Falling behind!

I let a week slip by without updating. It's certainly been an interesting week at that. One of the most fascinating moments of the week was sitting down with foreign visitors that came through the Rock River International Fellowship program. Heather Sotelo, Betty Steinart and I had the privilege of sitting down with people from across the Middle East to discuss economic development. The visitors ranged from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Tunisia, Bahrain, Jordan and points beyond. They were all great people to meet with and share information with.

And as we head to November, I encourage everyone to get out and vote... once. I don't think I have to clarify that this far out from Chicago, but you never know. At least I didn't ask that you leave your dead relatives at home. I don't believe in the argument that your one vote doesn't matter. Just knowing that people care enough to vote sends a message to elected officials that they're accountable and people care enough to monitor what is happening.

Enjoy this fantastic fall weather!!!

Take Action Now or Want a Better Community? Get Involved!

This morning I had the great pleasure of walking around the Propheter Park neighborhood with members of their Neighborhood Watch program, helping to clean up the area. Sterling Police Officer, Frank Hopes who coordinates the Watch program in that area, borrowed a truck from the Public Works Department and lent some muscle to further assist the neighbors. It was great to see neighbors not only showing concern for their neighborhood, but actually doing something about it. In the process, I met some nice people and I learned more about the history of the neighborhood. Pretty neat!

The disappointing part was the amount of litter and junk we picked up. Fortunately, it was limited to small areas, but it's certainly disheartening to see a few people unwilling to clean up after themselves or properly dispose of trash. But when the neighborhood comes together, it really makes a difference. Hopefully it rubs off and people can get more people involved and those people can get even more people involved and so forth until most neighbors know and are familiar with each other.

Take pride in your City and in your neighborhood. The little things truly add up! If you're interested in forming a Neighborhood Watch group in your area, call the Sterling Police Department at 632-6600. Neighborhood Watch groups are assigned a police officer to help them put the group together. The Groups then learn more about what the police department is doing, what neighbors can do, hold block parties, neighborhood meetings and cleanup events.

I know it's late in the year, but the Twin City Farmers Market is open year-round! While some items are summer dependent, there are a lot more goodies that aren't. I was especially inspired to mention the Farmers Market after having some amazing brats this weekend. Holy cow were those great. It's not just corn and beans, you can find a variety there, especially through out the summer, but even now as autumn sets in, you can still buy a variety of meats, sweets and other treats. Some vendors also start focusing on seasonal gifts and crafts that are locally created.

"Year round offerings include locally grown beef, pork, bison, free range chicken and eggs. Locally grown organic herbs (fresh in the summer, dried in the winter) and Illinois made jams, jellies, and sauces are available year round.

Rural entrepreneurs also offer toffee, baked goods (pies, breads, cookies, cakes), soaps, spun wool, forged metalwork, soy candles, rag rugs, black walnuts, homemade noodles, baskets, sunflower seeds and corn for wildlife feeding, home decor and crafts."

We have one of the very few indoor Farmer Markets in Illinois. What a gem to have here! So whether you want to be a customer or a vendor, be sure and check them out in person at the old Twin City Market building at 106 Avenue A (just southwest of the Chamber) or stop first on the web at www.tcmarket.org

Trick or Treat!

Okay, I'm a sucker for a Midnight Milky Way, I confess. However, I won't be at your door asking for one, but there might be a few dozen ghosts, witches and vampires knocking on your door in about 2 weeks looking for mini Milky Ways, Snickers, licorice and the like.

The official Trick or Treat hours for Sterling and Rock Falls will be 4:30-7:00p, on Friday October 31st.

Safety Tips

• Wear light colored clothing & reflective material

• Make sure face masks do not impair vision

• Accompany your children

• Go out in the daylight

• Carry a flashlight

• Watch for traffic

• Stay in your neighborhood and only visit homes you know

• Only give or accept wrapped or packaged candy

• Examine your child’s candy before they eat it

• Drivers slow to 5mph under the speed limit!

