Membership Newsletter – September 2024

Sept 26 ballots which have been requested, will be mailed. You can check the St Clair Elections Dept to check the status of your request and if the ballot has been mailed. Please do not mail your completed ballot through USPS. Take it to the Elections Dept at the Courthouse or drop off in the blue ballot receptacle in the circular driveway.

Voting in person at the Courthouse 2nd floor will begin Sept 26th. You can put your completed ballot directly into the tabulator machine when you’re done voting.

Election judges and poll watchers are the guardians of honest elections. If you’d like to participate in the process, contact the St Clair GOP.

Meet the faces belonging to the names on your ballot. The County candidates will be on every St Clair ballot. The rest will depend on the districts where you live. Check out this link to get a sample ballot for your address.

During my run for office in 2022, it was difficult to garner any endorsements, which meant I had to run my campaign virtually on my own.
I understand why business associations are reluctant to stand with a challenger. These
organizations don’t want to be on the wrong side of an election, and they certainly don’t want to go against an incumbent who is a member of the majority party. The last thing they want is to give the majority party a reason to come after them with more taxes, and more regulations.
Thankfully, this time many of the things that worked against are now working for me. So far, I have the support of:
 Illinois Sheriffs’ Association
 Illinois Fraternal Order of Police
 International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150
 Illinois Farm Bureau
 A.B.A.T.E.
 Illinois Retired Teachers Association
 National Federation of Independent Businesses
 Illinois Citizens for Life
 Illinois State Rifle Association
 Illinois Family Institute
 Illinois Chiropractic Society
I am grateful to all of the organizations standing with me. Of course, the biggest endorsement I need is the endorsement of voters in the 114 th District. This is where St. Clair County Republicans have a major role in my campaign. I need every Republican in St. Clair County to contact every person they know in the 114 th District and remind them to go vote and to vote for me. We put a dent in the Democratic party domination of St. Clair County with my win in 2022. Now we need to pull together to ensure we do not lose ground and continue to build on this momentum. Go to my website to learn how to volunteer and to donate to my campaign. Let’s keep the 114 th Red!

1. Animal Services. At the public comment period of this committee called by ChairmanTrentman, several people in attendance voiced their concerns about two dogs that run loose in their Signal Hill neighborhood. One of the dogs attacked and I believe they said killed one of the neighbor’s dogs while she was walking it. They are a threat to the neighborhood. The County has cited the owner, but it keeps happening. One point that rose was we have just one “Warden” who responds to dog related calls. After the meeting I told Ashley I and I believe other Board members would support hiring a second Warden. I also spoke to Mr. Trentman about a temporary solution for temporarily housing the animals in a location not at risk for flooding. I suggested the former Gansler
Army Reserve complex that we just bought from Belleville. It’s likely we will have to go through another rainy season at the 11 th Street facility which is prone to flooding before the new complex is ready.

2. The Board approved the appointment of Kevin Bouse to be Commissioner, Merit Commission to replace the unexpired term of Ted Beatty.

3. Environment Committee. The county issued 428 building permits valued at $7,128,268.96 generating $39, 866.96 in fees. Most of the permits are for in ground solar panel systems.

4. Finance Committee. We approved to receive and place on file the 2023 St Clair County Audit conducted by Scheffel Boyle, CPA firm. One key take away is the County must prepare for less revenue as the American Rescue Plan funding streat is ending and the possibility that revenues returned from the State may be reduced.
a. We also approved the 2025 Flood Prevention District 2024-2025 budget. Their funds are generated from a small portion of the sales tax generated in the Flood Prevention District. In addition, we approved the budget submitted by the
Southwestern Illinois Flood Prevention District and approved their financial report as well.

5. Property and Recreation Committee. We approved a Special Park Grant to the City of Belleville for $100,000 for stormwater restoration.

6. Public Safety Committee. Lt Col Knapp, Sheriff’s Department reported the following:
a. 95 traffic citations
b. 37 traffic warnings
c. 42 felony/misdemeanor arrests
d. 320 park patrols, 884 business checks and 34 courthouse checks
e. Corrections: Average daily population for July: 397. 579 inmates
admitted, average stay was 3 days, oldest booked in was 77 years old,
188 misdemeanors/290 felons admitted. 5 federal prisoners, 56 fugitives,
19 weekend sentenced admitted, 18 for IDOC and 1 other.
f. Juvenile detention did not exceed the state mandated maximum rate.

7. Transportation Committee.
a. Resolution 2946-24-RT. We approved this authorizing the award of Entrance Work at 925 Scott Troy Road to the low bidder, Hank’s Excavating for $19,650.
b. Resolution 2947-24-RT to install an electric entrance gate at 40 Water Works Drive in the amount of $25,000.00.
c. Resolution 2948-24-RT approving the use of portions of Saxtown Road and Bohleysville Road for the 4 th annual Cider Man Triathlon.

8. Public Defender’s Office report. Total number of cases represented by the office: 1,938 felonies with 1,797 having full time represents and 141part time represents. They were assigned 107 cases in July. They closed out 93 cases in July. They are managing 49 murder cases with 1 new case in July. They had 15 new juvenile cases in July and closed 20 existing cases in July. They reported 317 total juvenile abuses cases for 2024 thus far with 26 new cases in July and 25 closed juvenile cases in July.
9. Economic Development Committee report. Mr. Darren James, Mid-America Director, reported that service to Knoxville started and will go to the end of the year. He stated that the notice to commence work with Holland Construction could proceed with the construction of a general aviation facility and the federal inspection station. This was based on a notice of selection for congressionally directed spending from Senator Duckworth.

10. In our final actions we approved the Grants, Payroll and Expenses and the County Health Department report