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And DHS is equally
committed to closing the 125-year-old Lincoln center, which it
contends is a health and safety hazard to its residents.
The American
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which
represents the majority of LDC workers, plans to appeal yesterday’s
planning board ruling to shutter the Lincoln facility forever.
"We are appealing the
ruling of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board on at least
two counts," said Anne Irving, spokesperson for AFSCME Council 31.
She said that LDC is needed to serve residents in the area, some of
whom will have to move to Chicago to receive services, and that in
spite of the state’s contention, money for its operation is not an
issue.
Irving also said
AFSCME attorneys are looking into the legitimacy of the 11th-hour
appointments made by Gov. George Ryan, which dropped three of the 15
planning board members and replaced them with three new ones a few
days ago. Terms of the three who were dropped had expired, but it is
not unusual for board members to continue serving when terms expire.
Steve Yokich, AFSCME
attorney, is filing an appeal of the planning board’s ruling with
the Logan County Circuit Court and is also asking the court for a
temporary restraining order to prevent DHS from moving more
residents out of LDC. No date has been set yet for the appeal to be
heard.
A previous injunction
blocking the moves of LDC residents without their guardians’ consent
was handed down by Logan County Judge Donald Behle, reversed by the
appellate court and then reinstated by an Illinois Supreme Court
ruling. That injunction prevented DHS from emptying the facility of
residents until the planning board made its decision.
Now that the decision
to issue the permit has been made, DHS is free to continue moving
residents so LDC can be closed by the Aug. 31 deadline set by that
agency and Gov. George Ryan.
DHS plans to move 46
of the remaining 153 residents out of the facility today and
tomorrow, according to Dan Senters, AFSCME Local 425 spokesperson,
and is scheduling more moves next week.
Some of the moves
were already planned, Senters said, but he believes DHS scheduled
more moves the minute the permit was issued.
Reginald Marsh,
spokesperson for DHS, said the department is just continuing to move
forward with its plans to close LDC by Aug. 31. He said the planning
process has been under way for months, parents have been notified
and employee layoff notices have gone out.
Although residents
could not be moved without their consent while the injunction was in
force, the planning process for moving them continued during the
injunction, he said. Those residents whose guardians consented to a
move were taken to other facilities during that time.
"We think the
Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board made the right decision.
We think they recognized that the care and safety of the residents
was an issue, and also appreciated that the General Assembly
appropriated only $5 million for LDC this year, not the $35 million
appropriated last year. If the IHFPB had not approved the permit, we
would have run out of money to run LDC," Marsh said.
Also applauding the
decision was the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities, an
organization that advocates for people with developmental
disabilities. In a statement issued to the press, the group pointed
to state’s record of abuse and neglect at LDC, which they alleged
had not been corrected.
AFSCME members and
state Sen. Larry Bomke, who is also a party to the lawsuit that has
kept LDC open, disagree with the opinion given to the planning board
that money would not be available to operate LDC for another year.
John Stevens, general counsel of the Bureau of the Budget, testified
that according to the state constitution, DHS can not lawfully spend
money for LDC operations if that money has not been appropriated and
there is no line item in the budget for it.
[to top of second column in this
article] |
Bomke argued that DHS
could fund Lincoln if it wished to, and that the General Assembly
could appropriate funds to operate LDC. Irving said the state’s
legalistic arguments are "splitting pretty fine hairs."
AFSCME also believes
there are not enough services in the area if LDC is closed.
Residents who have relatives in central Illinois are being moved to
facilities in the Chicago area, Irving said, making it difficult if
not impossible for their families to visit them.
AFSCME members and
parents who attended the planning board meeting also questioned the
procedures used in gathering information to give the board. Pat
Brown of Leroy, co-president of the Lincoln Parents Association,
said he believed the hearing in Lincoln in July, where parents and
others committed to keeping LDC open testified for most of seven
hours, was not given real consideration.
"We gave all that
public testimony in Lincoln, but it was a waste of time. They held
the hearing just to be able to say they did what they had to do
legally."
Planning board
members did not attend the public hearing but sent a representative
from the Department of Public Health, the agency that provides staff
to the appointed, non-paid 15-member board. DPH later sent the board
a recommendation that included some of the testimony given at the
hearing but not all of the testimony of those in favor of keeping
LDC open. The testimony given at Lincoln was overwhelmingly in favor
of keeping LDC open.
The board got
transcripts of the Lincoln hearing, letters and other documents, as
well as statements and documents from DHS.
"I doubt if any of
those board members read all the testimony given at Lincoln," Brown
said. "Maybe one gentleman alluded to it briefly."
Brown said he and
other parents tried to give planning board members several articles
that had been published by different news organizations since the
hearing, but they were told they could not lobby the board prior to
the meeting.
Parents and employees
were not allowed to speak at the hearing. By law the only agency
allowed to testify was the one requesting the permit. Melissa
Wright, assistant director of the DHS Office of Developmental
Disabilities, was asked questions and allowed to speak.
Brown said no board
members asked questions of parents or employees.
"We are very
disappointed with the way the system is set up and the way it
operates," Brown said. "It was frustrating to hear someone giving
testimony and not be able to rebut it."
"If the planning
board members can’t even hear from the people most affected by their
decision, how meaningful is the process?" Irving said.
