by: Diane Benjamin The CONTROL agenda was further displayed at last night’s City Council meeting with a presentation by the Ecology Action Center. I have no problem with recycling and solid waste management. Throwing usable items in a landfill is ridiculous, but the EAC went far beyond that. Part of their funding comes from Bloomington […]
by: Diane Benjamin I moved to the Bloomington-Normal area in 1980. McLean County was a solid conservative arena of small government and low taxes. Those days are gone. When clear rules about the role of government do not exist, government makes up their own. Even local Republicans no longer believe in limited government. Taxpayers expect […]
by: Diane Benjamin I found this while looking for something else. Before the Coliseum opened, an editorial in the Pantagraph questioned why Coliseum management wasn’t put out for bid. They even called the Council action “a bad practice”. I’ve called for cancelling the current contract and putting it out for bid. CIAM has been […]
by: Diane Benjamin I’m noticing a pattern. The same roads must be resurfaced frequently. A 7-year-old parking garage is falling apart. The west side fire station, that has never been used, leaks. The pattern is showing itself again at tonight’s Council meeting. Work needs to be done at Evergreen Lake. Only 1 bid was received. […]
by: Diane Benjamin Did you ever wonder where Mayor Renner got the idea that Bloomington needed a Communications Manager? Try Normal: http://il-normal.civicplus.com/Directory.aspx?did=18 Staff Name Title Email Phone Fedden, Sandy Administrative Secretary sfedden@normal.org (309) 454-9503 Heffernan, Sally Assistant City Manager sheffernan@normal.org (309) 454-9504 Peterson, Mark R. City Manager mpeterson@normal.org (309) 454-9777 Reece, Pamela Deputy City Manager […]
by: Diane Benjamin I’ve posted a few stories showing how much the City Council approves in bills payable to local media: http://blnnews.com/2014/07/14/pantagraph-wjbc-why-they-dont-hold-government-accountable/ http://blnnews.com/2014/07/25/more-on-media-paid-to-not-report/ Monday night the Council will approve paying: Cumulus – WJBC $1406.75 Pantagraph – $897.69 Those number are way down, but I will keep watching. I found a few interesting emails that were […]
Just a little something you don’t want to miss! . . . .
by: Diane Benjamin The professor has been trying to convince citizens for a year to invest a lot of money downtown because downtown is the future. Tari claims millennials are dying to live downtown. He claims strip malls are dead, just trust him, he is smart. Looks like the facts differ Tari. Here’s an article, […]
by: Diane Benjamin First some background: Thousands of kids play soccer in Bloomington-Normal. They will soon lose their fields on the airport property because the FAA thinks it’s too dangerous. A group of supporters recently put together a proposal for a new complex on the west side combined with relocating the YMCA to south Bloomington. […]
by: Diane Benjamin Not only is buying the property south of the library for $250,000 on the agenda for the Monday City Council meeting, there’s more! One of their SECRET MEETINGS (Executive Session) is scheduled for 5:45. Guess what the topic is: What does it take to stop the spending? A hotly contested budget was […]
by: Diane Benjamin Monday night the Council will be asked to approve buying the property south of the current library. This item is on the CONSENT AGENDA which means nothing to see here, sit down, shut up and vote. Council members can pull items from the Consent Agenda for discussion. I bet this one gets […]
by: Diane Benjamin Walgreens was threatening to relocate their corporate offices to Switzerland because of the high tax rates in Illinois and the country. They had every right to relocate to place that wants them, not one that punishes success by confiscating profits. Dick Durbin threatening them with this: Walgreens made the right decision for […]
by: Diane Benjamin Look at the schedule of events for the Coliseum: http://www.uscellularcoliseum.com/calendar-of-events/?month=6&year=2014&m=#markerdown June: Highschool graduation 3 day Jehovah Witness convention 2 day Lomis Brothers Circus July: Chris Tomin/Brandon Health Feast Bash August: Crossfit Competition September: 2 ISU Hockey games 1 Thunder Hockey game October: 7 ISU Hockey games 4 Thunder Hockey games How is […]
I hear another Coliseum team has gone out of business. Football is gone, owner David Holt left town months ago. He said the team would continue without him, but now he has cleaned out his office permanently. Anybody sensing a pattern? The CIAM contract requires a football team. How many contract violations is CIAM up […]
by: Diane Benjamin A big complaint in Bloomington is the hiring of consultants. Most of these consultants send your tax dollars out-of-town. Evidently local employees aren’t smart enough to plan and analyze how to spend your money. Meanwhile, they tell you to spend locally to keep money here. Normal just hired a consultant of their own, […]
by: Diane Benjamin On July 21st Normal held a Council meeting – it lasted exactly 30 minutes. http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/1530 I found the below under Council Comments. 4. Councilmember Fritzen read that Normal possibly could be a site for medical marijuana production and he would like to go on record that he would not support this project […]
by: Diane Benjamin Remember this email sent by City Manager Mark Peterson: This is a link to a story I wrote back in November: http://blnnews.com/2013/11/14/the-normal-city-council-should-fire-mark-peterson/ As reported, I filed a complaint against Peterson based on the Code of Ethics listed on the International City Managers Assoc website. I heard nothing from them for months. When […]
by: Diane Benjamin The TAXPAYERS of Bloomington have around $4,000,000 invested in a Fire Station on the west side that has NEVER been used. It leaks. The station is fully outfitted, complete with a kitchen. It is being left to decay because the City of Bloomington can’t afford to staff it. The TAXPAYERS of Bloomington […]
by: Diane Benjamin We’ve all heard rumors of gas prices going up right before State Farm gets paid. According to Gasbuddy.com, a station in Peoria has gas for $3.23 The lowest price in Bloomington is $3.34 – supposedly with the .04 gas tax that went into effect today. Funny, the lowest price in Normal is […]
by: Diane Benjamin Do you want to flip a switch and get light? How about charge your cell phone? How about the other 1000’s of things that take electricity, want those to work on demand? Wind and solar will never do that. The wind doesn’t always blow or it blows too hard. Last time I […]
by: Diane Benjamin Maybe David Hales is to blame, but of course nobody is talking. At the July 21st Committee of the Whole Council meeting private sewers were discussed. The City ordinance isn’t clear on who pays for repairs beyond the lot line, so the City saw an opportunity to fleece more citizens. The […]
