WGLT McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael on Thursday administered the oath to Jim Rogal as he was sworn in to serve on the county board.
The McLean County Board on Thursday approved construction of a $350 million wind farm project in the southeastern corner of the county, becoming the county’s fifth wind farm.
The board also named labor union leader Jim Rogal to fill a board vacancy in District 4, and approved a contract for interim county administrator Cassy Taylor.
Sapphire Sky Wind Energy LLC won approval to build up to 64 wind turbines of up to 590 feet tall across more than 14,000 acres in Bellflower and West townships. The wind farm would generate 250 megawatts of power and plans to provide power to about 80,000 homes annually.
Two McLean County Board members who helped select the 24 community members to lead the county's redistricting efforts say the advisory panels show political balance and gender and ethnic diversity.
WGLT McLean County Board members voted Tuesday evening to keep the current structure of the board as the once-a-decade redistricting process moves forward.
The McLean County Board voted 17-3 in a special meeting Tuesday evening to keep the board s existing structure of 10 county board districts with two members per district.
The decision followed weeks of maneuvering and sometimes strident rhetoric about the effects of proposals to either expand the number of districts, or to reduce the number to five. Republicans Jim Soeldner, George Wendt, and Lyndsay Bloomfield voted against the resolution.
During discussion, Wendt portrayed the five-district proposal not as Democrats had claimed a way to create districts with higher percentages of Republican votes but rather as having rural issues heard and understood because constituents from both areas would be part of the districts.
Updated: May 10, 2021 at 5:25 PM CDT
WGLT updated this story to reflect the County Board Executive Committee endorsed the five-district plan on Monday.
A McLean County Board member says his party has been plotting behind closed doors for months to create new district board maps that would make it harder for Democrats to get elected.
Republican Josh Barnett of Bloomington said County Board chair John McIntyre rejected his call for a bipartisan advisory panel to help draw the maps.
“They are trying to dump Republican voters from the rural areas into Bloomington-Normal in an attempt to keep control of the County Board for the next decade,” Barnett said. “They are not being open about that. They are not being honest about it and it’s time that it stops and is brought to light.”