The second Choose 2 Reuse event is today at the old Sawyer building at 5th and Lincoln. If you have things to give away, drop them off between 6-8 a.m. Start browsing mode at 8 a.m. It goes until 4. For an extra-large item such as a piece of furniture you can’t carry in by…
Your Tourism Dollars at Work, Part 2
Part 1 is here. This was going to be about why the City Council should hold DeKalb Area Convention & Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) accountable for its $50,000 annual allocation. It’s still about that, but also counters a story being floated in some circles today about how Re:New DeKalb nobly requested their $45,000 allocation come from…
Your Tourism Dollars at Work
On July 13, 2009, City Council once more approved a $50,000 allocation to the Chamber of Commerce‘s tourism branch. Through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, City Barbs has obtained some financial information. This is how they spent the money last year: DeKalb Chamber of Commerce Tourism Fund a.k.a. DeKalb Area Convention & Visitors…
City Clerk Implementing New FOIA Standards Now
The new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) legislation has an effective date of January 2010, but DeKalb’s Office of the City Clerk will not not wait until then to begin implementing policy and procedural changes in fulfilling FOIA requests. In fact, at least two changes — that of charging for copies of documents only after…
FOIA Request Rejection & Appeal
Kay’s post about Governor Quinn’s signing the new, improved FOIA legislation is great news, but comes too late to help with this current and ongoing situation. Let’s start with a recap of events. I have been trying to obtain, via the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), ReNew:DeKalb meeting minutes. Re:New, as a private organization,…
SB 189 > Public Act 096-0542
Gov. Quinn signed Senate Bill 189, the upgrade to FOIA. The full text can be read at this link. It takes effect January 1, 2010. It seemed to take him a while to get around to signing it but I see that his office created a new Web site which is here: http://accountability.illinois.gov/. This is…
Letter to County Board Re: Monsanto Enterprise Zone
Dan Kenney has sent the DeKalb County Board a more detailed version of last week’s letter to the editor: August 17, 2009 DeKalb County Board members: Please consider the information below before voting on the Monsanto request for the enterprise zone expansion. The citizens of DeKalb County are counting on a vote that will best…
“Realistic”
I heard a word I liked at the Park District’s unveiling of a proposed pool facility, “realistic.” That word came out of the mouth of an architect. That was a shocker and I can only hope that everyone who talked tonight understood the importance of telling the truth, not hiding anything, and making sure that…
Cook County Transparency
Did you read the title twice? It’s certainly something for the “strange but true” column: Cook County as potential role model for DeKalb County. Cook County Commissioner Tony Paraica is now hosting a website called CookEmployees.com. All 25,000-plus Cook County employees are listed by name, title, department, salary and hire date in a database that…
TIF This
Medill (that is Northwestern’s journalism school) student Adam Verwymeren created a satirical description of TIFs in language so easy a five-year-old, a caveman, or a politician can understand, called: TIFs for Tots. Enjoy! When you are done with the online children’s book, try Ben Joravsky’s TIFs for Dummies. Do not miss this key section: “Think…