By:  Diane Benjamin

Monday night the Coliseum will get a new video scoreboard for the low low price of $1,389,605!  Less than 1000 people attend hockey and football games, the basketball team may not exist for long, but a new scoreboard is required.  My sources tell me this board is not used for concerts, performers bring their own equipment.  The City is now negotiating a new contract with CIAM.  CIAM continues to hide financial information from the public and the City.  Council:  Why don’t you make the purchase contingent on John Butler releasing all the printouts of concession sales and payroll reports?  Don’t you think you should know if he is paying the City their share before taxpayers have to sacrifice so he gets a new scoreboard for events with very few people attending?

Changing the Public Comment policy is back.  Tari wants the authority to terminate you if HE deems you threatening or disorderly.  Mayor Tyranny may have a police officer drag you off just for opposing his agenda.  He attacked me twice just for writing on a website, what will he do to people voicing their opinions on video right in front of him?  I wonder if the on-duty officer will be stationed closer to the front.  Speakers have 3 minutes, they might get too many words out if the officer has to come clear from the back of the room!  Claimed in the council packet is “courts have ruled 3 minute limits are permissible”.  Got a source for that one Mr. Jurgens?  Remember last year when a committee was established to handle complaints from citizens because you were stressing out the department heads?  The City doesn’t either, the new Public Comment policy says contact info for public officials is on their website.

File these under “What the  . . “

1)   The Agenda states Cindy Hansen will be reappointed to the Sister City Committee BEFORE her reappointment is voted on in the Consent Agenda.  http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8818

2)  The Consent Agenda also calls for approving the “Council Proceedings” from June 22, 2015, listed behind it is “recommend that the reading of the minutes . . .”.  There are no minutes.  The City has decided that actual minutes have no historical value, so they now keep “proceedings” instead of details of what took place.  The following generations will call this Council idiots for allowing this policy!  Luckily all their names are on the proceedings.

The City wants more Community Block Development Grant money.  Go for the free money!  An ordinance changing the amount is on the agenda.  They may or may not know the Federal government is attaching more strings this year to create more Fundamental Transformation!  Hawthorne Hills may need some subsidized housing.  According to the Feds, some people shouldn’t be relegated to the west side of town while others get to live on the east side.  Anybody going to check before voting?

Electricity rates are going up thanks to the War on Coal.  Also to be considered Monday is raising your electricity costs, the City taking a lower commission for aggregation, or dropping “green” electricity.  That global warming has REALLY been killing us this week.  What should they do, what should they do . . . .

One last item, letter F on the Consent Agreement:

Consideration of approving a Resolution Establishing Prevailing Wages to be Paid to Laborers, Workers, and Mechanics Engaged in Public Works with the City of Bloomington.

(Recommend approving the Resolution Establishing Prevailing Wages to be paid to Laborers, Workers, and Mechanical Engaged in Public Works with the City of Bloomington).

This resolution does nothing.  The State Department of Labor mandates what must be paid for work done by laborers for government.  It is nothing more than pandering to unions for votes to the Democrat Party.  This law is a target of the Rauner Administration because it cuts non-union labor out of the bidding process, thus making every government project over $100,000 more expensive.  Putting this item on the agenda is a poke in the eye to Rauner (who was duly elected as governor).  Meanwhile, Tari thinks he deserves obedience since he was elected.

The McHenry County Board just voted down Prevailing Wage for the second year in a row.  It was a symbolic gesture to Springfield, but carries no weight.  http://www.nwherald.com/2015/07/07/mchenry-county-board-again-rejects-prevailing-wage-ordinance/au36xg1/

One Illinois government knows changes must be made to State law, yours doesn’t care.

The Council needs a new name.  The Bloomington City Council doesn’t really fit since the majority represent Tari, not the City.  Got any suggestions?  If any members of the Council have aspirations to higher office, they might want to consider how blind obedience will look on their resume.