By:  Diane Benjamin

Last week the Bloomington City Council voted to buy new scoreboards for the Coliseum.  They were deceived into thinking the purchase was put up for competitive bidding.  http://blnnews.com/2015/07/16/can-we-call-this-fraud/

Nobody on the Council brought it up last Monday night when John Butler and Bart Rogers made a presentation to the Council.  Does anyone on the Council care?

The City isn’t done buying new equipment for the Coliseum.  In March of this year a Request For Proposal (RFP) was issued for new Point-Of-Sale Equipment.  http://www.cityblm.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=8366

The City of Bloomington spent a little over $188,000 for the original equipment.  The City owns the equipment so Concession Sales and commissions paid can be verified.  See a sample report here:  http://blnnews.com/2014/06/24/coliseum-management-wont-change-unless/

John Butler refuses to produce reports.  David Hales has failed to review these reports.  The City owns the equipment, yet they fail to verify management of the taxpayer owned asset isn’t ripping off the citizens!  Why?

I filed a complaint in January with the Attorney General’s Office.  No surprise, that office has yet to make a ruling.

John Butler thinks he needs new equipment while continuing to hide reports.  If the Budget Task Force is serious about closing the hole in the budget – this is a place to look.  The City’s share of concession revenue has decreases dramatically.  http://blnnews.com/2015/07/15/david-hales-misleads-wjbc/

Maybe since nobody is looking at the reports, is the City’s share is correct?

So far:

• Tari Renner doesn’t care
• David Hales doesn’t care
• The City Council doesn’t care
• Lisa Madigan doesn’t care
• Local media doesn’t care

Next, taxpayers get to buy them new equipment!