By: Diane Benjamin
Part 1
See Part 2 here: https://blnnews.com/2018/08/30/part-2-nikita-richards/
See Part 3 here: https://blnnews.com/2018/08/30/part-3-nikita-richards/
This was the job Nikita used to have, maybe still does:
Nikita’s LinkedIn page shows NDR and Running for McLean County Clerk, but doesn’t mention she works for the City of Bloomington:
There is a description of what NDR Communications does on the site: NDR description
In 2016 she was listed on the Total Compensation report from the City of Bloomington as a Legal Secretary: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=12646
In 2017 she was listed as an Employment Coordinator: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=16374
The 2016 salary may be low because it wasn’t for an entire year. She isn’t listed on the 2015 report. 2017 may also be low because she didn’t hold that job for the entire year.
All of the above is just background information.
I noticed a lot of social media activity from Nikita (campaign related) during the hours she supposedly worked for the City of Bloomington. I FOIA’d her browser history from July 9th to July 17th. What I received was partial browser history – for instance it showed Facebook.com, but not the Facebook page. I also FOIA’d what days she worked in July, there were Facebook posts made when she was at work that were not connected to recruiting City employees.
Here’s one – Nikita is referring to a Democrat dinner. It doesn’t matter if she was at lunch. Playing politics for the Democrat party isn’t allowed on public property.
The below are more troubling and appear to be either campaigning from City Hall or working for NDR Communications which is also involved in campaigns. I also FOIA’d her job description at the City of Bloomington. She doesn’t create websites, she does post job openings but programming isn’t involved. These are the job skills required to do her job:
The browser history I received is 543 pages long. I’m not going to post the entire document yet, there is more to report than just the below.
These are websites she visited that look like they have nothing to do with her job description and everything to do with campaigning from City Hall:
Page 26 – https://www.ngpvan.com/
Political Fundraising and Compliance
Page 26 – https://www.crazyegg.com/
Make your website Better Instantly
Page 26 – s.thebrighttag.com
Adware is redirecting the browser – IS needs to scan her computer!
Page 62 – coin.amazonpay.com
Spending Amazon coins
Page 62 – cloud.typography.com
Web fonts
Page 365 – www.wellstone.org – page 365 –
Founded to carry forward the work of Paul and Sheila Wellstone, we arm progressives with the strategies and skills to win. We develop political leaders. We strengthen movement organizations. We ignite change.
Page 124 – www.spongecell.com
Spongecell is a dynamic creative platform focused on making data-driven advertising simple, effective and scalable by integrating data, machine learning and automation in the creative process.
Page 64 – https://www.everyaction.com/
Donor Information System software
Campaigning from City Hall is illegal and it shows a complete lack of ethics.
Do taxpayers in Bloomington want Nikita getting paid by them to campaign? Why shouldn’t she be prosecuted for illegal campaigning? Why should she stay on the ballot?
Her buddy probably won’t care, keep in mind that I only FOIA’d SEVEN working days. Imagine what 6 months would show.
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Oh. My. God. Not only does she want my vote, she expects me to pay her more and more every year – and well into her retirement – with my tax dollars. Another reason we’re grateful for you….the Pantagraph would NEVER report this or even consider looking into it.
Wonder if she was getting paid (overtime?) while she was at Miller Park for the “Diversity Festival.” She was manning a booth for recruiting employees for the City of Bloomington. What happened to the hiring freeze that HR “contributed” that was part of the budget package meant to save money and close the deficit gap?
She’s salaried so no overtime
I’m thinking NDR are Nikki Richard’s initials.
Renner looks drunk?
and that’s new?
This is all diversity in action. Hire and promote regardless of qualifications…. keep regardless of being able to do the same job you would expect a “non person of color” to do…. shepherd into positions of power so they can move their cultural and political agendas forward.
Makes me want to throw up.
Lawrence 451 is 1000% correct. The same goes for admission to college and getting a job. To hell with qualifications.
Lowering the standards to accommodate anyone has far reaching effects on the culture and it’s institutions. Do you as a taxpayer want the best and brightest pulling the levers of power and making decisions or people who fit into some type of diversity goal to create an optimum mix of employees? Do you want learning institutions to accept and then graduate students who fall below minimum academic standards and they then enter the world as an example of the level of education you provided? Lowering academic standards lowers the perceived value and worth of a degree for everyone who attains it. Would you like to be treated by a doctor who was accepted and pushed through medical school because he/she fit a racial profile? Important jobs require hiring the best people. I want the A team in government not a carefully selected group that fit some dreamed up mix of racial and ethnic profiles. The major problem we have currently in this town right now is the lack of vision, out-of-the-box thinking and IQ levels of our business and governmental leadership. Adding another marginally qualified person like Nikki is not going to make things better.
Of course, our do nothing prosecutors will do just that, DO NOTHING!
They’ll never investigate a Democrat minority in Illinois. Good luck with that.
If you want to send me proof of your allegations, I will do a story. Not documented character assassination isn’t allowed.
Diane