Alderman Scott Black is the organizer of this event. He wants to show all elected officials can work together. Scott: the Council has NO history of working together! Former Alderwoman Judy Stearns was completely ignored when she presented opinions. Ditto Alderman Kevin Lower. The Budget Task Force was ignored, so was the the Citizens Summit. […]
Tari responded to a public comment last night against Council policy. Yes there is case law that says the Bloomington ordinance is illegal because it violates free speech. How many other illegal laws does Bloomington have Tari? Should the citizens question more laws? Maybe illegal ordinances should be changed instead of just broken! By: Diane […]
Note: Layoff notices were sent to all employees November 1, 2016. Just weeks after the below happened. By: Diane Benjamin I recently received a FOIA request from Connect Transit for these three items: It turns out the list of spending approved by the Board in the packet for July was incorrect. Evidently the Board never […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight’s festivities of the Bloomington City Council start with feeding themselves. 3 meetings are scheduled so the main event at 7:00 doesn’t waste time discussing the issues. It’s much easier to pass the new tax levy when the discussion already took place earlier. Meeting #1 – Executive Session (secret meeting) The City […]
By: Diane Benjamin At the Monday Bloomington City Council meeting the City will claim that property taxes are not being raised. The two charts below show the library wanting a $0.03 increase and the City recommending a $1.02 decrease. (http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=11609 PDF pages 171 and 182) Both charts show magic! The library shows the Old […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Year End for the City of Bloomington and the Coliseum was APRIL 30, 2016. More than 6 months ago! The financial statements for both are still not available. Any private sector business wouldn’t tolerate this behavior. Last year the financial statements were presented to the Council at the first meeting in […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Creativity Center isn’t ADA compliant! Lisa Madigan will target them next, and thanks to the Bloomington City Council you will be on the hook for that building too! The below is from the minutes of the 10/24/16 meeting in the packet for approval Monday night: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=11609 See PDF page 34. Joni […]
By: Diane Benjamin Instead of prosecuting corrupt Illinois officials, Attorney General Lisa Madigan (daughter of the guy destroying Illinois – Mike Madigan) went after the Coliseum for not being ADA compliant. Monday night the Council will be asked to approve spending $120,270 just to design and oversee construction of an elevator at the Coliseum. From […]
A blessed Veterans Day to all the Vets who served to protect our Country (especially my Dad) Thanks for your service! . It almost fits! . . .
By: Diane Benjamin From Bills and Payroll for approval Monday night: 11-14-2016-bills There are other tiny payments I didn’t include. Below are the bills just since the last Council meeting – total $85,516.23 Other spending: Finally paid for 807 N Main, the purpose of the purchase is still a secret. Of course they have a […]
By: Diane Benjamin With campaigns now beginning, maybe Tari will mention for the 1000th time how many fewer employees Bloomington has now. Truth? Below is what was reported as payroll in 2015 and 2016 for approval at the first meeting in November. Tari claims the payroll goes up roughly 2% every year. (whether citizens see […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thanks to Julie Beer at Connect Transit for sending me this information quickly! See this previous post: https://blnnews.com/2016/11/10/connect-transit-lifecil/ LifeCil is receiving $$6,874.42 a month to determine which riders qualify for free rides under the ADA. I don’t know if riders are forced to qualify every month, but it doesn’t sound likely. The […]
By: Diane Benjamin I filed a FOIA request with Connect Transit for some payments they made. This is the only one I’ve received so far. Connect Transit has been paying LifeCil $6,874.42 a month. Payment was authorized at the September 22, 2015 meeting: september-22-2015-regular-session-proceedings The discussion starts on PDF page 11. LifeCil was the only […]
By: Diane Benjamin I haven’t heard the commercial, but several people have told me they almost wrecked their cars when Tari Renner’s radio ad called on the community to “Buy Local”. Maybe the City of Bloomington should participate before Tari is sent out to lecture citizens. These totals are from last year, I could have […]
By: Diane Benjamin The declared winners of an election don’t tell the whole story. Rodney Davis lost both McLean County and Bloomington, but won anyway. Many local uncontested races show large under-votes, meaning people left it blank. That signals the candidate that voters didn’t think they were worth voting for. Hillary won Bloomington but lost […]
By: Diane Benjamin Media . Pollsters . Foreign governments who donated to the Clinton Foundation . Washington DC: . Big government lost big: . . .
