They are doing it by filing a lawsuit to let a judge decide. From the Journal-Standard: Freeport Township now looks to the court system to see if last year’s joint purchase of the property at 206 E. Stephenson St. with the Veterans Assistance Commission [of Stephenson County] was legal. “An opinion by attorney Greg Pelini…
Another Example of DeKalb’s Business Friendliness
Remember this, from our financial consultants last April? [I]f you survey potential businesses, would they consider DeKalb business friendly? I don’t know the answer to that question. We have heard anecdotal evidence; some say that DeKalb is one of the most business-unfriendly cities they’ve ever encountered. Well, if that’s the case, economic development will be…
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Proclamation
Among the presentations at Monday’s council meeting was a certificate of appreciation given to DeKalb’s team members in the America in Bloom beauty contest a couple weeks ago (see p. 5). With the exception of the Master Gardeners, the list represents a love-in between bureaucrats plus a business that has managed to get the city…
Discussion of DeKalb’s Proposed Truancy Ordinance
The public comment included both home schoolers and a Sycamore attorney who has some experience in this area. A companion post is here.
City of DeKalb, Truancy Services are Not Your Job
Do you ever go into a store during a weekday when your own kids are in school, and see similarly-aged kids and think, “I wonder why they’re not in school?” I’ve done so quite reflexively on occasion, and when that happens I say or do…nothing. Because it’s none of my business. This is between the…
Power Shifts and Pushback
Let’s cut loose a couple of these agenda items for tonight’s DeKalb council meeting and try to paste them into the big picture. It is odd that this fiscal year’s budget allows for the hiring of code inspectors into the police department’s Crime Free Housing Bureau instead of mingling them with the rest of the…
An Update on Victor Wogen
Yesterday’s post about nontransparent government and our the city manager’s spending authority reminded me that, although city administrators suffered no consequences for hiring an alderman under the table, the disgraced former alderman himself did face a bit of music and not so long ago. Besides being forced to resign his position, Victor “Slick Vic” Wogen…
Mercer County & the Role of Transparency in Good Government
Illinois’ Mercer County lies south of the Quad Cities and comprises part of its metro area. Perhaps you’ve heard that the county’s treasurer, Mike Bertelsen, has been arrested and charged with stealing at least $13,000 from the county’s 911 Fund, the result of investigations that followed a forensic audit in the county office. The Illinois…
Video Excerpts from August 12 Council Meeting
*Update 8/22: City IT director Jeremy Alexander notified me early this morning that an encoding error is the cause of the audio glitch. They expect to have the problem corrected before the end of the day.* It has come to my attention that the audio portion for much of the August 12 city council meetings…
DeKalb City Council Has Made Robert Cry
I know it’s over a week since the last city council meeting, but I finally found the time to look at the video* of the Irongate annexation discussion and it was an even worse mess than I remembered. The agreement, defeated last month, was brought back via a parliamentary procedure called a “motion to reconsider.”…