What Does The Public Health, Solid Waste and Zoning Do?

The Public Health, Solid Waste and Zoning committee's job is to oversee all matters pertaining to county planning, zoning and subdivision, (but not related to highways, roads and bridges) and work with the Zoning Office and the Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission on these land-use matters.   The Committee also has jurisdiction over public health within the county including animal control.  Recently, the Committee also took  on additional oversight of Solid Waste Management, such as land-fills and hazardous waste disposal.

When someone wants to use their land for a particular purpose other than its current designated use they have to get it zoned for that purpose.  Say you bought some farm land and wanted to build several houses on it, or maybe open a bait store.  Depending on how intense your development of that land will be, you would have to apply to the zoning office to have it zoned for that purpose.  The Committee would review that process.

Often, the Committee looks a zoning policy to determine if the use of the land makes sense from a growth perspective, especially if there's something new on the horizon, like wind farms.  The Committee then works with Regional Planning to help developers and builders follow the plan of how land should be used in the County.  For example, you may not want a bean-canning operation right next to a residential subdivision.

There are many zoning classifications, but mainly you have: Agriculture, Residential,
Business, and Industrial.  Each has it's own restrictions and permitted activities (uses).

In the area of Public Health and Safety, the Committee works with the Health Department in overseeing its budget and hiring process.  Again, where policy issues are involved, the Committee provides input to the Health Department Director.

During my previous time on the Board, we were instrumental in helping the Health Department consolidate its locations into the renovated "Cub Foods" building at 2833 South Grand Avenue East, Springfield.  This is now the location for all the Public Health Department Offices.


The Public Health Department does MANY things, too numerous to detail for this single blog post.    From inspecting restaurants and water-wells to giving flu shots, to tracking serious illnesses in the County. So for now I'll cover that another time in more detail.  But here's their site and their office hours below.
(217) 535-3100
Mon & Thr:  8 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.;
Tues, Wed, & Fri:  8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Until next time,

That's my view from the County!
tim






Meeting Dates: The committee meets on the third Thursday of each month at 6:15 p.m. in Room 201.

Supporting Veterans Revisited: Why Do I Support Veterans?

After discussing yesterday's blog with my son, Jim, I wanted to get more particular on why I support Veteran's outside of my own family's experience and contribution.

Jim brought up the point that while he appreciated my comments of support as a family member, that it was important that I outline my support for Veterans in general.  I agree.

So here goes:  Top 3 Reasons I Support Veterans, Revisited

A veteran is an individual who has served in a military branch for any length of time. This includes all the active armed forces, National Guard and Reserve.  In these roles, veterans perform  specific duties and responsibilities which, in some way, responsible for protecting fellow citizens and this country from enemies and other crisis. Due to the nature of their job and degree of personal sacrifice, veterans deserve honor and respect, whether they were a cook, a clerk or an infantryman.

    1.   The Thin Green (Greenish Brown) Line

Our veterans, whether volunteers or (in the past) draftees, have put their lives in harms way and risked themselves to do their job.  In today’s military, they do this voluntarily, taking an oath to protect our country by:  walking into hot wars, driving over IED infested road-ways and more, to complete their mission and protect their fellow soldiers. Some veterans return home physically or emotionally wounded. Few people in today’s society are willing to take these risks.

2.   Sacrifice    Respect flows from doing thankless jobs that are often lonely and under harsh conditions and trying times. Veterans typically do not received basic recognition for

their sacrifices they’ve endured while fighting for their country. 

Generally speaking, even outside of war-time, members of the military are often means stationed far away from family members for long stretches of time. Veteran’s miss family gatherings, their children’s school activities and the comforts of home.  Members of the Armed Forces regularly are expected to sacrifice family time in order to complete their assigned mission.

 3.   Protection:    By serving their Country, Veterans have made it their duty to protect the United States  and its citizens.   As you watch the news in country’s where there are ongoing invasions and catastrophes, keep in mind that by serving, our Veterans made sure that we could enjoy the peace and tranquility and blessings of liberty rarely matched in other nations or other times.   

Keeping Veterans Top-of-Mind.  Yesterday I mentioned the Veteran's Office.  I won't repeat all of that, but to tell you that over the years, we've helped hundreds of veterans with rent assistance, filing for benefits, job placement, and more.  Make no mistake:  I am NOT taking

personal credit for this office's fine work.  But this is issue and our available services are constantly on my mind when I encounter veterans in need, or when the County is looking to add to its staff.  I want us to hire good employees and make sure that Veterans get a preference, since they bring many intangible skills to any job they fill.

Thanks for reading the follow-up!

tim

Five Main Reasons I Support Veterans

LTC Moore

A little-know fact about me:  I am crazy about Veterans and Veteran's issues.  There are many reasons for this such as having a heightened awareness that those citizens who have chosen to  serve and sacrifice their time and talents - putting themselves in harms-way, should quickly obtain the benefits they were promised (and deserve). 

In Sangamon County, we have the Veterans Assistance Commission (M-F 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.) at the County Building, expressly for this purpose.  Here's some information about that Office (below).  Click here to go to their web site for forms, etc:  

               200 S. Ninth St., Room 301A

Jim (l) and Joe (r)

               Springfield, IL 62701

              (217) 753-6680 (Office)

Veteran's Clinic

               5850 S. 6th Street

               Springfield, IL 62703

(217) 529-5046 - ext. 47401 / 47402 / 47403 

               

So here are the five main reasons I support veterans:
 1.  My lovely wife, Donna, is a Veteran:  Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) from the U.S. Army and the Illinois National Guard.