Fall is in the forecast and leaves are hitting the ground!

Leaves will be collected through the first full week of December on the same day as your garbage and recycling pick up. From December 15th through March 15th, you may drop off your yard waste at the Public Works Department at 1605 Avenue L. Please call Public Works at 625-6040 before you drop off yard waste for more information.

Leaves should be placed in paper yard waste bags and set out to the alley or curb (same place as your garbage or recycling). There is a 50lb weight limit on each bag. You may also use a 30 gallon can with handles for grass clippings, leaves, and small limbs. A 50lb weight limit also applies to the cans. You may also use 60 gallon or 90 gallon totes for yard waste disposal. All containers must be marked with a large "X."

For hard yard waste, such as large limbs, tree stumps, and bushes, you must put them in bundles of lengths of 4 feet or less, and 4 inches or less in diameter. Tie each bundle with twine and set out with your garbage and recycling. The 50 lb weight limit applies to this also. Bushes and shrubs must be bundled, if possible, and sat out with garbage and recycling.

Please remember that you cannot burn yard waste within city limits! You can also try composting if you have a little bit of space!

100 Years of City Management

Not to bore you, but 2008 is a significant milestone in the governance of cities. We've come a long way from Tammany Hall and patronage, well most cities have. Much of that had to do with the introduction of professional management into our cities. That started 100 years ago in Virginia....

Excerpts from: Taking Stock of the Council-Manager Form at 100
by James H. Svara and Kimberly L. Nelson

In 1908, a single city adopted what would eventually become the council- manager form of government. In 2008, more than 3,500 cities with populations exceeding 2,500 persons and more than 370 counties use the form. Beyond the direct effect of introducing a new structural option for the organization of local government, this new form also elevated the option of appointing a centrally located generalist administrator in other forms of government. Almost half of mayor-council governments and more than half of the commission and town meeting governments have a chief administrative officer (CAO) or city administrator, and such a position is often found in elected county executive governments as well.

Figure 1. Use of Major Forms of Government and Change, 1990–2007.

All U.S. cities over 2,500 in population	1990	2007	Change
	% (number)	% (number)	% (number)	Cities smaller than 10,000	Cities larger than 10,000
Mayor-council	54.5% (3,645)	43.5% (3,131)	-14.1% (-514)	-515	1
Council-manager	36.2% (2,420)	48.9% (3,520)	45.5% (1,100)	574	526
Other	9.2% (617)	7.5% (543)	-12.0% (-74)	-47	-27
Total	100.0% (6,682)	100.0% (7,194)	7.7% (512)

Differences in Local Government Forms

There are three major features that differentiate the mayor-council and council-manager forms of government, and all three can be traced back to the origins of the form. Analogous to the distinction between presidential and parliamentary systems, the first feature is the allocation of authority.

The council-manager form places all governmental authority in the hands of the council, with certain functions assigned by law, charter, or convention to the manager appointed by the council. Authority is unified in the collective leadership body of the council. To the early reformers citing the practice of English local government, eliminating separation of powers and strengthening the council was as important to the council-manager form as the creation of the manager’s position.³

The relationship between the council and the manager is based on this allocation of authority. Despite all the words that have been written and spoken about the separation of politics and policy from the administration, the unique feature of the council-manager form is the interaction of councilmembers and administrators in both policy and administration. As intended by drafters of the model city charter in 1915, the form ensures that a professional perspective will be presented to the council by the manager on all policy decisions and that council oversight can be directed to any administrative action.

With separation of powers, the mayor can limit the policy advice given to the council and can shield staff from council oversight.⁴ In the mayor-council form, mayors can also have a substantial impact on the amount and quality of professional advice they receive and share with the council and on the level of professionalism that is present in the administrative organization. In contrast with the council-manager form in which the council has authority over the manager, the mayor in the mayor-council form is a separate and independent executive.

