City Council Regular Meeting

CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES DATE: Monday, February 22, 2021 TIME: 7:00 P.M. PLACE: *Held virtually due to Governor’s and Mayoral Emergency Orders The City Council of the City of Urbana, Illinois, met in regular session Monday, February 22, at 7:00pm via Zoom. ELECTED OFFICIALS PHYSICALLY PRESENT: Diane Wolfe Marlin, Mayor; Phyllis D. Clark, City Clerk ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE: City Council Members (CM) Bill Brown, Bill Colbrook, Shirese Hursey (arrived at 7:05pm), Jared Miller, Dennis Roberts, Erik Sacks, Maryalice Wu ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Jason Liggett, Kay Meharry, Carol Mitten, Lorrie Pearson OTHERS PRESENT VIA ZOOM: Pete Resnick, Dave Wesner Public Input via Zoom: Aaron Abbott, Allan Max Axelrod; Ben, Elderess Melinda Carr, Tracy Chong, Colin Dodson, Christopher Hansen, Justin Michael Hendrix, Audrey Ishii, Eddie Pratt, Jr., Pete Resnick, Rev. Dr. Evelyn Underwood, Wayne Williams A. Call to Order and Roll Call With a quorum virtually present, Mayor Marlin called the meeting of the City Council to order at 7:00pm. B. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting CM Colbrook made a motion to approve the minutes from the February 8, 2021 meeting. Motion seconded by CM Miller and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: None C. Presentations and Public Input *Approval of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission Report and proclamation by Mayor was added under E., Additions to the Agenda. CM Brown said the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission looked at the 2018 Kankakee Rail Trail Connectivity Study. One of the goals of this study was to try to connect Weaver Park to the existing trailhead, which ends where Main Street comes out to Route 150. Other goals of the study were to develop a primary trailhead and Weaver Park and improve East Urbana Access. CM Brown discussed details of the plan and said BPAC would like to make the recommendation to City Council and they could present a resolution. They would like to include the Forest Preserve District and the Park District because they helped pay for the study. Discussion ensued and CM Brown and staff responded to questions from council members. Public Input via Zoom: the many police complaints and FOIA requests made by Christopher Hansen are costing the City of Urbana and taxpayers money; anyone who is interested in finding out what Christopher Hansen does to try to effect change in the City can contact him; City is violating its own human rights ordinance; information presented on Christopher Hansen was badly researched; de- escalation should be used by police, even when a gun is present; appreciate CM Wu drafting the resolution prioritizing tactical de-escalation in the Use of Force Policy; Human Rights ordinance needs more work and should not be approved tonight; people should not say negative things about others Page 1 of 4  just because there is an election; de-escalation by police is necessary; recognize and appreciate the work done by City staff and Mayor; tone of public input has turned nasty and mean and council members have handled the negative input with professionalism and grace; disgusted by derogatory comments from individuals during public input and council should take action to stop it; disagree with the ordinance annexing property at 2005 North Willow Road because it is a single property and the owners will have access to City services but some surrounding properties will not; city council members should be on-screen during public input; information about a Taser incident by Urbana police in 2019 has been suppressed; make sure to donate to the food pantries across Urbana and Champaign; submitted a document with updates to the Use of Force Policy and also sent recommendations for the de-escalation resolution; intimidated by police officers wearing guns; vote on Human Relations Ordinance could make city officials less accountable and the City will be free to excuse itself; de-escalation resolution is inadequate. Proclamation declaring Supermarket Employee Day – Mayor Marlin proclaimed Monday, February 22, 2021 Supermarket Employee Day in the City of Urbana. This was presented in two different grocery stores and read in English and Spanish. D. Council Input and Communications In response to Christopher Hansen’s remark that she thought it was a good idea to have background checks for jobs, CM Hursey clarified that she was speaking about specific positions. CM Hursey also voiced her disappointment in Carle for the lack of organization and work to make sure people in her community will be vaccinated. E Additions to the Agenda *Mayor Marlin announced the addition of a presentation of the Kickapoo Rail Trail from CM Brown, chair of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) and a proclamation for National Supermarket Employee Day. She asked for a motion and second to add those items to the agenda. CM Wu moved to add the presentation from BPAC and the proclamation to the agenda, which was seconded by CM Roberts and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook Miller, Roberts, Sacks Wu Nay: None F. Unfinished Business