by:  Diane Benjamin

Alderman David Sage was elected to the Bloomington City Council in 2007.  His job now is NOT to represent his Ward, it’s to run interference for Mayor Renner.  You wouldn’t know that unless you watch the Council meetings.

How does he run interference?  He makes sure spending cuts can never be  discussed.  Last year it was Renner’s job, but Tari has passed responsibility to Sage.

At least twice Sage has gone on a sappy tirade about needing to fund pensions for our first responders.  He drones on and on about how they risk their lives for us and we need to take care of them.

True David, but where have you been since 2007?  

Last night the discussion had nothing to do with funding pensions, it pertained to the proposed tax levy.

Pensions are a cost of having employees.  It’s exactly the same as paying the water and electric bill, but the City has never considered them as such.  They should have been funded from the General Fund all along, instead Sage never met a big spending plan he didn’t like.  Everything else took priority over pensions.  Now he is passionate about pensions?

The Sage philosophy is “nothing can be cut”, government spends every dime responsibly.  The only way to fund pensions is to raise taxes.  The Council was suckered into passing a pension funding program that kills taxpayers for years, unless other spending is cut.  With Sage running interference, that’s not likely to happen.   You will get more and more taxes.  Quality of life and downtown spending will continue, with Sage’s support, regardless of how many local businesses close.   Bloomington doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.  The City hires more and more people, meaning more and more pensions.  If the State isn’t going to fix pensions, the City can:  Quit putting more people on pensions!

Watch Alderwoman Stearns stand up for taxpayers and then Sage’s big taxes defense:  (IT’S WORTH 5 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME!)

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Sage is up for election next year.  If a real conservative doesn’t run against him, what will your taxes be in another 4 years?

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