By: Diane Benjamin As I stated in this story Erika Reynolds, State’s Attorney had not responded to my two requests: https://blnnews.com/2024/01/31/tri-valley-lost-my-trust/ She did last night. I not only emailed her directly, but I also sent two emails to the General address listed on the County website. ([email protected]) From Erika: Wed, Jan 31 at 6:44 PM I am sorry for […]
By: Diane Benjamin I lost trust in Tri-Valley a few years ago when they paid off some bonds and then put another bond issue for the same amount on the ballot. Evidently TV taxpayers don’t ever want to see their property taxes decrease because they approved it. In the next few years they are plotting to do it […]
By: Diane Benjamin Public Access issued a ruling yesterday finding the County Board Executive Committee violated the Open Meetings Act on November 13th when they didn’t let Jackie Beyer speak. The County policy demanding people sign up 24 hours in advance to speak violates OMA. The County tried to claim that even though the written policy on […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve been waiting years for someone to file with the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access division concerning their policies. Public Comment is Freedom of Speech and a 1st Amendment Right to address grievances with YOUR government. McLean County thinks you need to give them 24 hours notice if you want to speak. […]
Update: PDF page 87 got fixed. Everything else still applies however: By: Diane Benjamin Review this story for details: https://blnnews.com/2022/09/09/village-of-normal-discriminates-against-stan-nord/ And this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/09/20/breaking-news-the-truth-about-stan-nord-and-the-executive-session/ Below is the original notice of this meeting – it was held on a Friday, not after a regular meeting like usual. https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4416 Jump to the documents for Monday’s meeting: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4557 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday was a Federal Holiday. Town of Normal code says meetings can not be held on any legal holiday: The Open Meetings Act law says a regular meeting can be held on a holiday if it is regularly scheduled, Normal threw in a Special Meeting that is not allowed under the law: […]
By: Diane Benjamin School Board meetings operate under 2 different statutes in the Illinois code. First they must comply with the Open Meetings Act which requires agendas be posted 48 hours in advance of meetings. OMA also requires time allotted at every meeting for Public Comment. Most units of government do not respond to people […]
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/01/25/illegal-meeting-normal/ Introduction to the Open Meetings Act Law: (5 ILCS 120/1)(from Ch. 102, par. 41) Sec. 1. Policy. It is the public policy of this State that public bodies exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business and that the people have a right to be informed as to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Stan Nord quit attending 2 on 1 meetings with Pam Reece and staff because they aren’t held to get his opinion. They are held to tell the Council what the plans are and get their official head nods. Funny how CITIZENS paying the bills aren’t privy to the same information. The 2 […]
Under Agenda nothing was posted: https://www.district87.org/domain/69 Unless they dreamed up a new place to post it, the meeting would have violated the Open Meetings Act anyway.
By: Diane Benjamin During the “attack” Stan meeting attorney Brian Day stated a long list of people and organizations he contacted concerning Pam Reece’s ethics. Mr. Day has no proof that actually happened since a FOIA sent to Normal by a citizens couldn’t even find an email: The emails below show why the results of […]
From Edgar County Watchdogs: https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2021/06/bloomington-school-district-87-violates-open-meetings-act/?fbclid=IwAR2P_UP6DP2sdvB6N_rnszJdn1zMDt00TU7kr5UfkCT3FABVn9fTFeryjFQ Excerpt: Bloomington School District 87 has been violating the Open Meetings Act by demanding people reveal their home addresses in order to participate in public comment. The Illinois Attorney General has already issued multiple opinions, at least as far back as 2014, stating that requiring addresses to speak, or even to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos knows he has nothing to run on. Instead of discussing issues he clipped and chopped comments made by Marc Tiritilli before Rivian incentives were approved by the Normal Town Council. Koos wants you to believe Tiritilli was against Rivian buying the plant when Marc was actually against taking money from […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the Eagles song Desperato? That should be the Chris Koos theme song. He has NOTHING to run on so he is now personally attacking Marc Tiritilli instead of addressing the issues. Chris is a divisive leader because he knows people don’t want the things he wants. Marc Tiritilli is running to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Susan Kalter: Hopefully this is the last story about Susan Kalter. See all previous stories here: https://blnnews.com/2020/09/16/isu-did-susan-kalter-lie/ I made a final attempt to determine if Kalter was lying about being told by an ISU lawyer the All Facility meeting didn’t have to comply with the Open Meetings Act. I was told she […]
