Campaign Platform Category

Category: Campaign Platform

Making County Government Accountable to YOU

Sam Cahnman’s proposal for a county recall referendum for Sangamon County officials has some good framework but it still needs some safeguards.

The proposal before the elections subcommittee next month allows only the Sangamon County Sheriff to be recalled with 2 provisions:
1) The recall petition have valid signatures totaling 10% of the number of votes cast in the prior Sheriff’s election.
2) The recall is to occur at the next election date.

The second is the most troubling. If the recall petitions were validated for the April municipal election date, most people in Sangamon County would not have any idea the recall vote was occurring. The April elections are the lowest turnout elections across the state and depending on which offices are being elected, receive little attention from the media. It is possible under this provision that the Sheriff would be elected in November of 2026 and face a recall in April 2027 if enough volunteers gathered signatures under some auspices of foul play.

I also have concerns about how replacement Sheriff is named. Is this a traditional recall ballot consisting of 2 questions? For example, “Should Sheriff “X” be recalled?” with a Yes or No vote and then a vote for 1 out of multiple candidates? Or is it a “Yes”/”No” vote and the County Board selects the replacement Sheriff or the Sheriff is replaced by the Coroner? There are issues with this as the Coroner is not necessarily qualified under the Safe-T Act to hold the position. The Safe-T Act requires Sheriffs and Deputies to hold a law enforcement training certification issued by the Illinois State Police or other equivalent. The Coroner is allowed to hold the office in interim but cannot hold it permanently unless he obtains that certification.

Lastly, how are candidates for replacement Sheriff permitted to be printed on the ballot? Are only established political parties allowed to just name a candidate or must each candidate gather signatures? Are independent candidates required to gather more signatures than established political party candidates? What is the time frame for them to gather signatures?

Ideally, these questions will be flushed out at the Elections Oversight committee meeting next month. I will fight to make this recall referendum not only applicable to the Sheriff but to all County Wide elected officials. Our officials should act responsibly with the power they are given. It’s your right as a voter to recall us if we do not act accordingly.

Why airline service is important

Public infrastructure is a critical component for an economy to work. Roads and bridges are necessary for agricultural products to get to market. Rivers can be improved with locks and channels for barges. Railroads have been the lifeblood of Illinois since Lincoln’s time but airports, particularly airline travel, have been critical to attract new businesses and people to a city. Unfortunately, the level of airline service at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport (ALCA) has never been lower.

As the airport servicing Sangamon County, ALCA primarily had flights to Chicago and St. Louis outside of IllinoisAir service in the 1970s and early 1980s. Springfield was well served by passenger rail companies through the 1950s so growing airline service wasn’t seen as a necessity. Now, in 2024, passenger rail does help but major employers and people outside of our area look to airline service as a major factor in deciding to start or expand operations here.

ALCA does have service but its at 2 PM and 8 PM to Chicago ORD, an airport 3 hours away. This is a good option to have but most business travelers prefer morning flights to make connections to other cities rather than afternoons. Springfield lost it’s flights to Dallas-Fort Worth due to changes in American Airline’s decision to emphasize routes in the southwestern United States. The airline has found that unprofitable and is looking to new strategies. Our county must work to bring those flights back as other cities will be doing so as well.

The Sangamon County Board is the best governmental organization to coordinate the work necessary to do this. The board appoints half of the ALCA board, sits on the economic development council and coordinates with the City of Springfield on many issues facing our area. The ALCA is prevented from spending its funds to attract flights by FAA regulations. This must be done with other civic and private groups like the County Board. That’s why I am running.

I have been involved in a number of development projects in the private sector since 2010 as an engineer and project manager. These projects were successful because we worked with many stakeholders devised a plan to meet an achievable, defined goal. The goal here is to expand airline service to benefit our communities here in Sangamon County.

Category: Campaign Platform

Making County Government Accountable to YOU

Why airline service is important

Cities that want airline routes get airline routes