In a recent letter to the editor, Misty Haji-Sheikh asked — and answered — who is supposed to ensure that DeKalb ordinances are enforced. Why? Because she found out there is an ordinance that is not being enforced. The mayor, city manager and city attorney all have legal duties regarding ordinances. Since the ordinance 2015-30…
Tag: city council
The Mayoral Vote is the Problem When You Have Odd Aldermen
This happened on Monday. DeKalb’s council is made up of seven aldermen chosen by ward and a mayor. Aldermen seemed interested Monday in establishing a rule that would call for at least four aldermen to be in favor of a measure before it could pass. On most questions brought before council, a simple majority vote…
What’s the Deal with DeKalb’s Legal Assistant?
DeKalb used to have in-house legal counsel, but now has contracts with individuals and firms to supply legal services. One of the legal service providers is Dean Frieders of Frieders Law, LLC, who supposedly works for DeKalb three days per week.* Frieders is required by his contract with the city to supply all of his…
DeKalb Voters Think City Clerk is an Elected Office. DeKalb’s Ordinances Say Otherwise
We know from our recent examination of the doctrine of incompatible offices that compromising the loyalty of an elected officer is prohibited. A person holding elected office cannot hold any other role — as employee, appointee, or a second elected office — that could reasonably be expected to conflict, or even appear to conflict, with…
City of DeKalb and Its Incompatible Offices
DeKalb isn’t particularly good at observing boundaries. One example is that DeKalb’s contracted attorney is allowed to sit with the city council during planning sessions as an assistant in setting strategic priorities. In other words, a contractor gets to step out of his assigned role to provide unfettered input into public policy that the public…
Weird and Not-So-Wonderful Things about the Unlawful Assemblies Ordinances
Here are four reasons to be suspicious of the “unlawful assemblies” ordinances coming up for a vote on Monday. 1. The “unlawful assemblies” and counterpart “unlawful weapons” ordinances came out of nowhere on the January 11. Council did not ask for them. There have been no discussions of why the PD needs another tool. The…
OMA and Real Estate Deals
City of DeKalb just paid for an appraisal of the old Ducky’s/Otto’s building at Lincoln and First. I haven’t heard a peep otherwise, but mindful of possible next steps I’ve done a little homework. The Open Meetings Act (OMA) has a couple things to say about what a local government can do in closed session…
DeKalb’s Shortage of Magic Rabbits
As the city ponders a property tax hike of 37% as well as water rate and fee “adjustments,” you may wonder how DeKalb has got itself mired in financial straits. It’s actually nothing new. DeKalb’s budget issues are — and have been since at least 2005 — the result of snatching nearly every penny of…
Request Accepted for Review of City Manager’s Pay Raise Decision
The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor has accepted my Request for Review of the DeKalb city council’s decision of May 26 to raise the city manager’s pay without public discussion. From the Request: There was no public deliberation of this matter even though citizens requested beforehand, both privately and publicly, that Council remove the…
We Must Have a Do-Over of DeKalb’s New FOIA Policy
While there are several things wrong with the city’s new Freedom of Information Act policy when it comes to direct violations of FOIA as a law, there is also something larger and more insidious at work here. What I’m talking about is that the FOIA policy item was placed as a resolution on the consent…