By: Diane Benjamin It takes FOREVER to receive FOIA’s, so now you have to think back. Susan Kalter is the chair of the Academic Senate at ISU. She wanted to hold a faculty meeting that wasn’t open to the media and didn’t comply with the Open Meetings Act. See all previous stories here: https://blnnews.com/2020/07/28/susan-kalter-explain-your-meeting-to-the-attorney-general/ In […]
The Open Meetings Act applicable section was amended effective 1/1/2013. That’s more than 7 years ago! _____________________ By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal under the current leadership prefers to make up their own laws. The most obvious example is their illegal public comment policy. Here’s another one: http://normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/7697/Chapter-03—Council-Meetings-and-Ordinances?bidId= What does the Open Meetings Act […]
By: Diane Benjamin See previous stories: https://blnnews.com/2020/07/16/looks-like-a-revolt-at-isu/ https://blnnews.com/2020/07/20/isu-when-you-hear-from-the-attorney-general-just-plead-guilty/ Today I was notified by the Public Access office of the Attorney General they are going to investigate whether the first faculty meeting violated the Open Meetings Act. Excerpts: See the entire document I received: 63926 FI Letter When Kalter or ISU responds the Attorney General’s office […]
By: Diane Benjamin I have filed a Request for Review with the Attorney General’s office based on this meeting held by Dr. Susan Kalter, the Chair of the Academic Senate at ISU: https://blnnews.com/2020/07/16/looks-like-a-revolt-at-isu/ Part 2 was supposed to happen tonight to finish what didn’t get done last Thursday. Tonight’s meeting has been postponed indefinitely, the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Why would the mayor of any Town post this: He posted it Saturday night, if you want to see all the responses go to his Facebook page. I will just pick out a few: I don’t see where Koos ever answered any of the questions, there are plenty more including a comment […]
By: Diane Benjamin Our current Illinois Attorney General is starting off worse than Mike Madigan’s daughter. They still have not ruled on the Request for Review submitted by Karyn Smith when she was denied the right to speak on an item not on the agenda. It is getting close to a year since she filed, […]
By: Diane Benjamin After NOT posting the Agenda for today’s meeting 48 hours in advance as required by the Open Meetings Act (LAW!), yesterday Connect moved the meeting and thought people would magically know: https://www.connect-transit.com/about/trustees/cttf_working_group/agendas.asp No surprise, they didn’t have enough people for a quorum, some members of the public went to the wrong […]
I have been informed Stan Nord sent the two pics below to Pam Reece. She responded with what the Town lawyer sent to the Attorney General in response to Karyn Smith Request for Review. The Town claims they read the law – the Attorney General Open Meetings Act training is immaterial. See the response here: Town […]
By: Diane Benjamin Karyn Smith is still waiting for a ruling from the Attorney General from when she was denied the right to speak to the Normal Council about the mural – because it wan’t on the agenda. See this story: https://blnnews.com/2019/02/28/ag-investigating-town-of-normal-again/ The Attorney General is supposed to rule within 90 days, but this is […]
Meeting is rescheduled to June 4th. By: Diane Benjamin From the Connect Transit website – they have a monthly meeting scheduled for tomorrow: https://www.connect-transit.com/about/trustees/packet.asp The agenda MUST be posted 48 hours in advance to comply with the Open Meetings Act. It isn’t posted, therefore they must cancel the meeting: Did they fail to post it […]
By: Diane Benjamin On November 2nd Normal held a Strategic Planning Session. It was a Friday at 10:00 am in the Executive Board Room at City Hall. http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3105 Did any citizens know about or attend this meeting? Did the press report on it? Keep in mind, Trustee RC McBride is the General Manager of […]
By: Diane Benjamin I filed a Request for Review with Lisa Madigans’s Public Access office on January 18, 2018. The request was for a ruling on the budget workshop held by the Town of Normal that was not posted as a meeting with an agenda, time, and place. I received a ruling yesterday. 5 ILCS […]
