By: Diane Benjamin
The old type Bloomington City Manager reports with real usable information ceased to exist when Alderman Diana Hauman called their “printing” a waste of money. The last REAL report was April 2016. City manager David Hales still does a City Manager report on-line, but it has little useful data.
The old reports used to state attendees at places like the library, BPCA, and the zoo. The previous years attendance was also listed for comparison. A huge chart of tax receipts to date was also included. It was easy for citizens to spot trends – maybe that’s why the City no longer publishes it.
What David Hales is calling a report now is mostly worthless. See April’s here: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=13016
Go to the bottom of page 2 – click where it says:
No Monthly Financial Report exists – in fact nothing is listed for 2017. (It’s a secret)
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There is more fiction:
Go back to page 2 of the City Manager’s Report, below Finance Department is Clerk:
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The City Clerk Monthly Activity Report shows:
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It sounds like the clerk was REALLY busy with FOIA requests – 104 of them.
Now look at the Monthly FOIA report. Looks like instead of 104 there were 6!
One took no time since the data is already on-line – I wonder if the clerk took 5 days to tell the requester that.
Page 3 lists building permits including 12 new single family dwellings.
I wonder how many of those 12 were at The Grove.
(Maybe Tari can update his facts about this subdivision costing money)
Library stats are listed on page 11 – without a comparison to the previous year. I wonder why the library thinks part of their job is to organize “programs”. Were these “free” programs? (Free is never free except when government wants you to believe it is)
One more:
Page 12 lists upcoming events at the Coliseum:
Nothing is listed from June 1st to December 2nd.
Wasn’t the Council told by David Hales last year was an organizational first year for VenuWorks and this year would be a lot better? Council?
How much did it cost to take down the US Cellular signs?
How much is it costing to change the letterhead and website?
It would have been cheaper to change from one naming rights sponsor to another, but the Coliseum doesn’t have a new one.
It sure looks like the loses are continuing.
Quality of Life!
“Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. Stuck in the middle with you.” Lyrics complements of the band Steelers Wheel.
I think VenuWorks is literally blackballed from the concert business, Lynne Cannon has not been able to book a single music concert since she took over, and the company has not able to secure naming rights for over a year. The ability to do that was one of their bait-and-switch claims. VenuWorks is a complete, ongoing disaster for the Coliseum, and Ms. Cannon is a total failure so far. How much longer will it take for the city council to step up and terminate the contract and go with another company?
ACTION! The Markowitz elephant is STILL a part of our “circus” !
Hauman not only said “printing the reports were a waste of money,” she also said “nobody read them.” Well, that explains why the Council is clueless about the status of revenue and expenses as they continue to tax and spend. The April report also stated that Hauman conducted the “elected Council members orientation.” At least an expensive facilitator was not hired.