By: Diane Benjamin h/t a Reader I’ve been trying not to respond to the NUMEROUS comments on line about Bloomington parks not being mowed. We’ve had a lot of rain, but evidently a couple blocks downtown takes priority. The City has been busy reclassifying employees, many will get raises. They should be hiring public works […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3307 For the second year in a row the Harmon Grants total $25,000. In 2017 they totaled $50,000. See this year’s recipients on PDF page 34. Paul Harmon didn’t donate the money, it’s your money. More spending trying to get free money: The total spent since May 2018 was $352,657.87. Add this […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3307 Monday night the Normal Council will be asked to amend their Public Comment policy. The original policy was written in 2011. They were forced to change it in 2014 and 2017. When government is FORCED to change, it tells citizens: We don’t care about your opinions, we are only changing it […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Remember the song by Cher: Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves? Remember the TLC show: My Big Fat American Gypsy wedding? Suddenly the far left has decided gypsy isn’t an acceptable word. It’s RACIST! This is on the Facebook page for Bloomington Normal Restaurant Scene announcing a new eatery downtown: It […]
By: Diane Benjamin Definition of capitalism: Making your life better by providing goods or services other people want at a price they will pay. It is a simple concept that has improved the lives of millions around the globe. It is color blind and doesn’t care who you sleep with. It is what made America […]
By: Diane Benjamin Step back to last Friday – Tari Renner’s Open House. Both WJBC and the Pantagraph had reporters there, they failed to do a story on what happened or Tari’s racist comment. They have now allowed time for Tari to formulate a response. Lost in this conversation are the people who attended to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner and his supporters are trying to claim the video I posted of him was taken out of context. Actually, with more context it is worse. Watch the video and listen to the reaction of those present. Tari was smiling, nobody else was.
Unless something changes before their news tonight – WEEK TV – Channel 25 will be playing the Tari Renner video. I’m told they have contacted him for a comment. I do not know which news broadcast it will be on. The story I did was put on the local Not In Town Facebook page. It […]
By: Diane Benjamin For a long time we have known that much of what happens at Council meetings is pre-determined. This email proves it – the council members have 3 on 1 meetings with the City Manager: Hold on before you think this is a problem! They meet three on one to keep from violating the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner declared May Building safety month at last night’s Council meeting. First, I guess he didn’t notice May is almost over. Second, a City building recently burned to the ground. The only “safe” part was nobody was in the building when it burned. The media still hasn’t reported that fire. When […]
By: Diane Benjamin I had the unfortunate experience of needing to drive around Bloomington today. I decided to actually look for the Connect Transit flags signifying a stop. Head west on Lincoln from Veterans Parkway. There are so many flags a bus could probably idle between them! The only one I saw that might be […]
By: Diane Benjamin All of this information was obtained by FOIA. This spreadsheet was included in the information I received about the Lake Bloomington Fire. It won’t be easy to read unless you print it: Copy of Property Values for updating 2019 – FILE G_Complete Here are some excerpts, imagine how much money would be […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=21875 The BCPA has a show tomorrow night, they NEVER pay this much for an artist: https://itkt.choicecrm.net/templates/BLOM/?cts_legacy_app All the colored dots are tickets still available, the cheapest seats are $49, they go up to $64: Jamie Mathy went to a conference in Denver. Room rates are normally $160-$180. Billy Tyus has a […]
Meeting is rescheduled to June 4th. By: Diane Benjamin From the Connect Transit website – they have a monthly meeting scheduled for tomorrow: https://www.connect-transit.com/about/trustees/packet.asp The agenda MUST be posted 48 hours in advance to comply with the Open Meetings Act. It isn’t posted, therefore they must cancel the meeting: Did they fail to post it […]
By: Diane Benjamin Two members of the media were at Tari’s open house last Friday, Maria Nagle from the Pantagraph and Howard Packowitz from WJBC. If the media fails to report news, everyone can pretend nothing happened. Are they protecting Tari? I know every alderman is aware of Tari’s comments. If the public doesn’t demand […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari did show up at his Open House last night. He was surrounded by people who wanted their voices heard on the Connect Transit Board. The conversation turned to “diversity”. Diversity in Tari’s world is people of all skin colors who agree with everything he thinks. Diversity of thought isn’t allowed. Tari’s […]
Headline in today’s Pantagraph: https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/bloomington-labor-day-parade-steps-off-monday-morning-downtown/article_06813e3c-2f73-5f44-891c-f2a239b7b35b.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest Still get your news there? (I don’t know when, but they finally fixed it)
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the property Bloomington bought on N Main in 2016 for $1.4 million? Tari’s buddies, Kirk Holdings, leveled the old Mennonite Hospital buildings. Then the City bought it so nobody else could. It has been sitting vacant and generating no tax revenue ever since. Tuesday night the City is teaming up with […]
By: Diane Benjamin It doesn’t do any good to impose spending limits on employees when it’s so easy to get around the rules. The employee below sounds like he is re-ordering signs that were recently made. It worked the first time, so do it again. Last night a reader added links to pictures of the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The fire at a City owed building at Lake Bloomington was on March 10th. Below is one of the emails I received by FOIA: Another email identified Mr. Penn as John Penn. I wonder if he is still waiting for the Pantagraph to report the fire? Just so you have a small […]
