[Updates 8/2: Handy ARRA map w/links to state summaries and Illinois’ ARRA site.] We love Good Jobs First because it’s taught us about development subsidies and TIF. This week, GJF released a report rating the quality of each state’s disclosure of its use of funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The…
Random Weasels
Purely coincidental.
The First Step
One of the citizen commenters at the council meeting last night brought up the City of DeKalb’s Management Pay Plan. She was scandalized by the leap from Step 1 to Step 2. It is easy to see why. Grade One starting pay, for example, is $18.158 per hour but on the first anniversary it jumps…
Adlai Stevenson 2
“Change is inevitable. Change for the better is a full-time job.”
Almost-Live Blog for Council Meeting
Alderman Teresinski has been reporting on happenings in his ward and did so again tonight. What a novel and refreshing use of Agenda Item L, Reports & Communications. He gets points for that. I was disappointed that my own alderman, Mr. Gallagher, had nothing to say about last week’s Economic Development Committee meeting since almost…
Flooded House Acquisition Criteria Need Another Look
From the Stormwater Task Force Minutes, October 23, 2008, which were finally received and filed by City Council July 13, 2009 (see pp. 49-51). Jeff Birtell suggested a comprehensive review of all flood damaged properties be considered by the City in a complete neighborhood buyout approach. The Committee wanted to prioritize to City Council a…
Letter to City Officials Updated: Mayor Responds
Update: Mayor Povlsen responded to my letter. The e-mail exhange (so far) appears at the end of this post. The city manager responded to the statements I made Monday at the Council meeting. Here is my reply:
Illinois’ Own Darn Fault
According to Pro Publica, Illinois is the 16th state to have to borrow to keep paying out unemployment benefits, but — just as is true of the City of DeKalb — the primary problem apparently is not due to the state of the economy: Going into the recession, Illinois had a dangerously low level of…
Chicago’s TIF Sunshine Ordinance
Ald. Manny Flores on TIF Long before workers occupied the Windows & Doors factory, the company received $10 million in TIF funding from the city years ago. Following that, Aldermen Manny Flores (1st Ward) and Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward), worked on developing a new ordinance on TIF transparency. It eventually passed the City Council and…
Adlai Stevenson
“The first principle of a free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum.” The New York Times, 19 January 1962