By: Diane Benjamin This will be an anti-Trump event: No peace if they don’t their way? . . . . . . . . Only supporters are welcome: The Trump haters will be there demanding laws be ignored. I wonder why illegals and those who have over-stayed their visas want to stay in a country […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday night is when the “Welcoming Ordinance will be discussed – 5:00pm at the BCPA. Renner will claim the “moral authority” because he cares about all people, not just legal citizens. Anybody who disagrees will at some point be called a racists, homophobic, and sexist and accused of not caring about other […]
By: Diane Benjamin Agenda and Bills: http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2821 If you want to know why local government isn’t run for citizens, check out where they go to learn how to do their job. NLC is National League of Cities: http://citysummit.nlc.org/schedule/schedule-by-day/ One Voice is the biggest fleece of all! Big group goes to Washington DC to beg for money […]
By: Diane Benjamin Old story, but the Coliseum was built against the wishes of the people, bigger venues already existed in Peoria and Champaign. The Coliseum isn’t big enough to draw big name acts, the sports teams have lousy attendance at games. The economic impact of the Coliseum is a made-up number with no actual […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s not hard to find someone at State Farm willing to talk. The employees have no idea whether they will have a job tomorrow, 3 months from now, or 6 months from now. I’m told 2018 is going to be worse for downsizing than 2017 was. Keep your eyes on this site: https://www.thelayoff.com/state-farm […]
By: Diane Benjamin I wonder if the City thought I wouldn’t read the massive amount of emails they sent me. Well, I did. I filed one more FOIA request today for the pictures they posted on the City’s Intranet. Correction: EAC stands for Employee Activities Committee. If the City is short on employees, ending this […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington does not act in the best interests of the citizens paying the bills. They act in the best interest of whatever votes can be bought, especially employees. The City will not be ending pension spiking any time soon because Tari doesn’t want to. In 2012 they ended the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Normal Theater is showing classic Christmas movies this month, see the calendar here: https://www.normaltheater.com/calendar.aspx Some friends went to see Holiday on Tuesday night. Air conditioning was blowing on them during the entire movie. Yes, even with coats they were frozen. One of them asked what she described as the night […]
By: Diane Benjamin How did the City of Bloomington employees get any work done when they spent 3 months planning the Chili Cook Off that only employees attended? Worse, they were already working on the next party – this month – before the October one was even held. It sounds like all the departments decorate […]
By: Diane Benjamin You are focusing on Christmas, so not only is Tari holding Town Hall meetings now, the City is holding a Public Meeting FOUR days before Christmas! All are hoping you don’t show up! http://www.cityblm.org/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/7657/17 The City wants to redesign the intersection of Fairway Drive and Empire to include BIKE LANES and a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Freedom of Information lawsuits are very easy to win. Documents belong to the people, not government. When government refuses to hand over complete information without explanation, they lose every time. The “extremely transparent” City of Bloomington is not producing the information I requested. This FOIA request clearly shows TIF dollars are nothing […]
By: Diane Benjamin WGLT interviewed an economist from the Economic Development Council. Mike Doherty is the one that reported Bloomington-Normal has lost 9000 jobs in the last 7 years. He claims government has shrunk. (Not Bloomington!) He also attributed the decline to State Farm ending consulting contracts and Mitsubishi closing. Then he blamed my personal favorite: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Do you want more services from the Town of Normal? I’ve seen far too many surveys that nobody knows about except the “chosen” who will answer it correctly. This one is from Parks and Rec. Take the survey here: https://illinoisstate.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4O2h5LyxDmw06oZ Yes, it looks like Illinois State University is running the survey. This link […]
By: Diane Benjamin I reported yesterday about the Comptroller’s Warehouse website. The Bloomington information from last year is available there when the City hasn’t bothered to release it to you yet. I found a fun page that recaps all expenditures in a succinct format that’s easy to understand. Want to know where your money goes? […]
By: Diane Benjamin Toward the end of last night’s City Council meeting David Sage again discussed getting aldermen on board before something is brought to the Council. He claims it is to save staff time when in reality it is to keep Renner from putting silly things on the agenda. David Sage: Here’s how staff […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari pretended he didn’t know what language was missing from the oath of office he took May 1st. Funny since he supposedly took the correct vote before Monday’s meetings. Did he not understand why he was given a new oath, or maybe he didn’t take it? Nice try Mayor. Just hit Play! […]
Your Quality of Life is up to YOU! Like red flashing lights at night? Like noise? Like obstructed views? Make your voice heard!
