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.…
Category: First Responders
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…
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…
“Time Bomb” Barnes & the First Responders
DeKalb mayor Cohen Barnes is hoping to become the Democratic candidate in this month’s primary election for Illinois House District 76 representative. In his introductory statement during a candidates’ forum, Mayor Barnes said, “We’ve hired over 20 police officers in the last year alone — and firefighters.” The statement is unusual in at least two…
5 issues ignored so far in City of DeKalb’s budget plans
Need for a finance director. DeKalb’s finance director left this year and it looks like there’s no plan to replace her. That’s too bad. Besides the risk of returning to subpar audits, a qualified finance director could fill in for the city manager if needed, which is particularly important since the assistant city manager’s position…
“A way to harass poor people”
I’ve been talking to people familiar with DeKalb’s administrative hearing system to try to understand the point of it all. (One of the responses became the title for this piece.) At heart it’s theater, but hardly entertaining. What’s collected probably doesn’t cover the costs of putting on the show, and the performance contains the threat…
DeKalb’s plans for a new fire station don’t make sense
Management staff at City of DeKalb are proposing to build a fourth fire station on South Malta Road, next to the property housing Schnucks. Here are three reasons to question the plan. Let’s expand on that last thought because it’s extra bizarre. The area of greatest demand is the northwest quadrant, but management doesn’t want…
Human Relations Commission to explore roles of police embedded in District 428 schools
DeKalb’s Human Relations Commission (HRC) meets tomorrow night and the agenda includes a discussion of the role of school resource officers (SROs). Superintendent Minerva Garcia-Sanchez and District 428 security staff are expected to attend. During its last meeting, HRC members expressed concern about the ticketing of children for local ordinance violations in Illinois schools, so…
Children as city revenue sources
Schools in Illinois are not allowed to “ticket” children for misbehavior. So they have the police do it, according to a new series of articles by Pro Publica and Chicago Tribune. A boy named Kameron, who had shoved his friend over a Lipton peach iced tea in the school cafeteria, had been cited for violating…
DeKalb’s ‘Suburban’ issue of fire safety
***Update 8/6/2022*** DeKalb city council is expected to approve an intergovernmental agreement during its regular meeting on August 8 that specifies a developer buying the Suburban property, the city annexing it and connecting it to city water, and DeKalb County providing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds of $862,500 for the water infrastructure improvements. Agenda…