By: Diane Benjamin
Tomorrow Koos and company are convening the Normal Election Commission at the McLean County Clerk’s office to verify signatures of over 2200 people collected to put a Yes or No question on the November ballot concerning electing Trustees by Districts.
Normal: You mayor thinks it is legal to pay Town staff to do the work the objector failed to do. Koos buddy Patrick Dullard didn’t specify any questionable signatures – he questioned them all.
If Brian Day isn’t smart enough to know the law he should quit today. If he is just going along with Koos to keep his job he should be disbarred. Evidently Pam Reece thinks it is fine to use her “professional staff” to promote Koos’s disregard for the citizens who signed. All but 1 at-large Trustee must be fine with abusing citizens too. Obviously Normal needs people who actually represent the people of Normal. 6 don’t.
Is the public allowed to attend the meeting tomorrow?
Don’t think so
Scott Preston sent mailed me campaign literature claiming he fights for taxpayers. I guess the 2,200 people in Normal who signed the petition are not the taxpayers he fights for. Preston’s silence on Koo’s trampling of our rights is proving that he fights for the side of corrupt Koos and keeping the political elites. Our right to petition the government means nothing to Preston. He will be a 1 term representative. His silence is motivating people to run against him.
In the real world, this would be unbelievable. In the fiefdom that is the koos/reece regime, this is commonplace. The late Fidel Castro would be proud. It doesn’t matter to them what the law says. It doesn’t matter to them if they don’t follow proper procedures. They do what they want to do regardless of the law. The other members of the Normal Town Council (except Stan) go along with this.
On the one hand this is funny. But, if I find it funny it’s because we’re dealing with a power hungry tyrant as mayor of Normal whose been in office way too long. As this post has pointed out, all of this shows his desperation.
I, however, find this very troubling. With any petition drive, whether it’s a petition to run for office or this, everyone involved should just expect that there is going to be a certain amount of signatures that are going to be invalid. This is not corruption that they’re on the petition nor do I believe the petitioner faked them. It’s a matter of taking people at their word. When people sign they assume they’re registered voters when maybe they’re not (and how in Illinois of all places do you define a registered voter????). The petition drive is to inform people about the issues. When they have to face this type of scrutiny, from the mayor of Normal and his Gestapo, I think it’s safe to say we have a problem in Normal. Our mayor does not trust his citizens and in my case I don’t trust the mayor.
In the end, I think this type of behavior invalidates the petition process. How can you expect people to sign petitions if they are going to become the subject of this type of invasion of privacy? I’ve seen these tactics on all sides of the political spectrum, by the way, and I think it’s disgusting.
I’m not done! This has really gotten me fired up this morning.
Our system of government is one in which people stand up and are counted. They should have the freedom to address their government free of incrimination or intimidation tactics. This is the problem with the public comment policy of the Normal Town Council. It is specifically designed to shut citizens out of the process and those same tactics are being employed with this. It protects those in office, not the citizens.
Stay tuned!
Well said. I agree.
So true. In McLean County and Dept too.
Sad truth.