Earlier this month, the Daily Chronicle gave us an update: An audit of the university in March, completed by Illinois Auditor General William G. Holland, found that NIU had improperly reimbursed [Ron] Walters and also didn’t comply with a variety of guidelines for internal control and processes related to procurement and contracts. Walters had received…
Category: City Watch
Website Accessibility & the Fine Print
After having pointed out that DeKalb’s new website doesn’t pass accessibility tests and going back and forth with city staff over the issue, I’ve finally remembered something else. I have some related documents on hand that were released by the city in response to a request for information on communications between City of DeKalb and…
One of These Things is Not Like the Other
Still on the subject of DeKalb’s service agreement with website designer CivicPlus. There are two versions available: the agreement included in the February 9 agenda packet, and the version that Mayor John Rey signed on February 11. No, they are not the same. Yes, it is disturbing to think that we would be reading one…
We Must Have a Do-Over of DeKalb’s New FOIA Policy
While there are several things wrong with the city’s new Freedom of Information Act policy when it comes to direct violations of FOIA as a law, there is also something larger and more insidious at work here. What I’m talking about is that the FOIA policy item was placed as a resolution on the consent…
Here’s What’s Wrong with DeKalb’s New FOIA Policy
DeKalb’s city council both introduced and passed a Freedom of Information Act policy last night. Yes, there was a rush to put into place a FOIA policy written by city attorney Dean Frieders, who is proven to have trod upon the Open Meetings Act previously. As you might well guess, there are also problems with…
City of DeKalb’s Website Still Has Accessibility Issues – Updated
***Update*** 6/25/2015: I finally got a response to my letter telling council and top management staff about accessibility issues with the newly-launched city website. Someone had handed off the letter to DeKalb’s management analyst, Lauren Stott (one of the staff members who withheld estimates for a simple accessibility fix vs. a complete redesign, despite direct…
DeKalb Violated the Open Meetings Act in Approving Settlement Agreement
The determination arrived Friday. Find it here. The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (PAC) has found that City of DeKalb violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) in two ways when it approved a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on January 12: The city misused the exception to open meetings having to…
Numbers to Consider During the Budget Process
The data for the following charts come from Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs). In view of DeKalb staff’s continually stated desire to hire, I’ve begun with a look at the numbers of full-time equivalent employees. The city is using a figure of 220 city employees during its budget process instead of the most recently available…
Council Needs New Counsel
Sometimes we believe things that are completely false, and a lot of times belief holds strongest when it comes to having faith in professionals who, by definition, are supposed to have your back. That’s what I think is happening with the DeKalb city council: They are trusting that what city attorney Dean Frieders says about…
You CAN Comment at Committee of the Whole Meetings — Here’s Why You Didn’t Know That
Here’s an excerpt from a memo included with next week’s council meeting agenda: The City of DeKalb maintains Chapter 2 of the City Code which governs the City Council and meetings thereof. Old versions of the City Code included provisions which purported to prohibit public comment at certain meetings of the City Council or Committee…