Decatur Vote

03/17/2024

Primary Elections this Tuesday, March 19th.

(Decatur Vote is still closed)

02/15/2024

Local candidates for the March 19th Primary are listed with contact information, but platform information is not available. State and Federal candidates are not listed.

I, Reed Sutman, am temporarily closing Decatur Vote due to mental health issues. I hope to re-open and cover the November 2024 election, but that depends on my health.

I'm sorry for this news & I wish you well in voting this March 19th.

Read the blog post for more information.

I will not be responding to most messages/emails, but I will still make corrections and redactions upon request.

Decatur Vote is temporarily closed, and will not be covering the March 19th, 2024 Primaries.

01/26/2024

Updated home page to be election-focused.

Local candidates are listed. No state/federal candidates listed yet, due to ongoing personal health issues (working on it though!)

An additional hiccup has been: Understanding how delegates for the national party conventions work. I'm working on a description of those elections, and I've found the reading materials to be rather confusing. Should make progress on this next week. I may just post the candidates with no description of the office in the mean time.

- Reed Sutman

01/18/2024

All local offices & candidates are listed, except for precinct committeepersons.

State & Federal candidates will be listed tomorrow or next week.

Then I'll start requesting candidate photos & platform information.

Precinct Committeepersons may be added next week. There's a lot, and it isn't really competitive, so this part is not a priority.

And I'll get photos for the coroner, recorder, and state's attorney offices ... sometime. I already had photos for County Board, Circuit Clerk, and County Auditor from past outings.

https://www.decaturvote.com/2024/election/

01/18/2024

The race for the Macon County Board has no competition this year, unless either party chooses to slate candidates to vacancies after the March 19th Primaries.

There are five County Board Districts, and each voter will vote for one candidate within their district, as there is only one vacancy for each County Board District this year.

District 1 has one Democrat candidate. Districts 2-5 each have one Republican candidate.

Platform information is not currently available for candidates, but you can see who is running, and most have contact information available.

Prior to redistricting in 2021, there were 7 County Board Districts. The redistricting was contentious, and the Republican-proposed maps were approved by the majority-Republican Macon County Board, with opposition from Democrat Board Members.

The race for the Macon County Board has no competition this year, unless either party chooses to slate candidates to vacancies after the March 19th Primaries.

01/17/2024

Progress! Three offices are listed.

Other local offices should be done this week.

Precinct Committeepersons and state + federal offices will likely be up next week.

The home page should be updated next week to feature the 2024 election, and a printed flyer of the 2024 Primaries should be available shortly thereafter.

Candidate platforms & photos will be an ongoing effort once this initial data-entry stage is complete, and it will take a bit of time.

https://www.decaturvote.com/2024/election/

01/17/2024

01/17/2024

Work on 2024 election pages has started! Right now, there's not much info, but it's coming along finally.

Macon County, Illinois residents will vote in the Primaries on March 19th, 2024 and in the General Election on November 5th, 2024.

01/16/2024

I have a better solution in mind, but I'm not sure when or if it will be completed. Sorry to anyone who was looking forward to more recaps.

Read the blog post for more information.
- Reed Sutman

I tried my first weekly news recap on January 20th, 2023, publishing 7 in total through March 3rd, 2023.

01/16/2024

I will create nice elections & candidate pages this week, as I've done for the past two elections.

I'll also be working on outreach to candidates to get candidate photos, bios, and platform information. This will be ongoing & may take a bit longer.

- Reed Sutman

--

Today, I received the list of candidates that will be on the Macon County Ballot for the March 19th Primaries. There are lists for candidates for Macon County offices, candidates for State offices, and candidates for Federal offices.

The lists were received from Macon County Clerk Josh Tanner as part of a January 16th FOIA Request - a followup to an informal inquiry I sent on Friday January 12th, to which I did not receive a response.

I sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request to Macon County Clerk Josh Tanner for the lists of candidates who will be on ballots in Macon County Illin...

01/16/2024

"Shootings decreased by 22%, and we have seen a 41% decrease in shootings since the peak in 2021.

Enforcement stops for speeding increased by 107%, with a total of almost 3100 traffic stops for speeding alone."

INFORMATION UPDATE
From: Chief Shane Brandel

As I have conversations in the community, two issues are always at the top of the list of concerns. The same is the case for the surveys completed by our community. Those two issues are violent crime, specifically shootings, and traffic safety. I wanted to provide some statistics from 2023 as compared to 2022 that are relevant to these issues.

Shootings decreased by 22%, and we have seen a 41% decrease in shootings since the peak in 2021.

Enforcement stops for speeding increased by 107%, with a total of almost 3100 traffic stops for speeding alone.

Enforcement stops for illegal cell phone use while driving increased by 85%.

