By: Diane Benjamin
The Good News is by electing Karyn – RC McBride is no longer on the council!
The bad news is she must be a one term trustee if she continues to believe everything she is told instead of searching for truth herself. She was elected to represent the PEOPLE, not the Town.
Interesting points from the meeting:
4:00. Stan Nord asked what the purpose was for the 4 appraisals from this story: https://blnnews.com/2020/11/01/normal-squashing-transparency/
City Manager Pam Reece took the long route to saying they would be up for sale. The only reason is to slip Trail West by the Council before Koos and company get thrown out of office. We know only the “right fit” will be allowed to get them for $1.
4:50. Stan also asked about Midwest Fiber. Between the answers from Pam Reece, Wayne Aldrich, and later Karyn Smith – recycling no longer is profitable. Normal wants the County and Bloomington to pitch in money since citizens of both use the drop off boxes. Should I start throwing mine away? How much ends up in the landfill anyway?
7:00. Karen pulled the budget amendment for Midwest Fiber. There is a motion on the floor which normally means that motion is the only thing that can be discussed. Those would be the rules if Stan Nord had started the discussion. Every other Trustee would have jumped on him, including the mayor, if he had done what Karyn did at 9:15. She switched the discussion to leaf collection since Wayne Aldrich was on the call. That discussion went on for over 3 minutes. It should have been in trustee comments at the end of the meeting, not in the middle of a motion. Nobody said a word!
Stan Nord brought the discussion back to Midwest Fiber at 12:35. Stan mentioned the Town giving the drop boxes to Midwest Fiber and the last agreement was supposed to be a savings. 13:40 Wayne Aldrich talks about the formerly profitable recycling program. Stan again mentions the Town GAVE them dropboxes claiming they had zero value. Obviously they didn’t have zero value since Midwest Fiber is using them.
Stan wanted the transportation of recyclables bid out. He of course lost that argument.
The part this short meeting you need to see deserves it’s own story!
Stay tuned.
I stand by my earlier comments that Karyn was not a mistake. Even if one is not thrilled with her performance, we are better off than we would be otherwise, so she warrants thanks for running and for her service, regardless of whether or not she warrants a second term.
I’m more connected within Normal, obviously, but I have heard next to nothing about Bloomington candidates for next April’s elections. It’s easy to complain, especially from a keyboard – If you are serious about your complaints, DO Something!
* Support * Recruit * Be * Good Candidates!
It’s not too late, but it’s getting down to the wire…
Karyn Smith got elected because she was willing to stand up to Koos and his establishment. At some point she got summoned for an audience with the Queen (Pam Reece) that no doubt included Koos and probably Kevin McCarthy or Kathy Lorenz. That meeting ended with a group hug and now Karyn is in lockstep with them. This is how it works in Normal. Look at Jeff Fritzen.