WHAT EXACTLY IS THE COUNTY BOARD, WHAT DO THEY DO, AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT ME?
The McLean County Board is a government board similar to a city or town council except that it oversees the County. The McLean County Board oversees 27 different agencies, including Animal Control, Health Department, Sheriff’s Department, Jail, Juvenile Detention Center, the McLean County Nursing Home, COMLARA park, the McLean County Museum of History, and the Highway Department. It is one of the largest employers in the county and has a budget of over $140M.
McLean County is split into 10 districts of about 15,000 residents each. All but three of these districts are located in Bloomington/Normal. Each district is represented by two members elected to the County Board elected to four year terms. This diverse assortment of 20 individuals makes up the McLean County Board.
The Board meets monthly as a full board and has separate monthly meetings in Committees. Each member is assigned to multiple smaller committees, which include Finance, Health, Justice, Property, and others. Committees work with department heads to develop a budget, approve short term requests, and provide general oversight over each department. Our County Board as a whole works to support the department heads in their work and trusts their professional expertise, leading to the smooth and successful operations of these departments that residents of the County enjoy today.
WHY IS THIS ELECTION SO IMPORTANT?
The McLean County Board has always been under the control of the Republican party. Currently, the board is split at 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats but is still led by a partisan Republican. Unfortunately, like the national party and its current leader/dictator, The McLean County Republican party is built on discriminatory practices, anti-education culture wars, and attacks on marginalized populations.
Remember the wingnut conspiracy theorists spreading lies about our local schools and working tirelessly to close schools, fire teachers, cut programs, and torpedo the Unit 5 referendum? That was the McLean County Republican party.
Remember when the board illegally excluded a member from attending (a soldier on active duty) and manipulated the rules to install their own leader of the board, who has done serious damage to our County’s agencies and reputation, driving community leaders to resign and damaging our relationship with governing partners in the city and town? That was the McLean County Republican party.
Remember the disastrous and embarrassing effort to restrict funding for migrants and asylum seekers in a county over 1000 miles from the US/Mexican border? That was the McLean County Republican Party.
Remember when the names, addresses, and voting records of EVERY VOTER IN MCLEAN COUNTY was published and still remains available? That was the McLean County Republican Party.
Yeah, it’s that bad.
Their governance is failing and voters are noticing. Cheating, anti-democratic tricks, extremism, and lies are the guiding principles behind the McLean County Republican Party
This November, you’ve got an alternative. The McLean County Democratic party has an incredibly strong and diverse slate of candidates running; parents, union leaders, business professionals, veterans, mental health professionals, and many more. They’re out there doing the work, knocking on doors, and helping their communities.
What might a Democratic majority on the McLean County Board look like?
We want to improve our dialogue with our governing partners in not just the City of Bloomington and Town of Normal, but with Lexington, LeRoy, Bellflower, McLean, and everywhere in between.
We want to use data and analysis to make decisions, not culture wars and made up scare tactics.
We want to support and grow our community and celebrate its successes, not spread lies and run down everything that doesn’t fit in our world view.
Voters in McLean County have soundly rejected extremist Republicans running in the last few elections, and it’s time to do so again in November.
Learn more about our candidates, find your county board district & polling place, check your voter registration and more: mcleancountydemocrats.org/election2024
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