By: Diane Benjamin
I have video of the entire debate last night between the 5 candidates for Ward 4. I will post it later.
I will also be posting more clips, but I will start with the two below, turn your sound up!
First, you need to understand who Amelia Buragas is.
-Amelia is a lawyer in her father’s law firm – Doris Law Firm in downtown Bloomington.
-The Doris Law Firm contributed to Renner for Mayor:
| Dorris Law Firm | 102 N. Main St. Bloomington, IL 61704 |
$1,000.00 3/18/2013 |
Individual Contribution Renner for Mayor |
Source: http://tinyurl.com/n5fk2mv
-Amelia – was appointed to the City of Bloomington Zoning Board of Appeals shortly after Tari became Mayor. http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=421
-Tari also appointed her to the Evergreen Cemetery Board http://www.evergreen-cemetery.com/
The video below part of Amelia’s opening statement: She wants to find more REVENUE. Does she know where REVENUE comes from?
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The next video is Amelia talking about the Coliseum. She doesn’t think you have a right to expect it to break even. Amelia must be privy to information the City hasn’t released to citizens. She talks about a Memorandum of Understanding between CIAM and the City. Transparency Tari? Do I need to FOIA it?
She also throws out the economic impact theory. If there is any cost to citizens the economic impact is negative. The City is merely redistributing tax dollars confiscated from taxpayers..
Watch to the end – She claims it’s the citizens fault if the Coliseum fails because you didn’t attend events.
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wow, I cant believe she uttered the words she did!!..Well maybe I can. So basically she is saying its unfortunate we have it (agreed) BUT lets lower expectations of the promise that it should pay for itself (which it is how the damn thing was sold to us). Meh dont worry about it we cant expect it to make money, we are not as big of a market as say Chicago or Peoria….NO SHIT!!! thats why people didnt want it in the first place!!!!..excuse me whilst I slam my head in the door a few times.
Stay tuned. There is much more. Probably tomorrow.
What she FAILS to mention is that they haven’t really tried that hard. They gave the contract to some mutts with dubious backgrounds. These mutts are allowed to violate, with the city’s consent, the contract they have with the City of Bloomington. We have “managers” running this “boondoggle” who are supposed to be 100% focused on managing the facility. Instead, we get two part time goons. Then there is the matter of the concessions that have never been audited. Where is the verification that the city is getting their contractual cut? How much is the skim? We need a full forensic financial audit for every year the Coliseum has been open, and criminal prosecution if there is any evidence of theft. Of course the city can bring the coliseum into the black. You need to keep the seats full to do that, which means you need to BOOK VENUES and you need to have the SPORTS TEAMS YOU COMMITTED TO IN THE CONTRACT!! I think she give daddy back some of his money for her college tuition!
So what I’m hearing…increased revenues for a city can come from many things, especially increased fees and taxes. Better yet, don’t expect the Dome to make us money? Excuse me…while it does have an economic impact for the visitors that come stay, eat, drink, etc., does that truly offset what the City is paying out…or what the taxpayers are paying out? Hmm…
At this time, the people care very much about roads, infrastructure, and debts. In order to be here in the future and be proactive, these are very important aspects. We’re local…let’s focus on what needs to be done, what needs to be fixed, and still maintain a futuristic view. I used to be an elected official in a different county and I wonder if I need to be again!
Wow looks like some people are jealous of the frontrunner. Amelia for Ward 4!
Did she self-declare front runner status? Where is the poll?
Lulz….Is Professor Renner handing out extra credit for that comment?
The problem is not one of jealousy at all. Who said she is the front runner anyway? is it because she is hand picked by the Mayor? or is it because Ward 4 was gerrymandered to kick any conservative out?
I highly doubt anyone here i jealous of your precious princess.
Not jealous. Actually I feel sorry for this woman as the socialist bug has bitten deep into her soul.
I attended last night. Ms. Buragas said a number of things that raised red flags. She started with talking about how we need to be moving forward not focusing on the problems with the sidewalks, streets, and sewers. She said we needed to support the coliseum which was just plain insulting to me. She said the 1% school tax was only 1 penny per dollar (tell that to my tenants who barely make $795 rent despite having three adults who earn money, and no they do not have cable tv). She said a new study shows that a downtown hotel is viable since the convention and visitors bureau is going to bring in 30,000 people per year (can anyone find that study). When the question was asked what alderman are you most like, she mentioned everyone (or almost everyone) except Judy Stearns and Kevin Lower. She talked about balancing the needs of the many with the needs of the individual (with the scales clearly being tipped in favor of the many). The needs of the many should outweigh the needs of the individual in very few cases. Her response to the flamingo debacle is that the money was committed two years ago in the zoo master plan and its not right to take that money away. I would agree if it was a necessity, but it is not. Her solution to the city’s deficit was essentially just keep doing what we are doing and it will magically resolve itself. Her one specific on lowering costs was to bring the legal work back to Bloomington which happens to be one thing that will benefit her.
I didn’t realize her father was an attorney also. She obviously has not spent a lot of time outside her social circle in the real world. The “just one penny more” comment among other things made that plain.
The problem I saw is that she is the most polished candidate. Actually, slick may be a better word. She was very good about offering specifics when the specifics would be popular and being generic when the specifics would not be popular. From my perspective, Jeremy Kelly was the only other person there who was remotely close to her level of polish.
I will be posting more videos