Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bill Brady: I gift you $750,000 Update #2

This would NEVER have been on the agenda without Renner and Hales supporting it.  Upset about mis-use of taxpayer money?  Now you know who to blame!

5-4 vote Bloomington is taking the money.  Votes against were Kevin, Judy, Mboka, and Karen.  Evidently Billy said the money had to be used for this project.

by:  Diane Benjamin

Illinois can’t get much closer to bankrupt.  The temporary tax increase is turning into a permanent one.  Sen Bill Brady seems un-phased.

From the packet – tonight’s Bloomington City Council meeting:

WHEREAS, Illinois State Senator Bill Brady has offered a legislative grant to the City, in
the amount of $750,000, for the limited purpose of purchasing property next to McGraw Park;

Here’s the story:

  • Central Catholic High school has a practice football field on airport property – they are getting kicked out by the FAA
  • The soccer people are also getting kicked off their fields by the FAA
  • Soccer is NOT included in this proposal – just Central Catholic
  • Bill Brady just happens to be a graduate of Central Catholic

So, Billy arranges for $750,000 of our money to go to the City of Bloomington so they can buy property and lease it to Central Catholic.  I’m surprised the ACLU isn’t showing up tonight to protest.

Is Billy going to spend your money on a new soccer complex next?  Catholic football gets Billy money from a bankrupt state, but non-Catholics play soccer so they don’t get a State grant?

Maybe a bunch of kids in their soccer uniforms will come to the meeting tonight to show their disdain for crony grants.

Here’s my favorite part:

WHEREAS, the State of Illinois has graciously allocated seven hundred and fifty
thousand dollars ($750,000.00) of funding in hopes that a regional solution can be achieved;

Are we supposed to kneel now?  They are graciously giving Bloomington our own money?

Any chance the City of Bloomington gets another park by grant because it would be illegal for the State to gift $750,000 directly to Central Catholic?

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5 thoughts on “Bill Brady: I gift you $750,000 Update #2”

  1. Don’t bother to call Senator Brady because he is not unavailable. Nor does Barbara in his office know anything about this. She was surprised to know that Bill Brady is giving away $750,000 of state money like this. Seems like a rather cozy deal. Who owns the property? My guess is B. Brady.

    Reply

  2. My complaint to the ACLU. Here is the form if you’d like to submit one too: https://www.aclu.org/secure/il-legal-intake

    To whom it may concern,

    In a state with a budget crisis, Senator Bill Brady used taxpayer money to buy a private, Catholic high school football field, the high school that he and his children attended. The field cannot be used per FAA regulations, as the school is near the Central Illinois Regional Airport. There is also a secular youth soccer league that was displaced by the FAA that will receive NO funding. State funding should not be used for Central Catholic High School to practice football. Stealing money from hardworking people and giving it to the richest religion in the world is wrong. Please help us keep our money in our public schools, roads, and bridges; not in booster clubs for religious sport.

    Thank you for your consideration,
    Concerned Citizen

    http://blnnews.com/2014/11/10/bill-brady-i-gift-you-750000/

    http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/government-and-politics/city-council-oks-cchs-land-deal/article_0dfd8e73-be10-5599-920d-c41737fae59e.html

    Reply

  3. This is not the first handout Billy has given to the Catholic Church. He secured $200,000 for Newman Center at ISU when they made their renovations. Nobody seemed to care back then and I doubt they will care now. Keep in mind that Billy was referred to as the “conservative” in the governor’s race this spring. This is not conservatism and certainly does not bode well for those who think Bruce Rauner will be any better than Pat Quinn. Until this nonsense stops, there’s not much hope for Illinois. When you have people like Diana Hauman who are “conflicted” by it, (her words in this morning’s Pantagraph) there’s not any hope for our city. What Diana is conflicted by is that she doesn’t have the guts to turn away government handouts to our city that are not really handouts. It’s our tax money being carelessly distributed committing our city to spend more money that we don’t have to maintain what we don’t need, putting our state further in debt. We need to make sure Diana is “unconflicted” in the next election.

    Reply

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