“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”
— PERICLES

Gerrie provided ten years of dedicated leadership and service as Chair of the Champaign County Democratic Party from 1994 to 2004. During her tenure the Party celebrated many successes, including the election of the first Democratic County Board majority in history.

Memorial Celebration in Champaign March 14, 2010:

You are cordially invited to gather with us to celebrate the life and honor the memory of Gerrie Parr on Sunday, March 14, at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S Lincoln Ave, Urbana, IL. The ceremony begins at 3 pm, with drinks and appetizers to follow from 4 – 6 pm. If you are unable to attend the ceremony, please feel free to stop by to visit with friends between 4 and 6 pm.

You are also invited to bring a picture, quote or written memory about Gerrie if you would like. This is completely voluntary. There will be space to display these memories around us as we mingle with one another. A 3 x 5 card is the ideal size for the display. There will also be a sealed box for depositing memories you would like to keep private; the box will be burned in our fireplace, un-opened.

We look forward to seeing you on March 14th. You are welcome to forward this note to others. If you need more information or have any questions, please contact her daughter Dani Schooley.

Warm Regards,
The Parr / Schooley / Altman Family

Obituary:

Geraldine A. (Gerrie) Parr, 63, of Champaign, IL passed away Friday, February 12th at the home of her sister Linda Altman in Waukegan, IL. Gerrie was born on July 28th, 1946 in Cadillac, MI. She graduated from Waukegan Township High School (‘64) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (‘68) with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.

Before her retirement, Gerrie served as Auditor of Champaign County. She was also Chair of the Champaign County Democratic Party for 10 years. In addition to politicking, Gerrie spent her time skiing, sailing, reading, and cooking. She loved to travel and did so extensively in the last several years, including trips to Tahiti, China, France, Peru and Egypt.

Gerrie is survived by her daughter Daniellinda Schooley of Chicago, her father and step-mother Dan and Mavon Parr of Clearwater, FL, and her sister Linda Altman of Waukegan. She was preceded in death by her husband Kurt McKenzie, her mother Dorothy Parr, and her brother-in-law Jerry Altman.

A Memorial Service will be held at 1:00 pm on Thursday, February 18th at St. Pat’s New Church, 15000 Wadsworth Road, Wadsworth IL. Gerrie’s family will be available to greet relatives and friends at the church beginning at 12:15pm. After the service, the family will host a late lunch at a nearby restaurant.

An additional Memorial will be held in Champaign at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, charitable donations can be made in Gerrie’s memory to the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, c/o Northwestern University Office of Development, 750 North Lake Shore Drive, 9th Floor, Chicago, IL 60611-3078 (or donate online here). Political contributions can sent to the Champaign County Democrats, c/o Jennifer Gentry, Treasurer, P.O. Box 1455, Champaign, IL 61824-1455.

Arrangements were under the care of the Salata-Gurnee Funeral Home, 4190 Old Grand Ave., Gurnee, IL. Be sure to visit their website and sign the online guest book.

Four candidates are running for two seats in the Democratic primary for the Champaign County Board in District 6. Michael Richards now sits on the board; the other three would be newcomers. The candidates and their website and/or e-mail addresses are:

• Michael Richards (countyboarddistrict6@gmail.com)
• Pattsi Petrie (pattsi2@gmail.com)
• Debby Auble (debbyauble1@gmail.com)
• Joshua (Josh) Hartke (jthartke713@yahoo.com)

It’s great to have choices. Check out the candidates, ask them questions, and make your choice on February 2!

Here are the most requested dates & deadlines for the general primary election on February 2, 2010. For complete information, and to verify your voter status, visit the County Clerk’s site.

First day for absentee ballots: Thursday, December 24, 2009.
Last day to register: Tuesday, January 5, 2010.
First day for early voting: Monday, January 11, 2010.
Last day for early voting: Thursday, January 28, 2010.
Last day for absentee ballots: Monday, February 1, 2010.
ELECTION DAY: Tuesday, February 2, 2010.

Note: Starting with this election, voters do NOT have to specify a reason for requesting an absentee ballot. Absentee voting is available for everyone.

The 2009 Democratic Fall Dinner will be served Sunday evening, October 11, 2009 at the I-Hotel and Conference Center on St. Mary’s Road at the corner of First Street in Champaign.

US Senate candidate David Hoffman and Congressional Candidate (15th) David Gill will discuss federal issues in the 2010 election.

We are honored to welcome Governor Pat Quinn and State Comptroller Dan Hynes as featured speakers. They both seek nomination in the February 2, 2010 Primary Election as our candidate for Governor next Fall.

State Representatives Art Turner (9th) and Mike Boland (71st), State Senator (30th) Terry Link, and union electrician Thomas Castillo, candidates for Lieutenant Governor, will also address us.

Former State Representative (38th) Robin Kelly and former TSA offical Justin Oberman will speak in support of their candidacies for State Treasurer.

Former Deputy State Treasurer Raja Krishnamoorthi will speak as candidate for State Comptroller.

Also scheduled to join us are State Senator (52nd) Michael Frerichs, State Representative (103rd) Naomi Jakobsson, and State Rep Candidate (110th) Dennis Malak. These candidates are not opposed in the Primary Election.

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet and hear these candidates in person in the good company of your fellow Democrats!

Check this post occasionally for the latest speaker information, and use it to invite your friends and associates to participate.

Follow this link to obtain a copy of our Fall Dinner Flier and Reservation Form for your use. See you at dinner!

Democratic County Chairs in the 15th Congressional District received the following announcement this morning (6/3/2009) from David Gill.

After a great deal of thought, I have decided to run once again for our 15th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. While I failed to win the seat in 2004 and 2006, I made a great deal of progress, with the help of many people throughout the district. I relocated to McLean County in 2007, and I am very excited about the prospects of victory in 2010.

