By: Diane Benjamin Governor Rauner ran on a platform of making Illinois business friendly. He has failed because the Democrat super-majority in Springfield doesn’t care if companies move across the border to save millions of dollars. They don’t care if Caterpillar leaves the state along with other companies who can’t compete in this high-tax high-regulation […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph needs to explain why an alleged Open Meetings Act violation against the McLean County Health Department is so much more important than the one they also reported this week against the City of Bloomington. That story was quickly buried on their website – comments were NEVER allowed. Comments ARE allowed […]
By: Diane Benjamin I get quite a few emails with requests, information, and ones I want to investigate. The latest was from a guy who lived outside of Bloomington-Normal. He called 911 because of a possible heart attack. A Rescue Squad from Mt Hope/Funk’s Grove transported him to St. Joe’s, but it stopped at Veterans […]
By: Diane Benjamin Today’s edition has a story on the Attorney General’s ruling about the Bloomington City Council violating the Open Meetings Act: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/government-and-politics/ill-ag-city-council-violated-open-meetings-law/article_5dfb7bef-4515-52af-96a9-e8fb37c8abb0.html See this story from June 4th: https://blnnews.com/2016/06/04/renner-is-guilty/ Of course the paper’s version contains errors. The AG ruled the “verbatim recording” must be released in addition to the closed session minutes […]
By: Diane Benjamin When I reported on Tax Receipts missing from David Hales’ April City Manager report, (https://blnnews.com/2016/06/08/april-city-managers-report/) my first thought was Renner/Hales plan to raise taxes. It’s difficult to do if receipts show above budgeted amounts – they did in his March report. Monday night the Council is going after anybody with video gaming […]
By: Diane Benjamin I heard Chris Koos and company went to DC A DAY EARLY for the One Voice trip. Why did they go a day early? To get grants for themselves? The rest of the group DIDN’T know, didn’t that destroy the unity purpose! (ONE VOICE – nope, just a bunch of voices wanting […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this document – page 16 – 26 2015 Audit Communication The title: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS CONTROL DEFICIENCIES This report is from the City of Bloomington’s auditors. Every other year I have reported on these “Control Deficiencies”, many are reported year after year after year with nothing being done to fix the […]
By: Diane Benjamin David Hales has posted his April City Manager’s report, but much of it is missing: City Manager’s Report – April 2016 The biggest missing item: Finance Previous reports have shown tax receipts above budget. So why are those numbers missing from the April report? David? ************************** Congrats to Golf: Out of the […]
By: Diane Benjamin (This is part of a series being printed in the Lexingtonian Newspaper) The Lexington-Chenoa area is being courted for a new wind project. Anyone on or near the proposed area needs to know the facts before signing contracts with the developers. Even if you aren’t approached to sign a contract, residents near […]
By: Diane Benjamin Back on December 20, 2013, the Pantagraph thought a sitting Alderwoman filing a complaint against Tari Renner, David Hales, and the rest of the Council was a big story: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/alderman-stearns-alleges-open-meetings-act-violation/article_5b8974e2-6916-11e3-986a-001a4bcf887a.html How about reporting on what happened? Start by hammering Lisa Madigan for taking more than two years to issue a determination! The […]
By: Diane Benjamin It appears CIAM’s lawyers weren’t serious about settling the case. Today I received a draft copy filled with legal conditions meant to limit my rights and protect their client. If they thought I would agree to the myriad of conditions, they were mistaken. I will be filing for an extension of time […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois People’s Action! Who are they? Social Justice Warriors Where do they work? In social justice churches. They are anti-fracking and pro-illegal immigration. They demand a “living wage”. They organize to force government to do their will. IPA is a member of National People’s Action, headquartered in Chicago. NPA has endorsed Socialist […]
Tari, It’s wonderful that the Illinois Policy Institute rated Bloomington’s website 100% on their 10 point scale. It’s great that citizens can see information without filing FOIA requests. But that’s just a website Tari, and only 10 things IPI thinks are important. You now have the opportunity to prove you are really transparent. (Of course, […]
Re-posted only to change how it was originally posted. By: Diane Benjamin The Attorney General finally ruled on the Open Meetings Act Violation filed in 2013 by then Alderwoman Judy Stearns! A couple of weeks I wrote about Madigan’s failure to rule and asked readers to call. https://blnnews.com/2016/05/19/madigan-too-busy/ I know at least a few of […]
By: Diane Benjamin First, Village Trustee Dan Lush no longer lives in Downs, he moved to Leroy. Since Lush no longer lives in Downs, he can not vote in local elections. Therefore his is not a “qualified elector”. Dan: I expect your immediate resignation. If your voter’s registration isn’t changed in the next week, I […]
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 […]
By: Diane Benjamin 2013 is the budget Tari inherited when he took office. 2017 is all his. I hope the local media quits letting Renner state he isn’t doing anything new and the budget is just increasing 2% per year. Both are lies. Look at Legal expenses: 2017 Total Legal $1,325,308 FY 2017 Budget Detail […]
By: Diane Benjamin Earlier this week I recapped all the taxes you probably didn’t know about: https://blnnews.com/2016/05/31/taxes-you-probably-didnt-know-about/ I’m taking the same list and adding the Budget from 2013: FY 2013-10010 Non Departmental 2017 has a line that transfers $1,504,300 out of the total, so the real difference from 2013 to 2017 is $19,503,030. Some of […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve posts lots of stories about the detailed Bloomington budget for this year. It was all information the Council and the Budget Task Force never saw. Why? They weren’t supposed to know details, it makes cuts easier. It gets better. Today I received the 2013 detailed budget via the Freedom of Information […]
By: Diane Benjamin Power was out in downtown Bloomington for about 15 minutes yesterday. From the news reports carnage ensued as businesses shut down unable to cope. 15 minutes! As the State of Illinois continues to operate without a budget, worst carnage is happening. Businesses haven’t been paid which means they can’t pay their employees, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Actually, the Pantagraph didn’t even acknowledge receiving this one. The author didn’t give me a name, they go by earlyriser54 here. From the writer: This letter was submitted via e-mail on May 24th. Not printed, no confirmation from Pantagraph to verify the author. I made certain that all required information was included, but […]
By: Diane Benjamin Democrats have super-majorities in the Springfield House and Senate. They can pass anything they want, the Governor can veto it, and they can override the veto. After May 31st they need 3/5 of both chambers to pass a budget, it won’t happen. Democrats refuse to do it because tax increases would have […]
