By: Diane Benjamin
Many of the locally elected aldermen and trustees are inflicted with the same disease. They believe everything they are told instead of looking at facts for themselves. They weren’t elected to represent government staff, they should be representing the people. There were two glaring examples during the Town of Normal meeting last Monday.
The first one was Karyn Smith. She allowed the Town attorney to convince her Pritzker spewings are law. See this story: https://blnnews.com/2020/12/08/normal-isnt-shutting-down-businesses-for-violations/
Karyn: This one is easy. Name all laws that can’t be prosecuted unless locals pass an ordinance. That would be zero. The Town of Normal wants to create a law to punish small businesses that are merely trying to survive. If you want to vote for that you will be a one term trustee.
The second example was the sanctimonious Kathleen Lorenz. See 1:35:52. Her comments were made at the end of the meeting when trustees can say anything they want. Her sermon (including a Veggie Tales episode) was full of syrupy sweetness and total untruths. She obviously got her facts from those trying to hide truth. She didn’t bother to find out for herself what is really going on with the water in Normal.
I filed a FOIA request for communication concerning the quality of water in Normal. The Town extended the FOIA because they have to review over 1300 pages. I could have narrowed the FOIA but decided against it. Maybe the area in question isn’t the only problem.
I first became aware of problems because Marc Tiritilli (Normal’s next mayor) posted details on Faceboook, see this story: https://blnnews.com/2020/12/02/facebook-post-from-marc-tiritilli-for-mayor-of-normal/
Lorenz doesn’t want to see Marc as mayor, so her sermon was meant to call him a liar. He isn’t. If Kathleen had bothered to find facts for herself she would know that. The FOIA request will confirm, but it was easy to actually talk to the people involved. I did – 2 different homeowners.
The problem has been happening sporadically for two years and recently got worse when the Town tried to mitigate it because of Marc’s post. One person involved started calling the Town very early this year after she bought her house in January. The third time she called she asked for a supervisor and got one. While on the phone the Normal employee pulled up her address and started talking about “As I told you last year . . “. She informed him she just bought the house and didn’t talk to him last year – 2019. Ding Ding Ding! 2019 Kathleen. Is a phone call to a resident too difficult? It likely took you longer to write your sermon calling Marc’s comment a rumor than it would have to call.
I was told everyone at the Town was very nice and concerned but the problem was not fixed. Little happened to fix the water UNTIL Marc’s post. Lorenz didn’t bother to find out real facts. If she wants to believe everything she is told she will continue to miss what is REAL.
In Bloomington citizens can contact their alderman, in Normal they can’t. Every Trustee is elected at large so no one is responsible for assisting citizens. It is way past time to create Wards in Normal so trustees can be held accountable when they don’t do what they are elected to do.
I’ve got two phone numbers Kathleen. One resident has many more phone numbers. If you want the truth I will send them to you. When I receive the FOIA I will prove even Chris Koos knew months ago about the problems. Koos let you blather without throwing out that fact. Ask him why Kathleen!
Instead of fixing the water problems the council voted to run water to Rivian when they already get water from Bloomington. It looks like Normal just wants to steal Bloomington’s water bills at taxpayer expense instead of providing good service to Normal citizens. See Marc’s post, replacing the bad water main was not recommended while Rivian was deemed critical.
These people pay for water suitable for drinking and water that doesn’t destroy their clothes in the wash, they deserve better. I expect you to apologize at the next meeting Kathleen.
I think it is funny that they still hold out hope that their car maker is going to actually make vehicles and will therefore need water!
It is almost as funny as spending 100 million dollars on the Uptown ISU marketing plan and then watching your investment become worthless as ISU and higher education declines across the country!
It’s almost like Koos and Company are not very smart? But they do seem to be really good at doubling down on stupid…
Amazing! $100 million for empty restaurants, bars, hotel/conference center, and trinket shops. Let’s face it, even if Uptown had zero vacancies and COVID never happened they’d still be bleeding money. How stupid can Koos and his buddies be?! Let’s spend $100 million in taxpayer money to build up low skill jobs, low margin, overly saturated, and/or capital intensive businesses. Pathetic.
Before the Age of Information, I could see how Mayor Koos and Company could have “missed” a few things that were happening in the world and not understand the changes coming to our entire economy.
Anyone with a internet connection and some time could have told Mr. Koos, that the Uptown thing was a loser waiting to happen.
But then leftists seem to like being in news and information silos. Being in an information silo limits what you know and the options you think you have.
Take our most recent election: The left thought that the Dominion voting machine algorithm would switch enough votes to swing the election to Biden. They believed their polls and propaganda on the number of Deplorables. They saw only what the “left” was reporting on not the fact that Millions of Americans were supporting the president. When the algorithm didn’t switch enough votes, they had to switch to the mail-in “stuff the ballot box” backup plan. And now they have been caught red handed trying to steal a national election.
So if you are going to do bad things or things that are not in the interest of the people, you should at least be smart enough to know if what you are doing makes any sense (or is legal).
So Koos and Renner and the Democratic left all don’t know what they don’t know. Herein lies the problem; all of us know what they don’t know and we are tired of their waste, corruption, stupidity, ineptitude and mismanagement of our government.
Normal needs a manager not a decorator.
Normalites pay the town manager over $237,000 a year – for that they get brown water. Pam must have received her water management training from the city of Flint MI. Normal should find someone capable of supplying clean water.
To give Pam credit the Christmas lights and decorations in Uptown look great!
The Water Department wanted to do the right thing. The budget and community investment plan failed them.
Lorenz stands for nothing. She has no independent thoughts or real convictions of her own and is nothing more than an establishment drone. If Koos and Reece told her the sky was mint green, she would say the sky is mint green. She lives in the local Chamber of Commerce and Kiwanis bubble, talking with the same 20-30 people that, like her, are completely disconnected from the outside world. They regurgitate the same bromides about having a diverse commercial base, educated workforce, great quality of life, and that BN is a “destination” city. She and most of her sounding board wouldn’t last more than two weeks in another city outside of BN.
What would it take to change Normal council members to be elected by district?
Referendum probably
New mayor and no incumbent council members winning will be 1st step.
This is NOT a “johnny come lately” thing. uptown has done WAY STOOPID shit for a VERY LONG time, but they were able to get away with it, as they did it in small amounts and in sectors that most people ignored (ie: Ironwood golf course) ..
NOW, that the economy has taken a blip and uptown has basically RUINED their infrastructure (and for GOD knows what for) koos and his idiot minions find themselves in a MAJOR pile of deep doo doo. Now, they will just blame covid and other such “diversions” but how can they REALLY explain taking a nice small town and putting it $100 MILLION in debt and making them the laughing stock of ANY intelligent person..
WHO made out. ALL the consultants that sold them this bag of doo doo and then ran to the bank. Nothing more or less. l
And the even MORE STOOPID rent on #1 uptown mudbog don’t help
And HOW IN THE HECK do you F*** UP well water?? These ARE questions that NEED to be addressed and NOT shutting down 1/4 capacity eating establishments. JUST another case of their priorities being viewed from the head up the rectum syndrome..