By: Diane Benjamin
Background:
If you’ve ever watched a Normal Town Council meeting you know Chris Koos, Pam Reece, and most of the Council don’t appreciate Stan Nord representing citizens. The formerly 10 minute meetings with your elected officials never questioning anything are over.
The emails below reveal how City Manager Pam Reece feels. She doesn’t want questioned and she really doesn’t want the “professions staff” questioned. If you’ve been reading for awhile you know the “professional staff” should be questioned.
These emails are from April. Nord is wondering why decisions shutting down Normal’s economy were made by Koos and Reece. The Town code says any executive orders by Koos do not last over 6 days. The Council has still not been allowed to discuss any aspect that is devastating local businesses – except for the mayor’s that never closed.
The emails I received by FOIA start after Koos made another proclamation banning door-to-door sales. Take your time reading, these emails eventually end in Pam Reece saying what she will never say in public. Stan wouldn’t be questioning anything if he hadn’t found a long list of problems – including Reece paying property taxes the Town doesn’t owe and below market rents and sales to friends while taxes and fees constantly increase.
I saw no responses from the rest of the Council. My FOIA my not have covered them however. Stan has been told his role is like being on the Board of Directors. Well folks, who gets blamed if a company fails? Hint: It isn’t the “professional staff”.
We have here the liberal hive mind against an intelligent conservative. Keeping power and protecting the hive is all they care about.
Nothing will change until Pam and crew have been shown the door or arrested for some kind of corruption or criminal activity.
Just curious, are Pam Reece and JB Pritzsker clones? As a non functioning entity, the council could be eliminated, unless their microphones are replaced with more appropriate pom poms. HOW DID SHE GET THIS POWER? The lack of concern for citizenry and government accountability is UNDERWHELMING. Sad sad sad.
How did she get the power? Her mother-in-law and long time council member Sonja who also got her a job with the Town in the first place.
How did she get so powerful? Her mom in law willed it to her . Sonia was always queen of the realm
So just to be clear…Pam sent that email about her Stan questioning her authority to all council members except Stan? Am I reading that correctly?
Yes, you read the right!
That is unacceptable. As a councilman, Stan not only deserves but he has the right to ALL correspondence within the Town Council as he was elected to serve the people. Intentionally omitting him is wrong and those who are playing the good old boy politics need to be confronted. For the citizens of Normal, you elected an honest and forthright person. I cannot imagine what would happen secretly within the powers of the Town of Normal if Stan wasn’t a councilman. Keep all of us informed.
FOIA has been filed for responses to her email.
I still don’t understand the city manager position. To me, city manager is a job duty of the mayor. I always thought the mayor of a city was elected to “manage” the city, not hire someone to do it for him.
It sounds to me like it’s about time someone calls out her unprofessional conduct in a public comment at a council meeting, with appropriate supporting emails in hand.
She won’t want to work for Mayor Marc Tirititlli – voters need to make that happen. Her job is to work as the Council directs. In Normal the Council doesn’t have a say.
Both municipalities have a “city manager form of government.” The concept is for an on-site manager to run daily operations for said municipality while the mayor functions as a part-time overseer of municipal concerns or as it were a elected representative of the community to make sure staff are implementing the council’s policies and normal municipal services. The managers bosses are basically the council and mayor. Staff can suggest policy but cannot establish it. In a real representative form of government, the public should have the say on all policy through their elected representation. In Normal, the mayor has a vote on policy but has no more power than a council member on creating policy. The real job of the mayor is to represent the community as a whole on a variety of issues but mainly to function as the chair during council meetings. It is really suppose to be no more than that. In Bloomington, the mayor doesn’t even have a vote on council matters unless it is to break a tie vote. Both positions through the years have basically been redefined by the people that have held them.
BINGO, JT. You’re not the only one who feels this way. I resent her being at the dias along with her assistant and city attorney Brian Day. All non elected big government control freaks who are destroying this community one council meeting at a time.
The council historic rubber stamps whatever the town manager wants, be it Reece or Peterson. It is expected if you get elected you do not rock the boat and you follow the “agenda” or “script”. Remember the night Nord was elected Koos was on TV saying he would “get Nord in line”.
Epic fail!
Not sure how old her majesty Queen Pamela is, but I think she’s in her mid ’50’s. Mark Peterson retired at age 58 and now collects a $120,000 per year pension from the public trough. So, I doubt her majesty’s reign will be that much longer. If she’s got issues with Stan Nord imagine how will she feel about Mayor Marc? Early retirement looks to be in her near future. As far as I’m concerned she can’t go soon enough.
KInd of ironic when you look at the WHOLE picture. Pam has the “power” and speaks her piece, yet Mr Nord as an “underling” has sense enough to keep his thoughts to himself. Shows who has the maturity enough to be in government and who the “playground bully” is.
This, of course, is no surprise. Reece is taking over for Peterson as Koos’ political muscle. Bullying and keeping the Council in check (or fear). Not working on Stan. He’s to be applauded for standing up for himself and the taxpayers. Despite her claims, it’s clear that Reece is unwilling to accept criticism. Both her and Koos are not accustomed to being questioned or held accountable for their actions or proposals. It shows in their complete lack of empathy, resistance to hearing alternative ideas or viewpoints, and their childish tantrums.