commission meetings for the past several months. I have been making the general point that City of Urbana employees, especially those with the primary task of engaging with the community, tend to always work in the...
by Check CU | Oct 30, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Council member Dennis Roberts released a statement on October 29th indicating that he will not seek a fifth term on the Council. Dennis Robert’s statement, posted on Facebook: “Dear HEUNA Friends, Having served 16 years on the City Council, I have...
by Check CU | Oct 28, 2020 | Latest Articles
The October 26th meeting of the Urbana City Council saw a manic Mayor Marlin, re-elevated to her civilian-crushing characteristics of September 14th, when she once again interrupted and muted multiple members of the public for encroaching on her newly-invented speech...
by Check CU | Oct 27, 2020 | Latest Articles
City Administrator Carol Mitten gave a presentation on Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) complaints and appeals hearings at the Urbana City Council meeting Monday night. I had predicted she would attempt to deceive the Council and the public the previous week,...
by Check CU | Oct 26, 2020 | Latest Articles
The “use of force” listening sessions that Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten briefly mentioned at last week’s City Council meeting were officially announced this afternoon. The announcement is coupled with the creation of a new section on the Urbana City...
by Check CU | Oct 22, 2020 | Latest Articles
This article isn’t exactly scholarly – more of an anecdote which gives a glimpse of how Marlin views the public. After the October 19th Special Urbana City Council meeting, there was a brief recess before the actual Committee of the Whole meeting, and Mayor...
by Check CU | Oct 21, 2020 | Latest Articles
After bringing two different variations of ordinance (on September 21st and October 5th) that would significantly restrict the public’s right to speak at Urbana meetings, Mayor Diane Marlin managed to get her legislation (Ordinance 2020-09-49) passed on October 12th,...
by Check CU | Oct 16, 2020 | Latest Articles
Just six hours after Mayor Marlin interrupted me and others multiple times and muted me based on her newly invented public speaking rules at the September 14th Urbana City Council meeting, I submitted a request for review to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office....
by Check CU | Oct 15, 2020 | Latest Articles
Council member Bill Brown expressed his support for Urbana’s new speech restrictions at the October 12th City Council meeting. The past president, and current steering committee member, of the Champaign County ACLU also said that the speech restrictions would be...
by Check CU | Oct 15, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Attorney James Simon, for the second time this year, has claimed that Urbana’s human rights laws do not apply to the City of Urbana itself. In other words, Urbana City employees, as well as elected and appointed officials, are allowed to discriminate...
by Check CU | Oct 14, 2020 | Latest Articles
The Urbana City Council finally passed the speech restrictions that Mayor Marlin has been pushing for the past month. Marlin first violated the recorded public input rules of the City Council on September 14th (article here), when she arbitrarily reduced speaking...
by Check CU | Oct 12, 2020 | Latest Articles
On Monday October 5th, I wrote a letter to the Urbana City Council predicting that City Attorney James Simon would lie to them and the public about how the city legal department has been charging fees on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Here is that...
by Check CU | Oct 8, 2020 | Latest Articles
Since her appointment to the Ward 2 seat by Mayor Marlin, Julie Laut has rarely provided substantive response or input on any subject, and almost never does so when constituents contact her directly. I have personally emailed Laut on numerous issues, and rarely...
by Check CU | Oct 7, 2020 | Latest Articles
During the October 5th Urbana City Council discussion on the conduct of City legal staff in regards to public records requests, the question of requiring government identification was raised. City Attorney James Simon and Assistant City Attorney Curt Borman...
by Check CU | Oct 7, 2020 | Latest Articles
City Administrator Carol Mitten attempted to put a new spin on the recent attempts by the City of Urbana to regulate speech at public meetings. Mitten declared that meetings of the Council, and its associated boards and commissions, should have the same rules...
by Check CU | Oct 6, 2020 | Latest Articles
On the tail end of a discussion on Urbana’s policies and conduct regarding public records requests, something remarkably out of order happened. City Clerk Phyllis Clark interrupted Council member Jared Miller to recite a condescending and factually erroneous...
by Check CU | Oct 4, 2020 | Latest Articles
City of Urbana Assistant City Attorney & FOIA Officer Curt Borman After several letters from the Illinois Attorney General indicating that Urbana’s new fees for public records are a violation the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, FOIA Officer Curt Borman...
