By: Diane Benjamin
Two citizens mentioned the gift to Jeff Fritzen during public comment tonight.
Koos didn’t like being challenged so he decided to respond.
He claims he overlooked submitting the bill, that explains a lot mayor especially below market leases.
Koos also claimed he sold it to the Town at cost. Koos claimed no laws were broken.
One person mentioned the Town had a party for Fritzen. Stan Nord asked if the Town would refrain from gifts in the future.
Maybe it was legal, (seems doubtful) however the optics of it was horrendous.
Retirement gift for a council member, bought by taxpayer dollars from the mayor
This just proves if you are a yes man and submit to the Uptown agenda you will be rewarded with gifts paid for with tax dollars. Hell, he could have returned the bike and walked with the cash. This just reeks of corruption.
I am sure Koos looks at his mayor position the same way Blagovich did with Obama’s seat “This thing is fucking golden”
Can’t wait to retire so I can finally leave this cess pool. My kids have already said they will never come back because of the taxes here.
It is good that you and your family members are thinking this way and are taking action. Not only is this area and the state horrendously corrupt, there is also no future here. As long as the leftists have control, it will only quicken the demise of this once proud area and state. At the present rate, it will take only a decade or less to totally sink this area. The political and economic power is held by mental sickos that have no idea how to reserect an economy. There only concern is taking care of life’s losers and making every illegal drug legal.
Hey if my taxes paid for that bike, when can I borrow it for an upcoming week-end.
Koos says he sold it at cost? One: If 500 bucks is cost I’d hate to see what retail cost is. and TWO: News flash Koos, it does not make a dif if you sold it to the city for cost or full price it is still TAXPAYER money and against the rules!
We can probably expect a WGLT propaganda blitz from Koos in next few days blasting you, Diane for telling the truth!
Why would any town or company refrain from a retirement party and a gift in remembrance of their service? I don’t live in Normal but forsee this to be a SOP for someone who has retired after years of service to the community!
Here’s the problem: Most have the idea their intellect makes them superior to the people, therefore they deserve a party. Others serve and know they are there to represent the people paying the bills. They don’t want to go to galas or be showered with gifts when they leave. It’s also why Normal is buried in debt and planning for more.
Tammy, I had to look up in the dictionary for a definition of SOP. Call me stupid for that, but here’s what I found: “A thing given or done as a concession of no great value to appease someone whose main concerns or demands are not being met.”
Anybody see a problem?
@Six Pack – Very amusing that your misinterpretation seems applicable anyway!
SOP in this case is an abbreviation for Standard Operating Procedure.
(Unless you knew that and were just being funny, in which case kudos on the word play!)
@KarlSila – sop is also “a piece of bread dipped in gravy, soup, or sauce.”
You can do your own word play with that one.
Public service is different from private enterprise. As one citizen speaker said last night, posting a a plaque someplace in city hall thanking him for his service could certainly be rationalized; for something bigger, take up a collection to show Real appreciation rather than just a willingness to spend taxpayer money.
I used to be on the library board. Their traditional ‘retirement gift’ was you could take a book with you, and you could pick a book that they would add to their collection. (And you had dibs to check it out first if you wanted.) Very appropriate, minimal expense, and nearly impossible to abuse. if you were a long-standing member, you might also get a plaque.
If you’re there for public service, you don’t want more from the taxpayers. If you’re there as a job, it just is what it is. If you’re there for ego or self-enrichment, then the more and bigger gifts the better!
So we can blame this on Koos’ accounting procedures. That says a lot.
Does the town have any policies about timely submission of bills for reimbursements? This thing looks worse by the minute. I assume they gave this to Fritzen last year when he finally stepped down. Now we’re getting around to having Koos turn in the bill? Not good!
As pointed out by another whether Koos made a profit or not is immaterial. The process (illegal) used to make this purchase is at question. If he felt so strongly that a gift was warranted he should have paid for it out of his own pocket. It also says volumes about him being a “right fit” for the job if he can’t remember to submit bills in a timely manner. If he wants to unilaterallylly praise someone for his/her service, a mayoral proclamation is more fitting than deciding to spend the taxpayer’s money on a gift from himself.
Welcome to life in Illinois. That said, a few observations
1. Koos blames this on his sloppy accounting procedures. No further comment
2. The gift to Fritzen cost Koos nothing and cost the taxpayers everything
3. The big agenda item last night was Pam Reece’s $500,000 slush fund. Don’t like purchases like this one, look no further than her discretionary fund she has for the next fiscal year to flush down the toilet
4. Anyone whose ever worked for a business where you had to have submit receipts for reimbursement knows that there’s a timeframe / deadline you have to follow. This is certainly well over that timeframe, but since the Council has already violated other rules with this purchase why not blow deadlines too?
5. These people have absolutely no regard for tax payer dollars. We all know this is small potatoes in the town budget.
6. The item is already paid for before the Council even votes. This just highlights the rubber stamp Council we have and if you fall in line, you’ll be rewarded with a nice gift.
Too bad Koos don’t own a jewelry store, then he could have given him a WATCH for retirement, as is the tradition.