[Peace] LOCATION: Call for turnout in support of Linda Abernathy TONIGHT (TUESDAY) 7PM

Tue Aug 5 07:35:09 CDT 2008

Someone pointed out that not everyone may know where the Township meeting
is held.

Township meetings are held immediately prior to Champaign City Council
meetings, in the City Council Chambers on the ground floor of the
Champaign City Building, 102 N. Neil St., Champaign. Again, please arrive
well before 7PM as everything will happen right at 7PM sharp.

R

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Randall Cotton" <recotton at earthlink.net>
To: <Peace at lists.chambana.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 12:40 AM
Subject: Call for turnout in support of Linda Abernathy TONIGHT (TUESDAY)
7PM

: This is short-notice, I know, but please consider turning out for this.
I
: wanted to get this out sooner, but it did take some time and I had a
: variety of frustrating computer problems.
:
: Call to action Summary:
: ------------------------
: This is a call for turnout at tonight's (TUESDAY, August 5) City of
: Champaign Township monthly meeting in support of Linda Abernathy,
Township
: Supervisor. Linda was sharply harassed at the last Township meeting
(July
: 1) with a political smear instigated by Vic McIntosh (and reinforced by
: Tom Bruno). There will be public comment to spotlight the attack,
: criticize it, and request apologies. I think Linda could really use some
: moral support on this with a big turnout.
:
: Turning out for this will require *very little time* - the meeting
starts
: at 7PM sharp and public comment is at the very beginning of the meeting.
: There will be no need to wait for an appropriate agenda item to come up.
: But it *is* important to ARRIVE EARLY - *before* 7PM, since there will
be
: no delay and things will happen at 7PM SHARP.
:
: Full details below.
:
: CHAMPAIGN RESIDENTS - if you feel inspired to make your own public
: comment, please do so. A 5 minute time limit is anticipated per comment
: (and directly addressing Township Board members will probably not be
: allowed).
:
: Details:
: -------
: For over 3 years, Linda Abernathy, the City of Champaign Township
: Supervisor (see http://www.cctownship.com ) has rather heroically been
: trying to fulfill her primary duty to provide "General Assistance"
: financial support to the poorest of the poor in Champaign (folks that
are
: unable to work and are unable to qualify for other assistance), despite
: inadequate funding and despite a lack of support from the Champaign City
: Council (which serves as the overseeing "Township Board"). That lack of
: support has now turned to outright hostility and harassment, in
particular
: from Councilman Vic McIntosh (backed up by Councilman Tom Bruno).
:
: At the last monthly Township Board meeting, on July 1, in the middle of
: discussion regarding next fiscal year's Township budget, McIntosh took
aim
: at Abernathy with a political smear. He insinuated that Abernathy was
: padding her salary on live television. Audio of the meeting obtained
from
: the City reveals McIntosh grilling and trapping her by first stating
: incorrect figures for her salary increases, then challenging her in an
: accusatory tone that her annual salary increases were higher than the 3%
: they were supposed to be, providing the insinuation of impropriety.
: Inexplicably, he did all this despite being specifically informed at the
: beginning of the meeting that Abernathy has no influence whatsoever on
her
: salary or annual increases.
:
: Here is the audio of his accusation:
:
: http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/accusation.mp3
:
: Transcript: (McIntosh) "Going back and looking at past General
Assistance
: fund salaries for the Supervisor, I come up with 2002 of  $44,124;  2003
: $46,169 and in '06 I come up with $56,614 and now we're at $59,553 *and
: that's more than 3%*!"
:
: His harsh and accusatory tone when he emphasized "and that's more than
: 3%!" was remarkable.
:
: By the way, Mr. McIntosh's figures are all incorrect. The actual salary
: figures, as stated in the appropriate ordinances, are:
:
: 2001-2002: $47,866
: 2002-2003: $49,322
: 2003-2004: $50,804
: 2004-2005: $52,338
: 2005-2006: $53,924
: 2006-2007: $55,562
: 2007-2008: $57,252
: 2008-2009: :$58,994
:
: Coming into the meeting, McIntosh was apparently ignorant of the fact
that
: Abernathy has no possible influence on her salary. In fact, the
Champaign
: City Council (acting as the Township Board) sets the Supervisor salary
: (including annual cost-of-living increases) *before* each supervisor
: election. That is, Abernathy's salary for each of the four years of her
: term was set by ordinance before she was even elected. Abernathy
informed
: McIntosh of all this when he first broached the issue.
:
: Here are Mr. McIntosh's first words on the matter:
:
:
http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/original-question.mp3
:
: Transcript: (McIntosh) "How are salaries raised? Do we do that or is
that
: just a - is it set in statute?"
:
: After some confusion about which salaries he was concerned about,
: Abernathy provided the following (factually correct) answer, having
: received advice from the City Attorney, who was sitting next to her.
:
: http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/linda-answer.mp3
:
: Transcript: (McIntosh) "Well, it talks a salary of the Supervisor on
page
