A request for information returned zero contracts in effect between City of DeKalb and Arcenio Cruz for janitorial services he provided during calendar years 2018-2025*. Cruz wasn’t a city employee. He was a vendor, an independent provider of janitorial services. He sent the city several invoices each month. According to annual city treasurer’s reports, Cruz…
Category: City Watch
Can community paramedicine make a dent in 34,000 emergency department visits?
This project began as an exploration of DeKalb Fire Department’s budding community paramedicine program. Then DeKalb fire chief Luke Howieson pointed me to a related document our local hospital publishes. Suddenly the analysis seemed incomplete without a larger picture of emergency medicine and paramedicine, with inclusion of Northwestern Medicine facilities Kishwaukee Hospital and Ben Gordon…
Meeting today’s EMS challenges
I was never a fan of DeKalb’s decision to open a fourth fire station. It’s not financially sustainable. Already we see it in this year’s budget, with $100,000 coming out of the city’s operating reserve to repair fire facilities, and pension liabilities continuing to explode. A more modest expansion would have fit financial realities better.…
Following up on DeKalb’s $1.5M in road and bridge cost overruns
Or: The Case of the Manager’s Embrace Due to multiple delays, DeKalb experienced some $1.5 million in cost overruns on two road and bridge projects that were completed in 2024. The city was able to cover the resulting budget deficits in 2025, but had to pull money out of the operating reserve to do it.…
Sycamore Fire’s staffing woes flag a growing EMS burden
Have you noticed? Mutual aid for fire response has gotten out of hand. Some 10-15 years ago, newspaper reports typically would list 6 or 7 fire departments that showed up to assist the lead agency. The number has since crept up to 12. Why? At this point — which is to say, following exploration into…
Playing a “professionalism card” on membership would create a conflict of interest for DeKalb’s Human Relations Commission
If previous actions are any indication, the Cohen Barnes administration would like to get rid of DeKalb’s Human Relations Commission, but apparently doesn’t have the votes required for repeal. So it’s decided to undermine the commission instead. DeKalb’s next city council meeting will include consideration of changes to three city commissions that have not met…
What to know about DeKalb’s brownfield cleanup project
DeKalb’s city council recently okayed a plan to send an application to the EPA for a brownfield cleanup grant of $2.5 million. The grant award would cover cleanup of the contaminated site on South Fourth Street formerly known as Protano’s Auto Parts (“Protano’s”). The city’s contracted engineering firm, Fehr Graham, investigated the former auto salvage…
Complaints about income tax revenue sharing are misplaced
***I’ve made a correction (asterisked in body of post) on 3/6/2026 to an earlier statement that suggested LGDF was originally legislated.*** Articles circulating about how municipalities are being “robbed” of income tax revenues from the state turn out to be nothingburgers once you look more closely at how Illinois does revenue sharing. Municipalities and counties…
Series: DeKalb’s water shenanigans
DeKalb’s often at odds with its own community over issues relating to its water supply, and has been for almost 30 years. The city now properly mitigates the radium content of our water, but Water Fund usage and industrial water users are recurring topics. The posts listed below are foundational, but do consider checking the…
DeKalb’s Transportation Fund a model for Water Fund budgeting transparency
Let’s start with a summary of the problem. City of DeKalb secretly charges its Water Fund (Water) to help compensate employees in other operational departments and divisions. Because the Water subsidies into the General Fund (GF) aren’t tracked in budgets, the expenses shown in Water budgets misrepresent the actual personnel costs of providing water to…