Champaign City Council election coverage
Apr 17, 2007
Last updated on May 12, 2016 at 10:19 a.m.
Candidates for Champaign City Council seats
- Patricia Avery
Patricia Avery hopes to be elected to her first term on the Champaign City Council when the votes are counted Tuesday.
Although Avery has never served on the city council, she has served eight years on the Champaign County Board and four years as the chair.
“I’ve had to work collaboratively with the city on a number of projects,” Avery said.
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She said keeping up with economic development and maintaining the infrastructure around that development is one of the key issues facing the council today.
She added that one of her main focuses would be the Burnham 310 development project, which would bring a grocery store to the area north of University Avenue, among other projects.
“(This) is going to be a development area that’s going to actually be accessible to an under-served community,” Avery said.
Avery also expressed concern that student living facilities are not equipped with proper detection systems, including carbon monoxide detectors.
“I think that that’s very important to the students to know that their living facilities are up to code,” she said. “It is a matter of safety.”
Avery added that a recycling system on campus would also be beneficial to University students.
To address these issues, Avery said she wants to reach out to students and allow them to “be a voice” in the city.
“It would be really nice if we had more student engagement in some of the committees that actually look at these issues,” she said.
Avery said that she’s unique from the other candidates because of her ability to listen to the citizens.
“I have a huge respect for all of the people that live and access the services of the city,” she said.
By Patrick Wade and Leslie Picker
- Thomas Bruno
At-Large Council incumbent Thomas Bruno hopes to be elected to a third full term when the final votes are tallied Tuesday.
Bruno was originally elected to fill a vacancy in August 1997. He was elected to his first full term in April 1999 and to a second in 2003, according to his Web site.
“In a city of our size, it is important that the city council work together with a non-partisan spirit of teamwork,” Bruno said on his Web site. “It is my belief that we should discuss all city business in the open and listen to the views of each other.”
Bruno has recently spoken out in support of the Champaign Clean Air Ordinance, which went into effect in January. The ordinance banned smoking in indoor public areas.
“We did the right thing in Champaign in May 2006 when we chose clean, healthy indoor air over profits,” Bruno said in an April interview with The Daily Illini.
Bruno also played a big part in the plan to renovate Boneyard Creek, a $17.8 million plan to enhance flood control, when he urged the city council to reconsider its original decision made on Jan. 9.
Although he voted in support of the original plan, when the council reconsidered the issue on Jan. 23, the overall vote changed in support of a second plan.
“Either way we do this will benefit the community,” Bruno said during a February interview. “We still have years to go on this project and opportunities to slowly tinker with what we have here.”
Bruno said on his Web site that one of his goals is “encouraging the broader use of technology in the delivery of city services.”
Bruno was in China this week and unavailable for comment.
By Patrick Wade
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Deborah Feinen
Champaign City Council candidate Deborah Frank Feinen is running for election for the first time, after being appointed to her current position on the council.
Feinen said she thinks it’s hard to simplify city government down to one issue and you have to consider the variety of elements covered by the Council.
“I think that one of the issues in this race, for me, is do you want the city to continue on the path that it’s currently on?” Feinen said.
After serving 14 years on the Champaign County Board, Feinen said she has a good working relationship with the county staff and county coard members. Feinen said she thinks she is unique as a candidate because she is a small business owner.
“The important thing is being accessible,” she said.
Feinen grew up in Champaign and said she has been a lifelong resident. She has a family with young children, and said she passionately cares about the future of the city because her children are growing up here. She also said the best part about Champaign is being able to go anywhere and meet friends or neighbors along the way.
By Pamela Nisivaco
- Karen Foster
Karen Foster, Champaign City Council candidate, was born and raised in Champaign.
After working as the Child Care Director at Champaign County Nursing Home for the past 15 and a half years, Foster said she decided to run because she is at a point in her life where she has time to devote and wants to give back to the community.
Although Foster has not had previous experience working with city government, she has had experience working with the county board as the child care director at the nursing home.
“I feel that I can work well with others and work hard to get jobs accomplished,” Foster said.
Foster also has a master’s degree in guidance and counseling and hopes to bring those skills to her constituents in taking care of issues.