The parents and
employees who got on a bus at 5 a.m. and went to Chicago to sit in
on the hearing knew they would not be able to give verbal testimony
unless asked but wanted to make a show of solidarity, Senters said.
To show their support for the parents, the Lincoln Chapter 1250 of
the Knights of Columbus paid for the rental of the bus, a total of
$900.
"It was something we
wanted to do," said Grand Knight Tom Peifer. "The officers got
together and decided it would be a nice thing to do to support the
parents."
"We were not
surprised at the ruling, but we were disappointed," Brown said. "Not
one individual on that board went against the governor’s wishes."
The board also voted unanimously to issue
permits to close Zeller Mental Center in Peoria and Singer
Developmental Center in Rockford. Family members from both those
facilities also attended the hearing.
[Joan
Crabb]
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Finance Committee chair Rod White told
the Logan County Board Thursday night that budget requests submitted
to that point were not very different from entries in the 2001-02
budget. Several were at the same level, and requests for the ESDA
and paramedics were lower. In fact, Dan Fulscher is asking $19,000
less for the Emergency Services and Disaster Agency. Fulscher said
part of the reason for his modest request is that the ESDA
reimbursement from the state is up.
Other budget requests will necessarily
contain increases. For example, Sheriff Tony Solomon’s budget must
accommodate the extra $26,746 negotiated for deputies’ salaries.
The Finance Committee conducted its
first hearings this morning. At that time board member Terry Werth,
representing the Economic Development Council, asked for $25,000 for
EDC operations, the same as last year, and for the loan for the
commerce park. The loan request was submitted orally and did not
contain a precise number. Two figures mentioned were $640,000 and
$683,000. White asked Werth to submit a formal proposal in writing.
In regard to the possible loan, board
member Roger Bock asked, "Can we do that?" White said the proposal,
once received, will be submitted to State’s Attorney Tim Huyett for
a legal opinion. If it passes scrutiny, it will be filed with other
requests to be weighed against expected revenues.
At the hearing, requests for the same
amount as last year were also received from the Logan County Soil
and Water Conservation District, Healthy Communities Partnership for
its Mobile Health Unit, The Oasis senior center and Central Illinois
Economic Development Corporation. The Oasis and CIEDC also submitted
"best case" requests to emphasize that there are unmet needs for
senior development. Bill Thomas of Atlanta asked for a new line item
for the J.H. Hawes Grain Elevator Museum to renovate a 1927 boxcar
and extend the railroad siding 40 feet.
Hearings will continue on Aug. 26, 27
and possibly 28. The budget must be passed by Dec. 1, the start of
fiscal year 2002-03.
To bring the committee to full force
for the hearings, board chair Dick Logan on Thursday appointed Cliff
Sullivan to the Finance Committee. It has been one member short
since Phil Mahler resigned from the board in July 2001 to become
director of regional planning.
In other business at the board of the
whole meeting, Insurance Committee chair Dale Voyles reported that
Health Alliance, the county’s health insurer, lost $170,497 on the
county policy in the first year it was in force. In 2001-02 the
county paid a premium of $445,792. That figure was more than offset
by $532,941 in total claims and $83,349 in other costs.
[to top of second column in this
article] |
In April the board voted to renew the
policy with Health Alliance at a 23 percent increase. The R.W.
Garrett Insurance Agency in Lincoln is the agent for Health
Alliance. Voyles has indicated that bids will be sought when the
health insurance policy comes up for renewal next spring.
Roger Bock’s Airport Committee report
concerned three construction projects. Two bids were awarded in July
for work at Logan County Airport. One project, reconstructing and
extending taxiways, is complete except for striping. P.H. Broughton
& Sons did that work at a cost to the county of $4,060.
The other project, installation of a
waterline, was supposed to begin Aug. 12 but did not. Bock said the
contractor, Twin Builders Construction of Bushnell, has not answered
the phone. Roger Fennel of the Illinois Department of Transportation
has offered to contact the company. Cost of the project is $56,705,
with federal and state governments paying most of the bill. The
county’s share is $4,551.
On Thursday the county board
tentatively approved a third airport project, to be carried out in
2003. Hanson Engineers of Springfield will apply a porous friction
course to one runway. Bock explained that the company will cut back
from cracked areas, lay a new base and cover it with an inch of
asphalt. The asphalt will contain less sand and a coarser aggregate
so water does not stand on the runway. The treatment is expected to
extend the life of the runway by eight to 10 years. The county’s
share of the approximately $150,000 project is $14,000.
In other news, the county board learned
that:
• Interviews have been
conducted for two positions. One candidate has been offered the job
of assistant county engineer. Several people have been interviewed
for director of economic development, but applications are still
open.
• County property has
recently been appraised. Voyles reported that replacement cost for
the courthouse is $14.7 million, for the safety complex $3.1 million
and for the Dr. John Logan Building $482,000. He said the last
figure is double what the county put into the building.
• Sen. Peter Fitzgerald,
R-Illinois, will meet with Dick Logan, Lincoln Mayor Beth Davis and
highway superintendent Tom Hickman regarding possible federal help
to improve Fifth Street Road from the stoplight at Lincoln Parkway
to Connolley Road.
•
A historical marker commemorating
writer and editor William Maxwell’s boyhood home at 184 Ninth St.
will be dedicated Saturday, Aug. 24, at 11 a.m.
[Lynn
Shearer Spellman]
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