2132 replies to this topic

[Molly B.]

tplane37, on Nov 26 2007, 02:44 PM, said:

Okay, I spoke with the Macon County Executive Assistant today. She was very helpful in assisting me with locating the proper channels to get the Res presented to the board. My impression from speaking with her was that she may be on our side, though she did not directly say so. She was fully aware of the Resolution and stated that she had also recieved information from other people, but said "...but you're the one who lives locally, right?" She didn't know exactly what committee to present this to, so took down my number to contact the Chairman, he instructed her on where to send me and I was provided with contact information. I sent a more personal email to my representative asking for his assistance.

And no one told me I was going to have to speak in front of the committee and the board!! You guys could have warned me ahead of time. LOL Anyway, I guess I need to get educated quickly....unless someone wants to write my presentation for me (hint hint) I have already committed to the cause, and I will follow through.

She also seemed to be comparing the Pro 2A Res to the statewide smoking ban...and didn't sound to thrilled with the smokers having their rights violated...I walked away with a slight feeling of confidence that this is going to go through.

If someone on the board takes up the cause for you, you may not have to speak but it is best to be prepared!  I suggest all the folks on here who have made presentations to their boards send you what they have used and then you can piece it together with your own thoughts - creating a presentation custom tailored for your county!

Great follow-through, you are off to a good start!
Molly B.

[Ol'Coach]

tplane37, on Nov 26 2007, 02:44 PM, said:

Okay, I spoke with the Macon County Executive Assistant today. She was very helpful in assisting me with locating the proper channels to get the Res presented to the board. My impression from speaking with her was that she may be on our side, though she did not directly say so. She was fully aware of the Resolution and stated that she had also recieved information from other people, but said "...but you're the one who lives locally, right?" She didn't know exactly what committee to present this to, so took down my number to contact the Chairman, he instructed her on where to send me and I was provided with contact information. I sent a more personal email to my representative asking for his assistance.

And no one told me I was going to have to speak in front of the committee and the board!! You guys could have warned me ahead of time. LOL Anyway, I guess I need to get educated quickly....unless someone wants to write my presentation for me (hint hint) I have already committed to the cause, and I will follow through.

She also seemed to be comparing the Pro 2A Res to the statewide smoking ban...and didn't sound to thrilled with the smokers having their rights violated...I walked away with a slight feeling of confidence that this is going to go through.

tplane...

I believe you are extremely knowledgable about what to say!  If you are like MollyB and me, the tough part is gettin' up there and sayin' it!

Getting in front of a group has AWAYS been a problem for me, but I'll guarantee you, belief in what you are doing makes a HUGE difference on how the message is delivered...and I have no qualms about your abilty to let that shine through!

You'll do great...if you want someone for moral support, or another voice in addition to yours, I'll be there!

[Lou]

Tplane,  if you speak from your heart - the truth will win out.

Just stand up- speak the truth and the  message will come through.

[tplane37]

Anyone know who the none Macon County resident was that contacted the Macon County Board? She did mention that someone else had contacted her from outside the county, but seemed more apriciative that a local was involved as well. I need some help getting some more locals here in our county to either contact there reps or to at least be on stand-by to show up at the board/committee meetings. Heck, just having a room full of people raise their hands showing support would be fine.

I think it is going to be best to go after the issue of Civil Rights as a whole and then direct their attention at the 2A. That approach seems to be working better to get the anti-gunners and the fence sitters that I have talked with to see where we are going with this. I like the "fire extinguisher in the home" metaphore as well, I'd like to use that...possibly for my opening line. Right now I am brain storming with ideas...I did always get 100% in Speach class when it was a pursuasive speach I was giving, now if I can only remember the tricks of the trade...hmmm.

[Molly B.]

wazzle, on Nov 15 2007, 10:57 PM, said:

Jackson is still in committee meeting waiting on a revised resolution. Next meeting is Dec 4th with full board meeting the following Wednesday the 12th.

Wazzle,

Have you heard how this is going?

Molly B.

[wazzle]

I called on Monday to inquire about their lawyer looking the resolution over. As of then, no action on the revision had taken place. I reminded her that the meeting was Dec 4th and I was supposed to receive a copy of their revisions in order to pass it along for review. She took my email address and said she would send me a copy as soon as it is ready. As long as it is taking their lawyer, I would not be surprised if it drags on for another month. If I don't hear anything, I still will attend the Dec 4th meeting to see what takes place.

