By: Diane Benjamin
Mayor Renner has a limited supply of Democrats to appoint. Evidently that’s why Amelia Buragas was appointed to two positions by him. (Zoning Board of Appeals and Evergreen Memorial Cemetery Board: http://blnnews.com/2015/02/04/ward-4-forum-buragas/)
With a limited pool of potential appointees, Renner appointed Amalia’s husband to the McLean County Regional Planning Commission. http://www.mcplan.org/department/board.php?structureid=16
The MCRRC is the un-elected group paid for by tax dollars that analyzes what local government should be doing. Remember “Bring It On Bloomington” – that was them. Since they acquire federal and state grant money for Bloomington, Normal, and McLean County, they plan based on what the feds and state want to see happen. Local control ceases to exist when grant money is waved in front of politicians.
The MCRRC is responsible for promoting bike lanes. They conducted a survey a few years ago that only the local bikers knew about, so it showed overwhelming support. Now cars need to dodge bikes on busy roads – the people demanded it.
From the website: http://www.mcplan.org/department/division.php?structureid=13
Vision: MCRPC is the leader for planning tomorrow’s McLean County.
Mission: We bring expert planning, deep local knowledge and vibrant public participation as we shape our future to promote opportunity, livability and sustainability.
This un-elected group wants to tell you how you must live. They make decisions on how much freedom citizens need to have because your choices (in their opinion) aren’t sustainable. They make the livable and sustainable rules based on what the federal and state governments are willing to fund. Want to know what happened to freedom and liberty? MCRRC is the conduit for saying you aren’t smart enough, government needs to make decisions for you.
Bloomington voters aren’t supposed to know that a husband and wife have teamed up to rule. Listen to the Amelia video’s on this site. She is exudes being so much smarter than you. You must comply.
Videos:
http://blnnews.com/2015/02/05/ward-4-buragas-frank/
http://blnnews.com/2015/02/05/more-ward-4-video-buragas/
http://blnnews.com/2015/02/04/ward-4-forum-buragas/
Being a public servant isn’t on the agenda. Renner knows what’s best for citizens. He tells you at almost every meeting. Now he is salivating at having two Burgas’ in positions of power.
She was appointed to those two committees so she could say she has local government experience. Her campaign materials clearly state she is the only candidate with any local government experience. Neither board has a lot of controversial decisions to make either, so they are low risk softball appointments designed to burnish her credentials.
Somebody should dig into her voting record on the zoning board. Would be interesting to see how she votes.
Go for it! She claimed at a debate the City doesn’t have enough inspectors and the City lawyer in Springfield isn’t very handy.