By: Diane Benjamin
Before the hearing this morning at the Bloomington Election Commission started, Kirk Allen of Edgar County Watchdogs informed the Commission that the meeting was illegal because it violated the Open Meetings Act.
The meeting time was not posted on the BEC website and no agenda was posted. The agenda was important because the law requires public comment. It was also important because the rules for hearing the objections had to be established, since there was no agenda, nobody in the room knew what was going to happen.
A lawyer for the Commission, Robert Day, took issue with Kirk comments. The chairman attempted to start the meeting, Kirk interrupted her to ask if she intended to continue with the illegal meeting. John Kraft of ECWs also chimed in, I added that the meeting time wasn’t even listed on the website. Instead of the head of the commission running the meeting, the lawyer tried to take over. It got heated from there as Kirk told him he wasn’t the one in charge.
Eventually the Police were called, a Bloomington Police officer showed up. State’s Attorney Jason Chambers showed up with a copy of the Open Meetings Act law, but he refused to intervene because he would be responsible for prosecuting the illegal meeting.
The Commission then met illegally to discuss how to proceed in another room. Since it was all three members, that constituted another OMA.
I’ve got more video, but this one is the BEC lawyer telling the officer that these people are disrupting their meeting. Kirk Allen then gave the officer the real story. I have a guy working on improving the sound from the lawyer, I was too far away to pick it up clearly.
More video will be coming soon. This hearing was to determine if the law was followed collecting signatures. The election commission didn’t get the law right when setting the meeting. Some of Renner’s supporters were very upset the hearing got delayed until Thursday.
We don’t live in Constitutional Republic when laws only apply to citizens. Government must abide by laws too. Quite simply, they didn’t. Worse, they are required to have Open Meetings Act training so they know the law. Do you really want to live in a City that’s make their own laws or picks which State laws they want to follow and which ones they can ignore?
HOORAY for the ECW! And as the Pantagraph would say, JEERS to Jason Chambers for NOT fulfilling HIS sworn duties.
Jason did the right thing. If he had intervened, another prosecutor would need to be called in. He saved the County money, but it’s immaterial now because the commission did the right thing and adjourned the meeting.
The City picks winners and losers for everything else…of course Renner’s supporters are upset…let them whine while Renner racks up legal fees.
He didn’t come with a lawyer. Kevin is withdrawing what he origally filed and the refilling all the updated info
Pride comes before the fall
The video from the start of the meeting until the police were called is next! (I need faster internet!)
Someone just had to call the police. LOL Quite hilarious to say the least. Why of course Chambers wouldn’t step up to the line of responsibility. He might have to do his job to prosecute a few individuals. Sounds like he took the cowards way out.
It doesn’t make me happy to defend Jason Chambers, but HE DID DO THE RIGHT THING!
I suppose so.
🙂
Liberals/leftists really do believe laws are for the “little people”…
They truly believe they’re better than the rest of us because they’re so “enlightened.” To them, it’s their MOTIVES that matter, not the means. If they have to do something illegal in order to create their utopia or to silence those of us who are “human garbage” and “off our meds”…they’ll do it.
Tari, the Clintons, Obama, Pat Quinn, Blago, Rahm……they ALL exhibit this belief.
The poor officer I feel for him. He probably didn’t know what to think. Which side is correct was probably what he was thinking.
The 3 of them meeting in the room was definitely wrong. The chair person should have dismissed everyone and left it at that.
You would have thought the lawyer there would have made sure everything was done to properly hold a meeting before proceeding.
A lawyer know the law? Been drinking? lol (Sorry, long day already!)
Diane I think you made the right choice to not live in Bloomington.
I have NO doubt!
tari must of given them their OMA classes….. LOL
This is INCREDIBLE!!! DELIBERATE AND INTENTIONAL breaking of the law after the officials were told they were in violation of the law. The fact that your Mayor has a PhD (maybe that stands for pin headed dumbbell) in political science and instructs students about how government should operate shows a level of dishonesty no different than up in Chicago or in the southern back areas of downstate Illinois. Shame on Bloomington….
In addition to deliberate violation of the law, it appears that the police were in complicity aiding and assisting law breaking by being where they could prevent a citizens arrest of those violating the law and allowed law breaking to continue….
The police were in over their head. They were just there to keep the peace.
Nonsense. The law is the law no matter who is Mayor. You may consider it excusable, but I don’t. I’ve run into that before and the nobodies get wronged eventually.
Not excusable, they had never been trained in OMA.