There was none. G. Reports of Standing Committees Committee of the Whole – Council Member Dennis Roberts 1. Consent Agenda Resolution No. 2021-02-006R: A Resolution Approving a City of Urbana Community Development Block Grant Program Agreement (First followers Welcome Home Program) CM Roberts moved to approve Resolution No. 2021-02-006R and Ordinance No. 2021-02-004 as forwarded from Committee. Motion seconded by CM Wu. CM Wu moved to have Ordinance No. 2021-02-004 removed from the Consent Agenda because she had questions about it. Motion to remove Ordinance No. 2021-02-004 off the Consent Agenda was seconded by CM Roberts and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: None The motion to approve Resolution No. 2021-02-006R was carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Page 2 of 4  Nay: None 2. Regular Agenda a. Ordinance No. 2021-02-004: An Ordinance Annexing Certain Territory to the City of Urbana (2005 North Willow Road / Michele R. and William R. Scott) CM Roberts moved to approve Ordinance No. 2021-02-004. Motion seconded by CM Wu. There was discussion about the other properties surrounding 2005 North Willow Road and whether it was planned to reach out to owners of the surrounding properties about possible annexation of those in the future. Community Development Director Lorrie Pearson responded that her department will reach out to surrounding properties over time about possible annexation to the City. The motion to approve Ordinance No. 2021-02-004 was carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: None b. Resolution No. 2021-02-007R: A Resolution Prioritizing Tactical De-escalation in the Use of Force Policy and Police Transparency in Urbana CM Roberts made a motion to approve this resolution as forwarded from Committee. CM Wu seconded the motion. CM Wu remarked on comments made about this resolution during public input, saying the purpose of the resolution was not to go through the entire use of force policy, but to state the intent of City Council and how they would like to see the use of force policy move forward. CM Wu said as far as the number of people of the Use of Force Committee, there hasn’t been discussion about the process for that committee. She suggested once there is a process, that it be brought forward to Council provide input on the process and selection of the civilian board member, and for approval of the potential board member. CM Wu thought it would also be a good idea for the Police Department to provide a use of force report to council every quarter or every six months. Discussion about frequency of reports and the number of civilian members on the Committee and possibly changing the civilian member to say at least one civilian member on the committee. CM Miller moved to amend Section 3 of Resolution No. 2021-02-007R adding in the second sentence “At a minimum the annual report shall include”. CM Wu suggested adding “in addition, a quarterly report will be provided to City Council with aggregated results of data that is sent to the State” inserted before the last sentence in Section 3. CM Wu seconded the motion to amend Resolution No. 2021-02-007R. Motion carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sack, Wu Nay: None The motion and second to approve Resolution No. 2020-02-007R were carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sack, Wu Nay: None c. Ordinance No. 2021-01-003: An Ordinance Amending City Code Chapter 12 (Exceptions to the Human Rights Ordinance) CM Roberts moved Ordinance No. 2021-01-003, which came to council with no recommendation. The motion was seconded by CM Brown. Page 3 of 4  City Administrator Carol Mitten discussed some of the possible changes, with input from council members. Pete Resnick, a member of the Human Relations Commission joined the discussion, made suggestions and answered questions. It was suggested that this ordinance be brought back to Committee of the Whole for changes and further discussion. After discussion CM Roberts withdrew his original motion. A motion to bring Ordinance No. 2021-01-003 back to the Committee of the Whole was made by CM Hursey, seconded by CM Wu and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sack, Wu Nay: None H. Reports of Special Committees There were none. I. Reports of Officers There were none. J. New Business There was none. K. Adjournment With no further business before council, Mayor Marlin declared this virtual meeting adjourned at 9:04pm. Kay Meharry Recording Secretary This meeting was recorded and is viewable on-demand. Minutes Approved: March 22, 2021 Page 4 of 4 From: Audrey Ishii To: !City Council Subject: PUBLIC INPUT --2/22/21 Date: Monday, February 22, 2021 7:43:42 PM *** Email From An External Source *** Public Input 2/22/21 by Audrey Ishii. For the record: As you know, Chris Hansen and the Edgar County Watchdogs have an expensive lawsuit against our City. Last meeting, Edgar County explained how good they are at lawsuits and getting people fired. They had been given a conversation from our closed neighborhood listserv, so I got curious and took a look at Hansen's website. First thing I see is a link to a video clip ridiculing Council Member Shirese Hursey by suggesting she let out a storm of