How long have you been a city manager for DeKalb?

I’ve been with the city of DeKalb for two, nearly three years.

What exactly are your responsibilities?

I oversee the day-to-day operations for the city.

Could you explain how an average day as Mark Biernacki goes?

Unfortunately, I spend an enormous amount of time responding to phone calls and e-mails. Within a span of five minutes, you’re dealing with a major policy issue, say, a development project for the city of DeKalb, and the next minute you’re fielding a phone call from a citizen complaining about a barking dog. Unfortunately, we get sued a lot. Some suits are legitimate, like a sidewalk where someone tripped over. It’s [all in] the full spectrum of issues.

What other kind of experience do you have in your field?

I have 26 years of experience in local government, primarily in the planning and development field. This is my first spot as city manager. Prior to that, I was a community development or planning director for various cities throughout the country. Out of grad school, I was an intern for the city of Elgin. My first full-time planning job was with DeKalb County. I was a city planner in Roswell, N.M., then a city planner up in Fairbanks, Alaska, then the community development director for the city of DeKalb, then the community development director back in the city of Elgin and now as city management back in DeKalb.

Do you have any interesting or comical anecdotes within your position?

We had one recently. This one person e-mailed us from Lord-knows-where he lives. When you get an e-mail and someone complains about an issue, you assume it’s from someone who lives in DeKalb. There was an e-mail exchange between a resident and the mayor about this person complaining about street repair or some public works project. He kept insisting it’s at the northwest corner, and he names these streets. We write back, “What streets are you talking about?” He writes back, “It’s on the northwest corner of these streets, right next to a gas station.” So finally our public works director writes back, “What town are you referring to?” And apparently he lives in DeKalb in some other state of the union. He writes back, “Sorry to waste your time.”

What are a few of your goals as city manager?

I really want to be a part of the revitalized downtown effort. I think a lot of good things have happened, but there’s a lot more work to do. I also want to make sure our newer developments occurring in the outskirts of town aren’t simply more of the same. I want to see projects that, 30 to 50 years from now, those who live in the city will be proud of.

How many kids do you have?

Three: one son and two stepkids. They’re 18, 18 and 17. One 18-year-old is in the Marines. One 18-year-old is at [Kishwaukee Community] College, and the 17-year-old is a senior [in] high school.

What was your major at NIU?

Urban economic geography. I received both my undergrad and my graduate degrees at NIU.

What did you do at NIU as far as clubs and organizations go?

Well, I wasn’t a frat guy. I’m sure I was involved in some intramural things. I was involved in rugby, not with NIU, but with a local community team.

What was your most memorable moment at NIU? Sometime in the late ‘70s, maybe ‘79, I was living in the dorms. School started up on Monday but I moved up on the Thursday [prior]. I was one of the early arrivals in the dorms at the start of school in January and there were only a handful of us. Come Friday or Saturday, there was a horrendous snow storm. The whole city was shut down and the school was delayed for a week. Here we are trapped in the dorms and it turned out to be a great time. I remember skiing on the frozen Kishwaukee River and dragging sleds behind us to the grocery store to bring food and beer back to the dorms.

What is one thing most people don’t know about you?

That’s a tough question. I like watching “Ugly Betty,” how’s that?