Archive for January, 2011

Library Finally Shows Up

Author: yinn

Jan 11

DeKalb Public Library (DKPL) showed up for a dog-and-pony show at City Council last night, armed with packets of information that, once again, escaped being received and filed publicly by Council. The only conceivable reason for such a presentation is to rewrite the narrative of its dealings of the past three years into the meeting minutes, actively assisted by city staff and unchallenged by a negligent, collaborative legislature.

Still, there were educational moments. How else would we find out that an end-of-year fund balance of $1.2 million equals zero? That DKPL is actually quite poor in spite of its only recently abandoned plan to purchase $2 million in real estate?

At least Director Coover treated Council more like adults this time by including an actual Illinois Public Library Annual Report (IPLAR) in each packet. Perhaps someone will think to ask about the omissions in Section 26, which we will look at over the jump. Read the rest of this entry

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Filed under: Council/City Watch | Tagged as: , ,

Boone County Watchdog Runs with Bank Post

Author: yinn

Jan 5

Check out this local issues blog synergy. Boone County Watchdog took my December 31 post, “Bank Troubles 2010″, spotlighted Castle Bank (which has a presence in Boone County) and put it into the big picture with “Bank Issues which Received Little News Coverage”. Some of it was news to me, so thought I’d share. Thanks BCW!

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Filed under: Community Resources, National/International | Tagged as:

Municipal Election Petition Hearings

Author: yinn

Jan 4

[Update 1/7/2011: I think I've been too subtle about my position on the municipal petition challenges and have corrected this in the comments today.]

I was able to attend one of the election petition challenge hearings this morning, the one with Corey Kravitz as petitioner and First Ward Alderman Bertrand Simpson as respondent. Mr. Simpson was represented by an attorney.

The objections were that Mr. Simpson left off required information, such as the ward he is running for, and that the zip code was missing from one or more spaces where the petition called for it. The election board of mayor, city clerk and senior alderman denied the objections on the basis that, while the petitions are not perfect, they are substantially in compliance with election requirements and caused no confusion to the Ward 1 voters who signed it.

Since the remainder of the petition challenges are similarly based on clerical errors, I predict the same outcomes for all.

7 Comments
Filed under: Council/City Watch, Local Campaigns, Political Campaigns

Rockford Approves Funds for Legal Second Opinions

Author: yinn

Jan 4

Here’s an interesting nugget from a Rockford Register Star report:

ROCKFORD — Aldermen have adjusted the 2011 spending plan that they approved last week to give themselves $50,000 to hire attorneys or consultants in the coming year.

The idea, which was approved tonight with a vote of 8-5, stems from last summer’s bitter disagreement over whether the mayor has the power to appoint a department head and set a salary without the council’s consent.

Code interpretation
During that debate, a handful of aldermen disagreed with Legal Director Patrick Hayes’ interpretation of city code and sought their own legal advice. Ald. Carl Wasco, D-4, obtained a second opinion from Chicago law firm Klein, Thorpe and Jenkins, but there was no fund like the one created tonight to pay for the firm’s services.

According to a related article, it’s common for aldermen to request second opinions on legal interpretations. What’s unusual is bypassing city staff to obtain them. Read the rest of this entry

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Filed under: General Happenings | Tagged as:

Re-forming the League of Women Voters Locally

Author: Kay Shelton

Jan 2

As expressed by many in attendance at the DeKalb Area Women’s Center for the DeKalb County Candidate Debate night, there is interest in re-forming a local League of Women Voters locally. For those who are not already members, please join through: http://www.lwvil.org/ and clicking the Join Us button.

There will be a state-wide issues briefing on Saturday, February 5th in Chicago. See the above link for registration.

To start getting local folks involved, please complete this online form to indicate when you are available:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KV2Z588

Many of the local election races have more than one candidate, and there is a need to host future debates. Please consider becoming involved! By the way, men are very welcome to join!

3 Comments
Filed under: Community Resources, General Happenings, Political Campaigns
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