While there are several things wrong with the city’s new Freedom of Information Act policy when it comes to direct violations of FOIA as a law, there is also something larger and more insidious at work here. What I’m talking about is that the FOIA policy item was placed as a resolution on the consent…
Here’s What’s Wrong with DeKalb’s New FOIA Policy
DeKalb’s city council both introduced and passed a Freedom of Information Act policy last night. Yes, there was a rush to put into place a FOIA policy written by city attorney Dean Frieders, who is proven to have trod upon the Open Meetings Act previously. As you might well guess, there are also problems with…
City of DeKalb’s Website Still Has Accessibility Issues – Updated
***Update*** 6/25/2015: I finally got a response to my letter telling council and top management staff about accessibility issues with the newly-launched city website. Someone had handed off the letter to DeKalb’s management analyst, Lauren Stott (one of the staff members who withheld estimates for a simple accessibility fix vs. a complete redesign, despite direct…
DeKalb Violated the Open Meetings Act in Approving Settlement Agreement
The determination arrived Friday. Find it here. The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (PAC) has found that City of DeKalb violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) in two ways when it approved a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on January 12: The city misused the exception to open meetings having to…
Numbers to Consider During the Budget Process
The data for the following charts come from Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs). In view of DeKalb staff’s continually stated desire to hire, I’ve begun with a look at the numbers of full-time equivalent employees. The city is using a figure of 220 city employees during its budget process instead of the most recently available…
Council Needs New Counsel
Sometimes we believe things that are completely false, and a lot of times belief holds strongest when it comes to having faith in professionals who, by definition, are supposed to have your back. That’s what I think is happening with the DeKalb city council: They are trusting that what city attorney Dean Frieders says about…
You CAN Comment at Committee of the Whole Meetings — Here’s Why You Didn’t Know That
Here’s an excerpt from a memo included with next week’s council meeting agenda: The City of DeKalb maintains Chapter 2 of the City Code which governs the City Council and meetings thereof. Old versions of the City Code included provisions which purported to prohibit public comment at certain meetings of the City Council or Committee…
Citizen Action & a Cell Tower Project in the 4th Ward
***DeKalb city council will consider the special use permit during its regular meeting Monday, April 27.*** While the University Village Planned Development proposal seems to have grabbed the headlines today, last night’s Planning & Zoning Commission meeting was also notable for neighborhood pushback against approval of a special use permit for a new 140-foot cell…
A City Narrative and the Aardvark that Ate It
On the February 9 DeKalb city council meeting agenda was this action item: 2. Resolution 2015-011 Waiving Competitive Bidding and Authorizing the Execution of a Website Design Agreement with CivicPlus in an Amount not to Exceed $56,189 in Year One. Staff said they didn’t have time to put out Requests for Proposals (RFPs). They claimed…
Five Reasons to Believe DeKalb Tried to Hide DOJ Communications about Website Compliance Issues
Mayor John Rey had a guest column in the Chronicle this week. As is par for the course with City of DeKalb administrations, he calls criticism of the city’s actions “misinformation” and “rumors.” There are two reasons people are upset. One is evidence that the city withheld information about the U.S. Department of Justice evaluation…