By: Diane Benjamin
The entire meeting of the Normal Town Council video is 1:12:08. The discussion about buying two Rivian vehicles started at 14:40 and didn’t end until 1:02:58 with a vote of 4-3.
Kevin McCarthy pulled the purchase from the Omnibus Agenda so he could bloviate. He claimed Rivian has paid the town $2 million in permits and fees so that more than covers the purchase. (It doesn’t cover the running water and fire hydrants, redoing West College, and giving away Electric Avenue among other freebies) That led Scott Preston to ask where that $2 million was put, Pam Reece said the General Fund. Preston wanted the purchase paid for with those funds instead of the Vehicle Replacement Fund, Reece made it sound like that was really difficult. A vote was never taken so it isn’t clear where the funds will come from.
McCarthy also claimed the Town bought over 40 Mitsubishi vehicles, does McCarthy think you are stupid? Mitsubishi vrs Rivian isn’t at all comparable!
I could post numerous clips, but start with this one. Stan Nord asked City Manager Pam Reece a question, Mayor Chris Koos told her not to answer:
Stan Nord questions the “blank check” authorization since no dollar amount is listed. Pam Reece claims $149,000 is budgeted, that didn’t make the documentation. Chris Koos claimed “he is the Town” when he authorized the deposits on two vehicles himself:
Chemberly Harris proves she would support anything staff proposes at 37:50. Ditto for Karyn Smith at 55:10.
Kathleen Lorenz was also worried about the blank check at 44:25.
26:50 – Chris Koos claims Rivians aren’t luxury vehicles, they are just expensive vehicles. A few minutes later Stan Nord stated taxpayers should consider themselves lucky Normal doesn’t have a Ferrari plant.
One more video – Kevin McCarthy claims “hundreds” of people support going EV, the rest of Normal must be immaterial:
Scott Preston, Kathleen Lorenz, and Stan Nord voted no. Just hit play to hear the entire discussion:
I’ve never been able to buy a new car in my life. What was it? $90k for a Rivian? That’s more than the house cost that my family can’t afford to live in now. It’s beyond pathetic how Koos and the rest thumb their noses at citizens and look down on them with contempt. Beyond pathetic.
I’m going to echo the sentiment I’ve seen lately. Move away/out of cities NOW!
It’s all about optics. The town would look really bad if they did not buy/use at least one of Rivian’s vehicles. This is not something about which anybody should get upset. The Ford F250’s the Parks Department uses are not much less expensive than the Rivian. The cost is a miniscule amount of the transportation budget. Wanna get angry? Let’s talk about the Unit 5 referendum instead……don’t get me started.
Are the Ford the ones they rented?
This cracks me up… These people are completely insane. Now I could see the city of Dubai buying $90,000 “Adventure” vehicles… since their police drive Ferraris and Lamborghinis but the “Town” of Normal, Illinois? I say let them have their fun… Rivian is on the road to bankruptcy anyway.
No. This website has a really bad comments sections insofar that I had an entire response deleted while trying to post. Anyway, no, not rented. Ford F250’s are about $70K today, the XLT model, plus the paint and graphics common to all Parks vehicles. I’ll try to post again.
Nothing was deleted
Jimmy John, F250s start at $40k. No need for an XLT with all the options for a park district work truck.
I worked at Parks and Rec, you did not. I know the vehicles they bought and the packages which were included in those vehicles. You are speaking from ignorance, I am speaking from experience. Hey Diane, post this if you have the balls.
No balls, you got lucky? Get fired?
Jimmy John/Jon Johnson,
Explain to me why the parks department would need $70k F250 XLTs instead of $40k stripped down fleet trucks.
I’m sure those non-luxury Rivian vehicles will be hauling equipment and other heavy duties needed by the Village of Normal. Lol.
One guess who will be driving each of these vehicles for “town business.”
Hint: looks like Bloomington Country Club will need to install an EV charging station (Village of Normal will pay for it of course), as well as some select spots in downtown Bloomington in front of certain nightspots.
Have to show them off and rub them in people’s faces, you know? Otherwise there’s no point.
I thought this was a CONSERVATIVE website! You are stoking class warfare under the moniker of James Madison? Okay, I’m obviously in the wrong community. I am a William F. Buckleyesque independent conservative. Never mind, just another bunch of pseudo-intellectuals here, I guess. I was looking for smart and educated conservatives, not this small sample of view-askew people.
Now you want comments deleted? 😂
Lol. Class warfare? You sound like a woke sophomore political science student at ISU.
You won’t find intellectual conservatives views on this site. You’ll find folks fanning the flames of extremism just for the sake of taking a different point of view than moderates or liberals. You’ll find the Editor claiming to be press but not holding to the ethical tenets of journalism.
For instance, Koos never said he was “Normal” in the clip referenced. He said sometimes he is- meaning as mayor he can act with apparent authority (that’s a fancy legal term) to bind the Town of Normal contractually.
There is an estimated budget for these vehicles. That amount was not listed in the documentation before the Council so this write-up makes it sound like they have no idea how much it will cost to purchase the vehicles when in fact- it’s clear the Town has a reasonable idea.
McCarthy pulls one item off the agenda and this Editor says he “bloviates” when in fact, Nord would have pulled it himself and received praise from this site for doing so.
The issues brought to light here are often good ones. The manner in which they are handled often makes me embarrassed to be a conservative.
Taking aim at Preston so someone who is super liberal wins an election doesn’t help you at all.
Nope. These are actually not our type of conservatives. They don’t even like business tax incentives to grow the local economy.
Be smart. Be diplomatic. Look for solutions. Build bridges. Draw a line in the sand when needed. Aim higher.
If you don’t know McCarthy was a setup I feel sorry for you. Of course I assume you aren’t being forced to read.
Okay, not deleted, but lost somewhere in the ether as I was trying to post. Ghost? User error? Who knows. Meanwhile, Diane, you are welcome for the info I provided to YOU and your readers.
The funniest part of all of this is Scott Preston pretending to be conservative and responsible with city spending. I think Sharon Chung nailed it about him. He consistently votes to raise your taxes and then he turns around and pays his own taxes late.
And no that’s not an endorsement for Sharon Chung.
Scott and Kathleen were given the ok to vote No, and to pretend they had concerns. We know how this game in played.
Yep, spot on. Both are pandering to the electorate. Preston is trying to get elected to state rep and Kathy is trying to get reelected.
This really is as easy as what are these vehicles replacing and who is going to be driving them. Just because Koos doesn’t like the question doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be asked.
This is way harder than it has to be. The council needs to ask two questions.
1. What will the vehicles be used for?
2. What is the cost of vehicles that can do comparable work?
If the cost of Rivians are way out of that ballpark, then spending extra for them is indeed a luxury.
There are lots of businesses in Normal. The town doesn’t patronize all of them, just because of their location.
No way Scott would have voted no if he wasn’t running for state rep. His “reps” came to my house a few years ago and stated how conservative he was. What a joke.