: 4 of the budget of $59,453 - is that your salary?" (Abernathy) That is
my
: salary. That salary is set every 4 years. That salary was set before I
: took office. So those salaries are set - and then once every four years,
: they - and that comes up again in December - you all set it again and
: that's what goes on for the next four years and it's set up to go
: approximately 3% every year, up." (Macintosh) "OK, thank you, for right
: now."
:
: But, inexplicably, later in the meeting, in the middle of discussing
: another topic, Mr. McIntosh completely disregarded Abernathy's answer,
: dragged out his previously prepared (incorrect) numbers on her salary
and
: leveled his accusation anyway. Again:
:
: http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/accusation.mp3
:
: Transcript: (McIntosh) "Going back and looking at past General
Assistance
: fund salaries for the Supervisor, I come up with 2002 of  $44,124;  2003
: $46,169 and in '06 I come up with $56,614 and now we're at $59, 553 *and
: that's more than 3%*!"
:
: Ironically, Mr. McIntosh was not only a member of the 2004 City Council
: that approved Abernathy's salary for each of the four years in her term,
: but township records (minutes and video recording) show that Mr.
McIntosh
: was, in fact, actually present during the vote approving that salary at
: the October 5, 2004 Township meeting (as ordinance 1104-01).
:
: And there is another dimension to this smear. Not only did McIntosh make
: his accusation despite having been informed that Abernathy has no
: influence on her salary, he did so in a clearly discriminatory manner.
Mr.
: McIntosh claimed that he was not trying to put Abernathy on the spot,
but
: that he was just acting out of concern for the fact that there has been
a
: shortage of funds, citing past dire straits of the township finances and
: past cuts to General Assistance:
:
: http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/on-the-spot.mp3
:
: Transcript: (McIntosh) "The reason I am asking these question is not to
: put you or anything on our [sic] spot, but we have been through - we
just
: talked tonight about - we went through a time where we thought maybe
state
: receivership may be the way because there wasn't money - we've had to go
: through all kinds of cuts."
:
: However, despite Mr. McIntosh's claim that he wasn't singling out
: Abernathy, Mr. McIntosh made no mention of the *Township Assessor's*
: salary increases, which are identical to the Supervisor's (the Assessor
: and the Supervisor are the two primary employees under the Township and
: they receive the same salary, though the Assessor's annual increases
come
: 7 months later in the year). The Assessor's salary also appeared as a
line
: item in the same budget that Mr. McIntosh had in front of him. Mr.
: McIntosh attempted to pass off his accusation as an attempt at fiscal
: responsibility. But Abernathy's salary increases were of acute interest
to
: him (so much so that he dug up historic, though incorrect, information
on
: Abernathy's salary in previous years) while the Assessor's identical
: salary warranted no mention. This betrays Mr. McIntosh's claim of
studious
: fiduciary concern and further exposes his attack as targeted, political
: and possibly racially or sexually discriminatory.
:
: Once Abernathy (who is a black woman) realized that she was being
: specifically targeted with this possibly discriminatory smear (Brian
: Christie, the Assessor, is a white man), she spoke up to point this out:
:
:
http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/salaries-are-the-same.mp3
:
: Transcript: (Abernathy) "Are you talking about me, specifically?"
: (McIntosh) "Yes." (Abernathy) Brian's salary and my salary is pretty
much
: the same with the difference of the timeframe."
:
: But that had no effect on Mr. McIntosh, who then immediately launched
into
: his accusation described above. Once again:
:
: http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/accusation.mp3
:
: Transcript: (McIntosh) "Going back and looking at past General
Assistance
: fund salaries for the Supervisor, I come up with 2002 of  $44,124;  2003
: $46,169 and in '06 I come up with $56,614 and now we're at $59, 553 *and
: that's more than 3%*!"
:
: At this point, recognizing the smear attempt, Abernathy protested.
:
: http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/protest.mp3
:
: Transcript: (Abernathy) Unless Brian and I have been being mispaid, and
we
: go by the book, there is no - and I kinda *resent* that Vic. I resent is
: that you would wait until this meeting. (McIntosh) Would you like to
: see... (Abernathy) No, that's a spreadsheet that Steve Barnes did, but I
: resent it because if you had these questions..." (McIntosh) Is it
correct?
: (Abernathy) "... you could have easily come and figured that out!".
:
: Mr. McIntosh ignored her protest, immediately changing the subject.
:
: Later in the meeting, Mr. Bruno defended Mr. McIntosh, scolding
Abernathy
: for being "thin-skinned". He tried to justify Mr. McIntosh's behavior as
: legitimate questioning about a line item in the budget that's up for
: approval, then attempted to paint Abernathy's protested as "chilling"
his
: "right to have a legitimate policy debate", ignoring both that:
:
: 1. Abernathy informed McIntosh to begin with (at McIntosh's request and
: with the City Attorney's input) that she had no influence on her salary
