Observer Corps

What We Do

We attend and observe local government meetings. We ensure there is transparency and a public record of those meetings. We make our reports available to League members and the public so they can better engage their local government and advocate for the issues that matter to them.

Why It Matters

The League has been a champion of government transparency since our founding in 1920. Decisions that determine how our schools will be run, at what level community safety programs will be funded, and how land in our towns will be used impact our lives and are vital to our well-being. These kinds of decisions need to be made with public input and oversight. One important way to ensure that is to observe government meetings.
-  Mary G. Wilson, past president of the
LWV of the United States

More About the Observer Corps

The best way to learn about local government is to see their meetings in action and get to know the people in them. The League of Women Voters of Champaign County is now collaborating with the NAACP Champaign County Branch to observe and report on local government. We attend meetings from school boards to city councils to the Champaign County Board to lesser known public bodies such as the board of trustees for libraries or the MTD.

An observer is an individual who attends a governmental meeting, notes what happens at the meeting, and reports back to the League and the community. By attending public meetings of local governmental bodies/agencies, observers learn more about what their government is doing.

They learn about the issues facing their community and are empowered to take action, if warranted. They also learn how issues are being addressed. Observers keep elected and appointed officials on notice; they let them know that someone is watching what decisions are being made and how they are being made.

They help ensure that the issues facing their community are being handled “in the sunshine”, that is, out in the open. Ideally, observers are monitoring both the issues being discussed as well as the process by which they are being discussed.

While not every item up for discussion will relate to a League’s priorities, ensuring that the meeting is being conducted in an open and acceptable way is critical to all of the League’s efforts and the health of our democracy.

- From the League of Women Voters Resource Guide: Observing Your Government in Action. 

Above: Champaign County Board Meeting
​Below:  Champaign City Building

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Public Reports and Cheat Sheets

With the rejuvenation of the Observer Corps in 2024, we plan to make meeting write-ups and reports publicly accessible as soon as possible. This will ensure that people interested in their local government and current issues will have an opportunity to engage their representatives in a timely manner. We are currently rebuilding the Observer Corps and trying to make it as easy as possible for you to get involved by working with your schedule and making the reporting process simple.

We also currently have Cheat Sheet pages with regular updates on local government bodies, news coverage, and relevant links.

• For Champaign County Board and other County level government bodies and offices:  Cheat Sheet of Champaign County 
• For Champaign-Urbana local government bodies such as school boards, city councils, and more:  Cheat Sheet: C-U Local 

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Interested??

​Contact Benjamin Beaupre, LWVCC and NAACP Observer Corps facilitator 

"Government of the people, by the people, for the people" 

​    ― Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address