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Osborne Online
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Saturday, November 21
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WHAT REALLY GOES ON IN THE CITY COUNCIL'S CLOSED SESSIONS?
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Paul Osborne, Editor
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When the Decatur City Council moves from the public council chamber to the
closed meeting in the private conference room, that’s the end of the meeting
as far as the public and news media are concerned.
What goes on in the back room that is so private the public can’t see and
the council members and staff can’t publicly reveal (at least they’re not
suppose to reveal) when the meeting is over?
Since I was inside that room everytime the city council met in closed
session during the years I served as mayor, and chaired every closed session
meeting in
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[Read full story]
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'TRANSPARENCY' AND DECATUR CITY GOVERNMENT
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Paul Osborne, Editor
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Last week, in a city council information memorandum, City Manager Ryan
McCrady, indicated the beginning of the process to upgrade some of the
audiovisual equipment in the city council chamber and equipment for
broadcasting meetings and other city information on channel 18.
In a down economy, some people might consider spending funds on
upgrading audiovisual equipment as something that is not critical to the
operation of city government.
However, the funding is part of the agreement that we were insistent on
in hammering out a new contract with Comcast a few years ago
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[Read full story]
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SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE CITY'S CUTS IN PERSONNEL
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Paul Osborne, Editor
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City Manager Ryan McCrady says the city will reduce its staff by a total of
17 positions and should save almost $1.4 million as a result of the Voluntary
Severance Plan (VSP) that was introduced earlier this year.
McCrady also says there will be no savings for this fiscal year, which will
end next April. He said the savings should come in the next fiscal year, which
obviously is 6 months away.
With some reductions in the police and fire departments, an obvious
question is “Do the cuts go too deep?” especially in police and fire.
Another question that
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[Read full story]
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CITY REPORTS VOLUNTARY SAVINGS PLAN WILL NOT HELP THIS YEAR'S DEFICIT
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Paul Osborne, Editor
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The City will reduce its staff by a total of 17 positions and save almost $1.4
million as a result of the Voluntary Severance Plan VSP) introduced earlier this
year. There will be no savings for this fiscal year, which will end next April.
That was the message at a news conference held this morning to explain
what has been achieved by the VSP.
The city issued a report late this afternoon and it follows. Following the city-
issued news release I have a few comments from an initial reaction.
"The number of eliminated city positions grows to 21 - or almost 4% of
the
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MACON COUNTY HISTORY MUSEUM TO RECEIVE MAJOR ABRAHAM LINCOLN ARTIFACT
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Paul Osborne, Editor
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I've just learned a few minutes ago that a major Abraham Lincoln artifact is
headed for the Macon County History Museum.
An announcement will be made at a later date, so I can't release all of the
information, but the artifact has a genuine Abraham Lincoln connection and will
give the people something else to see when they go to the museum to view
Macon County's history and our connection to Lincoln.
The artifact, which has been appraised, is being donated to the museum by a
private individual.
The museum has been attracting more and more visitors as time goes by --
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[Read full story]
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More Headlines
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ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER JOHN SMITH TALKS CANDIDLY ABOUT CITY WATER ISSUES, MORE
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WHAT'S THE FUTURE OF THE DECATUR MUNICIPAL BAND?
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CITY CLOSES THE BOOK ON HOTEL PURCHASE LINKS
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COMMUNITY FOOD DRIVE WAS LOTS OF SUNSHINE ON A RAINY DAY
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READERS' QUESTIONS ABOUT CITY, MICHL'S CIGAR STORE AND TRIBUNE WRITER ATTACKED IN THIS WEEK'S PRINT EDITION
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MARK SCRANTON TO ANNOUNCE STATE REP. CANDIDACY ON TUESDAY
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TATTOO PARLOR, PARKING FINES, ACCURACY OF CITY BUDGET DEFICIT PROJECTION
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BAUER'S JOB WITH CITY WILL END IN APRIL
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CITY CENTRE DECATUR CLOSES DOORS
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SOME FAULTY MEMORIES ON TWO YEARS OF REJECTION OF REGIONS BUILDING STUDY
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DUDLEY FOR SENATE CAMPAIGN ISSUES ENDORSEMENT LIST
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CITY MANAGER SAYS LESS REVENUE MEANS MORE BELT TIGHTENING IN CITY BUDGET
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CITY TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE ON FINANCIAL SITUATION THURSDAY
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WHY DID CITY IGNORE MILLIKIN BUILDING AS POLICE SPACE SITE FOR TWO YEARS?
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STUDY OF REGIONS BUILDING WILL BE 'MORE DETAILED'
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SOME CONFUSION OVER ANY OTHER POLICE SPACE STUDY ON REGIONS BUILDING
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INSIDE THE LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE
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WILL COUNCIL VOTE TONIGHT TO DEMOLISH PARKING GARAGE?
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AMY BLIEFNICK IN LABOR DAY PARADE -- AS STATE SENATE CANDIDATE
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HOW DID DECATUR LAND THE FARM PROGRESS SHOW?
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SHOCKED AT DEATH OF DR. LOCKE
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VETERANS' MEMORIAL, FRED PUGLIA AND LOTS MORE
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SENATOR DURBIN'S TOWN HALL MEETING COMMENT A REAL 'HEAD SCRATCHER'
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FRONT PAGE OF AUG. 19TH EDITION POSTED
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VOTE TO REPEAL RESPONSIBLE BIDDER ORDINANCE ON COUNCIL AGENDA MONDAY NIGHT
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ANOTHER READER STEAMED AT SENATOR DURBIN
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COUNCILMAN FOSTER CRITICAL OF SENATOR DURBIN'S 'EXCLUSIVE' HEALTHCARE MEETING
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WILL THERE BE ANOTHER DECATUR CELEBRATION?
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CREATE WALKING TOUR AROUND TRANSFER HOUSE
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BARNES PARKING GARAGE GIVEN 'STAY OF DEMOLITION'
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COUNCIL ASKED TO TAKE ACTION TO DEMOLISH BARNES PARKING GARAGE
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PERSONAL 'STIMULUS' PLAN WHEN THIS BUSINESS STARTED
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COUNCIL ASKED TO REJECT BID ON CITY PROJECT THAT'S OVER 100% HIGHER THAN ENGINEER'S ESTIMATE
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MAYOR TELLS WHEN RESPONSIBLE BIDDER ORDINANCE IS COMING BACK FOR VOTE
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MACON RESOURCES FACES CUTTING SERVICES DUE TO LACK OF STATE FUNDING
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RESPONSIBLE BIDDER ORDINANCE COMING BACK FOR ANOTHER VOTE
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LOSING TRANSIT BIDDER PROTESTS BID PROCESS BY COUNCIL
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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