Archive for July, 2011

ReNew DeKalb’s Annual Meeting

Author: yinn

Jul 15

ReNew DeKalb’s annual meeting is set for Thursday, July 28, beginning at 5 p.m.

From the info provided at DeKalb County Online, it is unclear when the actual business meeting starts (and there seems to be nothing about it on ReNew’s own website as of this morning). Perhaps it’s the “community presentation” part?

Knowing this is important because ReNew has some obligations per its contract with the City of DeKalb.

VIII. SUBMISSION OF ANNUAL BUDGET, AUDITOR’S REPORT & MEETING MINUTES: ReNew DeKalb shall annually submit a copy of their approved annual budget and Auditor’s Report and copies of any board meeting minutes of any meeting where the use of City funding is discussed or acted upon within thirty (30) days of the approval of such documents.

ReNew DeKalb hereby certifies it shall comply with the Open Meetings Act when the use of City funding is discussed or acted upon.

ReNew DeKalb should always comply with OMA because spending city funds is the reason for its existence. OMA compliance includes:

  • Holding the meeting at a venue open to the public

  • Publishing a meeting notice and agenda in advance

  • Taking minutes of the meeting to establish a public record via submission of the minutes to the city

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    Firefighters Reach a Deal with Buffalo Grove

    Author: yinn

    Jul 14

    From the Chicago Tribune today:

    Buffalo Grove and its firefighters have agreed to defer raises, increase employee health insurance premium contributions and establish a new two-tier wage structure that will pay new hires 10 percent less.

    There’s an example of the compensation reset some of us have been saying is necessary for DeKalb. Good going, Buffalo Grove.

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    Filed under: First Responders | Tagged as:

    Chronicle Misses the Mark with Corn Fest Parking Fees

    Author: yinn

    Jul 14

    In “Our View: Corn Fest fee to park is fair,” the Chronicle today makes the case for users of Corn Fest to help pay for it.

    The city provides, among other things, a location for the festival and police and emergency personnel in case something goes wrong. The emergency personnel are paid out of their departments’ budgets, which tough financial times have stretched as far as they will go.

    The question: Who should pay for those costs? The people who attend the festival or every taxpayer in the city, whether they attend or not?

    Of course it would be fair, if it were happening the way they say. But it’s not.

    Readers of DeKalb County Online and this blog already know that the $5 parking fee will not go toward providing first responders at the festival. FAA approval of the event is contingent upon the city’s collecting fair market value for Corn Fest’s use of the airport, in this case $30,000 – $50,000, to go straight into the Airport Fund. It cannot be used for other city operations. We are back to Square One on covering these costs.

    The above information comes from e-mails provided by the city, at least one of which was supposedly prompted by a Chronicle inquiry. It is baffling that the newspaper somehow failed to get the memo.

    Besides getting the basic facts wrong, the Chronicle’s stance fails to take into account how this might affect Corn Fest itself. Read the rest of this entry

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    Library Postpones Expansion Until Economy Improves

    Author: yinn

    Jul 14

    Good sense rules in Belvidere.

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    Filed under: Goo-goo Files | Tagged as:

    Council in the Twilight Zone

    Author: yinn

    Jul 13

    Better late than never? Here are a few comments on the City of DeKalb meetings Monday night.

    Group Therapy

    When I switched on the Committee of the Whole meeting (admittedly not right at the beginning) there was an immediate feeling of disorientation. The mayor was complaining about a constituent taking up too much of his time. It came across as a group therapy situation, specifically some sort of assertiveness training session for our unhappy figurehead.

    Within this context, Alderman Gallagher named a civicly-participating resident. If the result is a slander suit, I guess I’m a witness!

