Can we move some trees?

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

Yes we can!  But we need to get three parties to agree.  Right now this idea is just that…an IDEA.  I presented to the DeKalb School Board this idea last night as it relates to the DeKalb Tree Farm (off Dresser Road) and Kiwanis Park (that runs adjacent to Fairview Drive).  Let me know what you think.  Click on “tree proposal” below to view acrobat file.

tree proposal

Feds step in at Menard Correctional Center! 04/01/2011

Friday, April 1st, 2011

This is not an April Fool.

Unless you having been living under a rock for the last month, you surely have heard about the investigation into the workers compensation abuse at Menard Correctional Center.  The Belleville News-Democrat have uncovered almost $10 million in workers comp claims that may have been bogus!

Check out full story here!

http://www.bnd.com/2011/04/01/1653324/feds-looking-into-workers-compensation.html#

This newspaper has been doing a great job as they uncover more details as it pertains to this story.  Go back and check the archives on this if you want your blood to boil.

Next week IL politicians are going to start work on a workers comp reform bill.  Let’s see how this all develops.  It is unfortunate for the workers with legitimate claims to have to fall under more scrutiny…because of a group that has allegedly abused the system.  If the Feds determine that these more than 230 claims were not legitimate…get ready for some vitriol to flow from voters!

Have a great weekend, and if you like sports this is a GREAT weekend!  Enjoy the opening of a new season for Major League Baseball, the Men’s and Women’s College Basketball Final Fours and the Men’s College Hockey Frozen Four.

All the best,  Brendon

Shared Lane Markings Info (2/14/2011)

Monday, February 14th, 2011

sharrow

At the end of tonight’s City Council meeting (2/14/2011) during the ward reports, I will give a brief presentation on shared lane markings and how they can be the answer to mark on-street bike routes in DeKalb.

The following info is taken directly from wikipedia.org

History

These markings are used in the UK, Australia and other countries. A variation developed in the US city of Denver in the 1990s consisted of an outline arrow with a bicycle symbol inside. In US usage, the wide shape of the arrow, combined with the bike symbol, gave rise to unofficial names such as “bike in a house” or “sharrow”.

In 2004, the city of San Francisco, CA began experimenting with the shared lane marking,[2] and developed a revised symbol consisting of a bicycle symbol with two chevron markings above the bicycle.

The stated purposes of the shared-lane markings used in California were to:

•  Assist bicyclists with lateral positioning in a shared lane with on-street parallel parking in order to reduce the chance of a bicyclist’s impacting the open door of a parked vehicle;

•  Assist bicyclists with lateral positioning in lanes that are too narrow for a motor vehicle and a bicycle to travel side by side within the same traffic lane;

•  Alert road users of the lateral location bicyclists are likely to occupy within the traveled way;

•  Encourage safe passing of bicyclists by motorists; and

•  Reduce the incidence of wrong-way bicycling.

The streets that could benefit from sharrows are the following:

• First Street
• Lucinda Avenue
• Normal Road
• Dresser Road
• Locust Street
• Taylor Street
• Pleasant Street

That is just a start.  Give me some feedback on this concept and if you are in support of it!

Regards,  Brendon

New Years Resolution – Join the Coffee Achievers Party

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

Are you tired of the same old Tea Party members in town who if you give them 60 minutes of your valuable time will try and explain every conspiracy to you?  The same super knowledgeable people who show up for every City Council meeting…but don’t volunteer to serve on a committee to help make changes?  Talk about hypocritical and selfish.

Well if you are in the majority of DeKalb citizens who have had enough of these shenanigans and want to take back DeKalb from these carpet baggers…then join my Coffee Achievers party!  We stand for the promotion of the coffee bean and all those who drink coffee!  We are anti-Tea Party!

Thanks again for your support this past year.  We have accomplished many things on the City Council; but harder tasks are in front of us in 2011.  Revenues continue to stay flat, and expenses remain flat or just barely higher.  The path we have chosen seems to be a dead end, but I tell you fear not!  We will continue to tighten the belt and be fiscally responsible.  We made tough decisions last year to layoff workers to cut payroll.  We will be faced with more difficult decisions here in January and February as we start to see the 2nd quarter reports which will give us a good indication of where we are financially.  Sacred cows, like retiree health insurance, will be discussed.  These are some of the legacy costs we need to eliminate to make us a lean city who will survive into the next decade.

I appreciate your supporting phone calls and great emails encouraging me to continue to fight those who think they have it all figured out.  Solutions like “get rid of everyone” or “don’t pay your taxes to let your voice be heard” are simply immature.

