* WGLT…
A McLean County Board member says his party has been plotting behind closed doors for months to create new district board maps that would make it harder for Democrats to get elected.
Republican Josh Barnett of Bloomington said County Board chair John McIntyre rejected his call for a bipartisan advisory panel to help draw the maps.
“They are trying to dump Republican voters from the rural areas into Bloomington-Normal in an attempt to keep control of the County Board for the next decade,” Barnett said. “They are not being open about that. They are not being honest about it and it’s time that it stops and is brought to light.”
Republicans currently hold an 11-9 majority on the board, but the GOP majority has been trimmed in recent elections.
Barnett said McIntyre responded that Democrats posed a “growing threat” on the board and said he was trying to “contain them.”
McIntyre denied he said that. Republicans lost two seats during last year’s election.
* WEEK…
A second Republican is having doubts about a GOP-backed plan to dramatically change the way county board districts are drawn in McLean County.
The county board’s executive committee voted 5-3 Monday in favor of a plan dividing the county into five large districts instead of the current structure of 10 smaller districts. However, the outcome of a full board vote, expected at a special meeting Tuesday, is very much in doubt. […]
[Republican board member Randy Martin] did not explain his concerns during Monday’s meeting, but told 25 News he’s worried the redistricting debate is creating an unhealthy rivalry between residents living in the country and those in the Twin-Cities. […]
As a result of what he said was a “shady” process, [Republican board member Josh Barnett] believes funding is at risk for the county-owned nursing home, the county’s behavioral health initiatives, and the McLean County Museum of History.
Meanwhile at the Statehouse, not a single solitary Democratic legislator has publicly threatened to vote against the upcoming remap legislation.
- Precinct Captain - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 10:27 am:
Paging Tim Butler.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 10:32 am:
Old enough to remember the GOP being ran by sane, reasonable individuals who could differeniate between personal ethos and the doable.
Now, it’s like they are trying to see who can shoot themselves in the foot the quickest.
- anon2 - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 10:36 am:
Good to see a couple of principled Republicans on the country board. Sounds like the GOP majority, however, wants to gerrymander county board seats the same way they denounce Democrats for doing with legislative and congressional districts. In other words, do as we say, not as we do.
- Nearly Normal - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 10:49 am:
Could these “private” meetings be in violation of the Open Meetings Act? This does not surprise me in that the OLD order feels threatened. Nothing like a bunch of old white guys who feel threatened by the changing world. Time for Coach Mac to chuck it in.
- anon2 - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 10:49 am:
Republicans hold the majority in many other downstate counties. How many of those Republican majorities also flagrantly gerrymander county board districts, while loudly complaining about Democratic gerrymandering as the state level?
- Commisar Gritty - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 10:56 am:
I’m an ISU grad and the Republican electeds down there are wayyyyy crazier than their constituencies would support if they were aware (at least a decade ago, who knows these days). They know they can’t win free and fair elections, so they pack/crack all the districts at every opportunity.
- Curious citizen - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 10:58 am:
Wait, they’re planning new district boundaries BEHIND CLOSED DOORS? Are those doors LOCKED???
Where’s Mark Maxwell with the long walk down a tunnel???
- DuPage Saint - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 11:04 am:
In other news the sun came up in the East today
I don’t care what party it is the first rule of thumb for politicians is care of me.
- Commisar Gritty - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 11:05 am:
@Curious citizen
👏👏👏
- Bruce( no not him) - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 11:12 am:
— Democrats posed a “growing threat” —
Some might say that about the other party as well.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 11:12 am:
===long walk down a tunnel??? ===
I cannot wait until I see him on the western steps of the Capitol. lol
- JS Mill - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 11:13 am:
=@Curious citizen
👏👏👏=
Aww, feeling like you are being left out of partisan politics? Only to find you are not.
Small towns invented this stuff. Blo-No is as unabashedly partisan as it gets and yet their pols always complain about Chicago.
- first time caller - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 11:14 am:
“Could these “private” meetings be in violation of the Open Meetings Act?”
From all indications, the closed door meetings aren’t actually meetings. Just like last time, George Wendt is drawing up all the maps by himself in his basement/cave and pushes them out to his co-conspirators. They only ever communicate one-on-one, so there’s not Open Meetings involvement and since there’s no committee planning these, there is no formal work product that can be FOIAed.
