The Champaign County Board has tabled a resolution that would have called on County Clerk Aaron Ammons to resign.
That’s after the clerk and his wife, State Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana), were indicted by a federal grand jury on allegations of wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
The resolution would have represented a symbolic gesture, as the county board does not have the authority to remove Clerk Ammons from his position.
Champaign resident Stuart Levy urged the board to reject the measure.
“I’m very impressed with Ammons’ service, and I am unimpressed with the accusation against him,” he said. “He should continue to serve and the board should not even wave its fist in the direction of telling him to get lost.”
Former Champaign County board member and former chair of the county’s Republican Party Jim McGuire accused the board of putting partisan politics over public interest.
“Your no vote of this resolution will confirm to the public that your political party and protecting your friends are more important than the public trust,” he said. “It will signal that the bond of confidence the public has placed in our elections and in the elected officials who are supposed to serve them has been broken and that you are more interested in serving yourselves.”
Board members voted along party lines to table the resolution for one year.
Both Clerk Aaron Ammons and Rep. Carol Ammons pleaded not guilty to the charges and claim they are innocent.
New member appointed to represent northwest Champaign
The board also appointed Chyna Figueroa-Dixon to represent District 6, filling a vacancy after a previous member announced her resignation.
Figueroa-Dixon will represent a region that includes the northern part of Champaign. Her predecessor, Samantha Carter, accused the board of having “lost focus” during a meeting in June.
“In order for me to be here and be 100% involved, I have to trust your leadership, and I don’t,” Carter said. “We’re vocal on certain subjects, but then we’re silent on others, and that makes this board ineffective.”
Figueroa-Dixon said she hopes to have a productive relationship with other board members.
“Moving forward, I just hope that we all can work together … any bad blood that was done before from this seat, I hope it’s a clean slate.”
The new board member is already running unopposed on the ballot this November for a separate seat representing District 6.