The determination arrived Friday. Find it here. The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (PAC) has found that City of DeKalb violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) in two ways when it approved a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on January 12: The city misused the exception to open meetings having to…
Tag: city council
Numbers to Consider During the Budget Process
The data for the following charts come from Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs). In view of DeKalb staff’s continually stated desire to hire, I’ve begun with a look at the numbers of full-time equivalent employees. The city is using a figure of 220 city employees during its budget process instead of the most recently available…
Council Needs New Counsel
Sometimes we believe things that are completely false, and a lot of times belief holds strongest when it comes to having faith in professionals who, by definition, are supposed to have your back. That’s what I think is happening with the DeKalb city council: They are trusting that what city attorney Dean Frieders says about…
You CAN Comment at Committee of the Whole Meetings — Here’s Why You Didn’t Know That
Here’s an excerpt from a memo included with next week’s council meeting agenda: The City of DeKalb maintains Chapter 2 of the City Code which governs the City Council and meetings thereof. Old versions of the City Code included provisions which purported to prohibit public comment at certain meetings of the City Council or Committee…
A City Narrative and the Aardvark that Ate It
On the February 9 DeKalb city council meeting agenda was this action item: 2. Resolution 2015-011 Waiving Competitive Bidding and Authorizing the Execution of a Website Design Agreement with CivicPlus in an Amount not to Exceed $56,189 in Year One. Staff said they didn’t have time to put out Requests for Proposals (RFPs). They claimed…
Five Reasons to Believe DeKalb Tried to Hide DOJ Communications about Website Compliance Issues
Mayor John Rey had a guest column in the Chronicle this week. As is par for the course with City of DeKalb administrations, he calls criticism of the city’s actions “misinformation” and “rumors.” There are two reasons people are upset. One is evidence that the city withheld information about the U.S. Department of Justice evaluation…
AG Investigating Possible Open Meetings Act Violations by City of DeKalb
Early last month, DeKalb’s city council considered whether they should waive the usual bidding process and immediately sign a contract with a website designer who appears to be “besties” with the city manager. The reason for wanting to waive bidding? Staff claimed the city had a crisis foisted upon it by the U.S. Department of…
Website Design and DeKalb’s “Suitcase Mentality”
The city council voted Monday on a measure to waive the customary bidding process and award a contract to out-of-towners for a new custom website. Staff insisted only CivicPlus could make DeKalb’s official website comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) rules within a 4-month deadline negotiated with the U.S. Department of Justice. Some city…
DeKalb’s Freakishly High Sales Tax Rate Might Actually be Good for Something
**Update** 1/26. Related: “Sales tax coffers could get boost with new law”. Discusses the Marketplace Fairness Act and its impact (if it ever passes the U.S. House) on state revenues. **Update** 1 p.m. Related: “Now comes the Internet Sales Consultants”. It provides more food for thought on this scheme, as well as a description of…
DeKalb Taxpayers: Ready to Pony Up for a New Convention Center?
In July 2013, the city council of DeKalb approved the DeKalb City Center plan, an update of the 2007 Downtown Revitalization Plan. One of the key components of the plan is: Leverage TIF to study the feasibility of and potentially promote the development of additional City Center traffic generators, such as a hotel/conference center, children’s…