If you haven’t heard, banker Tim Struthers has been appointed by Governor Rauner to the NIU Board of Trustees, pending approval by the Illinois Senate. Trouble is, there’s compelling evidence of major conflicts of interest in his appointment, which the Edgar County Watchdogs have outlined admirably. Struthers presently serves on the DeKalb County Sanitary District,…
Illinois’ Model Ethics Ordinance & City of DeKalb
…the Illinois model ordinance [for adoption by local units of government] is not even minimal. It only deals with political activities and gifts. There is nothing about conflicts; the word doesn’t even appear. To call it an ethics ordinance is like calling a burglary law a criminal code. ~ Robert Wechsler, CityEthics.org Minimal as it…
Mayor Rey’s Acceptance of NIU’s Gift of a Trip
Mayor Rey accepted the gift of a trip worth more than $1,000 in September 2013, according to Northern Illinois University records recently obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Rey and NIU President Doug Baker traveled to Moscow, Idaho, to foster better “town-gown” relations and to take in a football game between NIU and the…
DeKalb’s Abuse of the Consent Agenda
We’ve occasionally pointed out how DeKalb’s ordinances don’t always match up to Illinois statutes. The most recent example is contained within the lawsuit filed last week against the city, which details how the language of the DeKalb Municipal Code differs from state law in the matter of mayoral voting. So, too, does the language differ…
City of DeKalb Probably Violated the Open Meetings Act Again Last Night
Mayor Rey opened the city’s strategic planning meeting last evening just after 5pm, only to be challenged from the audience by county board member and Preserve Our Neighborhoods founder Misty Haji-Sheikh. Haji-Sheikh raised a point of order about the legality of the meeting. The “retreat” meeting was billed as Committee of the Whole, which the…
Request Accepted for Review of City Manager’s Pay Raise Decision
The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor has accepted my Request for Review of the DeKalb city council’s decision of May 26 to raise the city manager’s pay without public discussion. From the Request: There was no public deliberation of this matter even though citizens requested beforehand, both privately and publicly, that Council remove the…
Ron Walters’ Pay Arrangement with NIU
In her article about Ron Walter’s background and employment at Northern Illinois University under President Doug Baker, Kelly Bauer noted that the consultant was paid even when his calendar indicated he had no scheduled work. It appears Bauer intended to get to the bottom of it — the above article is labeled Part One —…
More on the NIU – Ron Walters Travel Funds Controversy
Earlier this month, the Daily Chronicle gave us an update: An audit of the university in March, completed by Illinois Auditor General William G. Holland, found that NIU had improperly reimbursed [Ron] Walters and also didn’t comply with a variety of guidelines for internal control and processes related to procurement and contracts. Walters had received…
One of These Things is Not Like the Other
Still on the subject of DeKalb’s service agreement with website designer CivicPlus. There are two versions available: the agreement included in the February 9 agenda packet, and the version that Mayor John Rey signed on February 11. No, they are not the same. Yes, it is disturbing to think that we would be reading one…
Website Accessibility & the Fine Print
After having pointed out that DeKalb’s new website doesn’t pass accessibility tests and going back and forth with city staff over the issue, I’ve finally remembered something else. I have some related documents on hand that were released by the city in response to a request for information on communications between City of DeKalb and…