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Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Remember back in February when the Champaign city council rejected a federal grant to fight underage drinking?

Ald. Tom Bruno questioned “the morality of accepting federal grant money for local purposes.” Mayor Jerry Schweighart said he wasn’t even sure if the city should accept a large federal broadband grant…

“We should be careful in accepting this [underage drinking] grant in a small amount or a large amount like $30 million that’s coming down the pipe.”

Well, the vote on that broadband grant was yesterday. And, guess what? The city council now loves them some federal cash…

Look out, Comcast. The city of Champaign says it’s ready to get into the broadband business.

In an anticipated vote, the Champaign City Council voted 7-1 to accept a $22.5 million federal grant to lay the infrastructure for a high-speed Internet network. The only dissenting vote came from Mayor Jerry Schweighart.

The last time I wrote about this, several commenters speculated that the city council was just using the “morality” of accepting federal grants to not so subtly cover for bar owners who serve a lot of U of I students.

Looks like they may have been right.

* Meanwhile, some folks in comments this week have questioned the legality of the release of video footage of Sen. Dan Duffy’s two red-light camera violations.

The footage was obtained through the state’s Freedom of Information Act, but now Schaumburg, which released the vids, is having second thoughts…

A Schaumburg attorney said the request for the videos was reviewed, nothing was found in the Freedom of Information Act to exempt the information, so it was turned over. However, upon further review of the red-light laws, assistant village attorney Rita Elsner, said Tuesday the policy would change.

“We will be updating our rules to make sure no others are released,” Elsner said.

Oops.

15 Comments

- John Bambenek - Wednesday, Mar 17, 10 @ 9:36 am:
To be fair, Mayor Jerry Schweighart was the 1 nay vote on this too.

- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Mar 17, 10 @ 9:36 am:
Cute and so colloquial.

- Just Observing - Wednesday, Mar 17, 10 @ 9:37 am:
Too often municipalities are “deciding” on their own what they will and will not release under Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act. Fortunately, the new FOIA in Illinois allows the Attorney General’s office to issue binding decisions (which can only be appealed in court) on whether or not certain records need to be released or not. All it will take is one individual to file a complaint with the AG’s office and if the AG’s office believes these videos need to be released, it is no longer Schaumburg’s decision. There is public policy importance to allowing the release of these videos, and I hope someone challenges Schaumburg’s new rule soon.

- Michelle Flaherty - Wednesday, Mar 17, 10 @ 9:43 am:
The red light law itself says they should remain confidential. It’s not a provision under FOIA.

- George - Wednesday, Mar 17, 10 @ 9:51 am:
I think Illinois should appoint a judge to be a FOIA czar, to focus specifically on establishing helpful rules for units of government to follow when it comes to FOIA.

This czar would, of course, be funded by a repeal of the Newsprint and Ink Tax Exemption.

- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Mar 17, 10 @ 9:56 am:
lol, George.

- dupage dan - Wednesday, Mar 17, 10 @ 9:57 am:
Can’t unring that bell, however. The merits of any concern re the red light cameras have now been lost. I would like to see an honest evaluation of how the cameras are effecting things on the street. There have been claims that people are causing accidents because they slam on the brakes when the see the yellow light come on. Is this true? Others have claimed that the lackadaisical way people glide thru the right turn on red has been altered with the realization that someone is watching. Sure, we want people to obey the rules of the road - but have we seen reductions in accidents at these intersections? Isn’t that the bottom line?

I heard one suggestion that we have installed counters that give, in seconds, time left before the yellow light is to come on. That kind of heads up is being used in some intersections. If research supports that use it could help.

- Brennan - Wednesday, Mar 17, 10 @ 10:00 am:
Hmm

=According to the records obtained by the Daily Herald, a top campaign aide to Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, initially sought the videos on March 5. Schaumburg officials contacted the firm that ran the red-light cameras in the village and within days, the videos and supporting documents were turned over.=

Let me guess. A “campaign aide” that’s also a staff member.

Score this one as jobs for lawyers “saved or created”.

- ABCBoy - Wednesday, Mar 17, 10 @ 11:17 am:
dupage dan is right–the damage has been already done in this particular case. But the underlying arguments against the red light cameras remain. There are conflicting reports regarding the safety improvements the cameras might bring, and the concern about a “big brother” style of governmental abuse was nicely highlighted by Cullerton’s actions.

Whether or not Cullerton’s actions were technically legal is almost academic. Even if it was legal, it still proves that the statute is over-broad and sloppily written–and thus ripe for abuse even when adhering within the technical letter of the law.

- fed up - Wednesday, Mar 17, 10 @ 12:37 pm:
Whether or not Cullerton’s actions were technically legal is almost academic. Yeah because this is Illinois so the senate president doesnt have to follow any silly laws. As long as it serves a political purpose Cullerton has no problem bending the laws a little. I agree with Cullerton on this issue but it just shows how above the law polititicans feel they are in this state.

- Just Observing - Wednesday, Mar 17, 10 @ 12:46 pm:
As a City of Chicago resident, I can tell you that the proliferation of red light cameras messes with drivers’ heads and causes unnatural driving habits. I definetly slam on my breaks more often at yellow lights when it might be more safe to glide through, and I hardly ever turn right on red anymore, even when it is legal, because I’m too nervous there is going to be a no turn on red sign I missed hidden behind some tree that.

- wordslinger - Wednesday, Mar 17, 10 @ 12:59 pm:
Big Brother may or may not be sinister at any moment, but he still is Big Brother.

In this day and age, I go out of my way to not let people know what I’m doing. I pay cash. No IPASS. Give out few numbers. The fewer transactions tracking my behavior, the better. I’m an ain’t-no-business-but-my-own kind of guy.

- jerry 101 - Wednesday, Mar 17, 10 @ 1:06 pm:
“Looks like they may have been right.”

May have?

- Island Girl - Wednesday, Mar 17, 10 @ 1:14 pm:
RE: Bar owners. Cities with colleges/universities are held hostage by the bar owners… tap into their livelihood and heads will roll.

- Oh please.... - Thursday, Mar 18, 10 @ 5:32 pm:
More interesting than the issue of the red light cameras is that the videos highlighted Sen. Duffy misleading statements about the circumstances under which he recieved the red light tickets.

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