Jan 17
If you pounded the pavement in DeKalb County’s Sondra King Memorial CROP Walk for Hunger last fall, or sponsored someone who did, your dollars are helping in Haiti right now.
And if you can spare a couple more bucks, donate here. Read the rest of this entry
Jan 14
Meeting minutes for the September 10, 2009 Park Board “study session” included a presentation of the Independent Auditor’s Report of the FY 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).
[Brian LeFevre of Sikich, LLP] reported that both the District’s Golf Course and Hopkins enterprise funds were in a negative working capital position requiring them to borrow cash from other District funds.
LeFevre noted that these deficits could affect the wellness of other funds.
Commissioner Mason inquired how the losses compared to last year. LeFevre stated that they were less than last year, but recommended that the District review and measure the full operating cost of the enterprise funds to manage expenses.
LeFevre explained that due to the decline in market value, additional contributions will be required of the District to the IMRF Fund in the next few years. In FY 2009, funds were transferred to the IMRF Fund from the General Fund to place it back in balance. [Emphasis added.]
A bit later in the program, Aquatics Center financing options were discussed. Read the rest of this entry
Jan 13
I believe this will be worse than Katrina.
In 1993, I had the honor of meeting Katherine Dunham in her home in East Saint Louis during her hunger strike for Haiti. Because of that experience, Haiti and the wonderful Haitian people I met have a special place in my mind. The devastation in Haiti is unimaginable, and watching the suffering on television is almost unbearable.
Jan 12
Whenever domestic violence cases reach the newspapers, some people end up making really ignorant statements about them. Here are a few doozies I’ve heard over the past several months. They’ve happened to be referring to adult female survivors of violence by male perpetrators, so my pronouns will be consistent with that scenario. And when I use the term “survivors” I am thinking of the children, too.
Jan 10
According to the Daily Chronicle, Jeff Main is chair and treasurer of the Hopkins Pool Referendum Committee. The political action committee’s website is at hopkinspool.org. It also lists itself as a non-profit group on Facebook.
Neither the website nor the Facebook group contains names of any of its officers or members, nor contact information for prospective volunteers. The group does have some really nice yard signs so perhaps it will reach the threshold for filing with the Illinois State Board of Elections — though once again, as with the ReNew Our Schools group, we will not be able to obtain financial information until well past the election.
I don’t know about you, but until proven otherwise I’m going to assume the Hopkins Pool PAC is an astroturf group just as ReNew Our Schools was.
Meanwhile, since we already have determined we can’t afford $15 million for a new Aquatic Center, let’s come up with names for a Facebook group for those of us voting “no.” If you’ll place your nominees in the comments, we’ll do a poll to select the winning name later this week.
Jan 10
Monday, January 11: City Council meetings beginning 6 p.m. in Council Chambers. I see they started out with pending litigation and workers’ comp as reasons for closed session, but more recently added land acquisition to the list. Ack.
Tuesday, January 12: (1) Joint Council – Financial Advisory Committee meeting 6 p.m., Council Chambers; (2) Democratic candidate forum, 6:30 p.m., Hopkins Park Community Center Terrace Room. How to choose?!
Wednesday, January 13: Hopkins Park Aquatics Referendum informational meeting, 6:30 p.m., Hopkins Park Community Center Terrace Room.
Jan 7
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.
Jan 3
I posted pictures from Toronto in Facebook that should be accessible by anyone, even if they do not have a Facebook account. Read the rest of this entry
Jan 2
Jan 1
Hopkins Park Pool Replacement Plan Fact Sheet (short PDF)
Hopkins Park Pool Condition Report & Recommendations (41-page PDF)