by Check CU | Sep 25, 2020 | Latest Articles
This letter from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office may not appear terribly interesting at first glance. So the City of Urbana didn’t try hard enough on their records search, so what? This might be one of those situations that is too complicated to...
by Check CU | Sep 24, 2020 | Latest Articles
I have been speaking at Urbana Human Relations Commission (HRC) meetings for several months now, ever since they decided that the Urbana Human Rights laws don’t apply to the City of Urbana or its employees. This rather cowardly decision goes against everything written...
by Check CU | Sep 22, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Attorney James Simon delivered what can only be interpreted as a threat to residents who have been speaking out about corruption within the Urbana City government. The Council was discussing an ordinance put forth by Mayor Diane Marlin and James Simon...
by Check CU | Sep 21, 2020 | Latest Articles
On July 25th, 2019 I sent a very simple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the City of Urbana. I sought to understand why a previous FOIA request was delivered late and also determine if Human Resources Director Todd Rent was lying to me about a...
by Check CU | Sep 21, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana City staff continue to commit FOIA violations against the residents of Urbana. This request was in regards to police complaints. Lizabeth Kay Meharry illegally assessed $20 in fees and also sought to charge for postage. Meharry also claimed that...
by Check CU | Sep 21, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Attorney James Simon giving a presentation on July 20th, defending Urbana’s FOIA fee structure which was recently ruled to be illegal by the Illinois Attorney General On September 2nd, 2020 the Illinois Attorney General released a determination...
by Check CU | Sep 20, 2020 | Latest Articles
On September 2nd, 2020 the Illinois Attorney General released a determination letter indicating that the City of Urbana was in violation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The City attempted to charge a requester $128.35 on a single FOIA request whereas...
by Check CU | Sep 19, 2020 | Latest Articles
At the July 20th City Council meeting, during a presentation about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Urbana City Attorney James Simon made a great number of false claims (documented to some extent in my letter to the Urbana City Council here). One particular...
by Check CU | Sep 18, 2020 | Latest Articles
This article will be mainly comprised of two emails that I sent to the Urbana City Council. The quick backstory is that after a number of complaints by residents (many from myself) about public records requests, the City of Urbana arranged for a presentation on...
by Check CU | Sep 17, 2020 | Latest Articles
In mid-April this year, Mayor Marlin announced that the Urbana Police Department would be giving a presentation on the Aleyah Lewis arrest, which occurred on April 10th. At the City Council meeting held on April 20th, Marlin further announced that the city...
by Check CU | Sep 16, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Council member Bill Brown released a statement on September 12th indicating that he will not seek a third term on the Council. Mr. Brown did not respond when asked why he decided not to pursue another term. Brown’s statement: “I’ve told a few...
by Check CU | Sep 16, 2020 | Latest Articles
It is hard to know how to respond when someone twice your age, a democratically elected official, and supposed community leader carefully calculates that committing crimes against her constituents is better than honest dialogue. That is, after all, what Diane...
by Check CU | Sep 14, 2020 | Latest Articles
Mayor Marlin at a Council Meeting, August 2020 On Saturday morning, Mayor Marlin sent out an email to the Urbana City Council and City of Urbana Department heads describing a plan to regulate speech during public input at meetings of public bodies. The relevant...
by Check CU | Sep 8, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Officer Eric Ruff running toward Officer Michael Cervantes and Urbana Resident Aleyah Lewis On April 10th, Urbana Police officers arrested Aleyah Lewis using, to put it mildly, highly questionable techniques. Alongside many other Urbana residents,...
by Check CU | Aug 23, 2020 | Latest Articles
Bijal Patel, Christopher Hansen, Sarah Nixon, Alen Romero (originally published by the Public i) Officers Michael Cervantes, Eric Ruff, and James Cory Koker wrestle Urbana resident Aleyah Lewis to the ground and apply handcuffs (image captured from Eric Ruff’s...
by Check CU | Jun 23, 2020 | Latest Articles
On June 23rd, four Urbana residents submitted “A Residents’ Petition for Reforming the City of Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB)” to the Mayor, City Council, and the members of the CPRB. The petition was also posted to change.org and has been signed by over...
by Check CU | May 29, 2020 | Latest Articles
A Meeting of the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board For the past seven Urbana City Council meetings, residents have lined up to deliver what has amounted to several hours of criticism and dozens of misconduct allegations against the Urbana Police Department. ...
