By: Diane Benjamin Tari’s job as Mayor at City Council Meetings: The word chair can refer to the place from which the holder of the office presides, whether on a chair, at a lectern, or elsewhere. During meetings, the person presiding is said to be “in the chair”, the person is also referred to as “the chair.” Parliamentary […]
Nothing to report since September? Really? Does the failure to submit reports to the public affect his review? http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=21&parent=4867
by: Diane Benjamin Last Monday the Bloomington City Council held another executive session. An Addendum to the stated purpose of the meeting, evaluating David Hales, appeared on the City website: The code session listed is the section of the Open Meetings Act Law that permits them to discuss the item in a closed session: (11) […]
Various forms of city governance have been experienced by the City of Bloomington since its incorporation in 1850. Let me share a synopsis of the history of the City of Bloomington governance as described in a paper authored by local historian and Executive Director of the McLean County Museum of History , Greg Koos. In 1850 until 1914 the […]
I was buzzing around the Bloomington City Council meeting last night when the Solid Waste vote was taken. Alderman Jim Fruin voted no, everybody else voted Yes. The chamber has a really cool board where the votes are shown when complete. Fruin is a big believer in unity and after he saw the vote wanted […]
by: Diane Benjamin Obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, paid to Farnsworth Group: 5/1/12 – 4/30/13 $126,292 5-1-13 – to present $79,081 add the contract approved 11/25/13 of $74,670 for another study and the total so far this year is $153,751 Last night the City Council approved yet another study (not to Farnsworth) […]
by: Diane Benjamin Calling a Constitutional Convention of the states is already being attacked by both the right and the left. Congress has a 9% approval rating, the President’s approval rating is sinking, and 67% of the population think we are on the wrong track (Rasmussen poll: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/right_direction_or_wrong_track). The country is more than $17,000,000,000,000 in […]
by: Diane Benjamin At the November 25th City Council Meeting, the rubber stamp 7 approved a contract with Farnsworth Group to complete a Downtown Street Lighting master plan. I obtained the contract under the Freedom of Information Act. Remember, this is just a study, no actual work. Here’s what taxpayers are getting: Here is how […]
I wrote previously about C Steven Tucker and the IRS: http://blnnews.com/2013/11/29/irs-auditing-2-men-who-spoke-against-obamacare/ IRS Goes After Obamacare Whistleblowers: An Interview with C. Steven Tucker By Arlen Williams This is an update published today in American Thinker: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/12/irs_goes_after_obamacare_whistleblowers_an_interview_with_c_steven_tucker.html Excerpts: By now, the news has spread online of the IRS audit notices sent to two Obamacare whistleblowers. On November 25th, cancer victim […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Illinois Department of Transportation is funding a study conducted by the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, specifically The Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development. The survey questions the access rural people have to public transportation (non-existent!) and the effects it has on healthcare. Evidently rural Illinois residents: don’t […]
by Diane Benjamin I can’t find this proposed ordinance for the never-ending Solid Waste debate on the City website, this was sent to me. It looks to me like every citizen should request as many 35 gallon carts as they want, because the cost will only be $16. Can anybody clarify? . P.S. Whatever they […]
by: Diane Benjamin David Hales wants a communication director. He is not going to contract one, he wants one on the payroll, complete with another pension. The population of Bloomington is listed as 77,733. The capacity of Soldier Field in Chicago is 61,500. Obviously Bloomington is NOT a large City! 79% of all the citizens […]
On the Agenda for Monday’s City Council meeting: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=6055 C. Downtown Bloomington Strategy (That the Downtown Bloomington Strategy be accepted and the Resolution adopted.) (30 minutes) D. Downtown Hotel Feasibility Study. (Recommend that the Agreement with HVS for a hotel feasibility study in the amount of $30,000 be approved, and the Mayor and City Clerk […]
by: Diane Benjamin Saturday, at least 101 elected officials from at least 34 states are meeting at Mt.Vernon to discuss a Constitutional Convention called by the states under Article 5 of the Constitution. Radio host and Constitutional lawyer Mark Levin sparked this debate with his book The Liberty Amendments. Two-thirds of the states can propose […]
Anytime the government passes a law to decrease taxes or remove regulations, they have your best interests in mind and are doing their job as enumerated in the Constitution: Protecting your Liberty. When they do ANYTHING else they are doing one or more of the following: Assuming they are smarter than you and can therefore […]
by: Diane Benjamin The email below was received under the Freedom of Information Act. More people were listed in the TO: section, but it’s going to take another FOIA request to get an accurate printout. Read it carefully. Has Mayor Renner ever said in public that he helped WRITE the petition to change the Ward […]
Obamacare “raided” $300 billion for Medicare Advantage and seniors will begin feeling the cuts next year, according to an analysis Tuesday by the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. Obamacare took $700 billion from Medicare and $300 billion from Medicare Advantage alone for its own funding, according to the subcommittee. The cuts to Medicare Advantage […]
A new report from the Texas-based Quorum Report, published by longtime Texas journalist Harvey Kronberg, says that House Speaker John Boehner plans to push amnesty legislation through the House, after the primary filing deadline for candidates. The move would prevent Tea Party from challenging GOP lawmakers who support amnesty in 2014. Scott Braddock reported […]
The 2012 loss wasn’t correct, Excel picked up the wrong field. 2013 losses were even more.
