By: Diane Benjamin
The Council voted to give up $100,000 last night to pretend they are helping the environment.
Where is that money going?
All I heard was it goes to people promoting wind and solar. Like Solyndra? Campaign contributors who collect big bucks on government contracts?
The Council didn’t think that part was important – they are saving the planet with your money! Heartland pays more for electricity and pieces of paper so they can pretend the same thing. All that taxpayer money could be thrown down the green energy hole just like federal tax money was. Congrats on voting without proper information. Maybe I should get some better pics of the windmills by me leaking oil! FOSSIL FUELS! Celebrate now.
On to the Coliseum:
The current scoreboard evidently has no salvage value. Not even parts? Nobody else has the same system and nobody else is looking for parts? Seriously?
The City is borrowing money to buy new signs. Again, a Council member claimed the City is contractually obligated to replace the equipment. CIAM can violate the contract over and over and over, but the City is afraid of getting sued? Why hasn’t the City sued CIAM for hiding information?
Essentially the City is BORROWING the money for new signs, taking CIAM’s word for it that this is the best deal, and then taxpayers are stuck with the cost plus interest.
Next year US Cellular is no longer going to pay $175,000 per year for naming rights. No replacement has been found, or at least we haven’t been told if there is one. All the signage will require changes. It could be hundreds of thousands of dollars more.
The coliseum will have fancy signs and they will continue to hide the payroll and true concession sales. Again, celebrate now.
Why didn’t they consider leasing the board rather than buying? The vendor will lease this equipment according to their website. Just like CCTV camera’s and alarm systems, most large companies will lease this equipment at cost over x amount of years with a small $ buyout to own the equipment at the end of the term of the lease.
Bankrupting citizens is much more fun.
I believe an Alderman asked that question but Financial Wizard Hales commented that it would be more expensive to rent. Of course, no report to support that statement.
That’s a load of crapola. Having done virtually the same type of deals with CCTV and Alarm systems for far more than 1.4 million bucks for manufacturing customers, hospitals, and corporate headquarters, that’s simply not true. The current provider will do it at the purchase cost or another provider will. The biz is that competitive. Somebody needs to look at Hales and see why he has these “close “relationships with vendors and why he always has that “no” answer that ends up screwing the taxpayer. What the Coliseum really needs is a good going over by a team of forensic accountants, and that whole contract ,and the City Managers Office needs to investigated by the IL State Police because we sure as hell know the AG”s office wont do it nor will our McLean County States Attorneys Office look into the shenanigans going on over there..
How many of these “current advertisers” are bartering for signage…meaning no cash to pay for the boards….The Pantagraph and WJBC, your favorites BLNNEWS…trade advertising for their advertising space. No real dollars to pay for the cost of this equipment. Let’s see how many new sponsors they bring to the table….US Cellular is gone…Pepsi will drastically spend less money than their original contract and they can continue to discount space to sponsors like Beer Nuts and Kitchen Cooked to make it look like they are doing their jobs selling this new purchase. Revenue trends for this building are not good (suites, club seats, sponsorships, CONCESSIONS) so fewer people are attending and buying compared to when the building was opened. At least the Bloomington Flex which draws 200 actual to the games will get a $13 million scoreboard to enhance their game atmosphere. Good grief
1.389 million
ISU is about to spend nearly $1 million on new scoreboards for the arena. The money is coming from corporate sponsorships. The old boards were repaired in 2007 to replace light bulbs with LEDs.
Better than tax money. The Coliseum doesn’t draw enough people to do the same.
Exactly. ISU generally does a very good of managing its money and resources. The city councils could learn a thing or two.
Interesting. The salesman for the new boards at the Coliseum used ISU as a local example of who uses their product. He claimed the boards would last longer than 10 years.
David Hales has to be let go. No doubt about this. The only way this is going to happen is with a new council and mayor that aren’t ignorant.
Many large companies lease equipment rather than buy it and especially anything computer/software related hardware.
What do you suppose they will do to dispose of the existing equipment? Let me guess it will go back to the vendor and be refurbished. Who are we kidding here other than the taxpayers of Bloomington.
When hales hits 8 years I bet he quits along with his pension.
All the more reason he should be investigated and prosecuted if it is proved that he violated any laws. Where there is smoke , there is fire, and that Coliseum is smoking like a freight train.
“FOSSIL FUELS! Celebrate now.” I just had to laugh one day and I can’t remember how it this was all worded when I read it. Okay environmentalist are fighting to use less fossil fuel which in essence extends the amount available for consumption and longer use of fossil fuels. What they should be doing is promoting huge consumption to use it up faster. Go figure, haha they have it all wrong!
Sounds like this is another no bid contract with the sign.CIAM already has a best bud to buy from?
One would think that being a professor or a manager that SOMEBODY would have had to take a class in Economics in school, wouldn’t ya? Wonder WHAT this breaks down to PER PERSON that attends? FIX the streets.