Traffic crashes in Decatur decreased by 7%, to the lowest number in at least 16 years. Personal injury traffic crashes in Decatur are also at their lowest in at least 16 years. (Statistics aren’t available for years prior to 2007).

Although I find these numbers encouraging, I acknowledge we still have a lot of work to do. However, I believe these statistics highlight the work done by our officers and detectives, and their commitment to listening to the people in our city about what they expect from their police department. Yes, we continue to face challenges in our community. But be assured, the men and women of the Decatur Police Department continue to pour their heart and soul into protecting the citizens of this city, and I am very proud of them.

01/03/2024

I've continued to be unwell. I'm hoping to return to work next week.
- Reed Sutman

12/22/2023

I've been sick. No news recap this week.
- Reed Sutman

12/15/2023

A video version of this week's news recap!

It's honestly pretty mediocre, but it's a first attempt. Let me know if you want to see more videos like this. I'm sure they'll get better if i keep doing them.

It's a lot of work though, so I won't keep it up if I don't see interest. I put off other work today to do this.

This is a video version of our written weekly news recap. This is the first video version we've done. The written version is at:https://www.decaturvote.com/s...

12/15/2023

Decatur Illinois Police have increased distracted driving enforcement, and plan to continue. Domestic Violence may increase during the holidays. DPS61 will levy $36 million in property taxes, and other stories from the week of December 15, 2023.

Did I miss anything? Leave a comment & I may include it in next week's recap.

Decatur Illinois Police have increased distracted driving enforcement, and plan to continue. Domestic Violence may increase during the holidays. DPS61 will l...

12/15/2023

https://www.wandtv.com/news/new-illinois-laws-here-are-18-key-education-bills-taking-effect-in-2024/article_a484c824-9ad2-11ee-8404-ebe733f4ca28.html

(NBC CHICAGO)- A series of new laws are set to take effect in Illinois at the start of 2024, and many of those pieces of legislation pertain to the education

12/08/2023

City Manager Scot Wrighton is retiring. Garbage rates will increase slightly. Property taxes up 3%.

Macon County Elections (H&R) - There is little competition for Macon County elections this year. Three Republican Coroner candidates face-off in the March 19 Primaries, then the winner faces Democrat challenger Tiffany Hall for the general election on November 5th.

Other County seats are uncontested. It is possible for some candidates to be slated to run in vacant seats after the March 19th primaries.

I have not reviewed the precinct commiteeperson races. Certified candidate lists for Macon County voters will be available after January 11th.

[Follow the link below for links to the original reporting]

City Manager Retiring (WAND) - "Decatur City Manager Scot Wrighton announced his plans to retire in May 2024."

Garbage (H&R) - Garbage rates will increase from $19 per month to $23.50 in 2024, with annual 4% increases thereafter. $4 tote rental fees are eliminated.

Personal Note: I recently tried to dump a mattress at Waste Management, for a friend who didn't have any free bulk pickups left. They were going to charge $150 to dump. The new garbage haul deal includes 5 free bulk pickups per year from your house.

City Budget (H&R) - $90.6 million general fund budget approved 6-1. David Horn voted no. A 3% property tax increase will be voted on later this month. Other fees & taxes are still undecided.

Click the link for more.

City Manager Scot Wrighton is retiring. Garbage rates will increase slightly. Property taxes up 3%.

12/07/2023

See who's running for office in Macon County Illinois, for the 2024 March 19th Primary Election.

You can download the spreadsheet.

These are only the candidates who file with the Macon County Clerk. Candidates' addresses have been redacted.

Decatur Vote will cover these and other offices in more detail in mid-to-late January.

This spreadsheet was acquired from Macon County Clerk Josh Tanner.

See who's running for office in Macon County Illinois, for the 2024 March 19th Primary Election.

12/06/2023

Decatur City Manager Scot Wrighton has announced he intends to retire in May 2024.

Wrighton made the public announcement at the December 4th Decatur City Council meeting. He was hired as City Manager in January 2019. He said he wants to ensure a smooth transition to the next manager.

“I like Decatur; I believe in Decatur; and I’m going to stay in Decatur,” Wrighton said. “I think we are truly moving the needle on a number of aspects in this community. It is just my time.”

Council members were made aware a few weeks ahead of the announcement. Their plan is to retain the consulting firm GovHR to help with the search. They were the firm used to find Wrighton after former City Manager Tim Gleason left the position in July 2018.

The firm will meet individually with Council members and City staff. The Council’s hope is to post the job in January. Ideally, a candidate is selected before May so they can spend time with Wrighton in his remaining days.

12/05/2023

Our serious election coverage should begin in mid-to-late January. This just shows offices handled by the County Clerk.

There's also a list of candidates who had filed as of November 29th. We're awaiting an updated list, since yesterday was the deadline to file.

