Archive for March, 2010

Next Crisis: Commercial Real Estate

Author: yinn

Mar 31

Hat tip to Steve Berg, who talked about this weeks ago:

By the end of 2010, about half of all commercial real estate mortgages will be underwater, said Elizabeth Warren, chairperson of the TARP Congressional Oversight Panel, in a wide-ranging interview on Monday.

“They are [mostly] concentrated in the mid-sized banks,” Warren told CNBC. “We now have 2,988 banks—mostly midsized, that have these dangerous concentrations in commercial real estate lending.”

As a result, the economy will face another “very serious problem” that will have to be resolved over the next three years, she said, adding that things are unlikely to return to normalcy in 2010.

Have our local governments taken off the rose-colored glasses yet? Are we ready for the worst-case scenario? I fear not.

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Filed under: National/International

AG Madigan on the City of DeKalb

Author: Kay Shelton

Mar 29

I saw this in person and have not watched all of the video. For anyone who wants to hear exactly what AG Madigan said about the City of DeKalb withholding the names directly, it should be on here, maybe about twenty to twenty-five minutes into the video.

6 Comments
Filed under: Council/City Watch, State Watch

Property Tax Assessment Reductions: Guess Who?

Author: yinn

Mar 26

From a public notice published March 24, 2010, “Notice of Changes in Assessments for 2009 Made by the DeKalb County Board of Review in DeKalb Township“:

Michael “EAV won’t fall” Verbic. Verbic is president of the District 428 school board, as most of you already know, and as such made not one suggestion for downsizing the scope of the DeKalb High School construction project in the face of the 2008 market collapses.

2009 FY original property tax assessment: $77,842
Change in assessment via BOR: $70,000
Assessment reduced by: 10.1%

Ronald Naylor. As a City Council member AND member of District 428′s Facilities Planning Committee, Naylor has never voted “nay” on an expenditure for school reconstruction nor for downtown makeover activities. He is also a former City of DeKalb employee who enjoys “post-employment” benefits, such as a pension, on our dime.

2009 FY original property tax assessment: $114,738
Change in assessment via BOR: $105,000
Assessment reduced by: 8.5%

The tax levies will stay the same, so the rest of us will make up for these reductions. Thanks for sharing the pain, guys.

p.s. 10 bonus points to DeKalb County for putting this online.

10 Comments
Filed under: Council/City Watch, Dist 428, Payment Due?

Letter: Council Puts Taxpayers on Hook

Author: yinn

Mar 26

Freshly published in the Daily Chronicle:

To the Editor:

During the March 8 DeKalb City Council meeting, 4th Ward Alderman Brendon Gallagher made a plea to the community for support during the upcoming budget preparation period. According to the meeting minutes, Ald. Gallagher “asked that the citizens be empathetic with the current financial situation facing the City. He stated that Council has delayed raising taxes, and are faced with a deficit and harsh realities.”

To my mind, most of the “harsh realities” are borne by DeKalb taxpayers whose city government still lives in 2005 when it comes to prioritizing spending.

I also question the ways this unit of government chooses to demonstrate empathy and support of its residents.

Allow me to illustrate. Read the rest of this entry

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Filed under: Council/City Watch, Payment Due?, TIF | Tagged as: , ,

Biernacki: “Widespread Community Support” for Skating Rink

Author: yinn

Mar 24

Northern Star‘s article on the impending demise of DeKalb’s synthetic skating rink:

Because The Skate School was not at fault for the decline in patronage, Biernacki said he is sure the council will relieve the contract.

“We pursued [the ice rink] with widespread community support,” Biernacki said. “That support did not translate into patrons.”

Biernacki said there are many choices for the council to make in regards to the future of the ice rink. “We need to look at all of the options,” Biernacki said. “We could reprogram the rink or mothball it for a while. It’s still up in the air.”

Oh, my. There’s a whopper packed right in the middle. Let’s pull it out and eyeball it for a min. Read the rest of this entry

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Filed under: Council/City Watch, Payment Due?, TIF | Tagged as: , , ,

What is Pam Verbic Hiding?

