The City of Champaign Police Department has been struggling with declining employment numbers for years. At the 2020 March 10th Champaign City Council meeting, this issue was discussed at length during CPD’s “Police Department Update”. The Department is having trouble attracting applicants, and the primary reason cited by council members,…
CU-Underground recently posted an article which showed that resigning Urbana City Council Member Dean Hazen was attempting to transfer his seat to his “good friend” William Colbrook. In an email dated January 28th, 2020, Hazen assures Mayor Diane Marlin that if she would cooperate with this, “I will continue to…
Just weeks after Champaign City Assistant Attorney Kathryn Cataldo sent out a warning letter about interacting with citizens at public meetings, Assistant City Attorney Laura Hall is already breaking the rules. The letter, which was sent by Hall’s subordinate to all of Champaign’s boards, commission, and subcommittees, advises board members…
CU-Underground is in receipt of some concerning emails between Urbana City Council Member Dean Hazen and Mayor Diane Marlin. In the correspondence, Hazen attempts to directly transfer his own elected Council seat to William Colbrook, a fellow law-enforcement officer, an action which is a clear violation of Illinois State law.…
Champaign, IL Assistant City Attorney Kathryn Cataldo (photo credit: ILDocs.com) CU-Underground is in receipt of a concerning memo which was sent to all of the Champaign Citizens who volunteer their time to work on various boards and subcommittees of the City of Champaign. Targeted boards include the Board of Trustees…
The body camera footage from a recent Urbana Police complaint revealed a rather disturbing act by Officer Collin DeDecker. After a hit & run incident, DeDecker went door-to-door in an effort to identify a vehicle owner. DeDecker was then seen opening and searching inside of a resident’s mailbox without permission.…
We have obtained a copy of a letter from the Illinois Attorney General which indicates that the City of Urbana is in violation of public records laws. The letter, addressed to Urbana City Clerk Charlie Smyth, says that records were improperly withheld by the Smyth’s office in a recent Freedom…
City Council study session on January 28, 2020 covered two main topics- City of Champaign’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and the review of Boards and Commissions. The CAFR, commonly known as “the audit” presents the financial operations and financial position of the city for fiscal year ended June 30,…
During the Citizen Review Subcommittee (CRS) Meeting in August 2019, Champaign Police Chief Anthony Cobb evaded answering questions from board members. His excuse? It was above his pay grade. This prompted us to identify the Top 10 highest paid public officials in Champaign County. The ten highest paid public officials…
On January 29, 2020, the Urbana Civilian Review Board (CPRB) held a special appeals hearing meeting for Complaint 2019-06. The appeals hearing is part of the civilian police complaint process – the mechanism by which civilians can file complaints concerning Urbana police conduct. The CPRB is tasked with hearing appeals…