profanities. Then I found that Hansen publicly posted the mortgage and deed of a City employee just to prove that he could do it. Finally, I saw that he doesn't even respect his own privacy, he listed the FOIA number of his request for all of his own police complaints. So I requested his same FOIA from the City. Please write down these numbers, because you can request it too and you need to: 2019-F-387 and 2020-F-386. It turns out that Hansen filed 81 police complaints last year. The other 42,000 of us Urbana-ites filed 13, in a very difficult year. Many of his were multiple complaints requiring long reports to respond, obviously a lot of work and expense that we taxpayers are paying for. So I read a few. May 2019. He called 911 because two black boys walked from the alley to the street through his yard. He told 911 that it was an attempted bike theft and he was chasing them. He continued to chase, but eventually the police found him, found the boys, and refused to arrest them. They looked at Hansen's recordings--the boys did not even slow as they passed his bikes. The black boys said he has followed their friends in the past, and he is known to accuse black males of theft. He then claimed criminal trespass justified his chase. Officers asked him how he would feel if the roles were reversed, and he were the one being pursued? He replied that he was doing his civic duty. This single police complaint has been the subject of thousands of dollars of FOIAs and appeals by Hansen, paid by the City taxpayers. So I opened another one. Again he called 911 this time in October 2019 about an attempted bike theft by a black male. The police came. They asked him if a bike was locked. He said it was. The police tilted it a bit, and said it is not. Hansen filed an official complaint that the police tampered with his bike. Another item was that officers he had previously complained about came to his call and this made him "uncomfortable". He has made 81 complaints in one year, and the police are supposed to make sure that no one named ever answers his calls? Can we let that sink in for a moment? But it gets worse. Hansen had 28 FOIAs between Jan-Jul in 2020. The FOIAs cost even more than the police complaints because of legal work. This is REAL money, not just a rearrangement of tasks! Hires are being made to cope. Did you know that you can request a log of the FOIAs by Hansen, his associates, and his pseudonyms? Please order the FOIAs he's already filed, save the City some work. Naturally, he won't have these on his website, so get them from the City. It's all free, and that is why he has weaponized it, because it costs him nothing until he became subject to the legal State remedy of recovering a small part of the actual expense from abusive requesters. He says that he is a watchdog for the community but please, do order the logs of his FOIA's and appeals and judge for yourself. Please Imagine what Urbana could do with the tens to hundreds of thousands that we the taxpayers have spent to address the incredible sense of entitlement, and privilege of this one man. I demand that Urbana shut this man down. You say you want to fix structural racism, then let's stop indulging the person who is making 911 calls to complain about the very existence of black boys. He has weaponized police complaints and FOIA's long before April, and since then he has used Aleyah as the human shield for his white rage. Could we be uplifting the Aleyahs in this City with the money we're using to coddle this one man? The reason I know that these anonymized numbers presented by the City were Hansen is because the FOIA numbers in Item 1. cross referened with numbers on his website checkcu.org. The police complaints from his 2020-F-386 FOIA match with police complaints in the log, which told me that he is Complainant #3. 1. Hansen was personally responsible for 81 of 94 police complaints in 2020. The average number of complaints between 2010 to 2019 was 9. Urbana estimated that the processing of these complaints costs was $42,500. Hansen appealed 60 of his 94 police complaints. The typical appeal is estimated at $1,500 including staff time and paying a hearing officer, but not including the time of the volunteer police review board. Hansen's appeals for 2020 would cost Urbana $120,000 to review. This information is from the Oct. 26 council meeting https://urbanaillinois.us/sites/default/files/attachments/CPRB_Memo_and_Logs.pdf 2. Between Jan and July 2020, Hansen submitted 28 Freedom of Information Act requests (FOIAs) with 14 extra parts. The cost of processing varies, but a typical topic is to demand all documentation of the processing of one of his previous FOIAs or one of his numerous police complaints. Another is to make multiple demands in "one" FOIA. This is an Edgar County Watchdog strategy to destroy government effectiveness. https://urbanaillinois.us/sites/default/files/attachments/FOIA_Presentation.pdf Examples: 2020-F-386, demands that Urbana: “...supply the following: any and all documents related [to] investigations performed on police complaints by Christopher Hansen after December 1 2019.” 