Earlier in the month, I sent the Legislative committee members the letter about why this is a county matter and the issue about the 2nd Amendment not being incorporated. I also updated them about Marion County passing the resolution 13-0. The member who said this resolution was unnecessary had also questioned what happened in Marion County. At that time, it was showing up as red on the map.

[Ashdump]

Attention all members!!!!!

Now is not the time to lax up on the counties who DO NOT have the resolution on their agendas. Currently, only one county (Jackson) has it on their agenda. We need to get busy before IGOLD and get as many counties to pass this as possible before then (which is only a few months away). 70 counties by then would be great, and I think we can do even better than that! I thank everyone who has and is working hard on this issue! It is something to be proud of and in years to come, you can tell your children that you were a part of it! We need to pull out all of the stops and do this! I have no doubt than we can accomplish it. Please refer to the link below for helpful ideas and information and add any helpful suggestions you may have. Once again, thanks to all that are making a difference!

http://illinoiscarry...?showtopic=7140

[Ocellairs]

I suspect it may now take some up close and personal means.

Members here may need to go directly to these board meetings and ask to address the members there.

[Federal Farmer]

I received an email update from Francis Smith of the Leroy Rifle and Pistol Club.  He has spoken to the McLean Co Chairman, Matt Sorenson, again and was told that the resolution has be forwarded to the Legislative Committee.  I will find out more at the LRPC board of directors meeting on Wednesday.  Also, he was advised to get the Sheriff on board.   We will work on that.

[tplane37]

Update on Macon County:

Okay, I have gotten in contact with another gentleman here in Macon County that has also been talking with some people. We have someone on the Justice Committee who says he is willing to support Pro 2a. The State's Atty. says that most of the county is "pro-gun" and that getting the Resolution passed shouldn't be a problem. We are working to see if we can get the State's Attorney to show his support in writing in the form of an endorsement so we can use it as out meetings. I received a reply from the "Operations, Personnel, and Legislative Committee" last week and was instructed to send a formal request to the chairman of that committee (my county rep.) to speak at the board and have the 2a Res added to their agenda.

Those of you who have read my initial presentation for the Macon County Board know that I mentioned a number of topics that Gun Control impacts. Of these topics was out of state travelers and truck drivers entering our county and having an impact on the local economy. Well, I spoke with a friend of mine who just happens to be an over the road trucker, is stands behind us 110% (but said he is terrible at persuasive speaking, so he said he will sign a paper if someone else writes it up to show his support), and if he is in town during any of the meetings we attend, he will happily stop in to show support. This guy is also helping to gain additional support from other Macon Country residents.

We are on the move in the right direction, but as OC said, patience is key. The next Committee meeting is Monday, January 22, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. in the board room on the 5th floor of the Macon County Building. I plan to be there even if they don't add me to the agenda.  

[Ol'Coach]

Way to go, tp!

[wazzle]

Update on Jackson County. The Legislative meeting is tomorrow night. I just spoke to the Board office and they informed me they still don't have a revised resolution for our review. She seemed hopeful that something would still happen by tomorrow. I told her that isn't leaving me much time to get the revision reviewed. She told me to call back tomorrow.  Lawyers!!!!!

I wonder if the Supreme Court review of the 2nd Amendment is going to have an effect on other counties consideration of the resolution.

[tplane37]

wazzle, on Dec 3 2007, 10:55 AM, said:

I wonder if the Supreme Court review of the 2nd Amendment is going to have an effect on other counties consideration of the resolution.

I have been wondering the same thing, I am tossing the thought around in my head trying to decide if I want to use the case to our benefit. (i.e. "Wouldn't it be good for the American citizens to know that the state known for having the most restrictive gun control laws in the country has had a change of heart in light of recent national events. Sometimes it takes a major event to open the eyes of the people who fight to deny Civil Rights, in order for them to see that we are a better people by enforcing the God given Rights we have as not only Americans, but as human beings.) Something along those lines, but that phrase kind of leaves me with a "what the heck is he talking about" kind of feeling.

[Buzzard]

Well, I finally have something to report. I've been talking with one of the county board members from Ogle county and he has told me he will be submitting the resolution at the next committee meeting. This gets the ball rolling and I have promised him whatever help and support he needs to keep it moving. He's told me the sheriff has been watching these resolutions pass in the other counties and is in favor of them. I have also given this board member a copy of the "county business" letter to pass onto the committee and touch base with him frequently. He's a good guy and also a 2A supporter and gun collector. I will post further news as it happens.

[GarandFan]

Way to go, folks!  This recent news is just fantastic!

Keep up the good work.