Dr. Gill has been considering this for some time, and has been working to develop a strategy for victory in 2010. All “Friends of Gill” can reach him at docgill37@yahoo.com.

Petitions for David Gill will generally be available for signature at all Champaign County Democratic events this fall, such as the Urbana Farmers Market each Saturday morning.

See and listen to Dr. Gill in clips from his earlier campaign. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vduwg9PkmY0

The morning after an election is usually bittersweet, as we savor the victories and muse over the losses. Here again are Eric Thorsland’s thoughts.

The hard work and effort of all our candidates, volunteers and loyal supporters is much appreciated. The results after the evening was done had some surprises and some disappointments, but the win or lose we want to thank all who helped our candidates through the process. If you walked, phoned, stamped, stapled, folded, or feed us, then you were a part of what makes democracy happen.

We want to congratulate the winners, encourage those who did not prevail and look ahead to the next election to put our effort out, better, stronger, and more unified. Lets look for the areas we can do better and do the work we need to do to get candidates out in as many races we can with as much support we can muster. Thank you all.

The April 7th Municipal Elections are upon us and we would like to remind everyone to get out to vote, especially in the contested seats on the ballot. Here is a rundown of some of the races, courtesy of Eric Thorsland.

One of the hottest races is the Urbana Mayoral contest, where Mayor Laurel Prussing faces not one or two opponents, but three! Laurel needs your vote on the 7th, and be sure to get your fellow Democrats in Urbana to the polls as well. Along with the Mayoral race, Phyllis Clark is looking for re-election as clerk, and we have 5 contested City Council seats on the ballot, so cast your vote for Charles Smyth, David Gehrig, Robert Lewis, Michael Langendorf and Diane Martin.

City of Champaign Township Supervisor is an open race and D’Anne Winston looks forward to a win in that seat. And in what would be a welcome change in the Assessors office for those in the township looking to finally get a fair assessment, Wayne Williams is providing the long unchallenged incumbent a race for the job, it is truly time for change.

While the City of Champaign City council is non-partisan, most progressives will prefer primary winner Freddie Gordon, who actually gathered more votes as a write in than the only candidate actually on the ballot! We also encourage support for incumbents Marci Dodds and Michael LaDue.

In rural Republican controlled District one, in particular the greater Mahomet area, there are Democratic challengers for local seats facing incumbents and newcomers alike.

Mahomet Township features two Trustee candidates in Tess Morrisson, daughter of Democratic stalwart Bob Morrison, and longtime Mahomet resident Joan Jordan, teacher and second time candidate for one of the seats there. In Rural Newcomb Township one trustee seat is the goal of lone Democrat candidate Jamie Stevens from the Fisher area.

Again we encourage diligence and responsibility, and ask you to make sure you make the polls on Tuesday April 7th and vote Democratic!

Early this week (11/27) I filed a formal objection to including the Instant Runoff Voting for Urbana referendum on the February 2008 primary election ballot. For those who came in late on this issue, I’d like to share my reasons for doing this.

First, a disclaimer. I filed the objection on my own behalf, not as Vice-Chair of the Champaign County Democratic Party, and not at the request of the party or in collaboration with any official affected by the referendum. I object because I believe that IRV is a bad idea for progressive government in my home town. In my opinion, the petition itself and the concept behind it are flawed for technical, mathematical, and political reasons.

Technically, the referendum contained in the IRV for Urbana Petition is not a municipal referendum submitted to the voters for their approval. The News-Gazette reports that the proponents intend it to be a binding referendum, but it has about half the signatures required for such an initiative under 10 ILCS 5/28-7. It may not be an advisory referendum either, since it orders Urbana to enact, repeal, or amend such unspecified ordinances and statutes as required to implement a concept described in the petition. In any case, it is unclear about how it affects primary elections. Does it eliminate them, subject them to IRV, or leave them untouched? These ambiguities prevent voters from making an informed decision on the matter, so the petitions are void and the proposed referendum should not appear on the February ballot. (Since you ask, I think it does not affect primaries.)

Mathematically, the proponents are trying to achieve the impossible. IRV voting is, they claim, eminently more fair and democratic than the traditional “plurality” method. I disagree. Amateurs and experts tried for a hundred years to perfect a satisfactory voting methodology for elections involving more than two candidates. Several ingenious schemes were devised, but all were wanting in some respect. That is, every method proposed could produce results that would violate one of the fundamental principles of “fair elections”. Then, halfway through the 20th century, a young mathematician turned economist effectively ended the hunt by proving (Arrow’s Theorem) that an eminently satisfactory multi-candidate voting methodology does not exist. Since we currently employ a very democratic (understood by all voters) system whose effects and strategies are clear and tolerable, I suggest below that progressives in Urbana continue to make good use of the system we already have. The plurality method can be described as: “Vote for the candidate of your choice. Whoever gets the most votes wins”. Sometimes unsatisfactory? Perhaps, but Arrow showed that all methods are. Simple? Transparent? Easily verified? Universally understood? Absolutely.

Finally, at the practical political level, IRV will accomplish nothing for progressive government in Urbana. Our city has become a model of modern good government, a cosmopolitan oasis in central Illinois. We didn’t need to “fix” the vote-counting process to get this done. We built this city the old-fashioned way, with important issues, excellent candidates, generous donors, scores of organized, hard-working activists, and a progressive local Democratic party. Why should we now dismantle the very system that has worked so well for Urbana?

Change for its own sake is often a waste of resources, and it can sometimes be counter-productive. IRV proponents have the burden of proof to demonstrate that implementing a novel election scheme will produce significantly better results for Urbana voters without exposing us to unacceptable downside risks. I believe they have failed to meet that burden, and I cannot support IRV for Urbana.