DeKalb to host public informational meetings on city clerk referendum

DeKALB – DeKalb residents will have three chances this month to attend city meetings and learn more about a planned November election referendum that could change the city clerk’s office.

The city announced this week that it will host informational meetings Aug. 7, Aug. 14 and Aug. 21 on the city clerk referendum, which was approved by the DeKalb City Council in July.

All of the meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the second-floor training room at the DeKalb Police Department, 700 W. Lincoln Highway.

At its July 22 meeting, the DeKalb City Council placed the referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot to allow the public to decide the future of the city clerk position. Voters will be asked whether the position should become appointed.

The decision to seek a city clerk referendum was prompted by former Clerk Sasha Cohen’s departure from the city clerk’s office. Circuit Court Chief Judge Bradley Waller ruled in March that Cohen had abandoned his role after he failed to file statements of economic interest for the past two years. Cohen, who didn’t provide comment during the judicial hearing, had been the center of years of scrutiny from city officials alleging that he repeatedly failed to adequately perform the duties that voters in 2021 elected him to do.

City officials will be on hand at the upcoming meetings to provide information on the referendum as well as the role of the city clerk in DeKalb, according to the Municipal Code and state statute.

Information on the topic also has been posted on the city’s website at cityofdekalb.com/1522/City-Clerk-Referendum.