By: Diane Benjamin

1. We have proof Normal’s attorney Brian Day assisted Patrick Dullard with writing his challenge to the referendum.
2. We have proof the Town Clerk helped Dullard
3. We have proof Koos and Reece called an illegal Executive Session when they knew Stan Nord couldn’t attend to discuss the referendum and then Chris Koos, Kevin McCarthy, Kathleen Lorenz, and Chemberly Harris voted to not let Nord attend by phone.
4. Almost 2200 registered voters who signed petitions in Normal are denied the right to vote on whether they want a representative on the Council from their neighborhood instead of 6 that don’t live anywhere near them. The entire Town is denied that right! Yes or No is too dangerous to the your government?

Nothing is new here. Normal has a long record of disregarding the wishes of citizens. I can’t possibly remember everything, but start with the most recent and work back. All of the below have stories on BlnNews.com, use Search if you want more information.

A. Normal ignored the rights of citizens in Wintergreen subdivision to safety and maintaining the character and property values in their existing neighborhood.

B. Normal continues to treat citizens who want to exercise their 1st Amendment Right to “petition their government” like dogs. You are only allowed to speak to off agenda items at the end of meetings regardless of how long their “business” takes.

C. Koos thinks he can limit what your elected officials are able to say during “Council concerns”.

D. Citizens were forced to fund the installation of fire hydrants on West College just feet from Bloomington’s existing hydrants.

E. The signers of a petition at Blackstone Trails to simply move a new fire station across the street was ignored.

F. The Citizens Summit attendees were limited to invited guests until citizens demanded opening it to all. Koos then proceeded to ignore the results and quit using the facilitator when his report didn’t say what Koos wanted to hear.

G. Brown water was ignored in west Normal until Marc Tiritilli stood up for those being told just to run the water until it clears, of course the citizens were charged for unusable water.

H. Normal continues to use small stop signs in the middle of the road that can cause accidents when people unfamiliar with them slam on their brakes. Complaints by citizens are of course ignored.

I. Koos refuses to let citizens know in advance who he hand-picks for Board and Commissions. The Council is expected to rubber-stamp his stacking. They think they have to vote yes and do.

J. Koos throws a party for his supporters every year at taxpayer expense – this year it was over $5000.

K. Normal sold property for below value on Ft. Jesse to the wife of a Town employee without ever marketing it.

L. Koos allows his bike buddies to park their trailers illegally on public property.

M. Only to get 1 Uptown Circle built and to subsidize expensive housing, Normal agreed to rent an entire floor they didn’t need and make taxpayers fund it for over $37,000 EVERY month.

N. Taxpayers are spending around $30 million for an underpass in Uptown when IDOT would have funded most of an overpass. The underpass saves 50 feet.

O. Property taxes are increased almost every year because that is easier than budgeting the expense. No, pensions don’t have to be paid with property taxes.

P. Normal let 3 CIRBN employees be Town employees to access benefits Town employees have.

Q. Normal never bid comprehensive insurance and bought it through MICA when a Town employee was on their Board of Directors and Normal did their accounting. Taxpayers were forced to pay higher premiums than larger Bloomington because of the that setup.

R. Remember National Fitness Champaign? The non-profit that wasn’t?

S. Normal bought 3 houses on School Street in 2015 and sold all of them at a loss of $330,000 not including property taxes paid. Since you might not know, this one includes a link: https://blnnews.com/2020/03/05/fleeced-again-normal/

T. Uptown now has two empty banks clearly visible on College Ave. Koos thinks he can control commerce with your money. He failed.

U. The debt the Uptown TIF created will not be paid back with rising property values in Uptown. The rest of the Town serfs get the bill. YOU!

Need more Normal?

I could easily add more. Feel free to add your own.

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