A battle concerning the Danville Election Commission seems to have subsided for now. During Tuesday night’s Vermilion County Board Taxation and Elections Committee meeting, the budget for elections, including for the Danville Elections Commission, was passed out of committee, to be moved on to the proposed full county budget, by a five to one vote. Jerry Hawker, one of the Danville Election Commission’s biggest critics, was the sole no vote.
Attending the meeting and speaking for the DEC was Chief Judge of the Fifth Circuit Thomas O’Shaughnessy. He gave a brief history about how the creation of the DEC goes back to the 1885 City Election Act, and how it was to make sure the city is not controlled by the county, therefore avoiding completely partisan elections. He also stated that from the beginning the DEC did not have any money, nor a taxing authority to raise funds, and therefore its expenses were allocated to be payable by the county, but the amounts would not be controlled by the county.
The judge said that the DEC commissioners have always been acting as officers of the court, and therefore, he was speaking for them. Judge O’Shaughnessy stated that the courts have found no inconsistencies in these operations over the years, and that the animosity about the DEC over the last couple years must stop. In the judge’s words, “it ends tonight.” He spoke to 1490 WDAN briefly afterwards.
AUDIO: Well I don’t think the reason for the commission was forgotten. I think under whose jurisdiction and authority the commission operated was, not really probably forgotten; but maybe over time, everyone tends to just do things the same way year in and year out. And whatever prompted the dispute a couple of years ago then prompted a re-look at what every party’s responsibilities and obligations were.
Judge O’Shaughnessy stated that abolition of the election commission is not the answer, and that it’s a matter of, in his words, “everyone understanding their roles in the process, and staying in their lanes.”
At the start of the meeting, a moment of silence was held for Danville Election Commissioner Charles Bostic, who passed away last month