By: Diane Benjamin This morning the McLean County Board held a meeting without announcing it. Is the Open Meetings Act too difficult to understand? Notice of ALL meetings most be posted 48 hours in advance along with the agenda. This morning they held a legislative breakfast for the entire Board AND State Senators Bill Brady, Jason […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Attorney General’s Public Access office is investigating the Town of Normal for a meeting they held on January 18th. No agenda was posted for this meeting. That is a violation of the Open Meetings Act because the public was not notified this meeting was going to take place. The only information […]
By: Diane Benjamin Some public bodies still ask you to state your address before speaking during Public Comment. You are not required to according to the law. See this 2014 opinion from the Illinois Attorney General’s office: http://foia.ilattorneygeneral.net/pdf/opinions/2014/14-009.pdf This paragraph sums up the decision: The Town of Normal and the Unit 5 School Board need […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.normal.org/Archive.aspx?AMID=47 Anybody see an agenda posted for yesterday’s meeting? According to the dead tree the Normal Town Council held a budget workshop yesterday. In the TWO stories they did, 5 of the 7 Council members are mentioned. Five is more than half, meaning it was a meeting. Open Meetings Act violation #6345. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The spontaneous Executive Session was not held on November 13th, it was held on November 8th at the end of a regular meeting. It was held in response to some disgruntled parents. The Board briefly recessed, hopefully not to discuss whether to hold an Executive Session. Holding any discussions outside of a […]
See corrections in this story: https://blnnews.com/2018/01/11/unit-5-story-corrections/ By: Diane Benjamin I wish my kids had been coached by Darren Hess. The parents who spoke at last night’s School Board meeting proved Hess was a great mentor and role model for the players and their families. Great coaches don’t happen often, supporters are crushed to lose this one. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The next School Board meeting is January 10th, 7:00 pm at Chiddix Junior High, 300 S Walnut St, in Normal. Website See the Unit 5 Public Comment policy HERE Public Comment at every meeting of a Public Body is LAW. It’s called the Open Meetings Act. If you read Unit 5’s Public Comment policy […]
By: Diane Benjamin Not In Our Town didn’t care when the mayor of Bloomington abused numerous citizens with vile comments. They didn’t care when he attacked an elected alderman. He used his position to intimidate people with different opinions. How is that any different than Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, and Harvey Weinstein? Because sex isn’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin Laws most likely broken by the Town of Normal Council don’t matter because prosecutions need a prosecutor. The citizens of Normal don’t have one! In case you forgot the facts, see this story: https://blnnews.com/2017/11/16/normal-your-government-is-fixed/ Basics: The Town held a Secret meeting (Executive Session) on August 11th at 9:30 in the morning. The meeting […]
By: Diane Benjamin The citizens of Normal probably already knew “outsiders” aren’t allowed to participate in their government, how many Trustees have quit during their term so the Mayor could appoint a replacement? The last Mayor did the same thing so incumbents have an edge in the next election. I expect Chris Koos to do […]
By: Diane Benjamin Laws don’t seem to matter to our Public Servants unless they are forced to follow them. Maybe that’s human nature, kind of like everybody is speeding so I might as well too. But this offense meant there was no written record of what happened at meetings. The offender was the McLean County […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington has been found guilty of more violations, but this makes 3 that I either filed or was closely involved in the filing. This time it’s the library: Of course there isn’t a penalty assessed even though law specifies penalties are available. Laws only matter if us peons are […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve contacted the States Attorney’s office several times about public corruption cases. I recently received this email from one of their interns: Got that? Seems pretty clear – the States Attorney’s office doesn’t do investigations! Now see this Pantagraph story about the tragic deaths yesterday: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/police-chief-fatal-fire-appears-intentionally-set/article_77246b93-85ee-5e69-a96b-6de3fbc09d18.html Excerpt from the story: Maybe Jason […]