You don’t like that the teacher assigned you homework?  What are you going to do, throw yourself on the floor and stamp your feet? Go to a school board meeting and demand to know why this teacher is doing this and ask for their removal?  Dumb.

If you come to a City Council meeting and demand an answer, you better be able to handle that answer.  No crying.

But here is the real kicker from the whiners in the world.  When you try to have an adult conversation to discuss the issues they can’t handle it.  That’s right; their arguments are so weak that when you start to poke holes in it, they crumble.

You want to discuss the issues?  Bring it on.

But don’t start crying when I put you in your place.  If you can dish it out, you better be able to take it.

Oh and I won’t resort to name calling.  For me the high road is the smarter choice.

Merry Christmas,  Brendon

A waterfall begins with a single drop – 11/5/2010**

Friday, November 5th, 2010

Are you ready for some grass roots political involvement?  It’s the not Tea Party/Sarah Palin book tour promotional tour, or the Glenn Beck “I can interpret what the Constitution means” rally; it’s actually something more meaningful and will have a lasting impact on DeKalb.

It’s about public safety.  It’s about taking care of a project that has been on the back burner for too long.  It’s about improving our DeKalb Police Station.

To do this I need your help.  You need to call or email the US Senate Finance Committee.  Don’t be scared.  I did it this morning and the staffer takes your info down and passes it along to members.

What are you going to ask for?  You want an extension of the Build America Bonds into 2011.  This program gives a current 35% federal subsidy if you use the money for a public project.  Here is the rub.

There is a deadline of December 31, 2010 on this federal program now. 

Ideas to extend it into 2011 have been discussed.  But how do you get this committee to appreciate the concept of indirect stimulus to their constituents…well be letting them know you are interested.

Here is the info you need:

Contact

Check our frequently asked questions for the answer to your question.  To send other questions, comments, or concerns to members of the Senate Finance Committee or staff, please call (202-224-4515 between the hours of 8:30am to 6:30pm EST), fax (202-228-0554) or write to:

The Honorable Max Baucus
Chairman
Committee on Finance
United States Senate
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Chuck Grassley
Ranking Member
Committee on Finance
United States Senate
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Note: Due to security precautions taken by the U.S. Senate, outside mail is delayed 7-10 days; therefore, whenever possible, you may also consider faxing your letter(s) to 202-228-0554.

Do this not for me, but for our Police Department, yourself and for your extended family here in DeKalb.  Ask them to extend Build America Bonds into 2011.

Thanks in advance,

Brendon

The Trees will soon be here! 8-27-2010

Friday, August 27th, 2010

East Lincoln Highway will start getting its trees the second week of October!  That is good news since many of the people who signed up for this have wondered when the trees would be planted.  According to Mark Espy, Asst Director of Public Works, stated the trees have a higher survival rate when planted in the fall.

Espy and his staff will contact the homeowners and businesses along East Lincoln Highway to pick out desired locations in their lawns so as not to disturb sewer, water, etc…

If you were on the sidelines about this issue, or didn’t participate and now want a tree…please send me an email and we can get you on the list.  Remember you have to live on East Lincoln Highway, from Seventh Street to Peace Road.

06-15-2010…I Need Your Support

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

I had a meeting this morning with DeKalb School officials and the DSATS (DeKalb Sycamore Area Transportation Study) personnel, to discuss applying for a grant through the Illinois Dept of Transportation Safe Routes to Schools.  If selected we could receive up to $250K to help us build the bike path that would run parallel to Fairview Drive and give our future middle school students a “Safe Route” to walk or ride to the new Middle School that will be up and running in August 2011 at the old high school at Barb Blvd.

Please email me your support of this idea.  The better chances we have at getting this grant is heavily weighed upon that citizens feel the need to improve how our kids get to school.  Right now at Huntley Middle School, of the kids who provide their own means (other than busing) to get to school 50% walk or ride their bikes…and the other 50% get dropped off by their parents.  That is a lot of kids getting to school on their own.  Let’s give them a Safe Route!

Look for those ratios to continue in the future…so we need to have a little vision and some luck to try and get this $ from IDOT coffers.

Thanks in advance,

Brendon

Mind Bullets from the Fourth Ward

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

What to do?  That is the question we are faced with as a generation that has been strapped with so much debt our heads are spinning.  This is the realization of what people warned about 40 years ago.

“We are doing this now and its effects will be on the next generation.”

20 years go by and its 1990.  That generation refinances everything and sets in motion the next gap.  Which we have to deal with now in 2010.

What solutions have been presented to effectively handle the debt on the Federal level?

Well effectively nothing has been presented.  But we certainly have printed money and put in motion many programs that are mind boggling.  Think TARP for example.  Think General Motors bailout for example.

