Update: I talked to the former County Auditor Jackie Dozier. The credit card assigned to Michelle Anderson is also used by departments that do not have their own credit card. That may account for at least some of the redactions. My FOIA request was for all charges and receipts to the Auditors credit card, […]
by: Diane Benjamin 9/21/2005 http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3225416 “A tremendous amount of time and energy has been put into making this day a reality,” stated Mike Nelson, General Manager & Chief Marketing Officer of the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. “We feel that we have chosen the right league for the great city of Bloomington. The UHL is a league […]
by: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington built the Coliseum and handed it to CIAM (Central Illinois Arena Management). There has been little oversight of concessions and limited oversight of the building. The yearly audit is ineffective at best. At last night’s Council meeting, Alderwoman Stearns stood up for the citizens. CIAM wants the contract […]
Where your 2013 tax dollars went: That’s right—we’re on track for all our tax money to go to Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid (including the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Obamacare), and interest on the debt. Don’t forget the debt. Your 2013 tax dollars covered only 80 cents of every dollar spent by the federal government. The other 20 […]
by: Diane Benjamin US Cellular pays the Coliseum $200,000 a year for their name to be on the building. They have a contract with the City of Bloomington. According to the contract: 1.6 City and Management shall each use their best efforts to secure the following activities for the Facility each year: (a) Approximately 36 […]
by: Diane Benjamin I sent the following Freedom of Information Act Request to the City of Bloomington on March 31st: Date: Mon, Mar 31, 2014 at 9:11 AMSubject: FOIA requestTo: Tracey Covert <tcovert@cityblm.org> I am requesting the following information under the Freedom of Information Act: . All emails […]
by: Diane Benjamin Obvious;y the McLean County Auditor had no problem spending over $13,000 for new furniture. That’s not the only issue with a “public servant” in McLean County, but crimes are only crimes if somebody prosecutes. Otherwise, public corruption doesn’t matter. Tonight, a person under Federal indictment is on the agenda for appointment to […]
by: Diane Benjamin No, this has nothing to do with Nevada! Now that ObamaCare is being implemented (at least the parts not delayed), the Federal government thinks they can write all the rules. The local serfs must comply. Here’s the latest proposed rule change: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced a […]
by: Diane Benjamin A fireman in Bloomington gave an example of his pension at a Townhall meeting this week. He said he would retire at age 56 with a $40,000 a year pension. I don’t know anybody who would fault a guy who risked his life to keep us safe a $40,000 a year pension. […]
by: Diane Benjamin A big part of the Bloomington Budget discussion has been pension funding. In November the City Council adopted an aggressive funding plan to save money in later years. The chart below shows the problem. The numbers come from this link: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5930 Page 250. The Police and Fire pension funds were the worst funded. […]
The Pantagraph finally got around to covering the story! Amazing they finally found the time.
ANALYSIS OF DURBIN’S STAFF SALARIES SHOWS THE SENATOR ENGAGED IN WAR ON WOMEN WASHINGTON D.C. – The Washington Times revealed yesterday that Illinois’ U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D), who is leading the Equal Pay Day push by Senate Democrats to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, pays women on his staff far less than he pays men. On the Senate floor […]
by: Diane Benjamin I did not attend this Townhall, I’m relying on reports from people who were there. Citizens attending totaled around 100. One report I received said a good number of them were City employees. There is nothing wrong with that, other than their interest is to keep their jobs. They can’t be blamed […]
by: Diane Benjamin Bloomington took two votes, but now both Bloomington and Normal convinced the citizens they could save money under aggregation. Both cities negotiated prices with Homefield Energy, who is really Ameren. (http://blnnews.com/2012/12/18/aggregation-follow-the-money/) Both Bloomington and Normal opted for 100% Green Energy. Electricity isn’t a different color because a wind turbine produced it, so […]
by: Diane Benjamin After Mayor Renner sent his last email (see link below), I sent the following to the Bloomington City Council and the City Attorney: Mr. Jurgens and City Council, Do you condone Mayor’s Renner’s personal attacks on a citizen? You were copied on his rant email, but it was also sent to numerous […]
by: Diane Benjamin Central Illinois Arena Management (CIAM) is moving forward with a non-professional hockey team in Bloomington even though it violates their contract. Council approval must not matter. Either Mayor Renner and David Hales have told them to go ahead because Council approval is in the bag, or CIAM wants the City to believe […]
by: Diane Benjamin See this previous post: http://blnnews.com/2014/04/04/isu-students-protest-for-fired-employee-not-flanagan/ The students are still on the Quad. Stop by a sign a petition!
