By: Diane Benjamin
The contemporary term false flag describes covert operations that are designed to deceive in such a way that activities appear as though they are being carried out by individual entities, groups, or nations other than those who actually planned and executed them.
This statement perfectly describes the meeting Tuesday night held by most of the Bloomington City Council, the Bloomington Public Library Board, and Connect Transit.
The ever-lovable Tari claimed he scheduled the meeting because his Downtown Task Force had a right to be heard after the months they spent discussing downtown.
(State Farm is gone, Commerce Bank is gone, etc etc. Admitting downtown is dead isn’t on the agenda.)
The meeting was not the Task Force presenting their findings. 5 groups of tables were set up with assigned seats. All three groups had representatives who made very brief statements. Then a facilitator took over!
A survey had to been to the participants, I FOIA’d it. Most likely it will be weeks before I get it because almost every FOIA I file gets extended at their request. Even when I deny the extension they do it anyway.
The facilitator asked questions, then each table was given time to discuss it. The first question was something like “What do you want to see a catalyst project look like?”
Past catalyst projects failed was not allowed as a response.
Aldermen Mboka Mwilambwe and Kimberly Bray did attend even though they voted to not hold the meeting. I hear Bray was the only voice representing citizens, the facilitator attempted to cut her off every time she spoke.
This meeting was not a discussion, it was an indoctrination session with predetermined goals.
Angela Scott was live streaming since no City video was made. Below is a clip from the end. She couldn’t film continuously since the tables were in recess for discussions, then each table would report their results. More videos are available on her Facebook page.
The meeting was a waste of time since no opinions were changed. Congrats to Aldermen Sage, Schmidt, and Painter who didn’t attend. They and the two others are the only hope of stopping more debt with nothing to show for it except destroying a parking garage and union jobs building a new shiny object.
Meanwhile, the $3 million budget deficit is not being discussed.
This group did a lot of wondering about how much State and Federal money they could get. They must think those aren’t real tax dollars, just monopoly money. Why should the State or country fund their folly?
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I question as to whether those table discussions are appropriate based on OMA. No one can hear what is being discussed in the small groups. This is a Special Meeting of the City Council called and led by the Mayor. The other groups are there by invitation.
I think the assigned seats were created so the groups did not violate OMA. Tari made a statement to the effect at the beginning.
The facilitators were brought in from IWU. Make your own conclusion.
i think terry is trying to leave a legacy mark ,,it is his ego trying to convert down town into a utopia ..down town is what it is and we should not be in the business of creating utopia or waste thousands of dollars reinventing the wheel ..they barely maintain what we have , and need to focus on that .
How’s that legacy working for former Mayor Judy?
I think the push by the Down Town Task Force for a Council commitment is to make dollars available in the FY2019 budget. Or, this is a distraction from the seriousness of the deficit.
It’s a distraction from State Farm’s massive downsizing.
There are way more union jobs in repairing the infrastructure than in building 1-2 new buildings. Wish the rank and file union membership would wake up and vote accordingly instead of listening to their union bosses (that basically none of them really like anyway.) Hey fellas and gals! Once you’re in the voting booth, they can’t watch how you vote.
How much was spent to have the “facilitators” from IWU come and proctor this dog and pony show?
Didn’t I hear something about a $3,000,000.00 deficit? And none of the council members can find anyplace to save money. Humm…
One is from U of I. Government employee. Can’t be an attorney so she teaches.
And, Angela, what is that you do exactly?
Why? She attends meetings and makes them available to the public. Citizens have access to what they otherwise wouldn’t. Offended?