Attempts to FOIA any documents have been met with plausible deniability answers of “I have no knowledge or involvement with [carefully worded reframing of question]”.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 11:18 am:
===long walk down a tunnel??? ===
It’s show business. The HRaunerites couldn’t have edited anything better if you gave them a week.
To the post,
How this will end, it will be interesting only through the prism of “whataboutism”
The maps can be a national issue / state issue (intra and inter)… and here a local issue.
Thing is, the closer it is to your neighbor knowing what another neighbor is “doing to them”…
=== [Republican board member Randy Martin] did not explain his concerns during Monday’s meeting, but told 25 News he’s worried the redistricting debate is creating an unhealthy rivalry between residents living in the country and those in the Twin-Cities. […]===
All politics… is local.. or in this case “too close to home”
I’ll watch, it’ll be an interesting watch.
- first time caller - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 11:20 am:
===Could these “private” meetings be in violation of the Open Meetings Act?===
From all indications, the closed door meetings aren’t actually meetings. Just like last time, George Wendt is drawing up all the maps by himself in his basement/cave and pushes them out to his co-conspirators. They only ever communicate one-on-one, so there’s not Open Meetings involvement and since there’s no committee planning these, there is no formal work product that can be FOIAed.
Attempts to FOIA any documents have been met with plausible deniability answers of “I have no knowledge or involvement with [carefully worded reframing of question]”.
- Candy Dogood - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 11:48 am:
===not a single solitary Democratic legislator has publicly threatened to vote against the upcoming remap legislation. ===
They’ve screwed up the process so badly that I am prepared to wait until I see the product to have any expectations. That being said I don’t think the legislative map making process should be fair to anyone that supports or participates in the Big Lie that is being used to undermine our Democracy and the Big Lie seems to be what the majority of the GOP is lining up behind.
It’d be nice to see more coverage of this include illustrating that the party with members of the legislature that actively supports the Big Lie and participated in the January 6th Insurrection are only criticizing this process because it will disadvantage their attempts to overthrow our Government and defy our Democratic norms.
===How many of those Republican majorities also flagrantly gerrymander county board districts===
You should just assume all of them. It does not take much sophistication to cheat and most of downstate has taken many measures to exclude people from representation for generations.
- jimbo26 - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 12:36 pm:
Let’s see what the Sangamon County Board does with the resolution creating a Sangamon County Redistricting Commission tonight. Last month the Board sent it back to the Elections Oversight Committee which will debate it at 4:30. Wonder if it will go back to the Board for a vote. Remember, this is the home county of Rep Tim Butler who proposed a Redistricting Commission for the State of Illinois. Any guesses how his fellow Republicans will react?
- Annonin' - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 12:54 pm:
Maybe Tantrum Tim could wander up to BN and see what GOPies do in a remap with no numbers and a partisan agenda
- Johnny Tractor - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 1:10 pm:
Favorite McLean County Board story, potentially apocryphal, but as I remember it from 30 years ago: the Board was debating whether to spend the money needed to make the courthouse accessible to those with physical disabilities. One member is reputed to have wondered aloud at a Board meeting why they were even considering spending the money since he’d never seen a disabled person in the courthouse.
- muon - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 2:04 pm:
Counties in Illinois have a unique problem with the remap not shared by the state or other local units of government. State law requires counties adopts plan by July. State law also specifically requires counties to use the official Census results which aren’t available until August at the earliest. I know many boards have had discussions with their States Attorneys as how they can navigate the unavoidable conflict in statute this year.
- Mister Whipple - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 3:59 pm:
Take a look behind the curtain and you’ll see that the McLean County Farm Bureau was pushing the buttons for the new district alignment.
- Nearly Normal - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 7:23 pm:
Board just voted to keep current district district structure of 10 with two board members each. Vote was 17-3 with Republicans changing their votes to approve.
- The real Captain - Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 8:00 pm:
McLean county board voted tonight to keep the county board at 10 districts with 2 members each. The vote was 17-3. 8 gop including the county board chair reversed course and voted for it.
https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2021-05-11/mclean-county-board-to-keep-10-districts-with-two-members-each?fbclid=IwAR1VrDxEX7ZzcEbTplz_wx5hEvcXLEweE-nXPQIF7V4NVfQcs3MMZ5SMFJk