Wow. I’m used to getting drop ins at my office to talk about local government. It comes with the territory and I enjoy it even if at times I have other tasks I really ought to be working on. I should be used to it. I’ve been writing about local government in one medium or another for more than 30 years.

Many times my office drop ins are of the “what’s new” and “have you heard” variety. Sometimes its of the “we really need to address this” but “my name can’t be associated” variety. And, at least within certain circles, I’ve lived with being unpopular. I get those visitors, too.

So after Ed Pevonka dropped in my office and told me he was going to send me a check for $120 because that was the same amount he was paying for a newspaper subscription and he felt like DeKalb County Online was providing more of the information he felt was worth paying for, well, I could only say, “wow.”

When Pevo’s check came a day later I couldn’t just say “wow” anymore. Thanks was not enough either. It took me a couple of days but I figured out what I should do with contributions like Ed’s. I’m going to hire independent webcam reporters.

The City of DeKalb is the only local governmental unit that broadcasts its city council meetings live on TV. There’s beau coop governmental units throughout DeKalb County meeting about every day of the work week. That’s a lot of meetings to cover.

Most meetings are over within two hours. We try to keep track of agenda items of the surrounds so that not every news item happening in DeKalb County is news to us. So I think we have an organizational structure to assign meetings to those willing to spend a couple of hours for $20.

The technology for providing video reports quickly and easily is here. We use a $100 Flip video camera to cover news and meetings now. It has a USB plugin and software interface for uploading the video directly from the camera to YouTube, among others. It’s easy, otherwise I couldn’t/wouldn’t do it.

We are working out the details of the program and should be able to go live with it August 1, 2009. If you know of thoughtful college student, retiree or anyone else who might be interested have them send me a message.

And most of all, thanks Ed Pevonka, for providing me with the impetus to do a better job of light shining. Pevo is now an Honorary Editor for the DeKalb County Online family of websites. There are openings available for those who think it worthy.

If all goes as hoped for the City of DeKalb, AFSCME (representing about 70 municipal workers) and IAFF (representing about 60 firefighters) will finalize the City’s staffing plan as approved for the FY10 budget that began on July 1, 2009. According to Elena Grimm’s report in the Daily Chronicle, the City is about 3/4 of the way there.

AFSCME workers have accepted a proposal to freeze their wages for this fiscal year in exchange for a guaranty that none of their members are laid off through their contract which expires Dec. 31, 2010.

City administrators and the FOP (representing about 60 police officers) have already agreed to a pay freeze for FY10. The FOP has a tentative contract in place.

The firefighters have offered a counter-proposal that the City Council, does not legally have to but, will likely discuss in closed session at its Monday, July 13th meeting.

On the agenda for Committee of the Whole (starting at 6pm) the council will discuss the Fire Protection and Emergency Medical Services Agreement with Northern Illinois University for FY10. The proposed contract is for one year due to the transition of a new Fire Chief and the lack of available time to negotiate a multiple year agreement. (see page 6 of the agenda.)

From the agenda (Page 3): The City of DeKalb Fire Department has provided fire protection and emergency medical services for Northern Illinois University for many years. As with other Illinois university communities, this has been done through agreement between the university and the community providing this service. The proposed current agreement that has been recently negotiated is for one year, will be for FY10, and $497,251.42. This will be paid in two equal installments no later than December 30, 2009 and June 15, 2010. This is a four percent increase over the last year’s agreement.

From City Manager’s Memo (Page 4): The City of DeKalb Fire Department has been the provider of fire protection and emergency medical services for many years. The emergency response on campus is conducted in a manner identical to those which occur in the City. The calls are normally received by the NIU Police Department and then relayed to the City who dispatches the call. The NIU Police Department responds to the emergency along with the fire department. During FY09 there were 102 fire responses and 664 EMS responses. This is a 35.1 percent increase over last year.

Points:
1. If the IAFF and City do not come to an agreement then the plan is to lay-off three firefighters. That sounds fair so maybe it is what it is. But it is certainly not prioritizing services based on need or importance.

2. Guaranteeing no lay-offs for one year in exchange for freezing salaries for one year makes sense because it fits the budget that was approved for… one year. What is the City Council going to do next year if revenue projections fall short and/or the economy worsens? Ummm… raise taxes! But even that might not work if the economy… I hope you get the point.

3. I don’t know if this contract between NIU and the City of DeKalb includes the overtime package for providing on site fire and ambulance personnel for NIU sporting and special events. If so, using 2007 figures, around 1,700 overtime manhours is included. Your left pocket, if you pay state taxes, should be burning because NIU could pay a lot less for such services. Your right pocket, if you pay local taxes, should be burning because the amount NIU pays for special events overtime does not cover the overtime costs for firefighters called in to man the station to cover for those sent to cover the special events. One year contract. Hmmmm. Public discourse?

Kay Shelton says:
July 9, 2009 at 9:43 am

Max wrote, “Mac, I was once told that because we’re a “HOME RULE” community we can quite frankly do whatever we please with TIFF funds without showing one dime of increased EAV to account for the expenditures.”

Yikers, someone needs to re-read Illinois state law and it is not Max.

Ivan is correct about the changes to TIF in the City of Chicago, with the catalyst being the occupation of the Windows and Doors factory by workers. Ald. Manny Flores and another Chicago alderman introduced what could be called a TIF sunshine ordinance that passed. DeKalb needs something similar very badly.

Chronicle blogger TommiTwoToneToucan (spelling?) posted an example of a small town in Maine being able to attract businesses. Something else DeKalb needs are TIF Guidelines, click the fifth bullet point down from here:

http://www.freeportecon.com/AboutFEDC.html

This comment and topic deserves its own discussion string.

This is an attempt to organize and promote civil but blunt discussion on District 428′s school construction efforts.

Quoted from discussion on “Salt in the wound”:

Illvatu says:
July 6, 2009 at 2:47 am

Ivan, I keep hearing you place blame or fault and point at Mr. Verbic. As if he is the only one making any decisions. He is only one vote on the board. He only relays what the board as a whole dictates. I dont think its quite fair, politically or otherwise, to place blame on any one person. Especially with all facts not known. Its almost as if you think Mr. Verbic runs it all, and is misleading the public that elected him, for a second time I might add, before and after the referendum passed. Remember, its a school board with a school district making recommendations to them. If any blame is to be generally placed, as to additional cost and upgrades to the new schools, you should focus your attention on the school district and its Administrators, Athletic directors,and so on. They are the stick that prods the board in specific directions. So lets not point that finger at one, but instead do a group hug. Generally, I don’t always approve of the way the district handles its business. Being that I am employed by the school district, I know first hand. They will squeeze as much as they can out of this referendum. If only to overcome its already waning system. John Q. Public didn’t really know how badly understaffed the system was before the approval of new schools and still doesn’t.

Here are some real facts from the trenches Ivan~

As it stands today, our school district is well understaffed in the maintenance and custodial departments. Add a few more large schools to the picture and where will the school district stand then? It already has to resort to minimum wage college students to clean, paint, and rearrange the schools in the summer. Mostly due to being understaffed during the school year. We already need to up the budget of the district today, in addtion to what will be needed for the new schools comming. We need to fund, on average, 1-2 employee’s per school to cover the shortfall we have already. Then add all employees for the new schools. That estimate is on the conservative side too! If you need proof of this Ivan, contact NIU. They just did an evaluation of our school district and made its recommendations to this effect. Im not sure if its public, but go for it. I know because I was there.

Our schools are in sad shape and getting worse by the day. Not to mention crowded. You cant imagine the effort needed to maintain them under staffed. We really need to build these schools to last as long as possible. This usually means its not gonna be cheap. So Lets build it right the first time. You should know this Ivan, being a builder contractor. In the long run it will pay off. Its cheaper to pay for this today then in the future, is it not?

As a matter of fact, this “taj mahal” pipe you have been talking about. I’m actually glad to hear we arent going cheap, if the expense is toward quality. The main reason our schools are so bad off is due to sanitary sewer and storm degradation. If we only had used better pipe back then it might not be such a factor. Yes, the underground systems in our older schools is so bad its barely fuctional. It is so very crutial to do this aspect right to increase lifespan and lower cost in the long run. After all we cant move the school and redo it after the fact. We have one chance to do it right.

We really need new schools badly. We also need these new schools to handle the expanding future as well. Can we really afford to not build schools oversized? We must think 20-30 yrs ahead. If not, we just leave the mess to our children.

Your concerns over the school staffing are valid now. Where is the money to employ more staff in our already under staffed, due to buget, expanding school district? Are we gonna under staff the new schools as well?

I am glad to see you have great interest on these issues. I wish more would do so, as long as its with good intentions. Obviously you, and many others, dont know all the facts or you wouldn’t be asking. Keep on asking though, just don’t point so much. Get the black and white proof first. Otherwise, it just hot air. The last thing we need is more misleading information, or accusations of misleading or wrong doing ect. ect.

Peace.

What value is a public official’s word? OK. Now what should it be? What do we teach our children on the value of our word? When you vote yes or no to a referendum how much value do you place on the school district administration’s word?

If you’re not a sports fan you may have missed this article in the June 29 edition of the Daily Chronicle:

Barbs excited for new facilities in 2011
By JAMES NOKES – sports@daily-chronicle.com
When the new DeKalb High School opens on Dresser Road in the fall of 2011, every athletic team at the school will get to enjoy a significant upgrade.

DeKalb athletic director Dan Jones was like a kid on Christmas morning as he described the blue prints for a new multi-purpose football and soccer stadium, performance gymnasium and – perhaps most importantly – a field house. –FULL STORY–

If you click on and read the full story link you’ll learn of many wonderful things the new multi-purpose football and soccer stadium will provide our students. They do deserve the best.

But if you attended the pre-referendum meetings, especially the one at the Egyptian Theatre and the one at DHS, you’ll remember a clear promise made by District 428 Board President Mike Verbic and then Superintendent Paul Beilfuss: There will be no new football stadium, at least not one built with referendum dollars, at the new high school.

Now, beginning in 2011, DHS will save $375,000 over the next ten years by moving home football games from Huskie Stadium to the new high school. That is a fraction of the almost $2 million that it costs to put artificial turf on the field. That turf will need to be replaced every 8-12 years. The first $2 million is borrowed money (referendum) so with interest charges you can double that.

That’s not all of the costs of a new stadium but not all of those costs are covered with referendum dollars. According to the report, a private group has banded together to try and secure financing for lighting and enough seating.

I supported the referendum. I took the administration for their word. I was pretty confident that if voters approved the referendum that the citizens of DeKalb, Cortland and Malta would raise the money for a football stadium for our community and our student athletes.

So again I ask, and this is not a rhetorical question, what is the value of our word?