by: Diane Benjamin According to the Pantagraph, Mayor Renner wants garbage rates raised to bring them closer to the actual costs. I guess Renner doesn’t realize that virtually everything Bloomington does is a subsidy, the ole Quality of Life crap the Council has been pushing for decades. If he was serious, the management contract for […]
by: Diane Benjamin It’s completely ridiculous that people from all political persuasions can’t sit down and reach common ground. It doesn’t help that both sides are prone to LIE and EXAGGERATE the truth for their uniformed minions. I read leftist emails and sites because I need to know what they are saying. Sometimes it is […]
Op-Ed: Why Do We Have a Medicaid Program? Illinois Review: http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2013/12/why-do-we-have-a-medicaid-program-.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FbYHz+%28Illinois+Review%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail By Alieta Eck, M.D. – A Star Ledger headline reads: “ObamaCare fuels applicant boom for NJ Medicaid—Advocate hails 35% increase in October.” Almost 22,000 new applications were filed in October, up from 16,000 in September. Is this a triumph? Was a 990-page law needed to […]
Expert Testifies to Congress that Obama’s ‘Ignoring Laws’ Could Lead to Overthrow of Government by Noah Rothman See the video here: http://nation.foxnews.com/2013/12/03/expert-testifies-congress-obama%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98ignoring-laws%E2%80%99-could-lead-overthrow-government During a congressional committee hearing about the constitutional limits imposed on the presidency and the implications of President Barack Obama’s disregard for implementing the Affordable Care Act as written, one expert […]
by: Diane Benjamin A few years ago I looked at Parking in the City of Bloomington and found in 2010 they lost over $350,000 due mainly to salaries and benefits. Times have changed! Now the City makes almost as much writing parking tickets as renting parking spaces. Parking is now profitable to the City! You […]
Why do taxpayers fund a zoo? The private sector is always able to innovate better than the public sector. It can work: Wildlife Prairie State Park stays open through private nonprofit ownership by Brian Costin 15 May 2013 | Illinois Policy Institute Every once in a while, government in Illinois actually gets smaller. One recent […]
by: Diane Benjamin Bloomington Alderman Rob Fazzini sends a Ward report every month to people on his email list. It’s a work of art in that he tracks every possible thing he does for the month and then calculates that he works for way below minimum wage. Rob, are citizens suppose to kneel before you […]
by: Diane Benjamin Miller Park Zoo is considered a park by the City, therefore they believe it should be subsidized. Don’t look for the zoo to ever break even. It lost even more in 2013 than 2012. They received much less money from outside sources. Another Quality of Life item you pay for.
by: Diane Benjamin The financial statements for the year ended 7 months ago have finally been issued, now we can find out what’s in them. In the previous year, the BCPA received only $1,450,000 in Home Rule Sales Tax, so they had a profit of $450,000 just from people shopping in Bloomington. Admission Fees were […]
This picture is from the 2007 Form Based Code plan: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Now compare this to the one at the corner or Main and Market: Notice the surveillance equipment added to new light pole? Smile – you are on police camera! Coming soon […]
Survey Shows Common Core Opposition Among Iowa Educators (Des Moines, IA) Professional Educators of Iowa late last week released the results of their survey of members on Iowa’s adoption of the Common Core State Standards. This wasn’t a scientific poll, but it does raise questions about how many teachers on the front lines really do […]
The 2 Pantagraph articles in today’s paper leave out most of the facts about Common Core. Here is another view. The 2 articles fail to mention Common Core is one size education fits all. (Just like China!) Search Common Core on this site for additional information that is opposite of what was reported. Today’s kids […]