The second feature that differentiates forms is how executive responsibilities are assigned to an elected or appointed administrator. In the council-manager form, executive functions are the responsibility of the city or county manager even if some functions on occasion are shared with other officials. In parliamentary-style local governments in northern Europe, the mayor or other top political figure commonly shares executive authority with the top administrator, but this administrator is still the chief executive officer.

In the mayor-council form, executive responsibilities are exercised under the authority of the mayor. A central coordinating administrative position can be created—a CAO—but in contrast with the clear delegation of executive authority to the city manager, the assignments to the CAO may be determined by the will of the executive mayor.⁵ In contrast, the council-manager form ensures the linkage of executive responsibilities with a professional top administrator.

When a top administrator is present in the local government form, the third distinguishing feature is whether the administrator is responsible to the entire council or to the mayor. Responsibility to the entire council is an essential characteristic of the council-manager form and helps to ensure both transparency and a focus on the public interest rather than the political interests of a single elected official.

Figure 2. Percentage of Cities Using the Council-Manager Form by Population Category, 1990 and 2007.

Studies show that when council-manager cities are compared with mayor-council cities the council-manager cities are more likely to have greater efficiency, sounder finances, and stronger management performance. They have greater representation of minority groups in staff positions. Council-manager cities are more likely to pursue long-term goals, use strategic planning, base service delivery on need and other professional standards, have ethics codes and boards, integrate management functions, and adopt innovative management practices.

The Big Read

The Sterling Public Library is again sponsoring "The Big Read." This year, the book at center stage is The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. Check out the National Endowment for the Arts info on The Maltese Falcon, including an introduction, historical context, and discussion items.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

The Sterling Public Library will hold events in conjunction with the reading including discussion groups. Library Director Jennifer Slaney has done a terrific job in bringing the program to the community and expanding it from Sterling to include Rock Falls and Dixon. Extra copies of the book are available at the library, so stop in and take part in The Big Read!

Rivera to Fritsch

Holy cow! What a great homecoming game for Sterling High! We were sitting around the 30 yard line when Niko Rivera let loose that 51 yard bomb to Dustin Fritsch from mid-field. All of us were sure Fritsch wouldn't get there as he ran past us, but sure enough, he caught the ball, an arcing tight spiral, in stride for the completion. That play was an exclamation point on one heck of a game for SHS. And congrats to Raciel Ocampo on the new school record!!! (who then turned around and scored 6 goals Saturday for the 17-2 SHS soccer team!) http://www.sterlingpride.com/

Take pride in your schools and in your city!

Credit crunch hits cities too.

From the New York Times:

Under Strain, Cities are Cutting Back Projects

Cities, states and other local governments have been effectively shut out of the bond markets for the last two weeks, raising the cost of day-to-day operations, threatening longer-term projects and dampening a broad source of jobs and stability at a time when other parts of the economy are weakening.

How does that effect us locally? It's not a terrible burden for the immediate future, but it's something that may eventually cost the City. Since interest rates have been quite low for some time, most of the City's financed debt is at a low interest rate. However, if we were to need to go our for financing to redevelop the riverfront or we wanted to do bonds for road work to take advantage of today's prices over tomorrow's escalating prices, it's going to be much more difficult. As you can see in the article I linked, we would end up paying more in interest if we could even get anyone interested in lending.

Dedicated Employees

A couple weeks back, we had our Service Awards recognition for employees. We had a twenty year employee this year and two 25 year employees! I kidded them they'll probably be here another 20-25 years at the rate the stock market is going. Little did I know things on Wall Street were going to go from bad to worse from the 15th to the end of the month.

Anyhow, we're fortunate to have a lot of dedicated employees who do great work. Our 25 year employees were Scot Beyer, a crew leader at Public Works and Captain Gary Dettman of the Fire Department. Thanks for the years of service and all those extra efforts I know the two of you have contributed over time!

(L-R Scott Beyer (25); Todd Messer (10); Jeff Mohr (10); Julia Jones (5); Matt laughlin (5); Gary Dettman (25)) Not pictured: Ben Babin (5); Brad Schrader (10); Ken Wright (20)