City of DeKalb candidates for municipal offices in the spring elections are not all using the same ballot petition forms. For example, of the four mayoral candidates, three of them are filing as “independents” and one of them filed a “nonpartisan” form. A similar pattern has occurred with the aldermanic candidates. There are differences. “Independent”…
If at First They Don’t Spend All, They Try, Try Again
***Update 12/13: I did not make the meeting last night, but have been told that the RFP discussion has been tabled or postponed.*** ***Update 12/12: Some of the comments about the RFP on Facebook are interesting.*** A memo accompanying Item G8 of tomorrow’s DeKalb city council agenda starts like this. The Information Technology Department conducted…
Ald. Jacobson’s Budget Remarks
Many thanks to DeKalb County Online for isolating DeKalb council member Dave Jacobson’s comments of November 28 on the proposed 2017 budget. The two men showing disrespectful body language are Mayor Rey (far right) and Fourth Ward Ald. Bob Snow (second from right).
DeKalb City Manager Ignored a Policy She Didn’t Like
Remember this from October? This week, city staff asked the city council to waive the residency requirement for the IT director candidate that they like. It was presented as super-urgent, and council went along. The problem with this (besides their ongoing preference for carpetbaggers, I mean) is that it goes against a policy set by…
Check Out the ‘City Manager’s’ New Admin Assistant
Remember how City of DeKalb never got rid of its legal assistant, even when the city switched to an outside attorney who is contractually obligated to hire and pay his own help? The city is still providing the attorney with hired help, only now they’ve changed the name of the position to “administrative assistant.”
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,…
Balancing a Budget through Neglect of Neighborhoods
In “Mayor’s View: DeKalb in Solid Financial Shape for 2017,” John Rey is claiming that DeKalb is in fine financial shape. This will be his campaign refrain, but it’s nonsense. DeKalb has been spending more than it’s been taking in, the steep rise in spending is primarily due to over-staffing, and the foremost casualty is…
DeKalb Tried to Hide Settlement Agreement with Former Community Development Director
Last year, City of DeKalb got caught violating the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA) in approving a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. There were actually two violations, but the one we are concerned with here is DeKalb city council’s failure to take its final vote on the matter in a public session…
DeKalb City Manager’s Office Tried to Keep ‘STEAM Team’ Under Wraps
City staff are proposing to spend $400,000 in 2017 for a STEAM learning center — and that’s just for the architectural service called “building analysis.” The city is already spending $75,000 on a consulting firm, and council has been spending time in closed sessions to discuss the purchase or lease of property. This is an…