* Background is here if you need it. Press release…
The Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center’s mission is to foster the creation and distribution of media and art that emphasizes underrepresented voices and perspectives, and to promote empowerment and expression through media and arts education. Over the past 26 years, the UCIMC has brought hundreds of thousands of residents to events in downtown Urbana, supported hundreds of emerging artists, and incubated dozens of community based projects.
Recently, several news sources published stories about a federal indictment of Representative Ammons where the UCIMC was mentioned.
In response, we would like to share with our community the following context.
In 2021, UCIMC received a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) for a Non-profit Incubator to strengthen the capacity of local organizations working to alleviate the impacts of poverty and violence in Champaign County. We are grateful to Representative Ammons for her advocacy in addressing this and many local needs.
UCIMC was selected for this grant based on our longstanding experience in operating a fiscal sponsorship program that has supported the development of over 60 organizations. The majority of the Non-Profit Incubator grant funds were pass-through funds to support organizational capacity building for seven emerging nonprofit organizations over 12 months. These participating organizations received training and support through five modules: Statutory Requirements, Nonprofit Leadership, Digital Marketing, Grant Writing, and GATA (Grants Accountability and Transparency Act) Certification. Contracted experts supported each module. The program was successful and all seven organizations completed the program with good standing as formally recognized 501c3 organizations.
As part of the Digital Marketing Module, UCIMC chose to contract with Tatianna Ammons to support incubator participants in creating and improving their websites and digital marketing. Tatianna Ammons was selected due to her experience in the subject area. The selection of Tatianna Ammons was transparent and approved by our board of directors; her selection was in no way influenced by Representative Ammons. UCIMC paid Tatianna Ammons a total of $9,990 dollars to support seven organizations over the course of the grant and she completed all work to satisfaction. UCIMC submitted her work for reimbursement, no issues were flagged by DCEO, and UCIMC successfully administered the grant. We are grateful to Tatianna for her support in the success of the program.
As the story unfolds, the UCIMC encourages our community to remember that the U.S. Constitution guarantees due process with the presumption of innocence. UCIMC is a non-partisan community based organization that supports human rights for all residents.
Discuss.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 12:35 pm:
Sure, Jan.
- DuPage Dad - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 12:48 pm:
Am I crazy or isn’t her name spelled “Titianna”, and this organization repeatedly misspelled her name?
- Alton Sinkhole - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 12:53 pm:
@ DuPage Dad
Lol, fantastic catch.
- Red Ranger - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 1:00 pm:
A “we don’t comment on legal matters” would have been so much better here. Literally no one believes this statement. Im sure her mothers role, position in the HDem caucus and proximity to Speaker Welch had nothing to do with the hiring.
- Ponyboy1964 - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 1:07 pm:
“a total of $9,990 dollars”
Seems like a strange amount. Does $10,000 trigger report requirements to DCEO?
- Adroit Opiner - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 1:09 pm:
Might as well have made it $9,999.99.
- Candy Dogood - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 1:21 pm:
===Tatianna Ammons was selected due to her experience in the subject area. The selection of Tatianna Ammons was transparent and approved by our board of directors===
I’m no expert, but I think they’re going to need to give their community stakeholders a little bit more evidence to support this statement.
- Leslie K - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 1:27 pm:
That’s a whole bunch of words…
- Friendly Bob Adams - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 1:32 pm:
“no issues were flagged by DCEO” doesn’t mean much here. DCEO would be doing routine monitoring of federal funds, not looking at who was employed as a consultant.
- btowntruth from forgottonia - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 1:56 pm:
What they didn’t spell out was the subject area apparently is “Someone with a well connected elected official last name”.
- JS Mill - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 1:58 pm:
=Sure, Jan.=
@Three Dimensional Checkers +1
- NITA minute - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 1:59 pm:
Two questions for the UCIMC.
1. When were your organization’s leaders interviewed by federal authorities?
2. Is this what you told the feds?
- hisgirlfriday - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 2:20 pm:
@DuPage Dad - Got the Ammons spelled right though. Lol
- wayward - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 2:44 pm:
The Ammonses and UCIMC have had a good relationship for a long time. I doubt there was any explicit quid pro quo here as much as a desire to help an ally who’d gotten them money. So possibly unseemly, but not sure about illegal. I don’t know why the salary was set at that level.
- 13TH - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 3:05 pm:
it may not be reporting to DCEO, but more around the organization financial policies maybe $10,000.00 and above requires a Request For Proposal (RFP) or some additional process, so they would not be outside their policies
- Shytown - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 3:20 pm:
Uh huh…
Are they willing to say that in a court of law?
- Cubs in '16 - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 3:32 pm:
===Am I crazy or isn’t her name spelled “Titianna”===
‘Oh, TItianna. Yeah, she was a total patronage hire.’
- Larry X - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 4:00 pm:
For a family that’s already the beneficiary of one gubernatorial pardon, you’d think they would be staying on the straight and narrow path.
- Tom - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 4:07 pm:
==For a family that’s already the beneficiary of one gubernatorial pardon,==
Which Governor gave Aaron the pardon?
- Average Voter - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 4:41 pm:
If the grant recipient says they weren’t leaned on to make a specific hire, then I believe them. What incentive would they have to deny being bullied into a personnel choice once the bad actor gets all this heat? The IMC is merely affirming their independence.
That is all.
- Juvenal - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 4:41 pm:
It appears Titianna has an associate degree in history from Parkland Community College. We deserve to know what made her uniquely qualified to to assist seven media organizations in web design and digital marketing, and I would love some comic relief.
Bonus points to anyone who publishes the response when you ask for a list of her references or former clients.
In Champaign-Urbana, you cannot walk five steps in any directions without running into someone who owns a web design company. Its literally the town that invented the web browser. Atleast one black-owned web design and digital marketing consultant is listed on the local Black Chamber of Commerce website, Chrisp Media.
- green mountain boys - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 4:42 pm:
- Tom - Monday, Jul 13, 26 @ 4:07 pm:
==For a family that’s already the beneficiary of one gubernatorial pardon,==
Which Governor gave Aaron the pardon?
Qwinn. Now, there is NO RECORD of it being signed, but AARON claims he has one so he could run for the Urbana City Council. Quinn signed it allegedly on his last day in office.