by Diane Benjamin

The McLean County Regional Planning Commission has been very busy planning how to spend YOUR money.  The complete Long Range Plan is available at:  http://www.mcplan.org/egov/documents/1350666761_64351.pdf

Keep in mind, these people are un-elected.  You will never vote on the members of this commission.  Some are elected in other areas of government, some are government employees, and some are appointed.  Representatives from the State and Federal Government are also included.

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From the above link:

Surveying Community Concerns
To understand current public thinking about community transportation issues, in the Spring of 2012 MCRPC launched an online poll with questions about current use of the transportation system, as well as priorities for future transportation in Bloomington-Normal and McLean County. Responses to the survey questions regarding future priorities are discussed below, and the responses regarding the existing system are . The survey also asked that those responding provide some basic demographic and geographic information about themselves, and members of their household. This data will be used to construct an enhanced model of daily traffic in the urban area. This will provide a tool for future planning, and further surveys of this type are planned. The questions included in the survey and the aggregated responses are attached as Appendix 4.

The survey results regarding future priorities submitted through the close of the public comment period for the plan are provided below in Table 4. The survey also allowed respondents to provide detailed responses on some questions, and those comments are compiled in Appendix 4, as are responses to survey questions regarding the existing transportation system.

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Note: they are using the responses to this poll for future planning.  Did you see the poll?  Did you know there was a poll?  Why do the un-elected feel this poll qualifies them to make decisions about YOUR future?

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Also note: Appendix 4 is not included in the on-line report, so I have no way of knowing how they gathered responses since their results show over 100% in 2 categories.  If the questions is: “what’s most important to you?” shouldn’t the results equal 100%?

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Since the results of their polling seems totally out of the norm, over the last several days BLNNews asked respondents to rate the identical items.  People were only allowed to pick their first choice.  Click here to view the results:  mcrpc

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The ONLY agreement between the polls is “Priority on investing in existing street repair and maintenance”.  All other results were obviously skewed by the demographics of their poll takers.  When 72% in their poll think bike lanes are a good idea, it looks like BLONO (the local bike riders group) knew about the poll, while not many of the rest of us did.  Also, 35% in their poll want more alternative fuel stations?  In other words, a place to plug in your electric car.  Sounds like Chris Koos knew about the poll.  (http://blnnews.com/2012/10/05/chris-koos-and-green-koolaid/)

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I realize nobody knows anything about the McLean County Regional Planning Commission, but you should.  Almost every project that ends up being discussed and passed by the McLean County, City of Bloomington, and Town of Normal originated in this commission.  Look around their website:  East Side Bypass, Bike lanes, Main Street Corridor.

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Since the media isn’t doing their job in investigating and informing citizens, I have to.  This un-elected board is planning your future based on unreliable data and passing it off as consensus.  Stayed tuned, I’m not done with this group and neither is CityWatch.

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They supply the answers that you must choose from and no matter what you choose they get their bike paths. The survey is rigged.

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 What a LOADED set of questions! What if you think there are already enough of these “amenities” already and that the taxpayer’s money is better spent elsewhere (or not spent at all)?

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“Other” doesn’t quite cover it.

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Any fool can see the biased intention of the MCRP poll. Maybe even a few rubber stampers.