By: Diane Benjamin
The Normal Town Council held a special meeting last night to address the COVID outbreak around campus.
Guess what!
Protests are exempt from regulations so as not to trample on the 1st Amendment. Funny how Normal has no problem trampling on YOUR rights under the 1st Amendment:
…to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
If it isn’t on the agenda you can’t participate in Public Comment.
If some Normal official claims you are violating COVID regulations, just claim you are protesting.
Chris Koos refused to explain why he did the previous 10 edicts without input from Council, but these two are different. Koos ruled Stan’s questions “not germane”. The Town lawyer was not allowed to explain either, even though his JOB is to advise Town officials – not just Koos. http://normal.org/178/Legal
Stan voted against both ordinances because the Health Department wasn’t consulted on either. The wording is sketchy at best and doesn’t designate who is going to enforce anything. One gives somebody (don’t know who) permission to review video from private establishments making “fishing” for non-compliance possible. Think vindictive actions won’t happen?
Chemberly Cummings only appeared to be awake when Kathleen Lorenz or Kevin McCarthy attempted to vilify Stan for not supporting the edicts. Cummings would be perfect for Mike Madigan’s Springfield – she never says anything and always votes the way she is expected.
Public comment was painful because of meeting on line. Technology does not lend itself to anything other than “Can you hear me” and “Are you there?”. 3 people spoke, two were in favor one against.
Watch if you want, but it’s an hour and 10 minutes you will never get back. Stan Nord did his usual Council recap video on Facebook, watch it for a shorter version of what happened. He is obviously frustrated at being the only voice of reason. He needs 3 more thinking people to win next April or the circus will just continue.
How convenient! Just in time for the protest against “ALL REDBIRD LIVES MATTER” Plus, I guess ISU join the anti Trump band wagon by ignoring the President’s Executive Order on “Tax Deferral”. Yey! Go you Redbirds.
I don’t doubt much of the ISU faculty and administration are anti-Trump, but as a guy who works in systems and has an accounting background, their explanation for not participating in the tax deferral plan made sense to me. Short notice changes like this are easy for a mom-n-pop shop – just subtract one less number (or don’t add it into the total subtractions). With bigger more complex systems it takes more work, more testing and validation, etc. Combine this with the fact that most ISU employees are and have been getting their usual paychecks so don’t need the temporary extra boost to get by, and it just didn’t make sense for ISU.
So, we pick and choose what we follow? It’s ok if I don’t show up tomorrow at work at ISU because I was offended that ISU is bending over backwards for individuals who were “threatened” with a benign statement that “ALL REDBIRD LIVES MATTER”. If the protesting “Athletes” want to be taken seriously maybe they should forego their NCAA eligibility and surrender any or ALL their scholarship entitlements. Parking at least notifies me and gives me options when some “unforeseen” project happens that may impede parking around campus. Was it inconvenient to send an individualized letter to each ISU employee explaining and itemizing what the “deferral would actually mean to their paycheck”? If Pres. Dietz can send an email claiming he speaks for the ENTIRE university and encourages ISU employees to participate in a BLM rally, why wasn’t there any thought given on how ignoring an Executive Order from the executive branch of the Federal Government might be perceive by its employees and the community at large? I can go on and on how ISU is being extremely accommodating for certain ideology but dismisses others. And by the way, since you are “in the know” was IDOT’s Motorcycle Safety Course really causing a financial strain that ISU can no longer support it or was it something else?
No need to get hostile, we are generally on the same side. But Trump isn’t Always right, and ISU admin isn’t Always wrong. One needs to look at the individual cases, not just the generalities or one’s biases. Implementing this particular order just didn’t make the cost-benefit-analysis cut, nothing nefarious about that.
It was a power grab making it look like what they passed matters
FUBAR
HAHAHA!! Sorry Stan, getting 3 more THINKING people in uptown? You have a better chance of shooting down a UFO with a bird rifle!
After reading the last several posts, ESPECIALLY the Route 66 “museum” I have come to the conclusion that uptown is run by freaks and clowns, EXCEPT for Stan.
Koos NEEDS to GO! And put Pam under his arm when he does!!