On November 19th, 2023, Decatur Vote received a Facebook message asking us to update the site with 2024 election seat info. I responded two days later that I...

12/05/2023

No new news - We previously covered the DFTA Negotiations, but failed to keep our DFTA Topic page up-to-date. The Topic page now has updated coverage, from late September & mid-October.

https://www.decaturvote.com/story/dfta-union-contract/

12/05/2023

Council approves 2024 budget, garbage/recycling overhaul, support of senior services

- Garbage & Recycling changes: Council approved several changes to the garbage & recycling ordinance. Of note:
1. Tote/cart standard - All residential customers must use 64 or 96-gallon wheeled tote/cart. These will be provided by your hauler at no additional cost
2. Alley pickup - most alley pickups are being eliminated. Haulers will have the power to determine if alley service should continue
3. Basic residential service - once weekly garbage pickup, once weekly recycling collection and disposal, and unlimited yard waste for 6 weeks in spring and 6 weeks in fall
4. Premium yard waste - customers who want yard waste services beyond what is provided in basic service are free to seek out additional yard waste collection with any hauler they choose
5. Rate increase - basic service rate increases in 2024 to $23.50/month (up from $19/mo), and 4% yearly increase after 2024, topping out at at $26.42 per month in July 2026. Any tote/cart rental fee is eliminated (was typically $4/month)
6. We intend to create a comprehensive page that explains the changes and other FAQs regarding garbage & recycling. In the meantime: https://decaturil.gov/your-input/

- 2024 City budget: Council adopted the 2024 budget. See the full budget: https://decaturil.gov/departments/finance/city-budget/

- Supporting senior citizen services: In partnership with the Decatur Park District, senior services are planned to be improved and consolidated at the Scovill Park West facility. The Council approved increased investment to help support services for this growing population

Read more: https://decaturil.gov/council-approves-2024-budget-garbage-recycling-overhaul-support-of-senior-services/

*Edited to include 2024 rates and to specify that the hauler provides the totes/carts for no charge
*second edit to note that rate increase will top out in 2026

12/01/2023

I no longer promise sponsor benefits. I wasn't delivering on them anyway. Our Sponsor page on the website & on Patreon have been updated.

There's some other updates here too. Nothing exciting, but it's there for the sake of transparency.

- Reed Sutman

Today, I made some updates to Decatur Vote. They're not exciting, but I'd like to share for transparency's sake.

12/01/2023

This is a reference page for current and past elections.

We'll likely start detailed coverage of 2024 elections in mid-to-late January.

Annual Elections are held for local seats. Even-numbered years hold partisan elections for local, state, and federal offices. Odd-numbered years hold non-par...

12/01/2023

Decatur Vote is funded by sponsorships and my own money. I do not run ads. I do not use paywalls.

I've had a total of 4 sponsors since launch in July 2022, which is greatly appreciated.

As of December 1, 2023, Decatur Vote has cost me more money than I've received through sponsorships, and I do not receive regular income from Decatur Vote.

Click the link to sponsor - there are subsequent links to Patreon and PayPal.

- Reed Sutman

Decatur Vote is funded by sponsorships and my own money. I do not run ads. I do not use paywalls.

12/01/2023

Local election races are underway. St. Teresa strongly opposes Heritage moving nearby their school. State Police have an online form to report corruption. Read on for other Decatur political news from the last week.

Decatur, IL - Local election races are underway. St. Teresa strongly opposes Heritage moving nearby their school. State Police have an online form to report ...

11/30/2023

Two FOIA Requests to Decatur Public Schools #61 were partially denied, so I submitted Requests For Review.

The Public Access Counselor determined my RFRs were "unfounded" and gave me no opportunity to contest claims made by the District before issuing this final determination.

I plan to write a follow-up article with my findings. This is just a cursory summary of the Request For Review + relevant documents.

- Reed Sutman

After an August 23rd, 2023 Bus Incident, I submitted a FOIA request for video footage, communications, reports on the incident, and bus driver information.

11/30/2023

Our Dennis Topic has FINALLY been updated. If you've followed Herald & Review or WAND, there's nothing new here. We just were lagging behind with updating the topic page.

Dennis Lab/Mosaic Campus and former French Academy/Kaleidoscope Campus were inspected on May 30th, 2023, the last day of school. Both buildings were closed t...

11/21/2023

A 3% property tax increase is planned, about $48 extra on a $100,000 home.

Herald & Review wrote "$48 on an average-priced home", the Decatur Illinois - City Government wrote "a property valued at $100,000 in 2023 would pay about $48 more to the City in property taxes in 2024"

The city council signaled that it will nix a proposed 7% increase in the property tax levy, voting instead to advance an estimate only 3% higher than last year's levy.