If previous actions are any indication, the Cohen Barnes administration would like to get rid of DeKalb’s Human Relations Commission, but apparently doesn’t have the votes required for repeal. So it’s decided to undermine the commission instead. DeKalb’s next city council meeting will include consideration of changes to three city commissions that have not met…
Tag: mayor
With a hoard like this, DeKalb must adjust its financial policies
DeKalb’s latest annual audit, completed earlier this month, shows the city added $4 million to its ending General Fund balance for fiscal year 2024. It’s a multiyear trend, and $4 million is the least amount added during this period. Since 2020, DeKalb has seen $23.7 million in annual operating surpluses, an average of $5.9 million…
A closer look at Barnes’ ethics blunder in his DeKalb mayoral campaign
I promised readers I’d follow up our discussion on Facebook of the DeKalb mayor’s use of photos of our fire and police chiefs in uniform in his campaign mailers. People don’t like what he did, but did Mayor Cohen Barnes also violate state and/or federal laws? Mayor Barnes never answered my questions about whether DeKalb’s…
Linh Nguyen’s continuing fight to get her name on the ballot for DeKalb mayor
Linh Nguyen filed a petition with the circuit court on November 21 to reverse the electoral board’s decision and place her name on the ballot for mayor. Here’s the meat of it: The final decision and order removed candidate from the ballot because she filed her nominating papers as a nonpartisan candidate during the nonpartisan…
Letter asks DeKalb’s mayor to address racist behavior. Mayor has yet to respond
According to records obtained from City of DeKalb, on February 27 a man stopped in to city hall to file a complaint against then-Alderman Scott McAdams. This included a letter addressed to Mayor Cohen Barnes and the city manager, along with screen shots of a messaged conversation during which McAdams used racist slurs. The letter…
How much time should we give the DeKalb mayor to learn to run a proper meeting?
The Daily Chronicle published a story about Mayor Cohen Barnes’ so-called apology for dramatically interrupting a woman who was attempting to make a public comment during a recent city council meeting. The mayor interrupted first by arguing with her, then by calling her out of order, and finally by obtaining a motion for recess and…
Addressing DeKalb Public Library’s proposed 14%-plus levy increase
During DeKalb’s public hearing on its property tax levy, which includes the library’s levy, several people spoke out about the library’s plan to increase its take by more than 14%. They requested the city council hold library trustees accountable for the request, which they view as irresponsible. DeKalb claims that it must approve any levy…
Housing authority helped Cohen Barnes with marketing his company
Besides giving Cohen Barnes of Sundog IT frontrunner status on contracts, including providing him information about his competition, staff at Housing Authority of County of DeKalb (HACD) used their resources to assist him in crafting a testimonial with their name on it. Notice the HACD operations director cc’d the executive director in granting the favor.…
The avaricious romance of the local housing authority & our mayor
***UPDATE 8/21/2021: I’ve come across the rest of the conversation in my giant pile o’ emails and added the new pdf below the first one. In this batch, the operations director shares information about Sundog’s competition and says, “So, please update your quote. I now, officially have 3 bids or contacts so I can move…
DeKalb’s mayor vying to become DeKalb Park District’s chief information officer as well
DeKalb Park District put out a Request for Proposals for a new IT contract. Eight firms applied. Of these, staff whittled down the list to three finalists: CMJ IT Solutions of Sycamore, Noventech of Lombard, and Sundog IT of DeKalb. The park board will probably be making a decision tomorrow. I’ve read the three proposals…