By: Diane Benjamin
Bloomington Council last night:
Public comment started at 25:50. The first two speakers wanted to slow down the cannabis discussions. The 3rd speaker was in favor of hiring a consultant for historic preservation. 4th was a frequent pot user and Renner supporter. When he started to abuse aldermen who don’t want cannabis sales, Tari did little to stop him. That did come up in alderman comments at the end of the meeting.
The next speaker wanted the cannabis sales and the revenue. The entire cannabis discussion has devolved into what the City can do with the tax money. (Funding pensions isn’t one of them) A repeat citizen who relies on cannabis for his health was next. Again, revenue. He is someone who thinks the black market will disappear if cannabis is sold in government approved locations.
Next was an addiction therapist. She claims 25% of the adult population locally uses cannabis. Next was another cannabis supporter. One item of note: the supporters mostly had weight problems. As the first guy pointed out, sales of muchies will increase once cannabis is legal.
Another lady appeared next also supporting cannabis sales since liquor is available. She is also a medical user. The final speaker was back again about the roads and leaves in the streets. He also mentioned lack of ADA compliance with the sidewalks.
Between Public Comment, police recognitions, and beautification awards, the real meeting didn’t start until 53:30.
Many items were pulled from the Consent Agenda: D, E, F, G, H, K http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=14&ID=1044&Inline=True
54:35 Carrillo pulled the same item she pulled last week for research into buying local. Funding sources required accepting the lowest bid which wasn’t local. If Jenn wants “buy local”, she should look at legal.
57:30 To save the planet from Climate Change, Crabill wants alternative fuels and technology to prevent idling wasting fuel. (Jeff’s socialism side was showing here! Whatever the cost – it is worth it. I wonder what plans he has to stop volcanoes)
59:50 Crabill again. Since H&H Landscaping went out of business, staff will take over mowing for the rest of the year. Both Jeff and Tim Gleason claimed they couldn’t find other local alternatives. I know a contractor contacted the City about this item. Evidently he was ignored.
1:02:15 Crabill is upset about the chemicals purchased for golf courses. He investigated alternatives himself and is urging the city to pursue it. Gleason claimed staff is looking at it.
1:06:30 Crabill again. He claims he has heard complaints about the developer of the old Mr. Quick property on Washington. Mathy chimed in to make sure this pizza establishment with video gaming wasn’t crossing the line with “gaming” in the new name. Since only a site plan was on the agenda it was approved after extensive conversation. Currently the City ordinances don’t prohibit “gaming” in the name.
1:18:50 Donna Boelen pulled the library tractor purchase. Since no pictures or description was included in the packet, Donna wondered what they were buying. It is a bobcat type tractor used just for sidewalks. The City clears snow from the parking lot.
1:21:10
Tari wants Aldermen to ask questions in advance instead of pulling items from the Consent Agenda. He claims they spent the “better part of an hour” on these items.
Actually it was closer to 1/2 an hour Tari. Contrary to your beliefs, Alderman represent the people who elected them, not you, staff, or the City.
More when they finally got to the Regular Agenda next.
“She claims 25% of the adult population locally uses cannabis.” So……separating out the few hundred legal, so- called medical marijuana users, she is claiming that almost 1/4 of the BLN population are CRIMINALS, based on just this ONE offense category? (Not counting illegals, welfare cheats, public drunks, home burglars, rapists, murders, etc)?
That should absolutely terrify EVERY decent, law abiding citizen, and confirm the absolute necessity of firearms ownership and training.
Essentially, the City Council and the task farce (er, I mean…force) are in the process of ruining an opportunity for additional tax revenue on purchased goods. They seem to be focused on how “best” to spend money that they don’t yet have. Nationwide, states and cities have vastly over-estimated tax revenue from licensed cannabis, have enraged law-abiding cannabis business owners that go through cumbersome regulatory processes, delaying licensing, and failing to enforce rules against the unscrupulous players that don’t follow the state and local regulatory process. Not to mention, politicians think that they can get away with slapping high taxes on cannbis-related goods. (This has led to the black market sticking around.) I’m concerned that Tari, Jenn, Crabs, and the gang are so gitty over how to spend the tax revenue (hint: pet projects and agendas) that they are not thinking this through. I’m 100% for legalization, so no hidden agenda here. However, I believe it’s critically important that so many things be done correctly right out of the gate. So far, all I see are dollar signs in the eyes of our so-called local leaders.
See recent 60 Minutes piece on marijuana legalization in California. You can Google it and is about fourteen minutes in length. Spoiler alert: government gets it wrong on everything about legalization again.
It would be WONDERFUL if the MAYOR and council put as MUCH time into fixing streets and infrastructure and lowering taxes/spending less money then they do worrying about spending money from cannabis sales which haven’t EVEN STARTED YET nor are they even guaranteed that they’ll get a dispensary. In which case this ALL would be a waste of time! Just MORE government waste…
Good article except the reference to supporters weight. It is anecdotal evidence and stereotyping. Most medicinal users I know do not experience “munchies” or weight gain. When used properly it can help with weight loss.
Haven’t seen Aaron in a long time. Now we know where he’s been, buying pot in Colorado! Thanks Illinois for welcoming back,
Sometimes I wonder how we end up with these people on Council. After watching a lot of public comment speaker I now know why. Thanks Jenn for bringing your people to the meeting.
Good people refuse to run!
👍
The Council meetings are an embarrassment for the City. The Mayor fails in his role to conduct a respectful meeting. He shows up in clothes that look like he slept in them. Jenn is a bully, attacking fellow Aldermen, and proliferating her hate on Social media in an attempt to intimidate and disparage the voices of reason. Mathy is in favor of cannabis sales but wants “prohibition by zoning” by expanding the distances from schools and churches…Ward 1, NIMBY. The Task Force was a waste of time and has prevented the opportunity to have various community groups and experts speak in front of the Council. There are still no meeting minutes from the Task Force posted on the City website even though the agenda states the minutes were “approved.” Transparency? OMA failure?
Also, notice that Carillo leaves her microphone light on just like the Mayor. None of the other Council members do that. The other members wait their turn to talk…sometimes given very little opportunity to do so because the allotted time has expired.
Why is a time limit set anyway?
Mayor & CM set the agenda. I suppose the time limits are set to prevent lengthy meetings. 15-minute discussion for 9 Council Members doesn’t seem adequate especially when certain people monopolize the discussion with 6-10 minute tirades.