DeKalb mayor Cohen Barnes is hoping to become the Democratic candidate in this month’s primary election for Illinois House District 76 representative. In his introductory statement during a candidates’ forum, Mayor Barnes said, “We’ve hired over 20 police officers in the last year alone — and firefighters.” The statement is unusual in at least two…
Tag: city council
DeKalb aldermen can’t get items placed on their own city council agendas
Sixth Ward Alderman Mike Verbic has attempted to get items included on DeKalb city council agendas for nearly a year, but the city manager has yet to comply. Emails from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request show that Alderman Mike Verbic began requesting items be placed on city council agendas in March 2023, and…
DeKalb’s plans for a new fire station don’t make sense
Management staff at City of DeKalb are proposing to build a fourth fire station on South Malta Road, next to the property housing Schnucks. Here are three reasons to question the plan. Let’s expand on that last thought because it’s extra bizarre. The area of greatest demand is the northwest quadrant, but management doesn’t want…
Put Mayor Barnes’ financial interests front and center in the eminent domain discussions
Mayor Cohen Barnes owns two parcels of property in downtown DeKalb as Bandits Castle, LLC. One of them should occupy the center of attention as the city council contemplates authorizing the condemnation and acquisition of the building owned by D-N-J Properties at 128-140 South Second Street via eminent domain proceedings. During Monday evening’s council meeting,…
DeKalb’s commuter rail roadmap, ignored
City of DeKalb is spending $98,000 on a study of the feasibility of bringing commuter rail service to our city. But the information is already available. DeKalb County examined feasibility at the end of 2015. Led by then-county board chair Mark Pietrowski, an informal meeting of the Metra Rail Exploratory Committee included representatives from DeKalb,…
Scott McAdams showed us who he is three years ago
Truly, a thousand words here. If Scott McAdams’ recent behavior shocks you, it might be you’re unaware of the extent of a run-in the alderman had with a towing company three years ago that resulted in a police investigation into possible official misconduct. Here’s the setup: DeKalb Police (DPD) receive a courtesy call from the…
Series: Prosecution of City Ordinance Violations
Our local schools employ city police as “school resource officers” (SROs) via intergovernmental agreements, and have for years. The objectives are enhanced safety and better relations between law enforcement and the public. What people don’t know is many Illinois schools, including District 428, have turned to SROs to take on disciplinary roles for school infractions…
Ward meeting discovery: Alderman McAdams is having trouble keeping up
Fifth Ward alderman Scott McAdams held a ward meeting last week. I’ve listened to a recording of it that’s making the rounds. One item of note from the meeting is the alderman’s admission that he’s not read the draft update of DeKalb’s comprehensive plan even though the city is collecting public input. I’ve transcribed his…
Determination: DeKalb must release locations of license plate readers
The Public Access Counselor of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office has determined that City of DeKalb improperly denied a Freedom of Information Act request for the locations of its license plate reader cameras (LPRs). DeKalb fought release of the information beyond all reason. This post examines three ways the city embarrassed itself doing it. The…
Children as city revenue sources
Schools in Illinois are not allowed to “ticket” children for misbehavior. So they have the police do it, according to a new series of articles by Pro Publica and Chicago Tribune. A boy named Kameron, who had shoved his friend over a Lipton peach iced tea in the school cafeteria, had been cited for violating…