Russ Clark For Sangamon County Board District 25

Apparently, but not surprising, there is a recount in my contest. While I am not the victor, I would like to observe the proceedings to ensure the voice of the voters is true, not tainted by the mechanations of party bosses. Vox Populi, non Vox Patrum.

My friends, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Tonight, I want to extend my sincere gratitude to everyone who supported this campaign - from the donors who believed in this message, to the volunteers who knocked doors with me and the voters who entrusted me with their voices. Running for office has been an honor, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to represent my vision for our county.

I am proud to live here in Sangamon County and I believe it is the best county in Illinois. Our County Board has been fiscally responsible and committed to helping those in who are in need with dignity. I encourage the board to address our airport service especially since many of the voters in this district are dissatisfied with the level of service. It is important since the airport is subsidized with our property tax dollars.

I am hopeful that which ever of my opponents fill this seat will bring dedication and commitment to our county. Thank you again for the opportunity to share an independent viewpoint and that our county continues to flourish.

Time is ticking but there's still a chance to cast your ballot! Remember, if you're in line by 7pm, you will still be allowed to vote.
El tiempo corre, pero aún puedes votar. Recuerde que si está en la cola antes de las 19.00 horas, aún podrá votar.

I will share my wife’s story with permission. She went to our precinct to vote this morning and she took her Sangamon County Voter ID. When she arrived, she was told she had been reregistered in Champaign County without her knowledge. We lived in Champaign before COVID so it was likely our old address. She could not cast a provisional ballot because the same-day registration systems were out at Knights of Columbus (this was at 6:45 AM) and would have to go to the Sangamon County Clerk’s office downtown to reregister. When we got there, they could not find her in the system for either county. She was able to be registered and voted.

If you have the same issues in my district and need a ride to the county courthouse to register, please send me a DM and I can give you one.

If elected, I will prioritize increasing flights at Springfield's Airport, economic development, proper planning and helping keep your property taxes low.

Make a Difference, Vote Russ Clark for County Board

Make a Difference, Vote Russ Clark for County Board A reminder that voting for Russ Clark is a vote for economic development and proper planning to save YOU on property taxes.

Springfield has fewer daily flights than Jefferson City, Helena, Bismarck and Santa Fe even though we have a larger population than those other capital cities. When I'm elected to the county board, I will work to improve airline service here in Springfield.

Cities that want airline routes get airline routes A city's or areas population has NOTHING to do with the amount of airline service it receives

This is good news. The funding of the North Grand underpass is critical to making traffic flows better for Lamphier HS, Memorial and Robin Roberts Stadiums.

Springfield Rail Improvement Project gets $157M to help get to the finish line The latest round of funding is expected to help get the Springfield Rail Improvement Project to the finish line.

I'm in favor of expanding safe areas for bicyclists in Springfield. I'm in favor of the 3rd Street Project to make 3rd Street a bike and pedestrian pathway. My initial thoughts haven't changed. https://www.russclark.org/blog/?viewDetailed=202410251256

That being said, the SMTD portion of this plan doesn't necessarily line up with the Master Plan for SMTD. The Connect Sangamon website has not updated with this recent plan and I'm very concerned that we have missing pieces. I will promote the public outreach sessions the site says will occur in 2024. I would be focused on this as District 25 includes many shopping areas including White Oaks Mall.

If you'd like to participate in the Connect Sangamon planning survey, here is the link. https://www.connectsangamon.com/get-involved

Initial Thoughts - Downtown Planning Study A draft of a new downtown and medical corridor study was released this week. Here are some of my initial thoughts

A new planning study was just released this week for downtown and how to make improvements in Springfield. I have some initial thoughts here.

The biggest issue I have with the study was the lack of representation for SMTD. There was a lot of discussion around transportation that did not appear to have SMTD's needs addressed.

Initial Thoughts - Downtown Planning Study A draft of a new downtown and medical corridor study was released this week. Here are some of my initial thoughts

As a proud parent of a Springfield 186 student (Go Lindsay Lightning), I do place value in having a good partnership with all of our school districts in Sangamon County. While most District 186 students do not use county roads to get to school, other districts use county roads to do so. Good roads mean a safer ride for students and fewer school closures due to bad weather. As an engineer and project manager, I understand how important roads are to our districts and our economy. I won’t vote to fund poorly thought out infrastructure investments and I know the right questions to ask to get good results. I want to earn your vote this November.