On the State level what solutions have been bandied about?

Raise taxes  – the tried and true old reliable solution.  Problem is taxpayers are allergic to tax increases.  Republican and Democrat alike have both shown their disdain for this solution.

The big solution down state…Skip a payment.  Literally skip a payment to pension funds and deal with it at a later date.  Ummm, no comment on this idea, other than to say you can’t just ignore a problem that needs fixing.  There is a hole in the roof, and although its not raining now…it will be soon.  I give this solution a big FAIL.

Municipal level, we are faced with the same budget deficits; but we are smaller and more nimble to effectively make a change.  That is why I wanted to be an alderman.  You can make changes on this level that DIRECTLY impact my neighbors here in DeKalb.

Our solutions here are clear and present.  They are:

• Reduce personnel costs
• Eliminate non contractual legacy benefits
• Revamp our entire Health Insurance Plans.  They need to be in line with modern world.
• Revamp our entire pay system.  We cannot continue to give out multi-year contracts that are not inline with the real world.  Multi year contracts are good for professional athletes.  We need to be able to react to market conditions and make changes quickly…rather than be stuck with an agreement that hurts the taxpayer.

Switching gears, here is some info from Rob Newing on the relationship between finance and local government, taken from the Wednesday, May 19, 2010 Financial Times.

“Another popular financing method has been tax incremental finance (TIF).  This allows a city to fund infrastructure by borrowing against incremental tax revenues generated by the investment.  These expected tax revenues service the debt, which is typically over a 10 to 20-year period.

However John Handley, a partner at DPP, a planning consultancy, advises cities to think long and hard before they enter into such a long-term and potentially risky funding arrangement.  ‘Borrowing against unknown tax revenues is not without its risks’, he warns.  ‘If business growth in a TIF area is not as great as first predicted, the local authority will be liable for any shortfall.  This would inevitably lead to increases in local taxes, making the area less attractive.’”

That is a good point made by Handley.  What if you build it (like it in movie Field of Dreams) but no one comes?  If we are relying on tax revenues of the improved areas to service the debt…by all means we better make sure that revenue stream can support this.

But what if the economy takes a path in the US like what happened in Japan for the past two decades?  Low to no growth, interest rates at or near zero and deflation.  Buckle your seatbelts.

Last mind bullet, I was at the Council for Global Affairs in Chicago the other week and Niall Ferguson spoke.  He mentioned that in the US right now 47% of individuals who earn income don’t pay income tax.  Ferguson made the case that the US should consider a national consumption tax, similar to the European VAT.

Now former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker made a mere suggestion about a VAT…and had to make a hasty retreat with how unpopular this idea is.  But reboot and think about this idea.

How do you tax individuals who don’t pay income tax?  They pay taxes indirectly through sales tax for food, gas, alcohol, restaurants, etc…  But those are small potatoes to what could be raised if all participated in our wonderful republic experiment of the United States.  This VAT could prove to be a way to combat delinquent income tax filers and make all part of the solution.

Think about this.  What if there was no more individual income tax.  But for every item that you purchased you would pay a percentage as VAT.  All of those dollars would go back to the FED and be distributed for programs and services.  Now this idea is in its infancy…but do some research and see what would generate more for the US.  Continuance of our convulated income tax system (where almost half of Americans with income don’t file)…or a national consumption tax and eliminate the rush to file every April 15.

Later, Brendon

04-29-10, Here…read this!

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

I read the Financial Times every morning.  Niall Ferguson is a contributing editor to this newspaper.  Here is a recent article that he wrote that I would like you to read.  It gives great historical perspective to what we are faced with as a society today. 

Ferguson[1]

Thanks again for your support as we make history in DeKalb.

Cheers, Brendon

Don’t miss this opportunity!

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Watching CNBC this morning they talked about a new stimulus package that will be surfacing from April 16-25.  Kind of like the Cash for Clunkers program…this is basically Cash for Appliances.

Its called the Energy Star Appliance Rebate.  You will receive a credit/rebate if you go out and buy a new dishwasher, refrigerator, washer, dryer, or freezer during April 16-25, 2010.

But you have to buy it from an authorized vendor who is part of the program.

Websites for you to get more info on this are:

http://www.energysavers.gov

http://www.ildceo.net/dceo/Bureaus/Energy_Recycling/Energy+Star+Rebates/

I don’t know all the details of the program…but if I can save some do-re-mi, then I think it is about time I replaced my 16 year old dishwasher appliance with something that is more energy efficient (and quieter!).

At the Illinois website you can access an acrobat file to see a list of qualified and participating vendors for this unique program.

Regards,

Brendon