Last week I submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain the names of the Council members who are signed up for the City of DeKalb’s health insurance plan, and have since been denied under the privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), specifically 45 C.F.R. 164.501 and 164.502.…
Tag: compensation
Eliminating Health Insurance a Good Move
Looks like DeKalb is on track to eliminating the life and health insurance benefits for City Council members. This is an important move, and not just for the savings. When Council prepares to vote on health insurance plans and premiums for management employees and union workers, its own participation creates conflicts of interest. We’ve also…
Voluntary Separation
The agenda packet for Monday’s special City Council meeting to discuss the Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) is missing a few things: 1) An analysis of how much this program could cost us. Surely the city must know how many of its employees are eligible, since only those with 20 or more full years of continuous…
Guest Post in Sunlight Foundation Blog
Transparency Growing Pains in DeKalb, Illinois More about the Sunlight Foundation, which CB has linked to for a couple years under the “Good Government” blogroll heading.
Flood-Prone Home Buyout Thread
Acceptance of a “pre-disaster mitigation grant” for buying more flood-prone homes is on the agenda for Monday (.pdf p. 33). Questions: 1) We’re broke, except for TIF. Where do we get the the $289,507.00 for our share? 2) What is the cutoff for number of years of home ownership required for a buyout? In other…
Fire Fighter Open Thread
From Monday’s City Council meeting agenda: 2) RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF DEKALB, ILLINOIS TO EXECUTE A VARIANCE AGREEMENT TO THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT WITH THE DEKALB INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS, LOCAL 1236, AFL-CIO FOR THE PERIOD OF JULY 1, 2008 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2011. The City and IAFF Local 1236 have…
The First Step
One of the citizen commenters at the council meeting last night brought up the City of DeKalb’s Management Pay Plan. She was scandalized by the leap from Step 1 to Step 2. It is easy to see why. Grade One starting pay, for example, is $18.158 per hour but on the first anniversary it jumps…
City of DeKalb to Honor Contracts When It Feels Like It
Last night I once again spent four hours in Bizzaro World. It was very hot inside and about the same hot outside, yet the exit from the city council meeting felt like a breath of fresh air. Well, it did until a certain city official tracked me down as we stood outside in little groups…
Municipal Morality
If you peruse the city’s check registers you start getting a feel for certain patterns. Based on a sample of five months over the past 15, DeKalb on average pays out about $5000 per month on cell phone service, $600 for locks and keys, maybe up to $1000 or so for janitorial supplies and sometimes…
Budget Workshop Open Thread 2
Last night the Engineering budget was scrutinized. There were some good questions, I learned a thing or two, and there was much less shouting at the TV. However, I observed a fundamental error in thinking and that is the tying of salaries to permit revenues. This is one reason we got into such a mess…