Here's an OLD photo of when I was a cadet back at ISU!

2. My son, Jim, is a Cadet at the United States Military Academy.

3.  My son, Joe, is a PFC in the Illinois National Guard.

4.  My Dad, Jim, is a United States Navy (circa 1946-49, sorry, no pics).

5. I am a veteran:  I served as an enlisted man for 2 years, then was a Regular Army Officer for four years; rounding out my 10 years in the Service with the Illinois National Guard in 1992.

What Does The Collective Bargaining Committee Do?

The Collective Bargaining Committee negotiates all employee union contracts. Chaired by Todd Smith, this committee works closely with representatives of all the Unions representing county employees.

Their mission is to obtain a "win-win" scenario for all parties involved in this process.

This committee and the union representatives look at each contract to make sure the ongoing mutual interests of both parties are pursued. Some times discussions get very in-depth over wages, benefits, uniforms, shifts and equipment and standards. 

Board members aim at fairness while closely watching the budgeted increases in pay, along with the other items mentioned above.

Members on this committee have deep experience as business owners, laborers and many
have worked at various staffing levels over the years.  Several are members of Unions, or past Union members. 

As the son of an Electrical Worker (IBEW 193), and whose brother is also part of Local 193, seeing the Board work closely on these issues is very important to me.  This goes beyond these negotiations and into the contracts.  The County's standard practice is the prevailing which the industry pays on the various projects; be it road construction or reworking the electrical systems in our buildings.

Together, the Board and Labor representatives work toward getting the work of the County done without interruptions.  Together, we can do it!

Until next time,
tim

Why Are School Auctions Important?

Score a Touchdown with Blessed Sacrament 2014!

Most every year, Donna & I attend the Blessed Sacrament Auction.

This auction helps to fund a lot of educational needs of our students at Blessed Sacrament.  All of our kids have attended this great school at one time or another, and the School and Parish have worked hard to keep tuition and fees low.  So the Annual Auction is one way to make this school more affordable, or to continue to offer educational choices (e.g. new technology, air-conditioning, etc.) that our kids and teachers need to be successful in the classroom.

 Again, most years we donate something to the auction.  One year, we offered berry picking at our cabin.  Another year, and this year, Donna made a chocolate Eiffel Tower for the kids auction (sorry, I ate the picture!).

 So this year, as a bee keeper, I donated 2 quarts of honey, 1.5 pounds of comb honey, 1 pound +/- of bees wax, 8 tablespoons of pollen, and a quart of honey beer (donated by our friend Sean).

This is good honey!  And  the basket of goods has a lot of my time and effort put into it. But if you bought it at the Farmer's market, it would probably cost you about $100.

I'm excited to see what it will bring, who will buy it, and will be happy to explain to the buyer, the exciting world of bees (how long do you have?)!

Supporting our schools, both public and private, is a community event.  We can do this in so many ways via our time, talent and treasure....even through a simple donation to an event like the BSS Auction.

We look forward to a fun evening this Saturday.  Hope to see you there!

Until next time, that's my view from Sangamon County.

Did You Know That September 23 was National Voter Registration Day? It's not too late to register to vote!

Hey Citizens! Just a quick reminder:

September 23 was National Voter Registration Day and I want to make sure you are registered to vote.




My wife, Donna, won her School Board Race by 1 vote!  I don't want to chance missing your vote on Election day (Nov 4, 2014).

• Did you move since the last election and haven’t checked your voter registration in a while? 
  

• Do you have a son or daughter who recently turned 18 who hasn’t yet registered to vote? 

• Do you know people who support me and want to make sure they’re registered too?

All the high fives and financial support won’t matter if my supporters aren’t registered to vote.  Thanks to a change in state law, registering to vote is easier than ever:

To double check that your voter registration is active, click here.

To register to vote online, click here.

In Sangamon County, to request an absentee ballot via online, click here.

Please share this message with friends and family.  Thank you for everything you’re doing to help me win!

Enjoy this lovely weather.  I'm off to walk in the District and meet more great people like you, which is why I do this.
tim

How Does The County Board Keep Track of Their Workload?

How Does The County Board Keep Track of Their Workload?

The County Board functions on a committee structure. These committees do the "work" of the Board by reviewing expenditures and policies and plans. 

For example, as mentioned on the Facebook page, the Finance Committee has general jurisdiction over county finances; advises the county auditor; and prepares an annual budget and tax levy.

These "oversight" committees look at expenditures and general policy initiatives of the various departments of the County.  Of course, if an Office Holder is in charge of that Department, like, say, the County Clerk, the same oversight takes place but the Office Holder sets his or her own policy initiatives within the scope of that office.  

In other words, the Board still oversees the budget for that office, but the Clerk's has his/her own policies.  So there the Board makes sure that proper hiring procedures are followed, etc. 

 Here is a list of the current standing committees:

We May Add a Bacon Tasting Committee!

    Executive Board

    Building & Grounds

    Civil Liabilities

    Collective Bargaining

    Community Resources

    Court Services

    Election Oversight

    Employee Services

    Finance

    Jail

    Liquor

    OEM/911        

    Public Health & Solid Waste & Zoning

    Road & Bridge

Until next time....that's my view from the County Building.