By: Diane Benjamin
The Bloomington City Council only has ONE employee: David Hales.
He gets huge raises around this time of year. Tonight the Council is discussing “personnel” in Executive Session. Since Hales is in charge of making all other personnel decisions, will the Council hand Hales another raise?
Last year Hales was paid $229,615.36 in salary and benefits while the City claimed a $7 million shortage – according to Renner caused by inflation. If inflation was involved, it was inflating salaries.
Since government exists mainly for the employees, expect another raise. Since the discussion is held in secret you aren’t allowed to know who his cheerleaders are. We can guess however. See who gets free lunches with him.
I think I’ve identified why budget problems exist. Math isn’t used. See this link: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=21&parent=5443
Now see the report labeled: 2015 Total compensation over $150,000. Hales didn’t make the list.
.
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Besides the free lunches afterwards surely David delights his potted plants guests with a box of Cracker Jacks that are pre-filled with coded secret club rings. This is another weird point in which the potted plants come together. It’s told that every Sunday just before any council meetings they lift their rings high into the air and don their tin foil hat receptors to receive their instructions from massa Hales. “I will obey David Hales.” they repeat. “I will obey my massa Hales.”
Only ONE question MUDD? HOW were YOU able to infiltrate their “inner circle” and learn of their nefarious plans? May the force be with you!!
We have high-tech flies, more than ready to deploy.
A little off topic, but Champaign’s getting a case of the “Bloomingtons.”
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2016-01-11/developer-hopes-23-million-plan-missing-link-champaigns-midtown.html
Their downtown is much more attractive than Bloomington’s. My daughter works in downtown Champaign, she told me two brothers are responsible for much of the redevelopment. A lot of the character still remains, not new structures. They also have a heavy “arts” presence with activities and shows for the whole town – not sponsored by government.
$800-$850
Projected cost of rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which would be geared toward young professionals and perhaps grad students.
Duh.
Not sure where in Champaign a “young professional” would work. A bank teller or hairstylist cant afford $850 a month.
When the cheapest haircut possible is $40, with many costing MUCH more, she’s got $’s. She doesn’t live downtown however – by choice.
“$562,560: What the property is currently assessed at. Upon completion, the city estimates that figure will rise to $7.1 million.”
That $7.1 million will be going into the TIF fund to provide incentives for future development, pay off bonds or build infrastructure, not into the city’s General Fund.
The 11/23/15 Special Meeting also included “Personnel” on its agenda. Perhaps that meeting was the beginning of the evaluation process.
http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=9430
Mr. Hales has failed in many of his responsibilities. This year he failed to inform the Council or post on the city website about the large IMRF payout–not to mention the secret wire transfers. New FOIA law states:
–Within six days of approving its budget, an IMRF employer must post the total compensation package for each employee receiving a total compensation package that exceeds $75,000 a year.
–At least six days before an IMRF employer approves an employee’s total compensation package that will equal or exceed $150,000 a year, the employer must post the total compensation package for that employee.
https://www.imrf.org/en/publications-and-archive/general-memos/2011-general-memos/general-memo-620
It is the City Manager’s responsibility to make sure all ordinances are enforced. Snyder has not been held accountable for failing to fulfill ordinance requirements. Snyder Companies (Mr. Fedor) is allowed to continue to owe the city 100s of thousands of dollars for the another 7 years without accruing interest penalties.
It is the City Manager’s responsibility to ensure contracts are enforced–CIAM??!!??
The questionable transferring and borrowing between revenue funds have not been explained and should be investigated before any salary increase.
The Mayor and Ward 4 Alderwoman both stated that bills could not be paid, payroll would not be met and people would have to be fired if the taxes were not raised. In addition, the $7M deficit could not be remediated even with the tax increase. So, what does the Manager recommend?? Donate tax dollars to the McLean County Museum, a non-profit organization. Vote on Budget Amendments to increase spending. The Manager’s job is to be fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars. MAJOR FAILURE!