“ I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life; I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well. ” ― Theodore Roosevelt
ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Notes provided by Allan Penwell).
Antonia is returning to Chile on July 15th, and the plane leaves at 7:20 am. Notify Jeff if you can attend her send-off.
Jeff has been in charge of youth exchange and has done an excellent job. Now it is time to share his great experience, and we would like one of our members to step forward to replace him.
On August 6th, our new district governor, Surinder Sethi, will be at our club. Assistant Governor, Kathy Rector, will be here to introduce Surinder. Wear your Sunday best.
Rotary Leadership Institute is on August 15th at Richland Community College. If you are interested in Rotary and getting involved, this is a great opportunity. Learn more, and you can register at http://www.hoa-rli.org/.
Allan Penwell shared that he recently returned from the National Dusters, Quads, and Searchlights Association get-together in Colorado. All left in high spirits.
PROGRAM
Bob introduced Anthony Cobb, the Champaign Police Chief. Chief Cobb was raised in Champaign. He was active in the Boys and Girls Club and attended Centennial High School. At Centennial, Chief Cobb was president of his senior class and captain of the football team. He attended West Point for two years before coming back to the University of Illinois to complete his education. In 1992 he joined the Urbana Police Department where he was named the city’s first community policing officer. Cobb worked in Urbana for over eighteen years, and in January 2012 he was appointed Chief of Police for the City of Champaign.
Chief Cobb primary concern is gun violence. In almost all cases, the guns are stolen or unlicensed. One of the main problems with reducing gun violence is that no one is cooperating with the investigations. Chief Cobb cited a recent incident where an argument escalated from a friendly back-and-forth to a much more serious and violent affair. An individual went to his car, retrieved a gun, and came back to shoot the other man in the argument. The shooter took off, but he was pursued by friends of the man he shot. One of the individuals in the back seat of the pursuit car accidentally shot himself. Eventually the first man was found, and he was shot. Thus, three people were shot all over a small argument. Cobb stated that there is no easy solution for such problems because it involves adults who should know better.
Cobb also discussed staff turnover and the problems it poses as people leave or retire from the department. Generally, the department will need to hire around 20 new officers per year, but that number has been much greater in recent years. Diversity and gender are also issues that have to be addressed in staffing. Cobb noted that his aim is to have a police force that is representative of the diversity in the community, but doing so can be difficult due to limited applicant pools.
Going forward, Cobb stated that community policing is needed with outreach and engagement to the public. This type of police work is the foundation for good police work, according to Cobb. He wants to see his department get back to this type of approach because it is the only way they will get the public’s cooperation in solving crimes and reducing gun violence. Examples of officers engaging with elementary schools were discussed, including Booker T. Washington Elementary and Garden Hills Elementary. Cobb said he prefers to have officers volunteer to take on such duties because it is more meaningful and impactful when an officer chooses to do so.
Cobb mentioned that a task force has been formed consisting of Champaign, Urbana, University, and Rantoul police departments plus the Champaign County Sheriff’s office. They started a data base to share information which is crucial to find the perpetrators of gun violence and other crimes. Cobb was particularly proud of this shared database because it helped increase local coordination while also reducing costs.
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| July 9th | July 16th | July 23rd | July 30th | |
| Introductions | Ben Mast | John McDaniel | Phyllis Mischo | Gary Olsen |
| Invocation | Tod Satterthwaite | Jen Shelby | Jeff Van Buren | Cary Woolard |
| Greeters | Ben Mast | John McDaniel | Phyllis Mischo | Gary Olsen |
| Chuck Reifsteck | Rod Roberts | Tod Satterthwaite | Jen Shelby | |
| Song Leader | Robb Patton | Allan Penwell | Ed Perry | Chuck Reifsteck |
| Notetaker | Chamberlain | Perry | Penwell | Hodson |
| Rotary Minute | Jan Merchen | Phyllis Mischo | Gary Olsen | Scott Paceley |
| Decker Weeding | Johnson | Penwell | Kamerer | Krchak |
| Next Weekend | ||||
| Decker Garden | LaCharite | Nelson | Nelson | Adams |
| Watering |
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UPCOMING SCHEDULE
July 9 – Stacey LeFeber, Girl Scouts of Central Illinois
July 16 – Jen Shelby will discuss the Cannes Film Festival
July 23rd – Phil Hoggatt, Harbor Light Hospice
July 30th – Club Assembly
August 6th – Visit from District Governor
August 13th – Rick Manner, Executive Director of the Champaign-Urbana Sanitary District
August 20th – Jaymeet Attaway, part of the Rotary Group Study Exchange team that traveled to Denmark
August 27th – Barry Pittendrigh, Department of Entomology, UIUC
September 3rd – TBD
September 10th – Dan Olson, Executive Director, Champaign County Forest Preserve Distrct
September 17th – TBD
September 24th – TBD
