By:  Diane Benjamin

http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=21959

Tari Renner’s list of proclamations will take longer than the business portion of the meeting.

Public Comment will be interesting because Citizens to Ensure Fair Transit will be back.  The Connect Transit budget is scheduled to take effect on July 1st with both towns having oversight.  It has yet to be discussed at a Council meeting in either town.

Here is proof government fails and why it must be limited.  It isn’t capable of rapid adjustment to changing conditions because the money they spend isn’t theirs.  They know where to get more.

Socialism fail:

The law requiring additional contributions to IMRF because of pension spiking was passed in Springfield and effective in 2012.  Former City Manager David Hales acted shocked when Emily Bell made the front page of the Chicago Tribune when she spiked her pension.  This story is from almost FOUR years ago:    https://blnnews.com/2015/08/26/imrf-what-did-hales-know-and-when/

As of April 2019, pension spiking has cost the taxpayers of Bloomington over $2.5 million and climbing.  https://blnnews.com/2019/04/05/2559595/

Last October the City Council finally passed an ordinance supporting all attempts to “ease” the cost.  That was 6 years after spiking started costing you money.

It’s now 7 years later, 3 more Union contracts are up for approval tonight.  All have a clause to limit the penalties after April of 2020.  That means employees can still spike, IMRF will be charging more penalties, and taxpayers will get the bill.

It could be much worse since long time employees will be flying for the door with spiked pensions before the deadline.  More spiking penalties will be coming, essential services will suffer because all those employees need to be replaced and new ones trained.

All the City had to do to avoid the penalties is change when payments for accumulated sick and vacations were paid.  Of course, just stopping that perk was never considered.

Socialism rewards those in power and their supporters.  It is why it fails every time it is tried.  It hurts everybody else.  Pension Spiking is the perfect example.

Even though most of the private sector discarded accumulating time off decades ago, government continues to allow it.  It will be EIGHT years in April 2020 to merely limit penalties.  Not all the spiking as done by union employees, we still don’t know if the policy has been changed for non-union.  This isn’t the first time since 2012 union contracts have been renegotiated.  It shouldn’t have taken this long to stop the penalties.

One more note:

Even though Alderman Donna Boelen was at the event unveiling the new west side mural yesterday, somehow she wasn’t included in the aldermen picture Tari Renner posted on his Facebook page:

Is Tari trying to make sure the public doesn’t know Donna is involved in community events?  Please explain Tari.

Look closer at the picture:

Maybe Tari should just carry a stool around to stand on for pictures.  He’s standing on his tippy-toes in every one.

Or, maybe he should get help liking himself as created.