Neighborhood solar fight and Springfield’s unpaid dispatch bill

The Sangamon County Board meeting got personal, financial and a bit awkward. Tamara Kuhn, a Lenhart Road homeowner, came with citations from peer-reviewed research to argue that a proposed neighborhood solar facility would cut nearby property values by thousands of dollars. She said she supports clean energy — but not a utility scale project across from people’s homes — and asked the board to weigh residents’ long term equity against outside profit. Later, Ken Pacha literally jogged into the meeting to press for a recall referendum for local officials. He tied the push for recall power to the recent landlord registry vote (which passed overwhelmingly at the polls), past controversy over county leadership and ongoing work around mental health and public safety — arguing voters should have a direct tool when officials lose community trust. Then came a tense moment over who actually pays for county dispatch services.

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