By: Diane Benjamin This FOIA request was filed by a citizen: USCC = US Cellular Coliseum Note: Denied in full Now see the reason the City of Bloomington used to deny the request: Law enforcement doesn’t mean “court case”. So, what is the City saying? Note: The request was for information from 2014 and 2015. […]
Anybody not sick of the election? First go vote, then be entertained with NOTHING political!
I’m posting this again for people who missed it. Bill Brady is WRONG on this one!
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve heard WAY too many people talk about abolishing the Electoral College lately. Here’s a crash course in why it is in the Constitution! We are not a democracy! We are a Representative Republic. Populism never has been part of our government, and never should be. The Constitution protects the rights of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Hales has posted his September City Managers report. http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=11567 This is on page 2: Open the page and try the link! Where does it take you? ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ NO monthly financial reports, just old data from 4/30/16. Celebrate now: The City of Bloomington is hiding tax receipt information! Remember […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tomorrow will be a disastrous day for our country. Close to 50% of the population will despise whoever is elected. The results are immaterial. We are powerless to do anything about it. Quit stressing about things you have no control over! The D.C. and Springfield clowns all came from local government. You […]
By: Diane Benjamin At the October 17, 2016 meeting, this was approved for payment: http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2193 Monday night this payment is scheduled to be approved: http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2214 Did tax dollars really pay $700 for a carriage in ISU’s parade, or was this guy paid twice? Is this how taxpayers want their hard-earned money spent? Some other items […]
By: Diane Benjamin See the agenda here: http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2213 Somebody should ask the Town Council: Who should the State not pay so Connect Transit can get paid? Pensions? Medicaid Recipients? State employees? Schools? According to the County records, this property was bought in September of 2015 by Normal for $150,000: http://mcleanil.devnetwedge.com/view/RE/14-28-203-027/2015 Lock up your wallet! […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since Scott Laughlin thinks the election will be decided in the SUPREME COURT if no candidate receives the majority of the electoral college vote: See Article II of the US Constitution: . . . and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this previous story: https://blnnews.com/2016/11/03/stanford-still-being-suspicious/ The presentation by Brad Hinch for demolition of the property at 310 N Kathleen Street took place at the meeting held on 6/16/16. The vote to hire Hinch took place later in the same meeting: http://stanfordil.org/id514.html That vote was illegal! According to the Illinois Open Meetings Act, […]
See this followup story: https://blnnews.com/2016/11/03/more-on-stanfords-actions/ By: Diane Benjamin Stanford is so small, the Board has a husband and wife serving? Seriously? The Board wanted a house at 310 N. Kathleen torn down. Instead of bidding demolition, this happened: From the 6/16/16 meeting: http://stanfordil.org/id514.html All bids were requested under the Freedom of Information Act, this entry […]
By: Diane Benjamin Nearly 96% of all donations to Dennis Malak for his bid on the 110th Illinois State Representative seat come from outside of the District and from Unions, some from Indiana and Maryland. Is this what the voters of the 110th need in Springfield? More union representation, which would mean more taxes, and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember that anonymous letter I received: https://blnnews.com/2016/10/27/i-cant-stop-smiling/ I filed this FOIA request based on the information in that letter. Note: This was NOT a Town of Normal employee who gave me the tip, it was a fed up taxpayer. Per the Constitution of the State of Illinois: http://www.ilga.gov/commission/lrb/con8.htm You work hard or […]
By: Diane Benjamin I attended the rebuttal hearing held by the McLean County Zoning Board of Appeals last night. Did you know this board has ZERO elected officials, all members are appointees. County staff attends and can ask questions, but nobody is on this board that can be voted out of office. Invenergy was there. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday layoff notices were sent to employees of Connect Transit. Illinois law requires a 60 day notice be sent to the State and employees. Connect Transit is asking people to contact their representatives. Your representatives need to hear both sides of the story. Yes, people will suffer if the buses shut down. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday the judge heard arguments on the Motions to Dismiss filed by both CIAM and the City of Bloomington. Both want this case to go away before I find anything else. The contract calls for the City to receive 15% on catering – to date I have NO catering information, especially backstage […]
