By: Diane Benjamin
I FOIA’d the City of Bloomington for communication about the John Butler/CIAM case. That FOIA I have, I also FOIA’d the County. I haven’t received that one yet.
I found some interesting emails, the City was thrilled the case was over. I’m not thrilled because no one employed or representing the citizens of Bloomington was ever held accountable.
Note to Tim Gleason: The issues with the Coliseum will never be over until it’s paid off, the Sales Tax decreased, and the place is demolished!
What I didn’t know (or forgot) was Butler had a civil case against the City. The plea agreement on the criminal charges included dropping the civil suit.
What is really interesting is how it was done. The emails say the Council had to approve dismissing the charges. This is where it got fun – took me awhile to find.
On the agenda for the August 24, 2020 Council meeting there was a vague reference: http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=14&ID=1087&Inline=True
Note: Item 16 is AFTER an Executive Session. Normally no votes happen after an Executive Session, this is the only time I can remember it happening. Note too the vague description that says nothing other than a case number.
If Scott Black hadn’t made a motion describing the action I would not have know they were voting to dismiss the civil case. The vote was unanimous. Just hit play to hear Black and the vote:
I’ve got much more to read, stay tuned.
Is there any culpability by the Council members, or whomever put the item on the agenda in a manner to conceal its purpose? They lied, my opinion.
Doubtful, prosecutors are hard to find,
What if City just sells it?
Maybe somebody would take it for $1
Do you think Council would do that?
It has to be paid off first.
Still 22M – no private entity would ever pay that…