By: Diane Benjamin
Government is telling you to ride the bus or we will bankrupt you – ON PURPOSE!
Yes, some people need to ride a bus, most will never ever ride the bus. Government thinks their fancy big empty buses will eventually lure you to public transportation. Think government is out of touch with citizens? Does the Connect Transit Board ride the bus? Both Mayors? Any Council people?
This is the packet from the May 24th meeting: May 24, 2016 Regular Board Agenda Binder1
Page 8 shows:
Revenue for April: $111,693.41
Expenses for April: $814,817.17
An Operating LOSS of $703,123.76
That’s one month.
What mental illness are these people suffering from?
They stole that money from you. Instead of operating with small, maybe affordable buses, they keep buying monsters and running them empty.
Federal and State grant money must have been cut, because both Bloomington and Normal are now contributing more stolen money to this scam.
Bloomington is giving them $1,188,050, I can’t find how much Normal gives them, but part of the 1% Sales tax increase is getting tossed their way.
Government doesn’t exist to run your life, but that doesn’t mean they won’t take your money to try.
We are governed by idiots!
Or maybe the voters are the idiots, especially the ones that don’t bother.
Below are the people who think Connect Transit is sustainable, not one of them is elected. They are appointed by elected officials, so Renner and Koos must love this scam too.
White privilege at its worst.
You are pitiful.
Sent from my iPhone
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You must be a racist! Whites never ride buses?
How is a white privilege to ask that they use smaller buses for transport? I know Tom won’t answer because he’s just a pathetic troll.
“I know Tom won’t answer because he’s just a pathetic troll.”
Not necessarily, my friend.
It could be that Tommy the Commie was victimized numerous times by the oft stigmatizing ‘short bus’ jokes that he received for 12 (or even 13 and a half) years in school.
That’s just MY theory, but it seems to fit the facts given his poor grammatical prose, the diminished intellect he demonstrates every time he writes something, and sad inability to articulate a meaningful coherent argument (kinda like Tari when he goes on a bender and logs onto BLNNews.com and tells Diane what he REALLY thinks of her). Poor Tommy’s vocabulary, however, is just a considerably more limited is all.
Commenting on ‘smaller’ buses would no doubt stir up unpleasant memories.
We should just smile and let poor Tommy have a pass on this one, lest we be seen as cruel.
Another quality post by Gent. Subtly diminishing the short bus comment to a harmless joke rather than a product of juvenile name calling and put-downs.
You had so much more at your disposal and you went for ‘short-bus’. I am not a fan of Tom, but you could have spent more time concocting a response that didn’t take you to Tom’s level.
Let me predict the response from Gent: “Oh you Liberals are so PC! I think it is you who are intolerant because you are thinking I am suggesting Tom is slow! That is what I am doing but I don’t want to be called out on it!”
lulz….Tommy the Commie has the balls to whine about white privilege in defense of his precious two-bit state…LMAO!
God Almighty, just LOOK at that board…that GOVERNMENT APPOINTED BOARD!
The thing about leftists and public transportation is they want everyone to live in the city confines. They want to dictate where you live because suburbia isn’t “diverse” enough. They want to dictate where you’re allowed to go and how you get there, so they raise taxes on fuel and neglect the roads….”encouraging” you onto bikes and public transportation….because the environment is what’s most important.
It reminds me of my grandpa’s stories after he visited the Soviet Union in the 1950’s. Everyone lived in a “flat”…everyone rode the bus…few had cars because they were expensive to maintain and fuel. The collective was what’s most important.
Americans’ ability to drive what they want, where they want, when they want is a central component of our freedom and our economy. And leftists HATE that.
Beautiful post, b.
You nailed it! Never forget, that in Tari and crew, we are dealing with hard core Marxist ideologues. (Some of whom also just happen to have drinking problems and personality disorders.)
I bet none of the people pictured above ride the bus either. Mayor Renner has said that global warming is real and people need to check their egos at the door. If the Mayor is convinced the earth is doomed if we don’t act now than he should immediately start riding the bus to and from all city meetings. And we should immediately do away with David Hales car allowance and he too should begin riding the bus to and from work everyday. The Planet is at stake!
Both Hales and Renner live on the East side of Veterans. There is no bus route out there as determined by the board who probably live out there too. Renner owns and drives two gas guzzling muscle cars. So much for concern for the environment. That elite group on the Transit board and the mayors should each purchase one of those fantastic condos downtown. They should put their money where their mouth is and practice what they preach.
And I think you’re right. I often compare both Councils to people on the “Hoarders” TV show….they have a mental illness that makes it so they just can’t stop themselves from spending. I truly think they need counseling….maybe medication.
Bill Wilson, Chairman,,,isn’t this the guy that some of us thought would be a decent replacement for Kevin Huette when he resigned? Looks like,,,uh,,,probably not. Another sell out, or, was always was?
Voter apathy is real. As long they have theirs, they won’t care. I still sense this urge from the Mayor to make BloNo Chicago Jr. We simply do not have the downtown Chicago does. We never will. People tend to get wide eyes when someone is telling them they can have monorail too. It’s like those get rich quick schemes with the fine print “results not typical”. Really with numbers like that, I am surprised that the accountants are not drinking Pepto straight from the bottle. Or maybe they are.
Good post.
Another thing that is ridiculous is the new bus routes. Every 15 minutes up and down Main Street between Bloomington and Normal while removing routes in the Southeast side where there are a lot of low income families who rely on bus transportation. Those low income families pay into the sales tax pool that supports Connect Transit and should to have service provided. It was some consultant from SanFrancisco who designed the new routes.
I’ve heard Council members say they want to see what Bloomington looks like when it grows up. Into what? Maybe they should move to the locale they are trying to change Bloomington into. The Mayor can add to the list of what Bloomington is known for–top 25 cities in Illinois with the highest crime rate–Chicago is on the same list.
Gunfire is almost daily. Yep, we are becoming Chicago
There was a good letter to the editor in today’s Pantagraph about Connect Transit–in the same spirit as your post.
Talking about the civil rights?
No. About the board members driving out of the parking garage after the meeting while the citizens who spoke against the changes stood outside waiting for the bus.
Yes. I notice that also regarding the routes. I don’t know why they wouldn’t focus the routes on areas that need it or depend on it. I think that is how they sold it during the tax sales hike.
It seems to be the trend to transform towns and cities without regard for the history and culture or reality. They act is if we are Flint or Gary. We don’t need that much urban renewal but it would great to have well kept roads and other infrastructure.
I’d REALLY like to see a map of ALL the routes-especially the ones that run west of town, out 150 way and Farm and Fleet, etc and HOW MANY times a day they run that, as I see buses all the time in the country and not a single chicken or goat riding on it! How about putting the buses WHERE the people that ride them live and not out in front of John Deere tractors. Maybe that’s too logical or unsustainable?
Here you go: http://www.connect-transit.com/routes/default.asp