TIF oversight in DeKalb is a joke. Recently I asked to see several years’ worth of minutes of Joint Review Board meetings, which apparently are as perfunctory as can be since there is no substance to the minutes, much less evidence of real oversight. How could there be? They only meet once a year. Then…
Category: City Watch
Expenditures of Distinction: ReNewing Eduardo’s
Instead of the usual “Expenditures of Distinction” categories this month, we will focus on recent TIF spending. The City of DeKalb spent another $4700 out of the TIF Fund (.pdf p.52) on the Van Buer parking lot, this time for something called “FIBRCONE,” which brings the past two months’ parking lot embellishments to over $15,000…
The Flood-Prone Property Selection Maps
In response to the interest generated by news of FEMA funds released for additional buyouts of flood-prone homes, here are maps of the properties considered by the Stormwater Task Force. Properties labeled 1.0 or higher are considered to have favorable benefit-cost ratios. The first four properties bought and demolished were 814 W. Taylor and 829,…
Chronicle Hearts City Leaders, Chooses Them Over Us
Our View: Fuss over alderman misplaced “The Comical” earns its nickname today, sadly.
MICA
Tuesday night at the joint City Council–Financial Advisory Committee meeting, staff announced they had researched several providers of liability insurance and had made a decision on a favorite, an outfit called the Municipal Insurance Cooperative Agency (MICA). There were three red flags when the MICA plan was laid out. One was that we were not…
Was That So Hard?
It is quite unsettling that so many at City Hall default to secrecy. When I asked at a meeting where Alderman Wogen is living, Council in effect told me that we aren’t entitled to the information. Now suddenly they are ‘fessing up through the local press. Third Ward Alderman Victor Wogen said Tuesday that he…
The Return of Wogen Watch
The Wogen Watch blog is back in response to Alderman Victor Wogen’s arrest on domestic violence charges and to the question of where he is living. So far, I’ve spoken at a Council meeting about the residency issue, blogged it and sent a letter to the editor. I hope I won’t be the Lone Ranger…
Where’s Wogen?
Last night at the Council meeting I asked 3rd Ward Alderman Victor Wogen to state for the record where he is living now. This seems fair; after all, I had to submit my address to speak at the meeting. Astoundingly, instead of answering he looked to the attorney for help, and she said he didn’t…
P.E.T. Does It. Why Won’t ReNew?
Last week I submitted a FOIA request to the City of DeKalb to review meeting minutes from the Preservation of the Egyptian Theater (P.E.T.) organization. Today I stopped by the Municipal Building to pick up two years’ worth, which translated to minutes of 17 meetings. Such accessibility is made possible by a provision of P.E.T.’s…
Congrats to Our Firefighters
Congrats to our firefighters on reversing the lay offs! I decided I would keep running the DeKalb Rescue Me Now blog anyway because the Fire and Police Departments seem below a skating rink, a sidewalk from nowhere to nowhere, the brick building mania, spending TIF money like drunken gamblers, and the airport in priorities. When…