By: Diane Benjamin
This week the McLean County Land Use committee rejected forcing people to recycle. An amendment was brought to the committee by newly appointed member Ryan Scritchlow. Even though Board member Carlo Robustelli is not a member of the Land Use Committee, it didn’t stop him from making this comment on Facebook:
Carlo, it wasn’t a disappointing day – it was a victory for freedom. Government does not have the right to order people to comply with anything, unless you are planning on using armed guards to enforce it. I bet Carlo approved of the Obamacare mandate that required people to buy insurance whether they could afford it or not. Forcing people to recycle is no different from forcing people to buy health insurance. Our form of government doesn’t do “what’s good for the collective”.
I really like Robustelli’s claims that “experts” did the plan. “Experts” did the Coliseum plans too. “Experts” planned Uptown and the massive debt and “experts” designed all the un-affordable area Master Plans that cost millions. “Experts” weren’t elected, people representing their constituents were. Hold all the public meetings you want, the people who attend are in favor, the general public never hears about them.
The vote to not make recycling mandatory was a vote to protect people least able to bear the cost. The City of Bloomington caused the problem when they decided not to pick up garbage from apartment buildings with more than 6 units. Bloomington disenfranchised landlords by making City pickup twice the cost of private service for 6 and fewer. They required one container for every unit even though one isn’t needed. If they hadn’t been greedy, many apartments buildings would already be recycling. The landlords are forced to pay for private service that currently doesn’t offer recycling or increase rents. If the County had passed a plan requiring all of them to recycle, RENTS would have increased. Somebody has to pay for it, and contrary to what Robustelli must believe, landlords aren’t hoarding cash. We keep hearing about un-affordable local housing, this plan would have made it worse.
I talked to one of my County Board members, Scott Murphy. He agrees rents would go up for the people least able to pay the cost. He is all for recycling, but not at the cost of hurting the poor. He mentioned a program from when we were kids where a deposit was charged on bottles. We paid a dime extra and got it back when the bottles were returned. If a deposit was charged on aluminum cans, kids would be collecting them for spending money. Creativity goes a lot farther than government force. Maybe Connect Transit can start transporting recyclables for people who don’t have City service. Quite a few recycling containers could be retrofitted into those empty buses.
I want to thank Carlo for pointing out why the County Board can not fall to majority Democrat control. The City of Bloomington is run by Democrats and they doubled the cost landlords pay to register apartments, they made housing less affordable. The only person who voted against the amendment was Democrat Laurie Wollrab. Imagine what would happen is Democrats were ever in charge of the entire Board.
Choosing who to put on the County Board just got much easier.
Carlo you are pathetic! Diane please, please keep exposing these representatives who think they are dictators. This guy is unreal! His rant is reminds me of Tari Renner’s treatment of Judy Stearns.
They are best buddies, although Carlo isn’t being feed by him on the backs of taxpayers anymore.
😂
It’s time to start to fight tyrannical government. Attempts like these by local governments to try and force me to do things far outside the authority and intent of government will force me to counter with lawsuits to challenge them and protect my freedom.
Had Never heard of this Carlo guy before but he sounds like a 100% IDIOT through and through. Forcing people to do something as petty as recycling is just one step removed from being a third reich state.
Don’t these knuckleheads have any more IMPORTANT matters to think about. What a bunch of hooey!
Carlo supports slave labor. Everyone must spend their time working for him with no pay sorting their trash.
Don’t think for one second that Carlo would stop at enforcing your recycling. That’s just the start of the slippery slope. What other tasks/activities will he abuse (er, use) the weight and force of government to compel taxpayers to do?
To expose the enemy is to know the enemy: Robustelli is another transplant configured into the fabric of our local government. He comes here from Chapel Hill, NC
(coincidentally along with and at the same time as Chapel Hill colleague, Emily Kelahan, whom Mayor Renner appointed to the library Board of Trustees in his first term, and both whom are/were employed at IWU). Robusttelli has only been a resident in Bloomington since 2012. Yet he now is a member of McLean County Government. One of his previous positions was with the Mayor’s office in Chapel Hill. An additional coincidence (and not implying any connection), is that former City Manager Hales was a member of the City government in Kannapolis, NC, fairly close to Chapel Hill. Even a cursory review of Robustelli’s political and social connections reveal his true colors. His affination and support of government power is clearly indicated, regardless of his attempt to appear to be conservative. Robustelli’s disdain for the recent obstacle for ridiculous government control over private lives is no surprise. Robustelli’s upward mobility in local government circles is a clear indication of his popularity among progressive social and political activists. Watch for his continued progress and movement into greater political positions. It’s a reasonable question to ask if he is he being groomed as a future Mayoral candidate? This is your warning!
I also am very familiar with North Carolina. Not so much of these individuals, but with the way some County’s take care of recycling. One in particular, Alexander County, almost twenty years ago, bought small, 1-2 acres, of land in 4-6 areas of the County. They blacktopped them and put up a cyclone fence and a driveway gate. A small employee building and several collection bins. The County calls them, Convenience Centers. Any true garbage must be in approved trash bags at a 1.00/bag fee. Any true recyclables are taken free of charge including electronics. The County has also contracted with a refuse company, at residences homes county wide, to have voluntarily, refuse container pick ups weekly. There is a charge to home owners for this part. They have a County Land Fill that has saw a decrees of hundreds of tons of what used to be garbage to just a few hundred a year. And that tonnage continues to decline every year. One side note, garbage and junk thrown along the County’s road sides is almost nil. Is it perfect, probably not, but look what McLean County has now.
