By: Diane Benjamin
I hope the Normal citizens who never confront Koos and his bobbleheads were watching last night’s meeting. Passion shut down Chris Koos, Kevin McCarthy couldn’t even get a Point of Order recognized. More on that one later.
Last night I posted a screen shot showing how many citizens showed up, many: https://blnnews.com/2021/10/04/koos-and-crew-not-having-fun-tonight/
Although some Public Comments wandered off topic, the group came because the Town of Normal removed a tribute to Jelani Day that was never meant to be permanent. Many people are hurting because they don’t know what happened to this young man. They don’t know why his bright future no longer exists. Students don’t feel safe on campus.
We can’t possibly know how Jelani’s family feels, send your child off to graduate school and he never comes home? The “professional staff” removed the memorial in three days because the artist didn’t have a permit. Instead of showing compassion for the grieving scared students and Jelani’s family, compliance with rules is all that mattered.
Below is a screen shot from a Facebook video Stan Nord did last night. When the Town found out a group was coming, they displayed the art in the window of the building with the mural:
This art was originally mounted where a window or door was boarded up next to the mural. The weekend rains would have washed it off. Instead of respecting the feelings of the community Koos and company claim to represent, enforcing Town code was more important. City Manager Pam Reece was noticeably silent last night.
There were some really good comments last night, there were also some vulgar comments. The lady below (Ashley Daniels) did not sign up to speak, Koos allowed her to speak anyway. She did a great job conveying how many felt – all without any notes. You need to hear her:
There is much more to report, stay tuned.
Anybody still investigating who killed ISU student Jennifer Lockmiller in 1993? The Normal police sent the wrong guy to jail for more than a decade. https://truecrimediva.com/jennifer-lockmiller/
Jennifer has never received justice. Will Jelani?
Where are all the artsy fartsy Normal residents who want government to support the arts in Normal. Maybe they should take this outside the new Art Center on Vernon Avenue and see if it goes with their vision any better than it plays in uptown.
Normal claims to love ART and BLM. But their true colors show when ART and BLM interfere with the Uptown Agenda.
It appears to me the BLM crowd and the rank and file citizens of Normal have a common enemy. It is big government! It’s not serving anyone but the special interests that feed Uptown and the Sonja Reece types that inhabit it. The sewage in people’s houses is comparable to the insensitivity for human life Koos displayed to a grieving family and friends of a murdered ISU student. Their outpouring of grief interferes with Koos’ vision of Uptown Utopia. It’s endemic of his “let ’em eat cake attitude.” Maybe this time his chickens have finally come home to roost. We can hope, but I wouldn’t count on it.