I meant to say something sooner but have been distracted by personal events this week. Last week a candidates’ forum was held at the DeKalb Municipal Building and it was televised — a first on both counts, I think. Though involved as a member of the board of the new League of Women Voters of…
DeKalb’s Pension Cost Acceleration
[easychart type=”horizbar” width=”420″ title=”Police and Fire Pension Costs in Millions of Dollars” groupnames=”Annual Pension Costs” valuenames=”FY2004, FY2005, FY2006, FY2007, FY2008, FY2009, FY2010, FY2011″ group1values=”1.55, 1.72, 1.8, 1.98, 2.23, 2.38, 2.86, 3.36″ minaxis=”1.5″] Annual pension costs (APCs) are what the city contributes to the pension funds each year. APCs were increasing about 10% annually earlier this…
Irregularities in Issuance of Tapa La Luna Liquor License
This liquor license was issued February 2. According to e-mails obtained under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the application for this liquor license was submitted the same day. So when I read something like this… DeKalb Mayor Kris Povlsen asked if there was a laundry list of public corruption because in his long…
Public Corruption Might Possibly Exist in DeKalb County, and if It Does, the State’s Attorney is On It
Back when I first worked in developmental disabilities (DD) adult services, it was very well known that abuse and neglect of persons with disabilities occurred only in Chicago and just couldn’t, and didn’t, ever happen in DeKalb County. But of course abuse and neglect actually can happen anywhere; and when we finally got around to…
The Case for a Graduated Income Tax in Illinois
The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability just released a report called “The Case for Creating a Graduated Income Tax in Illinois” (PDF). Changing from a flat tax to a graduated state income tax structure would take an amendment to the Illinois Constitution. Now would be a good time to ask state representatives/candidates if they…
RIP Without the Inspections
Once upon a time (2008, actually) the City of DeKalb contemplated a massive licensing and inspection plan for rental properties (PDF pp. 15-32) called the Rental Inspection Program, or RIP. The proposed fee schedule for the RIP (PDF pp. 19-20) began at $78 for a building of 1-5 rental units for annual licensing and inspection.…
Chicago-Kent Center for Open Government Requests Legal Review of the DeKalb Public Library Expansion Process
[Update 1 added 2/23/2012 after the jump.] [Update 2 added 2/24/2010] Click on either image to access larger versions. I’ll note additions to this post, if any, at the City Barbs Blog Facebook page as well.
Hello DARA
The DeKalb Area Rental Association (DARA) formed last summer has recently launched its website, called daranow.com. It’s probably safe to say it’s not a coincidence in timing that DARA was conceived just a few months after the mayor first appointed his Safe/Quality Housing Task Force, and easy to see DARA’s formation at least partly as…
New Bill Would Require Local Governments in Illinois to Place More Documents Online
Illinois Sen. Dan Duffy has filed this month SB3392, a bill that would require local governments with websites to post much more than many currently do. New requirements under the proposed legislation include putting online information regarding employee compensation, bids and contracts, which are documents typically sought under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).…
DeKalb Mayor Boots NIU Students from Council Meeting
The online consensus is that there have been many residents who SHOULD have been removed from city council meetings for disruptions or going over the time limit, but the one instance where the current mayor of DeKalb has the police remove anybody it’s when three students come to question the decision to place the new…