Last week I asked the City Clerk to help me get information about who, besides Victor Wogen, are or have been council members or city employees who’ve benefited as vendors to the city, beyond their primary roles. The Finance Office was able to provide 11 names for the period of my request, which was 2002-present.…
The Other “Quoters”
As most of you know, the City of DeKalb’s stated procedure for the type of jobs Third Ward Alderman Victor Wogen got was that two quotes or estimates were obtained for each job and that Wogen had the lower quote for each of the projects he worked on. Today, I went to the City Clerk’s…
Chronicle Crossed Off of You-Know-What List
For today, anyway. [wink] DeKalb City Council members are considering revising financial policy after it was disclosed that 3rd Ward Alderman Victor Wogen’s company was awarded six contracts totaling $52,000 in 2008. Currently there are no restrictions or requirements for disclosure on city officials winning contracts for public projects. The city is considering creating a…
Post-Meeting Musing
Last night during citizens’ comments I addressed the perception of city mismanagement (though admittedly not well). I think Council members are trained by administrators to believe community ire is the norm. It’s not. The reason the locals are in an uproar several times a year is because of administrators’ poor judgment and ample evidence that…
Is It Really Legal?
The agenda for the last meeting of the local chapter of Insomniacs Anonymous included a reading list. So, I’ve been perusing the Illinois Statutes (this one, this one, and this one). Each contains provisions allowing elected and appointed municipal officers to do business with their municipalities — but only under strict conditions. The following is…
2008 Timeline for Wogen & Masonry Works, LLC
January 2008: Third Ward alderman Victor Wogen files with the Illinois Secretary of State to do business as Masonry Works, LLC. He votes to approve the purchase of the building at 231 E. Lincoln. March 2008: Wogen votes to request a permit to facilitate demolition preparations at 231 E. Lincoln. July 2008: Masonry Works receives…
Blast from the Past: Wogen
Third Ward Alderman Victor Wogen’s letter to the editor published October 4, 2007: Next, there’s a perception that I have been bought and paid for by builders and developers. This is far from the truth. The majority of my supporters don’t have anything to do with construction. Yes, I do sell architectural precast. But I…
10/22 City of DeKalb Press Conference
Find video of it at DeKalb County Online. Thanks, Mac.
Northern Star Rocks
Amanda Podgorny is bringing a very important story about city government to the fore, for which I am grateful. “We checked with the city attorney to make sure there was no conflict of interest,” Wogen said. Biernacki said that this issue of aldermen working on city contracts was on a list of various things that…
Alderman Renews DeKalb for TIF Money
With the help of city administrators, Victor Wogen managed to parlay his seat on the DeKalb City Council into income approaching $60,000 of taxpayers’ money in 2008, about ten times more than his annual salary as representative of the Third Ward.