    Corn Fest

    Next for discussion was charging parking fees for Corn Fest. Here’s what the agenda says:

    2) CONSIDERATION OF CORNFEST PARKING FEES.
    The City of DeKalb has negotiated with the Big Brothers / Big Sisters of DeKalb to enter into an agreement to provide labor for the collection of funds at the CornFest summer festival at the DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport. Per the direction of City Council, staff has been investigating ways to recoup some of the costs expended for the support of the CornFest event.

    LAST year it was about recouping staff overtime for security and cleanup. THIS year, it’s about not getting into trouble with the FAA. Read the rest of this entry

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    The Private Redistricting of DeKalb

    Author: yinn

    Jul 11

    The Chronicle reports today that the city has begun to redraw ward boundaries.

    First of all, what’s the rush?

    But City Manager Mark Biernacki said the council will try to get a new map approved before this October. That way, if any sitting council member finds he or she is outside of their ward’s new boundaries, there would be enough time to consider moving, satisfying the city’s rule that candidates must be residents of the ward they intend to run from for at least one year.

    “You try to minimize the impact as much as possible,” Biernacki said.

    I’m not sure that minimizing the impact for Mr. Biernacki and his fave aldermen is really the point — but even if there is a point, is it more important than taking some time to promote an open process with plenty of public input?

    Also:

  • How can work on redistricting even be allowed before the census appeal is finished?

  • When did city council vote on a resolution to redistrict this way instead of, say, appointing an ad hoc committee like other municipalities do?

  • Where’s the map?

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    Declining Attendance at the Taste / Corn Fest

    Author: Kay Shelton

    Jul 9

    I am not surprised that after high-profile news reports of mobs of thugs attacking people in downtown Chicago in broad daylight that the attendance at the Taste dropped. But, attendance was down in previous years as well. No matter what anyone says, unless there is a popular band at Corn Fest, its attendance dropped, too. Sun Times columnist Neil Steinberg wrote some hilarious yet probably good suggestions (if anyone had the guts to use them) on how to improve attendance at the Taste, most of which could be applied to Corn Fest:

    http://www.suntimes.com/news/steinberg/6406989-452/city-doesnt-need-a-genius-to-fix-taste.html

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    Filed under: Snark/Humor

    DeKalb Spent $1.81 Million on Reduction in Force

    Author: yinn

    Jul 9

    After receiving and posting (thanks to the Attorney General) information pertaining to the Voluntary Separation Program (VSP), I then asked the City of DeKalb to produce the figures to account for the $1.1 million they borrowed to spend on the Reduction in Force (RIF), including the VSP.

    The reply? “There is no public record that contains category totals.”

    Here is what I did get.

    • Regular Compensation, Separation Incentives, Vacation Time, Comp Time, and similar/related payroll costs totaled $1.72M;
    • Unemployment Compensation costs have totaled $97K to date.

    The RIF/VSP, then, has totaled $1,817,000.

    You will recall that DeKalb restructured its debt in order to free up $1.1 million to pay for the RIF. This is what they said at the time:

    V. Financial Impact
    As was discussed during FY 2011 budget workshops, there is a need to restructure our existing debt to help balance our General Fund. Specifically, the FY 2011 budget assumes a restructuring will take place whereby our otherwise scheduled debt payment of $1.4 million for FY11 is reduced and instead will be $300,000. The $1.1 million difference will be used to fund our reduction-in-force costs resulting from the elimination of 34 positions from the payroll.

    Read the rest of this entry

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    Filed under: Council/City Watch, Payment Due?

    Brien with an “E”

    Author: yinn

    Jul 7

    We’ve added Brien Martin’s satiric look at life, especially midlife, under the “Local Voices” heading of the blogroll.

    First up: “Non-Apology Apologies.”

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    Filed under: Site News

    FY2012 Raises

    Author: yinn

    Jul 7

    In today’s “Our view: Give DeKalb staff its raises,” the Daily Chronicle argues on behalf of cost-of-living adjustments for management staff. Let’s respond to the reasoning for its vigorous advocacy on behalf of Biernacki & Co. Read the rest of this entry

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