By: Diane Benjamin
The far left are the only voices being heard by the Council. Policy is therefore being run by them because few regular citizens bother to call in for public comment. There was another line of leftists that thought they would get a Welcoming Ordinance when that wasn’t what Donna Boelen’s initiative was. The Council did vote to move it forward with Jeff Crabill and Jenn Carrillo voting no because it doesn’t outlaw interaction with ICE.
Crabill’s initiative to stop utility shut offs also moved forward with some qualified support. Congrats to renters, you may soon be able to live free of rent and utilities forever. Meanwhile the apartment owners don’t have funds to pay the mortgage and utilities may have to charge everybody else more to make up for those that don’t pay for services. I think societies have a name for that type of government. Guess.
The library presentation starts at 27:00
The estimated cost:
I don’t remember hearing a word about increasing space for books. The new building will provide 3 meeting rooms that can be re-jigged to make one large meeting room that seats 300. More computer space will be available. A gaming area for kids will be included. They think changing the Olive street facade will connect the library to downtown:
Other pics:
Listen to the presentation because you will be paying for it. Pictures of the inside changes are included. The library will be completely rebuilt over an estimated 18 months. Detailed plans are up next, $750,000.
One note: They want to host traveling exhibits like dinosaurs. What is the Coliseum for? It isn’t being used for much else!
The rough estimate is the owner of a $165,000 house will pay $20 more a year.
Keep in mind that is in addition to the increases all other taxing bodies tac on your property tax bill.
One more note:
Nikita Richards got promoted to Community Relations Manager.
This is ridiculous! Let’s look at the unintended consequences of the rhetoric and policies coming from Bloomington’s “Squad”. First, the dominance of social justice issues, regardless of one’s opinion, distracts from tackling the real systemic issues that face Bloomington, which have been exacerbated by COVID. Chief among them, a declining economy, overreliance on a single employer, and the failed recognization of technological disruption. Second, a so-called “Welcome Ordinance” that blocks local police from cooperating with ICE puts citizens at risk and elevates political talking points above public safety. Perhaps it might surprise our liberal friends what ICE investigates. Only about 1/3 of their budget is spent on immigration enforcement, the remainder is dedicated to fighting human trafficking, child exploitation, international crime, military-arms proliferation, and other serious organized, transnational criminal activity. Third, the unintended consequence of suspended utility shutoff is that it will incentivize people not to pay. Landlords will then make utilities separate from rent, putting the utility companies on the hook to deal with non-payers. If they find a way to put the burden back on the landlord you can expect a declining product, as the landlord is not going to invest in renovating his/her properties if margins are thinned. Over an extended period of time, this can lead to blighted neighborhoods. This is already true of rent control apartments where the landlords make so little money, they have little to put back into the building outside of emergency fixes. Fourth, a new library is quite possibly the dumbest use of taxpayer money in recent memory. (Lots of competition for that prize, I know.) Libraries across the country have seen dramatic declines in circulation, visitors (despite favorable scorekeeping), and interest. Even a tech-focused library is not going to draw in many people to use computers and other media that are already in the home or readily available. The idea that the “new library of the future” is about gathering and meeting locations is a weak attempt to stay relevant and justify one’s existence. Plenty of private-sector options already exist. Not to mention, the universities have classrooms and meeting spaces already available for rent in addition to classes offered for all sorts of interests and age groups. Good luck to the next mayor, he/she will need it!
A new library should be a joint project with the Normal. It makes no sense for both towns to build new libraries.
I love to see the smiles on the communists’ faces, they have no idea what surprises are coming down the pike in our Republic. Which by extension includes this community.
They sure love spending other peoples money.
This City owns a ton of public space beyond your normal government meetings, even in Downtown (Coliseum, BCPA), on Veteran’s Parkway and out at Miller Park. This seems like another opportunity to build something we do not have a need for while ignoring essential needs – roads and water/sewer.