Alderman Marquardt is so very tired of you spoiled NIU students

Monday night, DeKalb’s city council members wrestled with proposed parking restrictions in neighorhoods adjacent to campus. Except for Ald. Mike Marquardt, who lost a wrestling match with his tongue. At a local town hall meeting a few years ago, an audience member who pays attention to such things said the DeKalb-NIU relationship might be a…

DeKalb playing favorites with the bandit in the castle

Cohen Barnes owns a building in downtown DeKalb under the name “The Bandit’s Castle, LLC.” So he’s a bandit who bought a castle. Is this like the tv shows where the psychos leave little clues of their crimes? The imagination runs wild. The thing with bandits is that, by definition, they belong to gangs. This…

Town Hall Next Week at Conexion Comunidad

Third Ward Alderman Kristen Lash will hold a town hall meeting next Wednesday, August 31. So far, participants are: Kristen Lash, 3rd Ward Alderman Jim Luebke, DeKalb Township Trustee Paul Stoddard, County Board, District 9 Julia Fauci, County Board, District 9 Alderman Lash hopes also to include a representative of the District 428 school board.…

Third Ward Town Hall

[Addition 6/2: DeKalb Township trustee Jim Luebke will also attend. Sorry for the oversight.] The first DeKalb Third Ward town hall meeting is Thursday, June 2, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Fourth and Locust at 6 p.m. Illinois Representative Bob Pritchard, DeKalb County Board members Paul Stoddard and Julia Fauci, and District 428 School…

Advice & Consent

From Chapter 2 of the DeKalb Municipal Code (PDF p. 2): a) Pursuant to Article VII, Section 6 (f) of the Constitution of the State of Illinois (1970) and a Referendum Election held pursuant to Illinois Compiled Statutes, (65 ILCS 5/28-4), when vacancies in the office of alderman are occasioned by reason of resignation, failure…

Streetscape Subcontractors 2009

It has come to my attention that folks are asking whether former alderman Victor Wogen, as himself or as Masonry Works, LLC, landed city projects beyond the six post-demolition masonry repair projects of 2008. The answer is yes. In the fall of 2008, the 2009 “streetscape” project was approved, with Elliott & Wood as the…

Word of the Day: Patronage

patronage [pey-truh-nij] —noun 3. the control of or power to make appointments to government jobs or the power to grant other political favors. 4. Offices, jobs, or other favors so controlled. 5. the distribution of jobs and favors on a political basis, as to those who have supported one’s party or political campaign: DeKalb became…

You May Raise My Taxes When…

Is it wrong to prefer a Council meeting without Wogen and Simpson? I’ve decided there’s no immediate need to get rid of Wogen unless he starts showing up again, or if the 3rd Ward wants the mayor to appoint somebody to the spot. And Simpson can take as much time off as he likes unless…