DeKalb Park District (DPD) passed a resolution last summer to convey park property to City of DeKalb for its new city hall. The transfer has since occurred under an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the two. City of DeKalb paid DPD a dollar for the property known as the Nehring building. Possibly illegally by ignoring the…
Category: Community Resources
Story of Dixon sparks ideas for preventing fraud and building trust in city government
Last night I went to the Egyptian Theatre to watch “All the Queen’s Horses,” the documentary of Rita Crundwell’s embezzlement of more than $53 million from City of Dixon when she was treasurer-comptroller there. I won’t spoil the film, because even a person who followed Crundwell’s arrest and the aftermath quite closely is bound to…
DeKalb’s housing rehab program is seriously underperforming
Last night, City of DeKalb held a public hearing and approved an annual budget for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). CDBD is a federal program administered by HUD that helps ensure viable communities, particularly in the area of decent and affordable housing for low- to moderate-income residents. The general public did not participate in…
Warmth is important for bridging the morality gap
Recently I brought up at a city council meeting, again, the issue of an overnight warming center. People used to be able to stop in at our city hall to sit and thaw out a bit at night, back when it was PD headquarters and open 24 hours. The new police station is likewise open…
City’s water bill issue a symptom of a larger problem
***Updates 2/8: City says no double-billing was involved, so I’ve deleted statements below to the contrary. I do intend to look at 2017 billing cycle dates to confirm the bases for bills from previous months. That the error mostly affects customers on the south side has been confirmed. City remains silent on the plight of…
A look at the county’s nursing center renovation project, and what it might mean
I have a dark red brick on my mantel that came from the old DeKalb County Home, now known as DeKalb County Nursing and Rehabilition Center (DCNRC). On one side of the brick is a sketch of the Home, on another a short history of the facility in dates and names. The brick tells me…
Ask me how I feel about the Annie Glidden North project when I know how NIU is involved
DeKalb city council had a special meeting on Tuesday to discuss what they’re calling the Annie Glidden North (AGN) “revitalization plan.” AGN is what they call three neighborhoods in the northwest section of the city on either side of Annie Glidden Road. According to the 100-page memo that accompanied the meeting agenda, DeKalb in 2016…
Video of Mayoral Forum from DeKalb County Online
If you missed Monday’s forum for DeKalb mayoral candidates that Kiwanis presented on Monday, click here for video. Thanks, DCO.
Fighting Over Scraps
The Chronicle posted an article online last night about council’s fight over the proposed annual budget that begins January 1. The article says that city staff presented a draft budget with 75% cuts in the social services allocations. This is different from the online version available to the public, which shows the line item (account…
DeKalb’s Decaying Support of Social Services
**Correction and clarification added 11/30** In DeKalb’s fiscal year budget for 2008, $214,000 was allocated in the legislative department budget for social services funding. Two years later, the amount was reduced to $150,000, because the city was still experiencing post-Great Recession budget crises. The funding has never been restored. It’s been at $150,000 ever since,…