: and that it was determined by the Township Board before she was even
: elected.
: 2. Abernathy was directly targeted despite the Assessor's salary being
: identical to hers (Abernathy even reminded Bruno of this).
:
: http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/bruno.mp3
:
: Transcript: (Bruno) "the item on the floor right now is approval of the
: budget and one of the biggest in the budget is the salary of the
Township
: Supervisor - and so, I think it was a little thin-skinned, Linda,
that..."
: (Abernathy) "Well, you can think, Tom" (Bruno) "No, let me finish
please"
: (Abernathy) "You can think that, but I think not" (Bruno) "Ok, let me
: finish. It's entirely appropriate for Councilman McIntosh to ask
questions
: about the Supervisor salary..." (Abernathy) "And not ask about the
: Township Assessor?, I mean come on now, we're making the same amount of
: money" (Bruno) "Linda, Linda, please. Let me finish. I don't think you
: should have called him out for talking about a line item on the budget
: when the budget is the item that's up for discussion right now - that's
: fair game - to talk about what makes up the budget. That's what we're
here
: for. And should he have called you privately to discuss this out of the
: limelight? I don't think so. I think that tonight's the night, and the
: time and the place to discuss the township budget. That's the whole
nature
: of the open meetings act. I would hope that we could do this on a
: professional level, but I don't have my right to have a legitimate
policy
: debate chilled in some way that it's off limits for me to ask a question
: about your salary, when we're talking about the approval of the budget.
If
: your salary is defensible, then you should defend it. If somebody
: questions it, you should be proud to defend it, but it shouldn't be
: off-limits to ask questions about it and I think you should be
encouraged
: to ask questions about line items that make up the budget."
:
: Finally, near the end of the meeting, Mr. McIntosh stated that his
: comments "weren't meant to pick on anyone" (though that's precisely what
: he had done) and he then tried to disguise his attack as an example of
: transparency in government.
:
:
http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/pick-on-anyone.mp3
:
: "My comments tonight had absolutely in no way were meant to pick on
anyone
: or anything we do. But I find it just a little ironic - we sat as City
: Council members and go through our annual budget and have 5 or 8
meetings,
: sitting right here, in open public on everything we do. We meet once a
: year on a Township budget and do not have a study session on it.
: Resolution 2008-07-08 that we passed tonight that was voted on at the
: annual town hall meeting, reads: "Shall the voters of City of Champaign
: Township ask the Town of the City Champaign Township and the City of
: Champaign to post all contracts and itemize expenses on their website so
: that taxpayers  can see how their money is being spent? That's a
: resolution that was asked for at the Town Hall meeting. One of the
things
: I, as a City Council member pride, is that we are open - we don't do
: things in private - we do them in public. We ask our questions in
public,
: sometimes it causes a problem, but we do everything we can inherently do
: to do our business in public. And so I do think that if there are
: questions in a budget, whether it be a city budget or it is a township
: budget,  it should be done in public so the public can hear and
understand
: and if anyone takes fault with that, I guess I apologize personally, but
I
: think open meetings is where government ought to be done. And it all
ought
: to be open. So thank you."
:
: Here are the complete audio passages pertaining to this matter.
:
: http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/mcintosh1.mp3
: http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/mcintosh2.mp3
: http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/bruno.mp3
: http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/mcintosh3.mp3
:
: Here is the audio of the entire meeting
:
:
http://imsahp.chambana.net/~randall/champaign_township/township-2008-07-01.mp3
:
: Conclusion:
: ------------
: McIntosh started out by asking Abernathy how Township salaries were
: determined, feigning an innocent question as if he was trying to be a
good
: steward of Board finances. Abernathy answered very clearly that the
: Township salaries (hers and the Assessor's, including annual increases)
: were set by statute passed by the Township Board before she was even
: elected. Her answer was informed by the City Attorney, who was sitting
: right next to her. But it turns out Mr. McIntosh wasn't interested in
the
: answer to his question, because within minutes, he ignored it and
leveled
: an accusation directly at Abernathy, pointing to incorrect salary
numbers
: that he went to the trouble of digging up beforehand, insinuating that
her
: salary was too high and that she had something to do with that.
: Furthermore, though Mr. McIntosh claimed to be only concerned with the
: welfare of the Township finances, he made no mention of the Assessor's
: salary and annual increases, which are the same as the Supervisor's.
This
: provides the strong appearance of a deliberate, pre-planned targeted
: attack to embarrass and smear Abernathy.
:
: That's certainly what I personally think has happened.
: