Urbana council orders task force be run in public, approves public-safety appointments and local fuel-tax change

Urbana City Council members voted on Sept. 30 to press for a public, transparent process for the city—s Alternative Response Task Force and approved several personnel and budget measures.

Public comment dominated the start of the meeting, with residents urging the council not to follow a recommendation from consultant Barry Dunn to limit public attendance, recording and livestreaming of ARTF workshops. "Please allow me to express our collective concern over the apparent recent change to the format for meetings of the Alternative Response Task Force," said Barbara Kessel, identifying herself as a resident and speaking on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. Residents told the council they expected the task force—s workshops to be viewable and archived so the community could monitor development of alternatives to policing.

Following extensive discussion, the council took a straw poll and directed staff to convey a clear preference that ARTF sessions proceed under Open Meetings Act–style transparency: meetings should be observable by the public, live-streamed and recorded. Councilmembers also asked the city attorney to prepare a resolution codifying those expectations as a fallback if the consultant cannot or will not comply with that approach. Mayor Marlon said staff would immediately communicate the council—s direction to Barry Dunn.

The meeting also included a package of personnel actions. The council unanimously approved the appointment of Steven Doggett as deputy fire chief for a term ending June 30, 2025; it approved Tal Prendergast as deputy fire chief for the same term. The council reappointed Deputy Police Chief Richard Searls to a term through June 30, 2025 (the motion passed on a roll call with two no votes recorded), and approved David Smizer as deputy chief of police by unanimous roll call. Chief Boone thanked councilmembers for approving the police appointments.

On transportation and finance matters, the council debated a proposed road-diet demonstration for Lincoln Avenue and Killarney Street intended to gather safety and design data. Council members raised questions about timing, grant deadlines and exit criteria; after discussion they voted to defer the resolution seeking state motor-fuel tax funds for the demonstration to the next council meeting to allow staff to supply more information.

Separately, councilmembers approved an amendment to Urbana City Code (ordinance listed as 2024-09-030) updating the local motor-fuel tax, a measure discussed at length with attention to how electric vehicles and public transit fueling might be treated. The council also approved an omnibus budget amendment (ordinance 2024-09-031) that, staff said, produces a net general-fund decrease of $66,118 to cover ladder-truck repairs and storm cleanup.

Staff provided additional briefings: the regional planning commission will present ARPA project annual reports at an upcoming meeting and staff noted about $300,000 in remaining ARPA project funds to allocate; the city is also running a special census outreach effort with in-person counting to begin Oct. 15. The council scheduled a discussion on elected-official compensation for Oct. 21 and said it will follow up immediately with the consultant about ARTF logistics.

What happens next: staff will notify Barry Dunn of the council—s expectation that the task-force process be viewable and recorded, the city attorney will draft a potential resolution to codify that expectation if needed, and the Lincoln Avenue road-diet demonstration resolution will return to council with additional staff information. The ARTF first workshop is scheduled in the consultant's timetable in mid-October; councilmembers asked that the city's expectations be resolved before or immediately after that session.