DeKalb County, Illinois

Minutes of the
Public Policy Committee

January 8, 2004

The Public Policy Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Thursday, January 8, 2004 at 6:30p.m. at the Legislative Center’s Liberty Room. Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias called the meeting to order. Members present were Patricia LaVigne, Richard Osborne, pat Vary and Joseph Wiegand. Ray Bockman and Dennis Sands were also present.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Moved by Ms. LaVigne, seconded by Mr. Wiegand, and it was carried unanimously by a voice vote to approve the minutes from December 2003.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Moved by Mr. Wiegand, seconded by Ms. Vary, and it was carried unanimously by a voice vote that the amended agenda be approved.

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

There were no public comments for the evening.

LEGISLATIVE AGENDA DISCUSSION

Chairman Tobias said that now that the committee is finished compiling the 2004 Legislative Agenda List, how do we, as a committee, go about getting our legislators to try and help us accomplish our goals? She said that Ms. Supple, DeKalb County Coordinator, sent copies to Senator Burzynski, Representatives Wait and Pritchard, since their initiatives are supposed to be turned in next Friday, January 16, 2004 and, hopefully, that will help.

Chairman Tobias then said that she would like to hold the legislative agenda breakfast at the end of February so that we don’t try and rush it through. We can use it as an opportunity to get the department heads of the county together. The committee agreed to hold the breakfast on the last Monday in February, which is February 23, 2004.

Chairman Tobias then informed the committee that she spoke with someone today regarding the education funding reform issue and was told that it is not going anywhere right now because it’s a huge issue. The State of Illinois Constitution does not have the right language. She also said that keep in mind that the State of Illinois is in last place for state funds for education according to an editorial piece that appeared in Crain’s Chicago Business. She said that we should continue to talk about it and keep the issue going

PLAN FOR SPEAKING WITH OTHER UNIVERSITY COUNTIES ABOUT EXTRA FUNDING

Chairman Tobias said that at the last meeting the committee discussed speaking with other university counties about extra funding for the public defender’s office. It was agreed that the committee would write to the various county board chairmen of university counties for the purpose of opening up dialogue regarding their common interests. Mr. Bockman, DeKalb County Administrator, volunteered to draft a letter that could go out to the various counties involved.

Chairman Tobias asked if there were any other legislative issues that the committee might want to discuss before moving on to the next agenda item? Ms. LaVigne said that she is concerned about HB3555- Sex Offender Bill – that was mentioned at the Public Services Committee Meeting the other evening. It is going to cost the county a lot of money if it is adopted this spring. She said that it’s an intensive probation type program that may have up to 16 people each that would report to each probation officer. These people would be put on probation for a lifetime, which equals between 10 to 20 years. They could be seen daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Ms. LaVigne stressed that it is an unfounded mandate. Mr. Bockman said that Metro Counties is watching this issue very closely.

Ms. LaVigne also passed out the brochures from the Sheriff regarding the jail referendum.

Mr. Bockman said that a private firm printed it and that no taxpayer’s funds were used. Ms. Vary said that maybe what we should do as a committee in the next month and a half is write a letter to the editor regarding the jail issue, maybe two or three of them. Chairman Tobias said that she would write an article for next week’s newspapers.

COUNTY GOVERNMENT WEEK IDEAS

Chairman Tobias informed the committee that County Government Week for this year is April 18 – 24, 2004. She did not know what the topic was just yet because it is not on the NACO website just yet. The committee discussed having the high school students write something for the county possibly. They also discussed having the students vote on the jail referendum issue and see how their vote compares to the population. Mr. Bockman said that possibly we could do mock ballots and see how they vote. The committee also discussed that maybe the county would have to hold something during the November election instead because there may not be enough time to get prepared for the March election. Ms. Tobias said that these were very good suggestions and that she would check the NACO website and see what the subject is for this year.

NACO LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE

Chairman Tobias said that the NACO Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., is scheduled for February 27, 2004 through March 2, 2004. She encouraged the members to go if they are interested. Mr. Osborne said that he would check his schedule and see if he could make it this year. Chairman Tobias said that she would like to see someone from this committee attend this conference since this committee produces the legislative agenda.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved by Mr. Wiegand, seconded by Mr. Osborne to adjourn the meeting.

Respectively submitted,

______________________________
Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias