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…
Tag: Freedom of Information Act
Here’s What’s Wrong with DeKalb’s New FOIA Policy
DeKalb’s city council both introduced and passed a Freedom of Information Act policy last night. Yes, there was a rush to put into place a FOIA policy written by city attorney Dean Frieders, who is proven to have trod upon the Open Meetings Act previously. As you might well guess, there are also problems with…
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…
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…
NIU Must Think We Have Enough Info on College Town Partners Already
The latest in the College Town Partners saga is that NIU has apparently changed its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) policy. It now favors heavy redaction. The following is NIU’s response this week to a FOIA request made by Misty Haji-Sheikh of the north Fifth Ward group called Preserve Our Neighborhoods. Click on the Twitter…
Documents: College Town Partners NFP
For all of NIU’s having publicly “backed away” from a partnership for redevelopment with City of DeKalb et al last spring, it seems the institution had already secretly created a “charity” with a local developer and a banker in December 2013 for similar purposes. The documents were Tweeted to me. @citybarb60115 @DC_Editor yes they are,…
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…
Latest on the College Town Partners FOIA Matter
Let’s start with a summary of events. — The group now known as Preserve Our Neighborhoods (PON) was formed last spring in response to concerns that residents were not being included in DeKalb-NIU redevelopment plans that would directly affect them. — Misty Haji-Sheikh of PON received unsigned documents from an anonymous sender regarding a corporation…
AG is Reviewing DeKalb’s Denial of Information to Neighborhood Rep
The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (PAC) has agreed to examine a City of DeKalb denial of information to a representative of a neighborhood group. Here’s the usual drill. Upon the PAC accepting a Request for Review it invites the public body to respond with the legal basis for denial. The response is shared…