Ogle county...all right!  We could use a bit more green ink up north!

And as for Macon....awesome!  That is the 16th most populous county in the state.


Here is a useful Illinois county population resource (based on 2000 census data).

You can copy and paste the data into a spreadsheet such as Excel.

For example...

The 20 most populous counties
Cook County 5,376,741
DuPage County 904,161
Lake County 644,356
Will County 502,266
Kane County 404,119
Winnebago County 278,418
McHenry County 260,077
Madison County 258,941
St. Clair County 256,082
Sangamon County 188,951
Peoria County 183,433
Champaign County 179,669
McLean County 150,433
Rock Island County 149,374
Tazewell County 128,485
Macon County 114,706
La Salle County 111,509
Kankakee County 103,833
DeKalb County 88,969
Vermilion County 83,919

The 20 least populous counties
Marshall County 13,180
Wabash County 12,937
Johnson County 12,878
Menard County 12,486
Cumberland County 11,253
Jasper County 10,117
Alexander County 9,590
Hamilton County 8,621
Henderson County 8,213
Pulaski County 7,348
Schuyler County 7,189
Edwards County 6,971
Brown County 6,950
Gallatin County 6,445
Stark County 6,332
Putnam County 6,086
Scott County 5,537
Calhoun County 5,084
Hardin County 4,800
Pope County 4,413

[lockman]

I have already used the Madigan amicus brief in D.C. vs Heller as a more urgent call for passage! When your own Attornrey General supports a poistion upholding a complete ban on hanguns and an effective ban on all self defense firearms, I call that URGENT COUNTY BUSINESS!

[GarandFan]

Excellent, Lockman.

Great point, and don't forget to include a sentence concerning the new Cook County proposal that would severely limit law-abiding businesses, and that Chicago and Cook county gun control ideas are inevitably, and incessantly, introduced in Springfield with the hope of statewide control.

[tplane37]

Since 2A is on the agenda for the committee meeting scheduled for January 22, 2008, does that mean that Macon County goes YELLOW?

[GarandFan]

tplane37, on Dec 4 2007, 10:49 AM, said:

Since 2A is on the agenda for the committee meeting scheduled for January 22, 2008, does that mean that Macon County goes YELLOW?

Yes, I believe it does!  We've been running low on yellow counties....great job on getting another on there.  I hope to hear back from some additional counties in the next week or two....

[Ol'Coach]

Much as I'd like to see it in yellow, my understanding is, it must be on the agenda of the full Board.  Am I wrong?

[tplane37]

Ol, on Dec 4 2007, 11:21 AM, said:

Much as I'd like to see it in yellow, my understanding is, it must be on the agenda of the full Board.  Am I wrong?

I thought Champaign County was yellow at one point, and it only went to committee, right? I not to sure how all of this mapping is supposed to work other than GREEN is GOOD because that means the board approved the Resolution.

By the way, how are things over in Champaign County? Any progress?

[wazzle]

Jackson County has been yellow for a month now and is still in Legislative committee. Hopefully there will be a vote tonight.

[Ol'Coach]

The Res went to the full Champaign County Board, so CC was yellow.  When it was sent back to the Policy Committee, the county went back to white.  I have come to agree with Mark Mountain that it should be red, since as long as they refuse to send the amended version back to the full board, in affect, it's dead!  

Here is a link to Champaign County Board Members. It gives all contact info, party affiliation, term, and which committees each member is on.  Note that the Policy Committee has a 5-4 liberal majority, and the full Board has a 15-12 liberal majority.  Unfortunately, this board consistantly votes by party affiliation.
Pius Weibel is the Board Chairman.  Betz is the Policy Committee chairman, both extremely liberal.  Pius Weibel will listen.  Betz will not!  Note that all ® members have  "rural" addresses.  All (D) have "urban" addresses.

Feel free to contact, regarless of your county!  All help appreciated.  The Republican caucsus (12 members) is in full support of the Res.  1 Dem will support the amended version (he has said) and will carry one  other vote with him. That means, we win, 14-13!

This Board was the first to state, "...not county business."  They have coupled that with, since it's not county business, if they put this res before the Board, then they'll get all kinds of nit-pickin' res's presented.
Answers to that are obvious, and I've used 'em all!

After the 2A Res was sent back to the Policy Committee, The Board Chairman, Pius Weibel, decided a committee should be formed to determine which resolutions should be sent to the Policy Committee, which in turn decides which resolutions go before the full Board!  That committee consists of 2 people: the Policy Committee chaiman and the minority leader.  If those two can't reach an agreement, guess what?  The Board Chairman, Mr. Weibel casts the deciding vote.
So...one person decides what resolutions go before the full Board.

