By: Diane Benjamin
Remember the year around (cough cough) fitness court the Normal Council voted to proceed with? https://blnnews.com/2022/01/06/conflict-of-interest-by-mccarthy-sure-looks-like-it/
Scott Preston appears to have only voted YES because he was told the National Fitness Challenge is a nonprofit. Just hit play below to hear Pam Reece state it “appears” they are a nonprofit, then Scott Preston comments. Scott is followed by Chris Chris reading a statement that I could not find in the Council packet stating they are a non profit:
Since Karyn Smith did not attend this meeting, proceeding would have failed if Preston had voted NO. Instead the Town of Normal is moving forward.
Here’s the problem: Previous stories have shown this company is not a nonprofit registered in California. In fact they aren’t a nonprofit at all. That can be verified by an email exchange Stan Nord had with the company, he asked them directly since nobody at the Town wanted the truth:
Response from National Fitness Challenge:
In case that email is hard to read, see a blown up version of the highlighted section:
Stan sent the email below to the entire Council and Town attorney, he also copied me:
From: Stan Nord <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2022 10:43 PM
To: Mayor and Council <[email protected]>; Brian Day <[email protected]>
Subject: Materially false information for Council Vote – NFC
At the last council meeting a Mr. Preston asked if NFC was a not-for-profit. Ms. Reece confirmed they were a non-for-profit. The non-for-profit status was discussed as it related to seeking other bids. The vote was to waive the requirement to seek other bids. Therefore, I believe the for-profit vs. not-for-profit information was material in nature.
After the meeting, I email Ms. Reece and asked her to request documentation from NFC confirming their not-for-profit tax status and share it with the council. I did not receive a response from her. (Which is not unique. You have all received emails from her basically saying she will not answer my questions unless the council majority demands her to answer my questions.) So, I contacted NFC and asked them their tax status. Attached is the chain of that conversation. Per NFC, they are a for-profit company.
We were given false information. Had staff said they were uncertain of their tax status, then things would be different. However the non-for-profit status was presented as fact.
This is not the first time this has happened.
My expectation is if staff are uncertain of an answer to be honest with the council and state they don’t know. Presenting unknown as fact is a lie and is unethical behavior.
Mr. Day,
What is the legal implication of a vote based on materially false information? What options does a council have to remedy this situation now that it is known?
Thank you,
Stan
So who committed fraud?
Did the document Chris Koos read really come from National Fitness Challenge, or did Koos and Reece conspire together to mislead the Council?
Scott Preston thinks he can represent the citizens of Bloomington and Normal in Springfield. If he doesn’t demand a revote based on the fact that he was lied to about NFC’s nonprofit status, that proves he won’t stand up to the Democrats in Springfield either. Your play Mr. Preston.
If the document Koos read from is actually from NFC, why would the Town want to do business with liars?
If NFC is representing themselves as nonprofit, they are committing fraud. It should be reported to the FBI since they crossed state lines. Maybe they saw Illinois ripe with rubes, the one installed in Lincoln isn’t used much if at all. Does Pam know that one was built with help from a hospital? If you listened to her comments, she mentioned possibly partnering with OSF.
Nothing about NFC is on the agenda for Monday’s meeting.
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Let the “Never Preston” campaign start now, like they did with Trump. Beat’em at their own game.
I predict Preston won’t change his vote. Kris Koos pulls Scott’s strings. Kris gives Scott the latitude to say whatever as long as Scott votes the way Kris ordered. Problem is Scott asked a question that he had no idea would expose taxpayers were being setup to be defrauded. No doubt this was attempted fraud but was it being perpetrated by Koos or the Company? Koos needs to produce the source of the document he read? FOIA for the document PLEASE!!! Popcorn is in the micro…
How about you FOIA it and let me know! https://normalil.justfoia.com/publicportal/home/track
What makes anybody think that as Dan Brady’s hand picked replacement Preston will be able to stand up to anyone in Springfield when he can’t and won’t even buck Chris Koos and Pam Reece? He’s an empty suit with a proven track record on the Normal Town Council that he’s unfit for public service. Remember his hotel bill? Unfortunately, with the Dan Brady machine behind him, he keeps getting reelected. Politics as usual in Illinois.
Koos said National Fitness Campaign. He did not say “National Fitness Challenge”. Does he even know what he’s talking about?
No matter who lied to the public ,reporting them to Biden’s FBI is useless. You might as well report it to Koos
The real question is- will the voters ever do anything about this administration? This is only one of many actions of poor financial management. As long as voters allow this, it will continue. Now we have Preston running for State office, so he can waste even more tax dollars.
Questions:
– If Preston and Lorenz are such RINO Republicans then why does the County Republican Party keep endorsing them and keep them as leaders within the organization?
– Has the local GOP leadership become so purple to blue that Preston and Lorenz are just a reflection of the makeup of the GOP leadership?
Comment:
I like how some local GOP’s are publicly distancing themselves from RINOs and deviants who are destroying the Republican reputation. Like Wyoming with Chaney and some of Kinzinger’s counties in IL.
Who might run in the republican primary to challenge Preston? Anyone? How about James Madison’s Ghost or Ronnin?
Or Diane Benjamin?
Is the vote void since it was based on fraud or does everything rely on Preston magically growing a spine?
If hope for honesty is pinned on Preston, then don’t hold your breath. He has a long history of turning a blind eye to corruption in Normal.
Scott Preston IS corruption in the town of Normal. Remember his hotel bill? Room service anyone? He’ll fit right in down in Springfield.
Your only viable choice for changing things in BN is to leave. There is no other alternative. These people are all in it together and have been for decades. One dies or leaves, another takes their place. It never ends. Scared white people with no ethics now scurry to do the bidding of the growing minority classes with their hands out. Chicago and H1B stayovers taking over your community and you bow to their every wish saying thank you can I have another. See your eventual fate. Well on the way to ghetto trash status. Like all of Illinois, BN is dead. Empty Rivian buildings within six years and SF telephone jobs. You bought it all. Enjoy.
The good news in Pea’s insightful message is that we all have precisely six years to execute our departure plan from B/N. Those of us who were gonna leave sooner should now reconsider our timetable.
Did you reserve your six Rivians yet and buy up thousands in stock options since you believe that BN will be the economic example for the whole nation to emulate? Meanwhile crime increased, Chicago thuggery rules the community, streets resembling moonscapes and more shuttered storefronts. Enjoy your fantasy.
3 random shootings in past 3 days I am not in position to leave Illinois just yet but rest assured I am looking real hard at getting the hell out of Bloomington normal