Issues

Local Environmental Sustainability
As your representative I will work to make Champaign County the greenest county in Illinois! "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle" is a mantra I personally live by and it should be the mantra of our County government (with a strong focus on "Reduce"). I promise to take a more holistic approach to environmental sustainability in the county which I am not currently seeing on the County Board. We need to realize that a healthy local environment means a healthy local economy and healthy people. To achieve a more sustainable community I will work:

• To curb urban sprawl and promote smart growth such as infill development
• To support locally owned businesses over big box chain stores
• To reduce waste and increase energy efficiency in the county
• To protect the Mahomet Aquifer and the Champaign County Forest Preserves

Citizen Empowerment and Transparency
In our democracy, power ultimately resides in the citizens. This requires a vigilant and informed citizenry to keep the politicians honest and ensure a transparent and accountable local government. Some politicians think they are above their constituents and I think this is a terrible way of thinking. What we need out of our representatives is a little more humility. I will be YOUR public servant and will serve at the public's pleasure. As a high school history teacher in training I believe it's vitally important to get citizens involved in the political process to keep our democracy healthy. That's why I'll work tirelessly to empower you, the citizen. The more people involved in the political process the better. I firmly believe in the decentralization of power and work to give more decision making power to you. That's why when I'm on the County Board I will:

• Support and strengthen transparency 'sunshine' laws such as the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Open Meetings Act
• Support a recall mechanism at all level of government to keep our official accountable
• Support binding referendum and initiative mechanisms at all levels of government so that citizens can have a greater say in government

Fiscal Responsibility
As your county board member I will be committed to a fiscally responsible county government. What people don't know is that Greens are pretty frugal people. Because we don't take any corporate contributions, we already know how to make do with less. The county government should be efficient and honest. That's why I'll work to:

• Reduce energy consumption to save the tax payer money
• Make sure that county services are running efficiently while upholding the high quality of services

What's Important to YOU?
I will do everything I can to get input from the community. To keep in touch with residents I will be meeting with community groups and individual residents, holding "open office hours" at several public places, and keeping a blog for my campaign. I'm always open to hearing ideas from residents and citizens about the issues that affect them. Please feel free to send me your ideas and/or concerns via email at votewalter@gmail.com or by phone at 217-819-1591. Note: I will be adding additional position papers in the near future. Please check back soon!