SPRINGFIELD, IL — Two more attempts by an exiting county board member to get a referendum on the power of recall of Sangamon County officers before voters failed twice at the Aug. 11 county board meeting.
Sam Cahnman of District 18, who has pushed for the issue the last two years, notably after the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black mother of two children in her own home in 2024, even agreed to an amendment Aug. 11 that would have made the referendum advisory.
Both votes failed 19-6 with all six “yes” votes coming from Democrats Tony DelGiorno, Sheila Feipel, Gina Lathan, Kevin McGuire, Reggie Guyton and Cahnman.
Cahnman pushed for another vote of the county board after backers failed to get the requisite number of signatures, 6,359, or 8% of the last vote for governor in Sangamon County, secured by Aug. 3 for the Nov. 3 general election.
Cahnman said around 3,000 signatures have been collected, but that couldn’t be verified.
Supporters can continue to collect signatures–there is no “start over” period–in hopes of getting the referendum on the Apr. 6 ballot for the consolidated election.
Two other attempts to get the resolution passed by the county board have failed.
Both camps stuck to familiar arguments.
Cahnman, an incumbent who lost in the March primary to political newcomer Miguel Valente, said then-Sheriff Jack Campbell was “negligent” in hiring Sean Grayson as a deputy, ignoring “many, many red flags.”
Grayson was convicted of second-degree murder in Massey’s death and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Because Campbell wouldn’t resign initially before eventually retiring weeks after the shooting, “that’s when we realized that we don’t have the power to recall any elected or local officials.”
Cahnman cited two Illinois Supreme Court cases that he believed gave the county the legal authority to recall. He also cited the endorsement by the Massey Commission, formed in the aftermath of Massey’s murder.
State Sen. Doris Turner, a Springfield Democrat and a friend of Massey’s family, introduced a bill that would have authorized all counties to adopt recall by a binding referendum, Cahnman noted, but that was amended down to only Sangamon County. The bill ultimately stalled in the House.
“It’s good policy,” Cahnman said of the recall initiative. “Let the people decide if they want the power of recall.”
Sangamon County Assistant State’s Attorney Joel Benoit in a motion in late 2024 determined that the county “did not have the authority (to recall officers.)”
“My opinion has not changed,” Benoit said Tuesday.
Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray, whose office supervises elections, pointed out that everything under election administration “is offered by state statute, and I see nothing in state statute to do that today, to perform a binding referendum of a procedure of county-wide recall.
“I don’t know if that’s possible.”
Earlier in the public comment section, several people asked the board to adopt the resolution.
The Massey murder case and the death of Earl Moore Jr. in December 2022, who had been in the care of two EMTs, “have given county a black eye. (Recall) is a way of repairing that black eye.”
While both EMTs in the Moore case were charged with first-degree murder, one, Peter Cadigan, pleaded to involuntary manslaughter and received probation.
Ken Pacha noted that 400 counties in 39 states allow recall of municipal officials.
“This isn’t a new thing. We aren’t asking for anything revolutionary,” Pacha said. “We shouldn’t have been left at the mercy of Jack Campbell removing himself (from office).”
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788: sspearie@sj-r.com: X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Sangamon County Board blocks recall vote for county officers
Reporting by Steven Spearie, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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By Steven Spearie, Springfield State Journal-Register | USA TODAY Network
