First thing you need to know is the DeKalb city council does not, as a rule, run real public hearings on budgets anymore. Usually they look pretty much the same as public comment portions of regular council meetings, except without the usual three-minute time limit. For example, you don’t get to test staff representations of…
Author: Lynn Fazekas
A defense of the rights of legislators in City of DeKalb
DeKalb’s city manager, Bill Nicklas, accused members of council of placing our city “on the edge of changing the form of government we have” during a recent public meeting. But a closer look at the situation suggests the accuser may be changing government to suit himself. City of DeKalb has the council-manager form of municipal…
Thanks to Crundwell, concealment of public records is a felony
Former DeKalb County administrator Gary Hanson attended his first court hearing yesterday on the grand jury indictment that sets out 15 counts against him of concealment and destruction of public records and official misconduct. If he’s convicted, sentencing could include prison time as well as fines, thanks to legislation inspired by Rita Crundwell’s theft of…
DeKalb should hold public conversations this fall about AI tools for law enforcement
It’s budget season, and an artificial intelligence (AI) application for writing up police reports from body-worn camera and drone data is available from one of DeKalb Police Department’s favorite vendors. Does it lurk in the PD’s budget worksheets? If so, the city should start public conversations now about oversight, transparency, and other pros and cons…
A return to “meaningful and understandable” budgets begins with Water Fund dependency confessions
Last spring, DeKalb’s city manager was pushing for water rate and fee increases of 3.8% for infrastructure projects such as water main replacement. In the city council agenda for April 28, 2025, he wrote, “It should be noted that the Water Fund is an enterprise fund that should cover its operating and capital expenses from…
With a hoard like this, DeKalb must adjust its financial policies
DeKalb’s latest annual audit, completed earlier this month, shows the city added $4 million to its ending General Fund balance for fiscal year 2024. It’s a multiyear trend, and $4 million is the least amount added during this period. Since 2020, DeKalb has seen $23.7 million in annual operating surpluses, an average of $5.9 million…
A closer look at Barnes’ ethics blunder in his DeKalb mayoral campaign
I promised readers I’d follow up our discussion on Facebook of the DeKalb mayor’s use of photos of our fire and police chiefs in uniform in his campaign mailers. People don’t like what he did, but did Mayor Cohen Barnes also violate state and/or federal laws? Mayor Barnes never answered my questions about whether DeKalb’s…
The simple (but not easy) answer is to bring our rural townships back into the loop
There are at least two elected boards in DeKalb County that have so far failed to attract candidates for the Consolidated Election of April 1, 2025. Both are part of the local education infrastructure. Both operate under state rules that restrict how many board members can come from each township in their districts. Some are…
Linh Nguyen’s continuing fight to get her name on the ballot for DeKalb mayor
Linh Nguyen filed a petition with the circuit court on November 21 to reverse the electoral board’s decision and place her name on the ballot for mayor. Here’s the meat of it: The final decision and order removed candidate from the ballot because she filed her nominating papers as a nonpartisan candidate during the nonpartisan…
City of DeKalb’s continuing campaign to cheat voters of their elected city clerk
Some municipalities have been hoping to make changes to their clerks’ offices. City of Sandwich recently discussed an alderman’s idea for strengthening the independence of the office of its elected city clerk by eliminating a potential conflict of interest. Sandwich didn’t change anything this time around, but the idea is now out there for people…