By: Diane Benjamin
Received by FOIA:
Below is part of an email City Manager Pam Reece sent to the Normal Town Council on November 21st:
Yes, they are spending your money with consultants.
Below is Stan Nord’s response on November 22nd, I’m not posting the entire email because it covers 4 other things too.
Once again, the Council doesn’t set the agenda. If Normal could abolish elections they would.
There is their world and then there is reality. It looks like insanity to me from people who could care less about what anyone thinks. The taxpayers and fiscal sanity be damned… onward with Uptown 2.0, a bike underpass and a sports complex.
Dear Town of Normal residents:
Why are you not up-in-arms about how your leadership is leading, how your leadership is acting, how your leadership is governing, how your leadership is ignoring you and how your leadership is mortgaging your future to build their downtown Uptown dream in the sky?
The main reason the stupid sports complex won’t die in Normal is because of the Parks and Rec Director Doug Damery. He wants a legacy project to hang his hat on. He’s never been much for the parks aspect of his job, he like’s the rec aspect more. This is his big project and he wants it bad.
It does appear that way. That said, Koos is probably just as enthusiastic since it might have his name on it someday. The CVB along with the Sports Commission are still attending clandestine meetings about town in continued support.
Keep in mind that Council Member Kathleen Lorenz is on the board of both the CVB and the Sports Commission. Need I say more?
And THIS surprises ANYONE? I knew the local governments were insane when we were told the Coliseum,which no one but the councils wanted said it wouldnt cost one thin dime!
This would explain the seemingly-completely-out-of-character ‘community summit’ the mayor and friends recently held:
1. Start with one or more-fiscally-irresponsible-than-usual, more-unpopular-than-usual projects that they’ve decided they’re going to do anyway.
2. Hire a consultant to give it a veneer of credibility
3. Have an event with a sounds like-we-care-what-the-public-thinks title
4. Declare it to be by invitation only
5. Make sure the majority of the invitations go to supporters who have been coached with talking points and desired outcomes
5. Discourage real public input by telling the general public they’ll be ignored, holding it during the holiday season when ‘real people’ are likely to be busy, and providing only the minimum publicity and advance notice required by law.
6. Make sure the input is steered by a ‘facilitator’ presenting leading questions
7. Declare a clear consensus in favor of what they were going to do anyway.
.. and Voila! – an uptown underpass and a sports complex!
Thst is exactly right Karl.