By: Diane Benjamin On May 1st when the newly elected Council members were sworn into office the City threw a party. It didn’t matter the oath they took was illegal. I received this email this morning from the City Attorney: Yes, I told him I want copies of the new oaths WITHOUT the signatures redacted! […]
By: Diane Benjamin On Saturday I reported the 4/30/17 financial statements for the City of Bloomington still haven’t been released, but the City did submit them to the Comptroller’s office last October: https://blnnews.com/2017/12/09/transparent-illegal-all-of-the-above/ The Comptroller’s office now has them posted: See them HERE Tons of interesting easy to read info is available, including comparisons for 3 […]
By: Diane Benjamin I could be talking about the Bloomington Library Board that thinks moving or adding on is the fiscally responsible thing to do when the only way to get more money for either project is debt and/or tax increases. It must be immaterial that tax receipts are dropping – progress to bankruptcy must […]
By: Diane Benjamin When the new and re-elected members of the City Council were sworn it last May 1st, no agenda was posted: http://www.cityblm.org/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-499/-npage-5 If you watch the video, Tari called the meeting to order anyway, see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfeOZOEU6xs This is the meeting where an illegal oath of office was given. Now that the City […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bills and Payroll for Monday night: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15410 This one is easy Patti Lynn – no need to belong to anything! 111 felony counts could have easily been prevented! With Tari now PCardless and David Hales gone, money saved. The City Council still ate at your expense: Why did Public Works need pizza […]
By: Diane Benjamin I received a tip that Tari Renner was under a non-disclosure agreement on the deal he revealed during his Town Hall meeting earlier this week. Renner proclaimed City leaders and the Economic Development Council are talking to a prosthetic limbs manufacturer about a factory here. He also mentioned the jobs would pay […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when Tari Renner verbally attacked Judy Stearns at a City Council meeting? What the citizens of Bloomington need to hear again are Tari’s pre-attack comments. He claims local politics is not about ideology and philosophy. Local government is about “Protecting citizens and delivering services to them at a reasonable cost”. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The “Welcoming Ordinance” meeting is December 18th at the BCPA. This morning I emailed the City Attorney, Jeff Jurgens about the oaths of office. I just received a response: Keep in mind Tari Renner, Mboka Mwilambwe, Joni Painter, and Scott Black have taken the oath of office before. Ask them why they […]
By: Diane Benjamin I thought I had read in the Municipal Code that oaths of office for local elected officials weren’t defined. This morning I found this: SOURCE The elected officials from the April election did NOT take this oath. https://blnnews.com/2017/12/06/two-foia-fails-in-two-weeks/ Those people are Tari Renner, Jamie Mathy, Mboka Mwilambwe, Joni Painter, Scott Black, and Kimberly Bray. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner has been seen shuffling the Public Comment cards at past meetings, likely resulting in “his” people being allowed to speak first. The last time the “welcoming ordinance” crowd showed up to pressure the Council, the majority of the speakers were for the ordinance. One lady had a problem with the […]
Also see this story: https://blnnews.com/2017/12/07/illegal-oath-of-office/ By: Diane Benjamin Both City Council meetings on Monday 12/18 have been moved to the BCPA to accommodate the crowd expected because the Council will be discussing the “Welcoming Ordinance”. The agendas and packets are not yet available, but according to the City website it will be discussed at the […]
By: Diane Benjamin I almost feel sorry for Tari. Citizens who disagree with actions of the City and Tari were pretty furious last night. I’m sure by the end Tari was ready for it to be over. I expect his next event to be stacked with a lot more supporters. Schedule: 12/12 – 5:30 – […]
By: Diane Benjamin Almost every FOIA I file gets extended. The law says they have to comply within 5 business days, but they can request a 5 day extension. When 10 business days are given, it should be enough time to get it right. Eventually it isn’t. On November 20th I made this request: I […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal has to cover all these pensions every month. How much money would you have to pay into retirement to get these monthly benefits? This is only the first 50. As of 2016 124 former employees of the Town of Normal are collecting pensions. https://www.openthebooks.com/search/?PensionCode=1000&F_fiscalyear=2016&F_employernm=Town%20Of%20Normal&F_employeenm= MONTHLY!
By: Diane Benjamin The citizens of Normal need to understand they do not have accountable representatives on the Town Council. Since Normal does not have a WARD system, all trustees are elected “at-large” and therefore do not have to represent you. Trustees McCarthy, Cummings, and Preston were elected with between 3012 and 3668 votes last […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos had to call for a break after all the Trustee babbling, a story I am going to get to. Fritzen and Koos forgot the mic was still open: Listen for 30-45 seconds to around 2:24:52. Fritzen walks behind Koos and says something about Rich Buchanan Truth or Fiction website. Since […]
By: Diane Benjamin Maybe the citizens of Normal have finally decided enough is enough. 11 citizens (one from Bloomington) spoke against the property tax increase during the public hearing before the Normal Town Council. They came armed with facts which the council later tried to refute. That story will be next. Meanwhile, just hit play […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Republicans have joined the Democrats: I have no information on J Snyder. Note: Many races have a Libertarian running. They are finally on official party in McLean County.
By: Diane Benjamin Paul Segobiano has a Democrat opponent! Shayna Watchinski is the pink haired far left Tari Renner supporter and the force behind attacks on Kevin Lower and Kathy Michael. Suddenly the “ReSisterhood” Facebook page is missing! That was her too. The debates should prove interesting! Left vrs FAR left!
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight: Town of Normal 7:00 p.m. Public Hearing on a proposed Property Tax Levy . I expect few citizens will show up to express outrage that their government is not capable of living within their means. The Council and the Mayor are counting on it. This hearing is required because the Town […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader sent this story to me from one year ago: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/ct-rivian-mitsubishi-robert-reed-1214-biz-20161214-column.html The title of the story is: Who is the mysterious auto startup that wants to bring jobs back to a shuttered Mitsubishi plant in Normal? . We don’t know any more today than we knew a year ago even […]