I forgot to mention about the Land Fill Convenience Centers employees. They are retired folks and work for min wage and the Centers are only open Mon, Wed, Fri, and Sat.
I think old Tari is from the east coast.
It’s sad when liberals move here and bring ideology with them.
Pretty sure Carlo arrived in B-N from the Carolinas about 5-6 years ago. Connected with the local libturds, gets their votes, now he’s an expert on experts, lol. Another Obama libturd. Get ready for more absurdities from o’ Carlo.
I don’t think you should make people do it. Then make sure there is not an extra charge to the community to help with recycling. This area has a lot of elderly and it can be a hard task for disabled. Would it be better to hire recycle workers? Maybe use the Mentally challenged or special needs persons to complete this agenda. Surely there is always another way. I’m sure if other options other than “forcing” someone to participate in a cause. I know we are talking about the earth and I value it tremendously. Lets think about others and options. Thank you. Frieda😳
When we were kids we returned pop bottles for $ .02 then later $ .10, so they could literally be re-used if they weren’t chipped. You would buy a refill for an ink pen instead of replacing the entire ink pen, or, get this, just refill an ink cartridge. TV sets would be repaired, and on, and on. Through government payoffs and legislation we have become a throw away society to apease industry, yet still they blame us. The alarmists that claim to be all about recycling are fakes. It’s a crock of bovine excrement! Not to mention the tremoedous amount of pollution due to unnecessary wars all over the world.
I have yet to see a recycle bin in the Council meeting room for the plastic water bottles and soda cans that are used by Council and Staff at the meetings. True leaders lead by example. Words are cheap. Isn’t Carlo on the Downtown Task Force? He wants Bloomington to be like Chaple Hill, NC and Amelia wants Bloomimgton to be like Madison, WI. Ok??!!??
Diane, if I may I would like to pass on the following. Thank you, mudd.
Forty-six, (46), of our senators, (democratic), voted to uphold the U.N. vote. This would have enabled our senators to take away our arms and give to a foreign country.
Please take note of the 46 senators, some may be in your states…we must vote them out.
Take note if you own a firearm!!!
A 53-46 vote
The U.N. Resolution 2117 lists 21 points dealing with firearms control, but perhaps of most interest is point number 11: “CALLS FOR MEMBER STATES TO SUPPORT WEAPONS COLLECTION and DISARMAMENT of all UN countries”. By a 53-46 vote – The U.S. Senate voted against the U.N. resolution. This is that brief, glorious moment in history when everyone stands around…reloading. Now, which 46 Senators voted to destroy us? Well, let their names become known ! See below . If you vote in one of the states listed with these 46 “legis..traitors”. vote against them. In a 53-46 vote, the Senate narrowly passed a measure that will stop the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty. The Statement of Purpose from the Senate Bill reads: “To uphold Second Amendment rights and prevent the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty.” The U.N. Small Arms Treaty, which has been championed by the Obama Administration, would have effectively placed a global ban on the import and export of small firearms. The ban would have affected all private gun owners in the U.S. and had language that would have implemented an international gun registry, now get this, on all private guns and ammo. Astonishingly, 46 out of our 100 United States Senators were willing to give away our Constitutional rights to a foreign power. Here are the 46 senators who voted to give your rights to the U.N.: Baldwin (D-WI) Baucus (D-MT) Bennett (D-CO) Blumenthal (D-CT) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Coons (D-DE) Cowan (D-MA) Durbin (D-IL) Feinstein (D-CA) Franken (D-MN) Gillibrand (D-NY) Harkin (D-IA) Hirono (D-HI) Johnson (D-SD) Kaine (D-VA) King (I-ME) Klobuchar (D-MN) Landrieu (D-LA) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR) Mikulski (D-MD) Murphy (D-CT) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Sanders (I-VT) Schatz (D-HI) Schumer (D-NY) Shaheen (D-NH) Stabenow (D-MI) Udall (D-CO) Udall (D-NM) Warner (D-VA) Warren (D-MA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR).
Folks, this needs to go viral. These Senators voted to let the UN take OUR guns. They need to lose their next election. We have been betrayed. 46 Senators Voted to Give your 2nd Amendment Constitutional Rights to the U.N.
Scritchlow has a huge conflict of interest and didn’t list any of his properties on his Statement of Economic interest forms. He’s a crook and you should be working to expose this kind of behavior, regardless of party. The amendment was driven by his own bank account. Period.
Find a prosecutor! His business is listed, why would properties need to be listed? Do you care 3 blm council members haven’t filed at all? It really hurts when your false care for the poor is proven, ouch!
All for everyone operating above board. Including bloggers and the press.
Thanks for this obscure response that didn’t answer my question. Are you talking about rental properties or what?
Attention Rich: Scritchlow is exactly why we need more business people who live and operate in the real world, with real dollars vs. the government types who love spending other peoples money.
The Ecology Action Center is livid. They claimed to have talked to all the stakeholders and everybody wanted to be forced to recycle. Of course, normal people were busy making a living at the time and weren’t informed. Final county Board vote is January 16th.
If Bloomington would pick up every week like normal does more would be recycled.
But Bloomington taxes aren’t going up 6% either… yet
Bloomington taxes have gone up considerable, just not property taxes.