Kris Povlsen, Brendon Gallagher and Tom Teresinski chose to not seek re-election to their seats at the council chambers in DeKalb. Their combined 26 years on the council is appreciated for the sacrifices they and their families made for the betterment of this community.
New is the buzz in DeKalb. DeKalb Fire Chief Eric Hicks is new. Chief of Police Gene Lowrey is newer. NIU President Dr. Douglas Baker is the newest. That is until newly elected Mayor John Rey, City Clerk Liz Peerboom, 2nd ward Alderman Bill Finucane and 4th ward Alderman Robert Snow take office at a special meeting of the DeKalb City Council on May 6 at 6pm in the council chambers at 200 South 4th Street. New to the decorum for the sitting of the new council is the swearing in of new candidates by the honorable Judge Thomas J. Doherty.
The new council set to take the reins of a city facing challenges and opportunities includes the re-elected Dave Baker (6th ward) with 12 years council experience, Ron Naylor (5th ward, 6 years), David Jacobson (1st ward, 2 years), Monica O’Leary (7th ward, 2 years) and Kristen Lash (3rd ward, 2 years). Jacobson’s experience is augmented with that of running for the citywide office of mayor. Although unsuccessful in his attempt he met and discussed issues with a large cross section of the community so may bigger picture thinking prevail.
Bill Finucane
The newcomers must hit the ground running as the clock has already started in the countdown to approve the city budget. There are budget placemark requests awaiting the new city council. There are ongoing contract negotiations with the city’s unions. There are consultants and their reports to consider. Unfunded mandates and pension obligations are becoming more alarming for every municipality in Illinois.
Robert Snow
Is the city’s finances as rosy as painted by those outgoing members or as unsustainable as reported by the exalted financial consultants, EPI, at the post election special Saturday session of the city council? That constrasting picture deserves more public examination. The new council would be wise to get that picture cleared up before collective bargaining.
Liz Peerboom
Another clock winds down on the tenure of Mark Biernacki who is retiring from his position as city manager. His replacement is an immediate priority for the new mayor and city council. Former city manager of DeKalb, and then of Sycamore and now associate vice president for institutional planning and sustainability, Bill Nicklas, gets appointed to another new position at NIU every other month or so it seems. He’s one of a handful of people who actually know what’s going on with the far west campus. They’re probably going to hire a retiree for the position of city manager anyways. Just saying.
John Rey ran an almost perfect campaign for mayor and was elected by a plurality of votes over Jennifer Groce, Mike Verbic and David Jacobson. Plurality is only a step towards consensus. Rey delivered a consistent message of reaching out to the community for ideas and solutions. He might then consider extending an invitation to his competitors to share their ideas in meaningful roles.
Liz Peerboom is a trooper. Just a few years ago she was being paid five or six times the new salary plus benefits of the new city clerk for being the then deputy clerk for DeKalb. For whatever reason the mayor and city council gutted the position in scope and pay. Peerboom must now juggle her schedule between being the appointed municipal clerk in Maple Park and the elected city clerk in DeKalb. If she truly wants to restore the office of city clerk to the will of more than 70% of the voters in the 2012 Presidential general election — that it remain elected and not be under the control of the city manager — she’ll have full community support in returning a professional salary for the position that it and she deserves.
She might borrow an idea promoted by one of her competitors in her race, Lynn Fazekas. Recruit interns from the public administration department of NIU to help provide better service to the public. Show and tell the public their business. Doing so might save more than $100,000 placemarked for a public relations position identified in planning documents. If transparency is truly a desire of this new mayor and city council then city hall and the residents will experience excellent public relations.
The new DeKalb begins Monday, May 6, 2013. Here’s to a new start. Hope it’s a great one!
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2 Comments
I am just greatful to know that Kris Povlsen will not be on the city council in any capacity any longer. Additionally seeing the big borrowers, spendersand taxers Teresinski and Gallagher leave with Povlsen is a huge bonus. Hopefully our new council and mayor will be the type of council who are not afraid to think for themselves and not be afraid to ask the hard questions along with demanding real answers. This community cannot continue to afford a council who merely rubberstamps every wish of the city manager. Major bonus is the exiting of Mark Biernacki. The real present for city taxpayers would be a full audit of the city manager’s office and the discretionary fund back to and just before the Wogengate event.
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On the evening of May 6th, Dekalb’s newly elected city officials will take an oath to support and defend the United States Constitution. I think most people will agree that protecting our citizen’s rights is a top priority.
As many of you know, certain local city officials have expressed their enthusiasm for issues that have the potential to infringe on our citizen’s constitutional rights. The recently enacted housing ordinance and towing ordinance are two examples where our citizen’s rights have been called into question.
Federal, state, and local legislators(aldermen/council members), executive officers(police), and judges are bound by oath or affirmation to support the United States Constitution under Article VI, Clause 3.
“I, (public official), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. [So help me God.]”
This is a standard oath taken by public officials and is currently a spoken or oral oath. Unfortunately, a spoken oath is meaningless in a legal sense to protect our citizen’s rights, and only a written oath is enforceable by law.
Contract (n) – An agreement between two or more parties, especially one that is written and enforceable by law.
Furthermore, there are no specific consequences for violating the oath as you can see from the text of the oath above. So in the event of a violation, additional text would be needed to have immediate recall power and remove the offending city official from office. The additional text could read similar to the following.
“I, (public official), agree to abide by the rules listed here and support our citizen’s constitutional rights, or be subject to immediate termination waiving any right to court proceedings or appeal.”
Again, in the case of a violation, all we really want is to remove the public official from office. City council has the authority to enact such a provision, where a majority vote from the council would indicate the need to remove the offending city official if a violation occurs. Here is a link for those who would like to review their constitutional rights.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution
In section 2.03 of the Dekalb Municipal Code, Filling Aldermen Vacancies, you will find of list of reasons for the need to fill aldermen vacancies including “conviction of a disqualifying crime”. The list of disqualifying crimes are not currently enumerated in the code. In order to preserve the original intent of the oath of office, we will need to add violation of the oath to this list.
Additionally, we need to touch on the subject of the individual citizen’s right to waive their constitutional rights. A plea bargain is probably the most common instance of an individual waiving their right to a trial by judge or jury. This is a voluntary act by the individual with informed consent as to the consequences of their plea.
On the contrary, some of the local issues currently under debate are not being presented as voluntary or with fully informed consent. In the case of Brady v. U.S., the court ruled,
“Waivers of constitutional rights not only must be voluntary but must be knowing, intelligent acts done with sufficient awareness of the relevant circumstances and likely consequences.” Brady v. U. S. , 397 U.S. 742
This text, or similar additional text, will also need to be added to the written oath.
If you agree that protecting the legal rights of our citizens is a top priority, I would urge you to contact your alderman and ask for their support by requiring a written oath for all city officials. The issue here is very straightforward, and I can’t see why any city official would be willing to speak the oral oath, but object to signing the identical oath in written form.
The written oath should be required for all city officials retroactively after agreement on the issue has been reached. Again, all we are attempting to do here is clarify and preserve the original intent of the oath of office.
In the current environment of bribe & gag & manipulate politics, I think many will agree that it is important we require a written and enforceable oath of office for all elected and appointed officials.
To contact your city council members – http://cityofdekalb.com/CityCouncil.htm