2020-F-269 seeks: "[D]ocuments related to an incident on May 12 around 10pm involving a damaged van on the 500 block of W Illinois St" including any audio and video recordings: (2) "[D}ocuments related to the Urbana CPRB regarding the resignation of Grace Miller, the placement of Mikhail Lyubanksy  as chair, and the resulting vacant board seat which the City now seeks to fill[;}" (4)"All emails to/from Vacellia Clark during 2020[;]" and (5) "All emails to/from Diane Wolfe Marlin during March and April of 2020[.]"   He also requested the body camera video from the police officer with whom he had a 30-second interaction because she asked him to step away from the van that she was investigating, as well as dashcam. The next day he submitted a new FOIA with some reduced timeframes as well as the unredacted copy of the Police Department policy. (May 14-15, 2020) 3. Hansen makes appeals of his FOIAs to the State Public Access Bureau (PAC) for nearly that he doesn't obtain, whether so trivial as a private individual's cellphone number, or the fees that are legally charged because he has been determined by the PAC to be a "recurrent" (a nice way to say "weaponizing") requester. In 2020, he made 23 FOIA/OMA appeals, while people associated with Hansen made another 16. He then touts these numbers of appeals to be evidence of serious problems in Urbana. The vast majority of the appeals have not been taken up at all by the PAC. He completely loses about 75% of what are taken up (about 6 of 8), including the identification of himself as a recurrent requester. If the PAC determines that Urbana can unredact the smallest thing, suggests a fee recomputation, or as in the bodycam case above--that they should supply Hansen the 30 seconds of bodycam in which the police officer asked him to step away from the van (not HIS van of course, just one of the many cases in which he is trying to generate another police complaint), he then asserts the individual City official or employee is criminal, lying, acting unlawfully, illegally, or corruptly. Does he not notice that logically, these descriptors should then equally apply to himself in all the points that he has lost? For example, the two of his filings alleging Open Meetings Act (OMA) violations that the PAC reviewed were rejected, but this did not stop him from filing a lawsuit together with his Edgar County Watchdogs friends. Sadly, while these effort cost Hansen nothing (until the recent imposition of fees), the cost to the City and State is enormous. Even an outright rejection involves City time in providing legal justifications for their decisions, and likewise, the generation of pages of legalese back from the State. These require expertise to process and manage that is very expensive. How much more can Urbana taxpayers afford? From: Melinda Carr To: !City Council; !UseofForcePolicy Subject: PUBLIC INPUT - Use of Force Policy Comments & Resolution No. 2021-02-007R Date: Monday, February 22, 2021 4:53:58 PM Attachments: MACUV Use of Force ACLU NAACP Feb 22 2021_Final Copy.docx *** Email From An External Source *** Dear Mayor Marlin and Members of the Urbana City Council: Attached is a message on behalf of the Ministerial Alliance of Champaign-Urbana and Vicinity with a majority of the document related to updated comments on the Use of Force Policy (these comments are directed to the email address assigned for this information, and I have included that address to provide input for the policy). In addition, we are proposing brief recommendations to tonight’s agenda for Resolution No. 2021-02- 007R “Resolution Prioritizing Tactical De-escalation in the Use of Force Policy and Police Transparency in Urbana”. These recommendations are highlighted at the bottom of page 1 and correspond to Sections 2 and 3 of the Resolution and pertinent information. Please enter these comments into the record for the Resolution and pertinent information, and I will also plan to provide verbal input at the meeting. Elderess Melinda Carr Vice President  The Ministerial Alliance of Champaign-Urbana & Vicinity P. O. Box 6693 Champaign, IL 61826 February 22, 2021 Dear Mayor Marlin and Members of the City Council: We write to express our support of the proposal for a new use of force policy for the Urbana Police Department (UPD) prepared by Carol Spindel of the Champaign County ACLU and Minnie Pearson, president of the NAACP-Champaign County Branch. We strongly support the proposed draft which focuses on the service model of mandatory de-escalation in community policing. The introductory paragraphs set the tone for specific actions stated in the policy that will guide UPD in this commitment including “building and rebuilding public trust through transparency with the public about every use of force and accountability for every officer who uses or threatens force.” Affirming that, “Any violation of this policy and any use of excessive or unnecessary force will result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination, in addition to any criminal or civil liabilities provided by law.” In addition, the policy notes, “Rebuilding trust between the UPD and Urbana’s Black and brown communities requires understanding that past incidents involving force have had negative consequences for these communities. Bringing an active and intentional awareness of this historical trauma to officer