Outraged councilmen can't stop hireCity manager contract will likely be OK'd at next meeting

DeKALB - Outraged opponents of giving city manager nominee Mark Biernacki a lucrative, first-of-its-kind pay package were unable on Monday to do anything more than delay the inevitable, as Mayor Greg Sparrow and his allies quietly approved the hire by a one-vote margin. Measures to increase the salary range for top city administrators and to override a state law that would limit Biernacki's contract to no longer than the term of the current mayor were passed by 4-3 votes on a preliminary basis only. They will come back to the council for a final approval Jan. 26 because there were not enough votes to waive a second reading of the ordinances. The changes mean Biernacki, a former city of DeKalb community development director, would start with