Author: yinn

Mar 23

Work commitments being what they are nowadays, I am still digesting the packet accompanying the agenda (PDF) from last night’s Council meeting. It included the resumé of one Sara M. Cliffe (p. 127). Ms. Cliffe expressed interest in the 3rd Ward aldermanic seat, and I can see why; she has impressive credentials. However, the resumé was included not as any part of the 3rd Ward appointment process but because the mayor appointed her to the Liquor Commission (p. 5).

We know more about the liquor commissioners than we do about any of the appointed aldermen.

In the case of the 3rd Ward alderman, Pam Verbic, this is particularly troubling because I happen to know for a fact that, this time last year, she was working at Barb City Manor. The Barb City Manor property is owned by the City of DeKalb and lies in the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District 2. If she does still work there, there are conflict of interest implications so we ought to know. However, she has managed even in remarking that she works 6 days a week not to mention WHERE she’s working 6 days a week.

I’ve sent e-mail asking. All she has to do is respond with “yes” or “no” at any time.

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Filed under: Council/City Watch

How To Save $340K, Easy!!

Author: Kay Shelton

Mar 20

My mother retired from the Plainfield School District in Indiana but keeps tabs on what happens there. The school district recently introduced measures to save on utility bills, including making sure people turned off the lights when no one was in the room.

Total Savings in One Year:

$340,000

Because of cost cutting measures that do not affect school programs, they face a deficit of just over $800K, which is better than most of the surrounding school districts. My mother did not save a specific news article but said she is certain about the dollar amounts.

I checked the school district’s Web site and here is what I found for more cost savings.

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Filed under: Dist 428, Energy & Environment

Boone County Watchdog

Author: yinn

Mar 19

Citybarbs is fixing to say goodbye to the Wogen Watch blog and wouldn’t you know it, here’s another to take its place on the blogroll.

Check out the Boone County Watchdog run by Bill Pysson, who also has an interesting story to tell as a former District 100 School Board candidate. Pysson is prolific, mixing in-depth articles on Boone County government with summaries and links to stories of regional and statewide interest daily.

Boone County is where the idea for the water authority referendum came from, isn’t it? And I believe they have a stake in whether or not DeKalb County expands/builds a jail? We ought to be keeping an eye on them anyway, then. *wink*

2 Comments
Filed under: County Watch, Goo-goo Files, Site News | Tagged as: ,

Transparency Checklist

Author: yinn

Mar 18

It is hardly a piece of cake to be a member of the Sunlight Foundation‘s organization for state and local bloggers known as the Citizens for Open Government (COG) group. I kid you not. The number of e-mail messages can get crazy some days. Most of the group are “transparency professionals,” such as newspaper reporters and paid members of formalized goo-goo institutes, and it’s disappointing not to meet up with other regular josephines. Plus, I don’t have a lot of time for activities that do not produce direct results. I schedule a few hours a week for the cause, just as one handles any other volunteer commitment. When they solicited feedback on a new logo a couple weeks ago, it was a facepalm moment. This week they’re asking for a blogswarm of posts with the theme (roughly) “Why I Treasure Transparency” in honor of something called Sunshine Week and, as a result, I think I feel a tic beginning under my left eye.

Why stick with the COG, then, you ask? Well, beyond the fascination involved in surmising the particular degree of crankiness that would get me booted out, it’s indisputable that the Sunlight people come up with great tools for the amateur activist now and then. Read the rest of this entry

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Filed under: Community Resources, Council/City Watch, County Watch, Goo-goo Files | Tagged as:

FOIA Victory in DeKalb

Author: yinn

Mar 17

The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (PAC) ruled yesterday that the City of DeKalb must release the names of the persons who applied for appointment to finish out the term of its Third Ward alderman, who resigned last December. DeKalb’s attorney had argued a privacy exemption under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Under new rules put in force the first of this year, governmental units in Illinois must notify the PAC of the intent to deny FOIA requests based on a privacy exemption. The old rules allowed for an in-house administrator to rule on appeals of FOIA request denials.

The PAC made a similar ruling March 5 in requiring the City of Chicago to make public the applications of persons seeking consideration to fill two empty seats on its City Council. Read the rest of this entry

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Filed under: Council/City Watch, Goo-goo Files
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