training and daily interactions is an important component of effective de-escalation and community policing.” We are also encouraged to see the policy change in Section 11 - Military Equipment. In 2014, more than a dozen local organizations including the CU Citizens for Peace and Justice and the Ministerial Alliance publicly denounced the use of military style assault rifles, insisted that such weapons not be used against minors (especially in schools), peaceful protestors, and in serving routine warrants and arrests; and asked that clear policies be developed on their usage. We understand some areas of the proposal are still under development and will be reviewed with the UPD, Mayor and City Council as appropriate. These include: Procedures for Reporting Incidents Involving Use of Force in the Department, to the Use of Force Review Board, and to the Civilian Police Review Board. Currently pending are substantial recommendations from a Petition to the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) (“a categorized list from CPRB Petition” at https://urbanaillinois.us/cprb_information) and updates to state laws on police and criminal justice reforms. Accountability remains a major concern of the Ministerial Alliance, in line with the recommendations we submitted to the Use of Force review process on November 20, 2020. Those recommendations have not yet been fully addressed to include viable options (see summary of community input entitled “Consolidated Use of Force Listening Sessions Public Input Questions and Comments,” presented at the January 11, 2021 meeting of the Urbana City Council). The Ministerial Alliance respectfully asks that careful attention be given to our oversight recommendations from last November, as work on revising departmental policies continues. Resolution 2021-02-007R “Resolution Prioritizing Tactical De-escalation in the Use of Force Policy and Police Transparency in Urbana” is scheduled to be submitted for approval at today’s City Council meeting (February 22, 2021). In Section 2 of the Resolution. we propose adding at least two Urbana civilian residents on the Use of Force Review Board to increase transparency and impartiality. This board is currently composed of all internal affairs’ departmental leadership. Individuals selected to serve on the board should be community advocates. In addition, because of the limited oversight authority of the Mayor and City Council and past delays of reporting data of citizen interaction, there should be more frequent review of reports for use of force data. In Section 3 of the Resolution, we propose changing to a quarterly or at least biennial reporting of this information. With respect to disciplinary authority, we note the following significant difference between Urbana and Champaign: In the City of Urbana, the Chief of Police has final department authority for police discipline. The Chief of Police may also delegate disciplinary authority to Supervisors, but only the Chief of Police has the authority to carry out certain actions as outlined in the policy. (Ref: Disciplinary Policy 322). It appears the Mayor only has authority to appoint the Police Chief with approval of the City Council. In the complaint process, the Mayor has final authority in matters where there are differences in the determination of the outcome by the Chief and CPRB. Page 2 of 3 This information also notes only the Chief of Police has authority over the discipline of Urbana police officers. (Reference: https://www.urbanaillinois.us/government/mayors-office/human-relations/civilian-police-review-board-cprb/complaint-review-process). In the City of Champaign Municipal Code, Sec. 2-537, F (Jan. 11, 2021), “Pursuant to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, only the Police Chief and the City Manager are empowered to impose discipline.” https://library.municode.com/il/champaign/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=MUCO_CH2AD_ARTVBOCOCO_DIV10.5CIRESU_S2-537SURE. The link below is an example of Champaign’s disciplinary process being imposed by the City Manager: https://champaignil.gov/2010/04/23/city- manager-makes-decision-regarding-employee-discipline-in-vine-street-incident/ Therefore, the Mayor of Urbana must be able to make difficult decisions regarding discipline for departmental leadership when warranted and the CPRB appeal process must be independent enough to detect situations that may be overlooked. A case in point: When misconduct is not identified internally, the departmental leadership or outside authorities must rely on citizen complaints. An unfortunate example last year on the U of I campus is posted at https://foxillinois.com/news/local/u-of-i-police-officer-resigns-following-official-misconduct-charges. Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to having an opportunity to provide input on the final recommendations before they are approved for inclusion in the policy for the UPD and CPRB policy document or other future City of Urbana documentation. Respectfully submitted, THE EXECUTIVE BOARD AND MEMBERS OF THE MINISTERIAL ALLIANCE OF CHAMPAIGN-URBANA & VICINITY WORKING TOGETHER FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if you have love one to another” (John 13:35)