School District’s Referendum Costs May Approach $200 Million

[Written by Jim Schneider, who did hear the proceedings. Edited & posted by yinn. Go to Mac’s place for more, including the docs holding the numbers Jim is using.] The $110 million ref was a lot more than advertised. Since this ref is being financed, the interest cost will cause the total costs to be…

A Discouraging Word

A few days ago I was approached by people associated with city matters who tried to discourage me from speaking out at meetings and from blogging. It was the usual. Ponder the timing with me. And let me know privately if it has happened to you. yinn422[AT]yahoo[dot]com.

ReNew Our Schools Report Ending 6/30/08

The long-awaited ReNew Our Schools semi-annual D-2 Report to the Illinois State Board of Elections has been filed. At the site, click on the “Campaign Disclosures” tab, then on “Committee” to get to the committee search. We’ve already covered the campaign contributions in a previous post. What we’ve been waiting on were the expenditures. Here’s…

FPC Meeting: No Report

I’d like to report on the FPC meeting but can’t. I missed too much. You see, for much of the meeting there were too many simultaneous “mini meetings” going on in the back between school board members and administrators and, at times, something almost akin to heckling. Now, I admit to having a moderate hearing…

DeKalb County Online: Rental Inspection Manager Hired Last Year

Surprise! The City of DeKalb has been paying the “proposed” Rental Inspection Program Manager for the better part of a year now: According to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, filed by DeKalb County Online, the City hired an independent contractor, retired DeKalb Police Lt. James Kayes, to perform the duties…