By: Diane Benjamin
If you have never watched a City Council meeting, last night is the one you need to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDOCilmu80A
I can’t possibly cover everything that happened. Toward the end of the meeting Joni Painter read something that demanded no more video gaming machines. It was pretty incoherent. 2 people demanded the same at public comment. No, citizens can never be considered adults responsible for their own bad behavior. Government must intervene.
One thing you need to see is this document: 2018 Year In Review
Tim Gleason hit the high points when he presented it. The staff got a round of applause at the conclusion for their great work. Yes it does have some good accomplishments, but the majority will leave you scratching your head wondering how a government can exist for many many decades without common sense savings! The private sector has to fight everyday just to stay in business. Government doesn’t have to because they can just take more from you. Anybody still want to argue over “limited government”? Bloomington has proven what they think is “Quality of Life” is destroying yours. If your government ONLY existed to provide essential services, your roads wouldn’t be mine fields with no real plan to fix them. Employees would have been banned from spiking their pensions when it started costing you a LOT of money. Round of applause?
Below is the most outrageous slide presented by Tim Gleason last night. At least he commented there could be potential cuts here:
BN Advantage appears to only be a website. Since the Town of Normal contributes ZERO – why is their name on it? https://www.bnadvantage.com/resources/
The site has accolades from Forbes and NerdWallet – both from 2015. It also has one from Zumper dated 2016. Evidently 2016 and forward didn’t garner any more. https://www.bnadvantage.com/bn-at-work/
One of the guys mentioned on the website died last October. Instead of telling them who and where, let’s see if anybody bothers to notice.
February 28th the business license will be back at Council. See 1:38. Gleason claims the data is the true value. It was never about giving the City contact information in case of an emergency. It is about zoning and City control of private property.
The massive zoning ordinance changes will be before the Council on 3/11. It wasn’t by accident the original business registration had blanks to fill in after you measure your parking lot.
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The BN Advantage web site states: “For every $100 spent at McLean County businesses about $48 goes back into the local economy.”
Where to they get these outrageous statements?
The sales tax in Bloomington Normal is 8.75 and the food and beverage tax is 10.75. So, if you spend $100 at a Bloomington / Normal restaurant at least $10.75 is going toward taxes.
Not to defend but to correct the meaning of what stays in the community. What was tried to be stated was that for every $100.00 spent, $48.00 would stay in our community thru several ways. Employees wages, taxes, among those. Sometimes even donations to a community’s charitable programs is another area. Like Little Leagues, and Girls Softball, just to name a couple.
I remember somebody claiming every dollar spent locally produces $7. If $52 is lost for spending locally, maybe we should quit.
Wow! Joni is now the morals police. I wonder why now? Why did it take so long (and so much tax revenue) before she had this epiphany? She, like the rest of the council and the mayor, believe that gaming is lowbrow, yet are conflicted because of their insatiable thirst for tax revenue. Those three organizations on the slide are horribly ineffective and cannot communicate a cogent message about the community to an outside audience. In their defense, they are selling a community in decline with an anti-business/pro-crony, big-government leadership and populace. BN Advantage is only a website and some banners around town, you’re right Diane. That’s not hyperbole. Ironically, again, these organizations are selling the community to those already in the community. They’re never on the offensive, always playing defense. It amazes me that these organizations don’t go up to Chicago or down to St. Louis and try to pouch companies or convince them to open a second office in BN given the close proximity, the difference in rent (except for 1 Uptown Circle of course), and some of the assets we have.
Probably because when they saw the roads they would flee. 🙂
I can’t imagine JOHNEE giving an incoherent diatribe.. Of course then again, I can’t imagine responsible results from the mayor and council either..
Maybe she should lower the speed limit on Hershey to 20 mph since it’s in such BAD shape..
East Empire is a minefield! Avoid at all costs.
I try to never cross veterans parkway, but isn’t that a state road? I got read ended on a new stretch
Joni has a friend that does not want any more competition. it appears to have worked because the numbers are up yet no more machines were added, this = more $ per business.
I hope you have proof of that allegation!