Archive for March, 2011

“High school parents dig deep to give kids a home-field advantage
With district strapped for cash, South Elgin High’s booster club has raised $500,000 to begin work on athletic stadium”

Here is a great quote:

“Cheryl Latsonas said the district had never had enough money for its daily operations, and she doubted that it ever would. An on-campus stadium, she said, would have a value beyond the balance sheet.

“This will create a connection with the school and really build team spirit,” she said. “(Athletes) want to play for the school at the school.”"

I cannot think of a better education lesson for all of the kids to show them the value of money, hard work, community organizing, and what it truly means to live in a democracy. Good luck to the parents at South Elgin High in raising enough money. Into the future, after the new stadium is finished, it would be interesting to compare it to other high school stadiums to see if folks in South Elgin keep it cleaner and less damaged than other stadiums. There should be a sense of ownership–the stadium will be theirs, more like their own homes.

Reduction in Force Outcomes

DeKalb’s FY2011 budget included a Reduction in Force (RIF) plan to close a budget gap of a couple million. Here is how it played out for about a dozen AFSCME union members who got laid off as part of the RIF in June 2010.

DateEventDocumentation
7/13/2009Council approves a side letter to its contract with AFSCME outlining wage concessions in exchange for a promise of no layoffs through the end of the contract expiring 12/31/2010.7/13 meeting minutes


4/7/2010Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) portion of the Reduction in Force (RIF) is offered to eligible employees. Deadline for signup is 5/25, after which layoffs would be made to achieve budgetary goals for FY2011.4/5 special meeting minutes
6/9/2010City follows through on layoffs. HR notifies affected AFSCME employees they would “not be eligible for unemployment until after your two (2) weeks [sic] severance, following your made whole date of December 31, 2010” presumably because they'll be receiving full regular compensation through that date.Daily Chronicle articles 6/9 & 6/10

+ notification to affected employees

(see below)
6/28/2010Approval of FY2011 budget & staffing plan. 6/28 meeting minutes
8/20/2010HR notifies affected AFSCME employees that they do not have to wait until 2011 to apply for unemployment after all; they meet eligibility by being neither on-call nor actively reporting for work.Notifications to affected employees

+ IL Department of Employment Security (IDES)

(see below)
11/19/2010City reimburses IDES for 3rd Quarter unemployment compensation totaling $50,428.IDES invoice mailed 10/23

+ city check register entries
1/28/2011City reimburses IDES for 4th Quarter unemployment compensation totaling $42,394.IDES invoice mailed 1/22

+ city check register entries

Read the rest of this entry

Council members will vote Monday on a resolution to outsource economic development services from Hopkins Solutions, LLC. Hiring an economic development director was recommended by the financial consultants’ (EPI) report released May 2009.

The Roger Hopkins who established Hopkins Solutions last year is probably none other than the past director of the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation (DCEDC), in which case city staff probably would feel quite comfortable working with his firm. But speaking of DCEDC, we still have a contract with that organization for economic development services. Do we need both?

Also, I’m kind of disappointed in the following: We’ve been able to hire a purchasing director, a new public works director and Rick Monas, former PW director who took the Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) last year but who has since been hired back to work at the airport — yet DeKalb is still three police officers down from pre-recession staffing levels.

DeKalb Area Women’s Center Debate Stage

Bring your cameras Monday night for the 7:00 p.m. debate. The 4th of July is coming early this year in a real town hall! (Just without the fireworks, well, depending on how civil the discourse remains . . .)

TIF Protest in Chicago

Chicago Sun-Times: “Anti-TIF marchers demand $4M from N. Side auto dealer”:

About 150 teachers, parents and activists marched into the Grossinger City Autoplex and demanded a check for $4 million Saturday.

That would be the “TIF” money — protestors called it “The Mayor’s Slush Fund” — diverted from the public schools and given to developers such as those who built the autoplex. Read the rest of this entry

City Managers’ Contracts

The Sycamore City Council will decide Monday whether to renew the city’s contract with its city manager, Bill Nicklas.

Residents of DeKalb might well ask when the contract with its own city manager expires.

The answer is: Never. Read the rest of this entry

This is Part 3.

Current candidates are highlighted. Click on any image to access larger versions and the whole album.

2008 Aug FPC Minutes p 1 Read the rest of this entry

As noted earlier, District 428 cannot find a way to fully staff the new DeKalb High School with custodians. Decisions made in 2008, as detailed in the following Facilities Planning Facility meeting minutes below, helped lead to today’s failure. Read the rest of this entry

So begins systemic neglect at the new high school — my interpretation of an article in the Daily Chronicle today:

The all-day kindergarten would also be paid for by not filling four custodial staff positions at the new high school until the district has more revenue.

In 2008, the Facilities Planning Committee (FPC) voted to approve the original, pre-referendum size of the new DeKalb High School in the face of a) market collapses; b) new information from its demographer that showed drops in projected enrollment for years to come; and c) admissions that maintenance of existing schools already was not up to par.

Whence will sufficient revenue arise? Development remains at a virtual standstill, DeKalb is losing population and the state is still in bad shape.

Several candidates running in the April election supported the overbuild. Later today I’ll be supporting accountability at the polls by posting FPC meeting minutes containing discussions and a key vote.

A 3/5 majority vote on the legislation may be required to override municipal Home Rule powers.

[h/t R.M.]