If previous actions are any indication, the Cohen Barnes administration would like to get rid of DeKalb’s Human Relations Commission, but apparently doesn’t have the votes required for repeal. So it’s decided to undermine the commission instead. DeKalb’s next city council meeting will include consideration of changes to three city commissions that have not met…
Tag: city council
DeKalb’s perfunctory budget hearings aren’t enough
First thing you need to know is the DeKalb city council does not, as a rule, run real public hearings on budgets anymore. Usually they look pretty much the same as public comment portions of regular council meetings, except without the usual three-minute time limit. For example, you don’t get to test staff representations of…
A defense of the rights of legislators in City of DeKalb
DeKalb’s city manager, Bill Nicklas, accused members of council of placing our city “on the edge of changing the form of government we have” during a recent public meeting. But a closer look at the situation suggests the accuser may be changing government to suit himself. City of DeKalb has the council-manager form of municipal…
DeKalb should hold public conversations this fall about AI tools for law enforcement
It’s budget season, and an artificial intelligence (AI) application for writing up police reports from body-worn camera and drone data is available from one of DeKalb Police Department’s favorite vendors. Does it lurk in the PD’s budget worksheets? If so, the city should start public conversations now about oversight, transparency, and other pros and cons…
A return to “meaningful and understandable” budgets begins with Water Fund dependency confessions
Last spring, DeKalb’s city manager was pushing for water rate and fee increases of 3.8% for infrastructure projects such as water main replacement. In the city council agenda for April 28, 2025, he wrote, “It should be noted that the Water Fund is an enterprise fund that should cover its operating and capital expenses from…
With a hoard like this, DeKalb must adjust its financial policies
DeKalb’s latest annual audit, completed earlier this month, shows the city added $4 million to its ending General Fund balance for fiscal year 2024. It’s a multiyear trend, and $4 million is the least amount added during this period. Since 2020, DeKalb has seen $23.7 million in annual operating surpluses, an average of $5.9 million…
A closer look at Barnes’ ethics blunder in his DeKalb mayoral campaign
I promised readers I’d follow up our discussion on Facebook of the DeKalb mayor’s use of photos of our fire and police chiefs in uniform in his campaign mailers. People don’t like what he did, but did Mayor Cohen Barnes also violate state and/or federal laws? Mayor Barnes never answered my questions about whether DeKalb’s…
“Time Bomb” Barnes & the First Responders
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…
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…