By: Diane Benjamin The people wanting accountability from Connect Transit aren’t going away. They will be at Tari’s Open House on Friday: Details: Join riders, advocates, and concerned community members as we call on Mayor Renner to choose rider representation over favoritism on the Connect Transit Board! With two seats vacating on the Connect Transit […]
By: Diane Benjamin On March 10, 2019 a fire DESTROYED a building at Lake Building that housed a lot of equipment and records. The media never reported it. Evidently a massive loss to government isn’t news. I only found out about the fire when replacing two pieces of equipment appeared on the April 22nd Agenda: […]
By: Diane Benjamin According to Renner’s interview this morning on WJBC he has been plotting since December to appoint Amelia Buragas and Justin Boyd to the Connect Transit Board. He wants two people who know economic development and have experience spending millions of dollars. (his words) Keep in mind, Amelia wanted to tear down a […]
This is a copy of an email from the company hired to lease space in the former State Farm building in downtown Bloomington: Brochure: 112Washington Mkt So who leased three floors? Somebody knows! (Just not me)
By: Diane Benjamin The latest case for limited government: Bloomington talked residents into electric aggregation in 2013. It was meant to save people money by contracting for lower electricity rates by buying in bulk. According to the City website the contract negotiated for you expired almost a year ago: Source: http://www.cityblm.org/government/city-council/municipal-electric-aggregation If you click on the […]
By: Diane Benjamin People who believe in man-made climate change love to proclaim the weather is worse now. NOAA disagrees, and this chart only goes back to 1954. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/climate-information/extreme-events/us-tornado-climatology/trends Want to know the history before 1954? Pekin Il was destroyed in March of 1938. The source is Wikipedia, not a source I usually trust, so […]
By: Diane Benjamin The citizens vote for people to represent them. Those representatives then don’t attend meetings. The ones that do pretend it’s perfectly normal for members to be absent. Do they still get paid? Citizens don’t have a right to know why their elected official is MIA? Last night it was Chris Koos. Was […]
By: Diane Benjamin See the original story – it was a guest editorial: https://blnnews.com/2019/05/16/guest-editorial-normal-needs-to-explain/ It turns out the writer was correct – those “Welcoming Signs” violate the Town code. WGLT has a story quoting Chris Koos claiming the City code needs changed: https://www.wglt.org/post/koos-neighbor-signs-may-violate-town-code-0 It gets better! The story links a unanimous (!) Supreme Court case […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3296 This paragraph is in the minutes to be approved at Monday night’s meeting. They reflect part of the Connect Transit discussion from the prior meeting. If you remember, Stan Nord wanted some accountability for the money Normal pays them. Did you know that once an item is in the budget it […]
By: Diane Benjamin Even the Pantagraph doesn’t convict people in the court of public opinion! WGLT does. Two days ago they did a story about Carlock’s Mayor: Carlock Mayor Arrested Not Charged Domestic Dispute No Charges Were Filed. The police should consider themselves lucky the mayor didn’t sue them for false arrest. Even Ryan Denham, […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is what Connect claims their mission is: https://www.connect-transit.com/about/mission.asp Here’s what citizens think the mission is: Provide transportation to people that need the service. From yesterday’s Press Release: https://blnnews.com/2019/05/17/idot-conspires-with-connect-transit/ Connect doesn’t agree: Connect thinks “talent” will be attracted to buses. How do empty buses make the communities walkable, bikable, and welcoming? Another […]
By: Diane Benjamin Koos posted this on Facebook a little before 4:00 pm: In one brief statement the Mayor of Normal has insulted anyone living in his City who is Pro-Life. Divider in chief? Chris Koos constantly assaults personal freedoms! Tax Tax TAX! The freedom to spend your money where and how you want is […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tomorrow the entire crew will be out filling potholes! The bad news is they will be paid overtime for 8 hours. Worse news: Today they all got off paid two hours early after a pizza party. No word on who paid for the pizza. This is the second year – it’s to […]
Since common sense isn’t allowed on the Connect Transit Board, I can’t ask a simple question. Why not plan routes so people don’t have to transfer buses? I know one answer: No transfer and they don’t get counted twice as riding. From: Jeff Holtke <jholtke@connect-transit.com> Date: Fri, May 17, 2019 at 11:46 AM Subject: CONNECT TRANSIT TO […]
Since you are smart enough to know Pritzker’s Progressive tax isn’t just going to raise taxes on the rich, fill out a Witness Sip against it now! Yes, they do matter! ilga.gov/WitnessSlip Enter NONE for any not applicable fields. Mark OPPONENT Mark Record of Appearance Only Track the witness slips here: http://ilga.gov/legislation/witnessslip.asp?DocNum=1&DocTypeID=SJRCA&LegID=114006&GAID=15&SessionID=108&GA=101&SpecSess=
By: Diane Benjamin Original story: https://blnnews.com/2019/05/09/driving-must-end/ The McLean County Regional Planning Commission held a contest with prizes for people choosing to use some transportation method other than cars. Keep in mind, MCRPC is funded by government. In the real world that would disqualify people associated with where funding comes from. The MCRPC’s job is to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Original story and pic: https://blnnews.com/2019/05/15/pothole-alert/ The huge hole was not on City property, but it is in the Empire TIF district. The hole is north of McDonald’s on Empire. The pic below shows part of the TIF: The TIF was started in February of 2016. As of 4/30/18 the TIF had only […]