by: Diane Benjamin The most surprising part of last nights Townhall, besides the COMPLETELY packed room, was the number of people who think government knows how to spend their money better than they do. Around 40 people thought another $7 a month in Utility Taxes wasn’t a big deal. They almost demanded more taxes, but […]
by: Diane Benjamin The citizen group organized to fight the 1% Sales Tax increase – and who won! – raised far less than the group trying to get it passed. Reports of contributors must be filed with the State – here’s a link to a list of the Pro-Sales Tax supporters from 1/23/2014 to 3/31/2014: […]
by: Diane Benjamin A citizen sent a copy of my story on the Flex to Mayor Renner and the City Council. He copied numerous news organizations since the PBL side is not being reported in the media http://blnnews.com/2014/04/07/bloomington-flex-the-leagues-side-of-the-story/ Instead of responding to the facts I wrote (directly from the PBL!), Mayor Renner decided to personally […]
by: Diane Benjamin It was more than obvious the Bloomington City Council members weren’t listening to each other. Mayor Renner didn’t want to hear about prioritizing spending. The have a May1st deadline, no time to look at the big picture. For another year the citizens will be funding Quality of Life while the actual job […]
by: Diane Benjamin Last night the City Council was informed on the status of the Pepsi Ice Center parking garage that has been mostly closed since last October. You can see the presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaU5nWCibqc&list=UUS8WR70NFd2XMmFYRDHEGEw A good description of the problem starts at 8:30. The speaker is Greg Meeder, a partner in a Chicago Law […]
by: Diane Benjamin City Manager David Hales released a revised budget: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=6592 11 (ELEVEN) pages are dedicated to raising the gas tax. Instead of comparing the gas taxes in cities all over Illinois, here’s all they need to know 1) Current gas prices are over $3.50 a gallon again 2) The last 5 year history […]
by: Diane Benjamin This morning I talked to Dominic Turcotte, VP of Operations for the PBL – the league that suspended the FLEX for all of 2015. Here’s some bullet points: Scott Henderson was involved with organizing the League structure in the beginning. The playoff structure was designed by Scott and approved by the other […]
Need burial for GOP Published: Saturday, April 5, 2014 5:30 a.m. CD To the Editor: Only in the Republican wasteland called Illinois can a sitting Republican senator, in this case called Kirk, state that he is not going to campaign for the Republican nominee for the seat now held by the Democrat, Dick Durbin. Kirk said […]
When very few politicians in Illinois are held accountable, is this a surprise? Local politicians move on to State offices, accountability must starts on the LOCAL level. (CNSNews.com) – The people of North Dakota put more trust and confidence in their state government than people in any other state, while the people of Illinois put […]
by: Diane Benjamin I hear the Pantagraph has run NO letters to the Editor this week! Here’s some theories I’ve heard: 1) Nobody is reading the Pantagraph anymore, therefore nobody is writing letters. 2) They are censoring letters and haven’t received one they think is fit to print. 3) They received a ton of letters critical […]
by: Diane Benjamin See this post from yesterday: http://blnnews.com/2014/04/04/mclean-county-michelle-anderson-investigation/ County Auditor Michelle Anderson ran for office calling herself a watchdog. Evidently the rules apply to other offices, not to hers. As reported yesterday, she paid for new furniture for her office out of a personnel fund. the $13,000 should have been returned to the County […]
by: Diane Benjamin I never understood why Mayor Renner ran to every media outlet blaming the City Council for not proposing their own budget or cuts to the existing budget. The Council hires City Manager David Hales to manage the city. He gets paid A LOT of money while the Council gets less than $6000 […]
The soccer kids are getting kicked off airport land. The airport is spending money to study what businesses would be a good fit on their land. Wasn’t the reason given for kicking the soccer kids out was that it was too dangerous? After all, they use the facility on weekends for 12 weeks a year! […]
The Flex Basketball team at the Coliseum got thrown out of the league they play in. The excuse used was “unwillingness and inability to participate in the championship series.” REALLY? Who’s scamming who here? City of Bloomington? Central Illinois Arena Management? John Butler? Bart Rogers? First CIAM wants an amateur hockey team, and now no […]
by: Diane Benjamin According to the Pantagraph, County Auditor Michelle Anderson has been questioned by the County Finance Committee concerning the purchase of new furniture for her office. Evidently the furniture wasn’t budgeted, the money came from a personnel account. The question now is whether she will be held accountable for shifting money. The Pantagraph […]
by: Diane Benjamin Patrick Murphy was fired from ISU after the altercation with former President Flanagan. Patrick Murphy isn’t just some maintenance guy. He is an ISU grad with a degree in horticulture. Patrick came back to Normal just to work for the school he graduated from. He was just weeks away from being off […]
Can somebody explain why this post is going viral today?
Make sure you read to the end! From the Washington Post: The Arctic Ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a report to the Commerce Department yesterday from Consulate, at Bergen, Norway. Reports from fishermen, seal hunters, and explorers all […]
Flex Booted From PBL; to Miss Championship and Entire 2015 Season BLOOMINGTON- The most successful team, as far as wins go, in the history of the US Cellular Coliseum is no longer in their league. The Bloomington Flex Basketball team, two time winners of the Premier Basketball League Championship, was suspended from the league Thursday […]
by: Diane Benjamin Crimes are only crimes if they are prosecuted. Elected officials can do anything they want, including breaking the law, but if they aren’t prosecuted – magically there is no crime! They learn early they are at little risk of being prosecuted. Why is Illinois corrupt? Because very few elected officials are prosecuted. […]
Michelle Malkin has the facts about Common Core every parent in America needs to know There has been a lot of discussion about Common Core lately and a growing swell of concerned parents across the country as public schools nationwide begin to apply the Federal standards to curriculums. But what are the facts? Michelle Malkin has been […]
