City staff are proposing to spend $400,000 in 2017 for a STEAM learning center — and that’s just for the architectural service called “building analysis.” The city is already spending $75,000 on a consulting firm, and council has been spending time in closed sessions to discuss the purchase or lease of property. This is an…
Tag: Open Meetings Act
Questions Regarding Custody of City Seal & Handling of Documents
DeKalb city clerk Jenny Johnson does not know where the official seal of the city is located, or whether it is secure. We found this out last Saturday, when she held a meeting to inform citizens of her current role, and to gather information about what we envision for the future. A dozen citizens attended,…
Forget What You’ve Heard about Steve Kapitan’s Resignation as City Clerk
***Update 5:45 p.m.*** The Facebook discussion on this post is here. I’m going to ask you to set aside for a few moments everything you’ve heard about why Steve Kapitan resigned as DeKalb city clerk in 2012. Instead, I’d like for you to entertain the possibility that he was a casualty of a DeKalb city…
An Important Amendment to the Open Meetings Act
I knew the General Assembly was debating the bill last year, but missed the August passage of Public Act 099-0402, which amends an important provision of the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA). (5 ILCS 120/3.5) Sec. 3.5. Public Access Counselor; opinions. (a) A person who believes that a violation of this Act by a public…
OMA and Real Estate Deals
City of DeKalb just paid for an appraisal of the old Ducky’s/Otto’s building at Lincoln and First. I haven’t heard a peep otherwise, but mindful of possible next steps I’ve done a little homework. The Open Meetings Act (OMA) has a couple things to say about what a local government can do in closed session…
About Northwestern’s Desire to Acquire KishHealth
I want to thank the DeKalb County Citizens for Better Mental Health Care (CBMH) for keeping abreast of these developments and getting the word out. In fact, if it weren’t for the ad hoc CBMH, there wouldn’t even have been a public hearing on the matter; hearings are not automatic and must be requested of…
DeKalb’s Abuse of the Consent Agenda
We’ve occasionally pointed out how DeKalb’s ordinances don’t always match up to Illinois statutes. The most recent example is contained within the lawsuit filed last week against the city, which details how the language of the DeKalb Municipal Code differs from state law in the matter of mayoral voting. So, too, does the language differ…
City of DeKalb Probably Violated the Open Meetings Act Again Last Night
Mayor Rey opened the city’s strategic planning meeting last evening just after 5pm, only to be challenged from the audience by county board member and Preserve Our Neighborhoods founder Misty Haji-Sheikh. Haji-Sheikh raised a point of order about the legality of the meeting. The “retreat” meeting was billed as Committee of the Whole, which the…
Request Accepted for Review of City Manager’s Pay Raise Decision
The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor has accepted my Request for Review of the DeKalb city council’s decision of May 26 to raise the city manager’s pay without public discussion. From the Request: There was no public deliberation of this matter even though citizens requested beforehand, both privately and publicly, that Council remove the…
One of These Things is Not Like the Other
Still on the subject of DeKalb’s service agreement with website designer CivicPlus. There are two versions available: the agreement included in the February 9 agenda packet, and the version that Mayor John Rey signed on February 11. No, they are not the same. Yes, it is disturbing to think that we would be reading one…