Early Voting, Yard Signs and Public Safety Committee

Early Voting, Yard Signs and Public Safety Committee

Early Voting is around the corner

If you applied for a vote by mail ballot, the County should be mailing those ballots next week, September 26 or 27. Once you receive that ballot, take your time to research the candidates and cast your vote. Because the US Postal Service has been having delivery troubles, instead of returning your ballot by mail, consider one of the following options:

• place it in the ballot drop box in front of the courthouse
• return it to the Election Department at the County Clerk's office yourself
• request a Precinct Committeeman to come pick it up for you (618-416-7370)
• if you decide to vote in person, you must, must bring the mailed ballot with you to the voting place and surrender it to the election judges

We're less than two weeks from the start of Early Voting — starting September 29, you can go to the County Courthouse and cast your ballot between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Monday through Friday.

Beginning October 24, the two other permanent voting locations will open: the Rec Complex in Fairview Heights and the O'Fallon Township Office in O'Fallon. Official St. Clair County Early voting information from the County Clerk's office.

Yard Signs

I have a few yard signs that I can post around the District. If you or someone you know is willing to host a sign for me, please send me an email (cm4cb@carymathews.info) with the name and address of the property and I'll get back to you ASAP.

Public Safety Committee

This is one of the 15 standing committees created in the County Administration Code (Chapt. I, Art. II, Sec. 3). However, it appears that the Public Safety Committee has subsumed the functions of the Emergency Readiness Committee as the latter is not listed on the St. Clair County website.

This Committee shall:

1. Assist Departments and Agencies in complying with the Illinois Right-to-Know law.
2. Recommend methods for promoting safety throughout the County.
3. Supervise the operation of the Emergency Services and Disaster Agency.
4. Review all accidents to property and people.
5. Establish a system for handling employee safety regulations.
6. Develop a new employee safety orientation program.
7. Establish a safety inspection program.
8. Develop or revise safety rules and procedures.
9. Promote safety contest or awards programs.
10. Provide or arrange special training programs. (Accident investigations, driver training, etc.)
11. Communicate current and proposed regulatory requirements to departments or agencies.
12. Develop and implement specific accident prevention activities.
13. Review, update and prepare an annual report on the status of the County Risk Control Program.
14. Review supervisors' safety activity reports. (If required.)
15. Review minutes of Departmental Safety Committees. (If required.)

Without additional information, I believe the "Illinois Right-to-Know law" referred to is the "Illinois Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act" (430 ILCS 100/). This law creates an obligation for local government agencies to know about and make available information to the public about "hazardous substances used and stored in communities within their jurisdictions." Section 8 of the law establishes "local emergency planning committees," and it appears that the Public Safety Committee of St. Clair county is the designated entity for that purpose.

The "Emergency Services and Disaster Agency" now appears to be named Emergency Management Agency and it is responsible for "the disaster preparedness of the unincorporated areas of the County." The EMA also manages the county tornado sirens and tests that equipment on the first Tuesday each month to validate it is in working order. Linked off the EMA webpage is the St. Clair Special Emergency Services Association (SCSESA), an Illinois not-for-profit (File number 60745617) that offers search and rescue, investigation, and training services. (The SCSESA website has not been updated since at least 2013 but its status as a not-for-profit is still in good standing with the Illinois Secretary of State's office.)

Additionally, the Public Safety committee is tasked with the safety of county employees and oversees programs and processes for managing that aspect of running the county: promoting safety, reviewing accident claims against the county, establishing and overseeing a safety inspection program, etc.

The Public Safety committee serves several important oversight functions for the county, especially regarding the tornado warning system and the emergency response functions. If appointed to this committee, I will continue to support the maintenance and operations of this critical infrastructure.