About the County Board:
The County Board is the central legislative body of our Champaign County government. There are 11 districts, and two board members elected to each district. The County Board makes decisions about how the county’s money is spent; money that comes from your tax dollars. They also have oversight of county offices, as well as facilities and roads. They work with the County Executive to appoint positions throughout county government.
District 6 is located in Champaign. (View the map here.) Democrat DeShawn Williams and Republican Richard Montgomery are running to replace the seat that will be vacated by Democrat Charles Young.
Williams is an Assistant Vice President at Busey Bank, and has served on the boards of 40 North and the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center. He has been involved in community development with Dapper University and CASA. He previously ran for Champaign Park District Commissioner. Williams is a progressive Democrat interested in financial literacy, personal and professional development. You can read his responses to the News-Gazette’s election questionnaire here. From our February interview with Williams:
As an elected official my priorities will be my constituents’ priorities. As I’ve been knocking doors and speaking with the residents, a common theme has been the fact that they had no idea what the county board did and more importantly who represented them. A part of my plan is to make the county board real to the communities within our district.
Richard Montgomery
Montgomery ran an unsuccessful campaign for the same position in 2018. He has posted on his personal Facebook page that he is no longer campaigning, but nevertheless decided to respond to questions from the News-Gazette. His posts are public, and you can read his takes on political and social issues there.
Photos from (l) DeShawn Williams for Champaign County Board Facebook page, and (r) Rich Montgomery’s Facebook page.