She said she thinks the most important issue is for Champaign to maintain laws already in place without adding on ordinances or taxes.
She said she does not agree with the smoking ban in Champaign and would like to work towards discussions on rescinding the ban.
“I think that I bring a moderate voice to the city council,” Foster said.
By Pamela Nisivaco
- Giraldo Rosales
Candidate for Champaign City At-Large representative Giraldo Rosales is the assistant dean of students at the University. He said the most important issue in the race for him is the intergovernmental cooperation among Champaign, Urbana, the University and Parkland College.
“(Champaign City Council works) very much in conjunction with the University,” Rosales said. “We have to make it a world-class city because this is a world-class university.”
He said college students should be concerned with issues including apartment inspections and campus safety, both of which he promotes. Rosales was a leader in the smoking ban, and he also supports funding of Township General Assistance, an assistance program for low-income individuals, and a livable minimum wage.
“My passion is in those human conditions,” Rosales said. “We cannot sustain the community if we cannot sustain its people.”
Rosales’ experience includes the Governor’s Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes, the National Association of Latino Officials, the vice chair of the Human Relations Commission, precinct commissioner of the Democratic Party, and his four-year term on city council.
“(I am running again because) change is eminent,” Rosales said. “I bring not only diversity in thought, but I bring fresh new liberal ideas. It’s been a very conservative town. The town and the dynamics of this community (are) rapidly changing.”
Rosales said his experience as an alumnus at the University and at the Office of the Dean of Students sets him apart from the other candidates.
“I know what the students’ needs are,” Rosales said. “I have a handle on that, as well as on this community. I have seen things change in the last four years since I’ve been (on Champaign City Council).”
By Lauren Mangurten
- Annette Williams
Candidate for Champaign City Council Annette Williams is concerned with the issues that directly affect people, she said. She supports mandating apartment inspections, the installation of a police review board, and stopping housing discrimination against people with Section 8 vouchers and full funding of Township General Assistance, a public aid assistance program for low-income persons.
“I think the city council is doing a very good job on development in our business interests, and I really commend them on that,” Williams said. “My purpose is to bring balance, and I feel like the human element is being overlooked and neglected in certain instances.”
Williams said the apartment inspections affect college students, as many students are rental tenants.
“People should be ensured that they’re safe in their apartments,” Williams said.
Williams said the students should also be concerned with the issue of the smoking ban which goes along with clean air and other environmental issues.
She said she will address these issues through voting and that she will instigate more dialogue about ecology and global warming.
“I’m not trying to be middle-of-the-road, so I get more votes,” she said. “I’m saying so when people vote, they know what they’re going to get.”
Williams has no political experience with city government. However, she has been an activist since college, supporting anti-war and civil rights causes.
“Anybody can do this in the city,” Williams said. “It’s just a representative of the people, and that’s what I want to represent, the common person.”
By Lauren Mangurten
Candidate for Mayor of Champaign
- Gerald Schweighart
The current mayor of Champaign, Gerald Schweighart is running for his third term.
He said that he has a solid history working as the mayor of the city. During his tenure, he has overseen projects to improve the city, including work to redo its 100-year-old sewage system. He said that important issues for college students are the planned changes to Sixth Street in Campustown, including new sidewalk and streetlights and finding a solution to the snow removal problem.
Before Schweighart became mayor in 1999, he spent 32 years working for the Champaign police department and six years as a Champaign City Councilmember.
Schweighart said that he is most proud of the way he runs city council meetings.
“I may not agree with you politically, but we should have an open dialogue,” Schweighart said, describing his philosophy.
He said that because he has spent his whole life in Champaign that he has a commitment to ensuring the city’s success.
“A lot of people look at (being a mayor of Champaign) as a stepping stone for another career – I’m not,” he said.
Schweighart is running unopposed.
Dist. 4 Councilmember Marci Dodds is also running unopposed to keep her position on the city council.
Dodds has represented the district since 2005 and lives in Champaign with her husband and two children.
By Whitney Blair Wyckoff
Click to read the Daily Illini’s coverage of the race for Champaign/ Urbana School Board seats.
Click to read about a potential repeal of Mahomet’s prohibition ordinance.