At our 1-1 meeting, Mr. Weibel stated that if the Res went before the Board, it would be defeated.  I told him that I could accept that; at least the citizens of Champaign County would know who respects their Constitutional Rights, and who doesn't and that those citizens know who is up coming up for election!  I further stated that if the Champaign County Board chose to side with Cook County, I seriously doubt that reflects the will of "THE PEOPLE."

Bottom line...more people in Champaign County need to make their voices hear!

[Kaeghl]

"Bottom line...more people in Champaign County need to make their voices hear!"

Ummm Coach, have you considered dropping a few "Hey, you!!!" letters and flyers in the op-ed pages of the local newspapers? Ones reading that the county board is siding with the un-constitutional gun-ban-pro-slavery views of Shitcago, from whom they 'obviously seem to take their marching orders'? Not the polite info-letters, but a flaming rant about purposefull disregard for the dangers to the rights of the people, and 'how dare this board decide to throw in with the corrupt politicians that hate 'downstate' anyway.....what was their price for selling out?"

Get enough people in the country up to speed on this, with enough letters and phone callscoming in to the board officers, and they might move off their keisters and realize they're dropping poo in someone's punchbowl, and fix it.

If the county board is stalling, why not shove their feet into the fire and make them state to the county population once and for all, who they respect, the people in the county, or some politicians a couple hundred miles away.

If that ruffles some feathers in the meetings, would it really hurt? If it causes some "Good ol' boys" to lose their seats on the county board/social club, to some fire-eater that doesn't kow-tow to Daley,  all the better.

Just a thought.....thwack me if I'm outta line here.

[Ashdump]

Ol, on Dec 4 2007, 11:21 AM, said:

Much as I'd like to see it in yellow, my understanding is, it must be on the agenda of the full Board.  Am I wrong?

Here is what Mark and the folks at the Pro 2A website think........

"It is also our thinking to make a county yellow when it goes on the committee's agenda and not wait until it's on the full boards agenda. In this way we can let the citizens in that county know that it is on their committee's agenda and they can get involved at the committee level to help insure that it passes out of committee and on to the full board."

http://www.pro2areso...ent-resolution/

[GarandFan]

That's how I see it too, Ash.  And for the record, I went back through this never-ending thread and found many instances when a county was coded Yellow to designate the resolution being on that counties' committee agenda.

So, in that respect, Yellow designated "on county agenda" whether committee or full board.

[wazzle]

Jackson County legislative committee voted 4-0 to put the resolution on the full county board agenda for Wednesday, December 12.

[Molly B.]

wazzle, on Dec 4 2007, 09:21 PM, said:

Jackson County legislative committee voted 4-0 to put the resolution on the full county board agenda for Wednesday, December 12.

Woooo-whooo!!  That's one step closer and Jackson goes YELLOW no matter which criteria you use!

Go Wazzle!

[tplane37]

Molly B., on Dec 4 2007, 10:05 PM, said:

wazzle, on Dec 4 2007, 09:21 PM, said:

Jackson County legislative committee voted 4-0 to put the resolution on the full county board agenda for Wednesday, December 12.

Woooo-whooo!!  That's one step closer and Jackson goes YELLOW no matter which criteria you use!

Go Wazzle!

Congrats on Jackson.

And I think the dispute is settled. Here is what they decided at http://www.pro2areso...n.com/id12.html

I simply informed them that the Resolution is on the Committee agenda for January 22, 2008.

By the way, the other guy I've been working with is scheduling to go out for coffee with our State's Attorney...AGAIN! To try to gain endorsement. The Brown County Sheriff has offered to contact the Macon County Sheriff for endorsement. Oh, and did I mention that my State Representative (District 101...represents nearly 3 counties, and I believe Moultrie is one of them) got an "A" rating from the NRA...Yeah, it feels great to be a part of this.

Also, when addressing my State Representative, how do I address him? (i.e. for county board members, "Commissioner" So-in-so.)

[Ol'Coach]

Quote

"It is also our thinking to make a county yellow when it goes on the committee's agenda and not wait until it's on the full boards agenda. In this way we can let the citizens in that county know that it is on their committee's agenda and they can get involved at the committee level to help insure that it passes out of committee and on to the full board."

It really doesn't matter to me!  I'll just do it the way you folks want it done...the only problem with that is, 20 people, 10 different ideas! Just make up your minds!