This week’s number: $33 million The city’s streets could need $33 million in repairs over the next five years, but a key funding source for the work will dry up by the end of the decade. That has city leaders considering options including increasing the sales tax to generate more revenue. Of the $1.5 million…
Tag: local media
We Don’t Know if Dogs are Biting People in Forest Preserves or Not
The key word must be “verified,” though nothing in the story actually is. “Over the years, the amount of dog-walking has increased, so we’ve been getting more complaints and more problems,” said Terry Hannan, DeKalb County Forest Preserve superintendent. Although Hannan said more people have been bitten in DeKalb County’s forest preserves during the past…
How Much Change IS Afoot in DeKalb City Government? Maybe Not Enough
The Daily Chronicle notes that new DeKalb city manager Anne Marie Gaura has made some personnel changes. I am particularly gratified by this statement: The moves all deal with personnel issues, a subject on which employers are generally limited on what they can say, but they could have announced they happened. The Chronicle’s actual main…
Towing Fee Account Story Generates More Questions
The Daily Chronicle may have just published one of the most important investigative reports ever written about City of DeKalb finances. Since early 2013, the DeKalb Police Department has used around $300,000 of the $350,000 collected in administrative tow fees to buy a wide range of items outside of its regular budget. There are a…
Now We’re Getting Somewhere
Turns out, City of DeKalb’s press release this week about hiring outside help has a backstory, and the Daily Chronicle has unearthed it.. New DeKalb City Manager Anne Marie Gaura wants the city to hire an outside financial expert after staff recently broke rules for making purchases in excess of $20,000. … First, the council…
Chronicle on the Proposed New TIF Districts
The Daily Chronicle has come out against the proposed Sycamore Road TIF District, pointing to Mayor Rey’s recent comment that two developers are interested in one of the properties even with no incentives. So why bring tax increment financing into the equation? It certainly might give the city some more money it can spend on…
DeKalb – Firefighter Quid Pro Quo
The City of Springfield is expecting to approve a new contract with its firefighters’ union soon. Golly, I wish we had that kind of news coverage. Remember the last-minute hoop we had to jump through to find what the 2011 contract with our firefighters was about? The Springfield story reminded me that the longish closed…
Did You Get Invited? Me Neither.
Last week I decided to email our almost-daily newspapers to let them know I’ve been searching them each day for news of the DeKalb city manager interviews. You’ll remember that last summer the date for the interviews was set for November 1, but a lot could have happened since then. Then an article appeared in…
Sustainable is the Last Thing This Is
A Chronicle article last week talks about all the new building, equipment and personnel the City of DeKalb is investing into its fire department. I read the article after just having skimmed through the city’s check register for August. The police department spent, among other things, $125,000+ on software and $2600 on the new dog,…
Baker Says City Employees Were Terminated for Conducting Personal Business on City Time
**Update September 15: Here’s the link to the full, 56-minute Housing Bureau discussion (HT M.C.)** The City of DeKalb and the Chronicle recently made a big deal of a Housing Bureau employee’s using city email in negotiating her rent. But now that looks like the tip of the iceberg. For adequate context, I recommend watching…