by:  Diane Benjamin

Bloomington recently posted a lot of information on-line in the interest of transparency.  Luckily I have ways of manipulating what they post so the data is usable.   http://cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=21&parent=36

How much do alderman earn serving on the City Council?  This is from 2012.  It begs the question of why Jennifer McDade spent something like $20,000 to stay on the ballot when her petitions were challenged before the last election.  It could have been much more.  According to the Election Commission website, she got a $32,000 loan:  http://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/D2Quarterly.aspx?id=498948 

It also makes me wonder why members of the Council are trying to create larger wards and at-large alderman when it will cost even more to run for office!  Obviously nobody runs for the money,  but they are willing to pay a lot of money to get a seat.

Maybe an intelligence or personality test should be given before candidates are allowed to run.  Do they want a seat on the Council to represent their ward, or is it just a power trip for them?  It’s pretty easy to tell once they are elected, unfortunately the citizens are stuck for 4 years with the choice.

Much more information to come!

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