Final clarification: Farm Bureau supports 4-7 Districts while maintaining at least 20 Board members.

The alternate plan to the Democrats 20 districts is not 10, it should have been 5. That was a typo on my part. The Farm Bureau claims now they aren’t supporting any plan even though I was told they were. The vast majority of the County is farmland!

By: Diane Benjamin

Bloomington and Normal both have their own governments. What the County does largely doesn’t affect them except for the jail and court system. Bloomington even has it’s own election authority County taxpayers are forced to fund. County government has a HUGE impact on people outside of Bloomington-Normal with roads, bridges, zoning, etc. As a country resident, I don’t want the people who thought Uptown was a good idea telling me how to live.

Redistricting takes place every 10 years. Talks are happening right now in the County Executive Committee. So far they have had two meetings, a third one is Monday. Currently the County has 10 Board districts with two representatives in each.

That means each voter is electing 10% of the Board. Compare that with the Town of Normal where voters elect 100% of the Board. Even Bloomington gets to elect 11%. The Democrat plan is to have 20 Districts with only 1 representative in each.

That means the residents of McLean County only get to elect 5% of the Board! Think they aren’t trying to suppress votes and representation?

One lady who gave a public comment summed up the problem. Her name is Glenda Jackson:

If you can’t tell from the tiny Zoom video pic, Glenda is black. I’m sure the local Democrats were not happy with her comments. (yes, it is a MUST hear!) County Board member Laurie Wollrab spoke right before Glenda, Jackson referenced Wollrab’s comments. The entire video is posted below, Glenda starts at 32:25. Wollrab thinks the Board doesn’t vote against what people outside of Bloomington-Normal want. Guess she has never heard of Wind Farms. The in-town reps think they can demand country folks have them in their backyard. Those outside of Blm-Normal deserve enough representation to stop the in-town oppression. Add the East-side Bypass that would have destroyed farms that have been in families for generations.

The Illinois Farm Bureau plan is to create 10 Districts with 4 representatives each. That would allow all McLean County voters to elect 20% of their representatives. Democrats want you to elect 5%.

The head of the McLean County Democrats wrote a letter about State redistricting. It proves how out of touch this local Democrats is. I added a few notes, I could have added more:

One more note: Patrick Cortesi is the head landscaper for District 87 (complete with government pension).

The final meeting is May 3, details here: https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/1544/22379/Reapportionment

Since the County’s Public Comment policy is illegal you have to sign up 24 hours in advance to speak. Comments can also be emailed – see the link above.

Entire 4/26/2021 meeting: