This is Mac McIntyre, lone blogger, offering my occasional idiosyncratic point of view. I watched last night’s DeKalb city council meeting on cable channel 14 from the comfort of my recliner. Ain’t technological advances great?
Speaking of technological advances and lone bloggers with an occasional idiosyncratic point of view, Mark Charvat posted this video clip on his YouTube page:
Once again, Brendon Gallagher (4th Ward alderman), appears to be on the ball. He’s asking the tough questions that have been absent from the council chambers the past decade or so. Evidently, he recognizes that the City of DeKalb has entered the real estate business and he doesn’t like it. Good for him.
It’s just too bad that Gallagher wasn’t chair of the District 428 Facilities Planning Committee instead of its Citizen’s Finance Advisory Committee. He doesn’t like the Architects In Government Wallets program that’s so prevalent today. Dist 428’s architects will receive at least 7% of the base construction costs at the new high school (@$70 million) and the new elementary school in Cortland (@13 million). That’s a good gig. Especially if you don’t live in the community you’re spending tax dollars in.
Another blogger with an occasional idiosyncratic point of view over at City Barbs has been raising questions about flood zone home buy-outs for a while now. DeKalb has built quite an impressive portfolio of taxpayer-owned property:
One more hat tip for Gallagher. He has now officially entered the blogger with an occasional idiosyncratic point of view zone.
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Some of the floodplain questions were mine. The mayor promised they’d be addressed, they were, and I appreciate that. The next step is to spell out policies to ensure the buyout project doesn’t continue to operate under a cloud. To prevent the potential for home “flipping,” for example, determine a minimum number of years of ownership/residency in a flood-prone home. It also makes sense to insist on full public disclosure of financial, familial, and other ties to the city, not just for this program but for other large purchases and projects.
As for Ald. Gallagher’s website, I’ll say the same thing I said on the Chronicle blog. It is not a ward website. It is a campaign website. A ward website would list ward accomplishments, not just exaggerated aldermanic accomplishments. It would allow for interaction and most of all it would not solicit donations (which solicitation, at this moment, is not following Board of Elections rules).
Somebody needs to bone up on the differences between politics and government.