Both American Airlines and Delta Airlines stated at a conference earlier this year they wanted to start serving more regional airports in cities the size of Springfield. We need to push now if we wish to restore service. That's what I'll fight for but don't take it from me.

American's CEO Robert Isom said, "It's Roanoke [in Virginia] and Lubbock [in Texas] and a lot of small cities — [Michigan's] Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids. It's going to be a lot of small cities throughout the United States." These cities (particularly Kalamazoo and Lubbock) are similar in size to Springfield.

"The final stage of our core hub restoration will be the full return of regional flying," Delta President Glen Hauenstein said on the company's most recent earnings call April 10. "We still have probably at least 50 regionals either not flying, or underutilized — probably almost 100 when you include the underutilization."

The average hourly private sector wage in Springfield is $31.14. That's up from $25.32 in 2019. Springfield already has an economy that airlines should want to serve. As your county board member, I will fight to bring more flights here. It improves our attractiveness to new businesses looking to relocate here. It provides opportunities for our small and regional businesses to grow. It improves our tourism revenues.

Let's work together and make our community better.

A proposal for a Sheriff recall authorization being voted on at tomorrow's county board meeting. If approved, it will go to a vote of the people on the April 2025 ballot. My issues with the recall language are:
1) The Sheriff recall can only occur during the mid-term General Election, not by a special election.
2) If the Sheriff is recalled, the Board appoints the next Sheriff.
3) The recalled Sheriff is not excluded from being appointed to be the next Sheriff by the Board.

I am in favor of all elected officials being subject to a recall vote, not just Sheriff. However, I would vote against this resolution because of Issue 3. It is entirely possible that a recalled Sheriff could have support of the newly constituted Board and be appointed in spite of the voter's will to recall them.

When elected, I will support a recall referendum that allows voters to recall any county elected official, not just Sheriff.
https://sangamondepartments.blob.core.windows.net/dnnfiles/Clerk/County-Board/Resolutions/2024/October/Res%207%20Oct%202024.pdf?sv=2017-04-17&sr=b&si=DNNFileManagerPolicy&sig=7z%2Fi%2BdT6NN7STXoZKGDORh87Y%2B7NFXl2YDeohiMnglw%3D

Russ Clark for Sangamon County Board - District 25 | Home After moving to Springfield in 2021, Russ quickly grew to love Springfield and Sangamon County.  He feels the County Board has done a great job of keeping finances in check while launching a massive capital improvement project with The Hub.  Russ will help make Sangamon County the most attractive ...

Springfield has fewer daily flights than Jefferson City, Lincoln Nebraska, Helena, Bismarck and Santa Fe even though we have a larger population than those other capital cities. When I'm elected to the county board, I will work to improve airline service here in Springfield.
https://www.russclark.org/blog/?viewDetailed=20240707911

Russ Clark for Sangamon County Board - District 25 | Home After moving to Springfield in 2021, Russ quickly grew to love Springfield and Sangamon County.  He feels the County Board has done a great job of keeping finances in check while launching a massive capital improvement project with The Hub.  Russ will help make Sangamon County the most attractive ...

Small and large towns are without power and supplies in the wake of Hurricane Helene. I'm glad CWLP can help restore and supply these communities in their time of need.

Thankfully Hurricane Helene won't be venturing into our area. That doesn't mean the county central dispatch system isn't hard at work today.

If you ever wondered which agencies are served by the system, click the link below.

Sangamon County > Departments > D-L > E911 > ETSD / SCCDS > Agencies Serviced

Today is the first day of early voting and to send mail-in ballots. If you want to know your voting location or see a sample ballot, click the link below.

vr.platinumvrms.com

A small portion of your property taxes pay for Springfield’s airport. This year, in part due to lower passenger numbers, the airport authority took $460k out of reserve funds to balance the budget. Passenger traffic was down 4.4% from last year and down 33% from 2 years ago. Let’s work on getting more routes to Springfield now so the airport authority doesn’t ask you for more property tax revenue later.