By: Diane Benjamin
Below are a few notes from the Normal Town Council meeting. The bigger points will be in the second story today.
- The minutes from the last meeting where the activists were allowed to speak at the beginning of the meeting do not reflect Stan Nord made a motion to waive the rules. Chris Koos claimed he didn’t remember a motion, he said it was an informal vote and therefore didn’t need to be stated in the minutes. See the minutes in the packet: https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4097
- The Children’s Discovery Museum already had cameras, the almost $18,000 cost for new cameras isn’t charged to the CDM because the Town doesn’t want to. That would make it too easy to see what the building is actually costing taxpayers.
- One agenda item called for eliminating scheduled Liquor Commission meetings if no business was before the commission. Stan Nord brought up Public Comment and making people wait until the end of a regular meeting to speak. See Koos’ comment below, yes it is the Council’s fault if people have to wait hours to speak. The Council can fix it!
The comedy award for the night goes to Chemberly Cummings. She has a BA in Political Science, her comment means either the school she went to in Ohio is worthless or she skipped the classes on representative government.
The topic was appointments to Boards and Commission. Normal doesn’t tell the public in advance who Koos wants to appoint, he has now changed the procedure to announcing the names before a vote. It used to be a secret until after the vote. Stan Nord asked when the public found out who Koos wanted to appointed, the answer of course was right then.
In this video Cummings claimed to be using her degree to tell Stan he is wrong. Chemberly stated Koos gets anybody he wants and the Council is not allowed to object. Chemberly proves what we all know: The Council is immaterial. I wonder why she thinks the Council votes on appointments if the vote is meaningless? Chemberly?
The mayor and council members have always been authoritarians. They got elected by hiding it. Stan exposes it at every meeting.
Chemberly is dead wrong. Per the town’s own code, the council is required to approve all appointments. See section 2.3-1: “the Town Council, with the President of the Town, shall jointly make the appointment of all appointive members of Boards and Commissions as required by State Statute and as provided for in this Code.”
http://normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/7696/Chapter-02—Officers-Elected-and-Appointed?bidId=
Also, throughout section 10 on Boards and Commissions there is similar language for each commission listed.
In a process akin to Supreme Court appointments, the mayor can select on his own, but nominees must get council approval. It is a lack of transparency to withhold a name and thus prevent an opportunity for public comment.
chemberly is an idiot
I propose public comment before the meeting to inform the counsel how the public feels before they deal with the public’s business. Then after to inform the counsel how the public feels about how they just dealt with the public’s business.
411 : a bachelors degree in poli sci even from a Div 1 research University is near worthless. literally ANYONE can get this degree from a 3rd or 4th tier college provided they are comfortable w 30 years of un repayable student debt. #MemeDegree
C.C. proving once again that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.
I called it about the minutes from the last meeting. Koos is a liar and Preston who seconded Nord’s motion is a coward. Koos answers to No One…this is a problem in a representative government, which clearly no one except Stan understands. This is going to come back around, just wait. Another big group will attend a Normal Town Council and Nord will make a motion. Koos and his loyal servants (Smith, Lorenz, McCarthy, Preston, and Cummings) will sit silent so that group has to wait until the end. It’s illegal to bet in Normal or I would bet a hundred bucks that Preston got spanked after the meeting 2 weeks ago.
One more point I just have to make. McCarthy’s love affair with Koos is vomit worthy. I can’t believe the sheer joy little Kevin gets from being allowed to read the appointments made by Koos. He really thinks he’s something special.
I can’t remember the guys name that was appointed but his involvement in the “renewable WIND energy” scams as a consultant tells me all I need to know. Hold on to your pocket books Normal your about to get robbed. When Koos appoints someone like that I guarantee it’s not for the benefit of your average citizen. It’s politics and money.
Maybe Kathy can get the Royal Fortress straightened out. Kathy did after all, go to Purdue. If you don’t believe me, just ask Kathy. She likes to point that out if you ever question her judgment on anything. I believe the Royal Fortress went to Central State in Ohio. Doesn’t do much for me.
People that overspent on their education have a similar affliction. In most circles its called having a huge inferiority complex. If she brings it up again, ask her how she is using her Big Ten degree these days? The guy that just sold me my Leaf Filter gutter guards went to Purdue as well. The value of an education and where you got it is in the eyes of the beholder I guess.