“I want to continue fighting for real change within the City of Urbana on many of the contentious issues that the City is still struggling to find real answers for and take real action on.”
Those contentious issues, and Jared Miller’s more progressive vision for Urbana, have sometimes left him voting against all six of the other City Council members. In all likelihood (and if reelected), Miller will find himself sitting among a new City Council in six months time that is not just ready, but rearing, to enact some real changes. All seven Council seats are contested, and three of them are assured new faces, plus four people are running for Mayor.
Miller moved to Urbana six and a half years ago, and he and his wife bought their home in Ward 7 five years ago. He works full-time managing a small A/V (audio-visual) production company based in Champaign.
“We have clients all over Illinois and serve clients in neighboring states as well. Locally, we do productions for various departments within the University and some of the major local festivals such as Pygmalion, Sweetcorn, Taste of Champaign and many others.”
On the Council, Miller has shown himself to be a human rights advocate, a defender of free speech, a strong proponent of racial equality, and at every opportunity a voice to encourage greater access and service to the residents of Urbana. Miller has set himself apart most notably on issues of police reform:
“My greatest concern and one of the more important of those issues is how we change how the City responds to calls for service that involve mental health issues/crisis, public intoxication, individuals in housing crisis, drug use, abuse, or overdose, welfare checks, noise complaints, non-emergent medical issues, and domestic violence.”
Miller feels that Urbana can be a leader on this issue and wants to see real dedication for new programs. Miller also wants to see “real community controlled accountability measures put in place in the upcoming contract with the FOP.”
Modifying the City of Urbana & Fraternal Order of Police Contract could be politically tricky. The City would need to give notice by April 1st, 2021 that they intend to modify the agreement, and negotiations must begin by May 1st. However, after the general election on April 6th, the City Council will experience a turnover on May 3rd. That could mean a change in Council members in the middle of contract negotiations. There is no reason a new contract could not be established before the turnover, but that may leave the new City Council and the voters feeling a bit burned.
Miller wants to see greater education and perhaps bilingual language requirements for new officers, with more training focused on de-escalation techniques. He would also like to see both the police and the fire department attain a more representative racial makeup of both its officers and its leadership, and would like to set a goal to have 50% of its workforce be from the community with the next 4-8 years.
“Another priority issue for me is eliminating hurdles and barriers to the free access of information available to our citizens through Freedom Of Information Act requests. The City should be proactive in building accessible places to obtain all kinds of information but especially that which is requested most often through FOIA requests. The City should also create publicly transparent records of requests and the information that has been disseminated through those requests.”
The issue of public records requests has become the source of a lot of complaints since Urbana substantially altered its posture on records access earlier this year. Mayor Marlin appointed a new FOIA Officer in June and shortly thereafter a number of residents found themselves facing huge fees, denials, and/or delays of several months. Miller has argued in City Council meetings that Urbana should be moving in the opposite direction, and increasing access.
Miller would also like a see a fundamental change in the way that City department heads, leadership positions, and City boards and commissions are appointed (currently, all of these positions are appointed by the Mayor):
“The City should establish through ordinance a new process that includes but is not limited to the creation of nominating panel(s), committee(s), and or commission(s) made up of a mixture of City officials, the Mayor, City Council, and Urbana citizens that will take over the formal responsibility of recruiting and bringing forward nominations for potential appointment. The process currently in effect at the City has not been updated since 1975.”
In Ward 7, Jared Miller will face James Quisenberry in the Democratic Primary. The primary election for Mayor, City Clerk, Township Assessor, Township Supervisor, and Alderman in the seven City Wards in Urbana will be held on February 23rd, and the general election on April 6th.
More information about Miller’s candidacy can be found on his campaign website:
I sent Jared a couple emails as my Ward 7 representative and never heard back from him.