Champaign Co. Board Chair Al Kurtz Reflects On Election Loss

Champaign County Board Chairman Alan Kurtz (D-Champaign) is leaving office at the end of the year.

Not by choice --- but because he lost his nomination bid for re-election to his District Seven seat in Tuesday’s Democratic primary to former county board chairman Pius Weibel. Kurtz’ own party endorsed Weibel over Kurtz, after Kurtz leveraged mostly Republican support to win the county board chairmanship in 2012, defeating the party’s choice, Mike Richards. Kurtz talked about the election and his eight years on the Champaign County Board with Illinois Public Media’s Jim Meadows.

Alan Kurtz was first appointed to the Champaign County Board in 2008, and won elections in 2010 and 2012. Kurtz plans to serve out his term until a new county board is seated in December. For his final months in office, he says his priorities will include a new I-57/I-74 interchange, protection of the Mahomet Aquifer from a proposal to store hazardous PCB’s at the Clinton Landfill, renovations to the county jail, and implementation of the county’s new re-entry program for recently released prison inmates. Kurtz discusses those issues.