There have been 58 bank closures through July 22, five of them in Illinois, including one in St. Charles. Daily Markets looks at the current climate. Looking back, there were 157 bank failures in 2010, 140 in 2009 and 25 in 2008. While the financials of bigger banks have been stabilizing on the back of…
Aren’t DeKalb’s Finances Recovering Nicely?
What a lovely surprise. I can’t wait! I can’t wait for the rollbacks to begin of the tax and fee hikes our city council has approved since 2008 to keep afloat. Shall we start with the property tax, sales tax, restaurant and bar tax, hotel-motel tax, utility tax or the first gas tax hike? When…
CCEC Disapproves of DeKalb’s New Police Cars
Citizens Community Enhancement Commission members are upset their logo was totally rejected as the new design for the police cars, so now they want a do-over: BUSINESS: 1. New Police Squads [Assistant City Manager Rudy] Espiritu distributed pictures of the new police cars. A survey was done with Police personnel, and the staff selected the…
City Again Deprived of State of the City Address
Here’s what the mayor is supposed to do: Sec. 3.1-35-5. Mayor or president; general duties. The mayor or president shall perform all the duties which are prescribed by law, including ordinances, and shall take care that the laws and ordinances are faithfully executed. The mayor or president from time to time may, and annually shall,…
The Vehicle Maintenance & Acquisition Fund That Isn’t
In “Council in the Twilight Zone,” I lauded 7th Ward Alderman Monica O’Leary for questioning this part of the July 11 meeting agenda: 2) APPROVAL OF A RECOMMENDATION TO AUTHORIZE THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TO PURCHASE TWO NEW SQUAD CARS THROUGH THE STATE PURCHASING PROGRAM. The Police Department was awarded a Grant through the Illinois Criminal…
A Retelling of DeKalb’s Reduction in Force Story
This ties together a half-dozen posts delivered over four months. It also better separates the facts from the adventures in obtaining them. How the RIF Played Out Publicly In February 2010, staff reported during a special meeting that DeKalb was facing budgetary shortfalls totaling more than $5 million by the end of FY2011. They attributed…
Feed’Em Soup Wins a New Toyota
DeKalb County’s Feed’Em Soup Community Project just won a new vehicle in the Toyota 100 Cars for Good program. After announcing 500 non-profit finalists in April, Toyota has been in the process of giving away one car per day for 100 days. The winners are selected by popular vote on Toyota USA’s Facebook page. Feed’Em…
More on Corn Fest & Parking Fees
Here’s a piece of an e-mail from an FAA official to the City of DeKalb about FAA requirements for holding Corn Fest at the airport, which DeKalb County Online got hold of in May: Of particular importance is the amount of money received by the airport from the event. This MUST be some form of…
ReNew DeKalb’s Annual Meeting
ReNew DeKalb’s annual meeting is set for Thursday, July 28, beginning at 5 p.m. From the info provided at DeKalb County Online, it is unclear when the actual business meeting starts (and there seems to be nothing about it on ReNew’s own website as of this morning). Perhaps it’s the “community presentation” part? Knowing this…
Firefighters Reach a Deal with Buffalo Grove
From the Chicago Tribune today: Buffalo Grove and its firefighters have agreed to defer raises, increase employee health insurance premium contributions and establish a new two-tier wage structure that will pay new hires 10 percent less. There’s an example of the compensation reset some of us have been saying is necessary for DeKalb. Good going,…