By: Diane Benjamin
Asking the Council to approve buying TWO Rivian vehicles was on the Omnibus Agenda without a cost in the documentation: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4451
The only reason to put this on the Omnibus was to get a blank check vote without any discussion. That didn’t happen.
Just hit PLAY to hear Chris Koos say both vehicles were the BASIC model:
The one in Chris Koos’ driveway isn’t a basic model, it has an Adventure Package:
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/rivian/r1t
Go back to the invoice in this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/12/29/update-on-the-koos-christmas-present-a-rivian/
Cash Price $71,500 + $1,500 Destination fee gets to $73,000. That isn’t the base vehicle Koos claimed he was buying.
Keep in mind the “professional staff” wanted a blank check. Look at the bottom of the invoice, keep in mind the Council got this item for approval on October 17th:
Chris Koos knew how much this Rivian would cost at that meeting. Why wasn’t buying only 1 on the agenda instead of 2 when only ONE was available for delivery?
One more item, h/t a reader:
The above link is from a Rivian forum. There is a pic of damage to a rear panel – the owner got hit in his driveway. Vehicle insurance is through State Farm. The owner wanted repairs done by a certified Rivian repair shop, not who State Farm wanted them to use.
The estimate to repair pretty minor damage is $ 21,195.95. I wonder how much the Town is paying to cover Koos’ Rivian?
Just hit play to hear the whole discussion, hindsight is very illuminating:
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Say whatever it takes to win votes. That is the Democrat way. Thanks to Reece and Koos lying over and over, the words honesty and Normal go together like oil and water. Antics like this give businesses a reason to locate elsewhere.
What’s wrong with a Ford Escape or a Chevrolet Malibu? Saving taxpayers thousands of dollars. Versus hiding or omitting luxury upscale EV vehicles upgrades on experimental vehicles that are basically low budget Tesla knockoffs. Funded by Soros capital and a super secret CEO that mumbles pseudo intellectual (wanna be genius) answers like FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
Shows support for the area’s 2nd largest employer -nice truck – Koos is rollin’ – good for him ! Elected public officials are in fact way underpaid in our area – nice to see this truck goes to him after all he has done for the town.
Readers need to respond to this one!
Actually it shows a total Lack of support for Rivian. If Koos thought they made good and/or prestigious vehicles, he would be more than happy to buy one himself. Instead, he’s driving it because it is essentially being given to him for free.
And if Koos is underpaid, that’s his own fault – he effectively controls a majority of the votes in the council, just like when he voted himself a 78% raise starting in May of ’21.
He’s destroyed Normal, increased debt to obscene levels, and increases property taxes to fund his utopia. He doesn’t deserve anything.
Grateful:
Sarcasm?
Ignorance?
Both?
I’m on it.
Koos came to the Normal Town Council as an appointed council member to finish someone’s term (appointed, not elected). At the time Normal was a debt free community. Soon after Mayor Karraker stepped down in order to retire someplace outside Illinois, Koos was appointed mayor (appointed, not elected). That’s when our debt problems stated. Koos believed, and still does, that government is the means for getting what you want. He saw downtown Normal as a blighted area so he created TIF districts to start a redevelopment plan that sucked money out of Unit 5 so that we could all experience tax increases to make up for the shortfall. He brought in Chicago developers to build his utopia and they, of course, received special favors, in return for their work. It’s what he wanted.
The plan was so fiscally out of wack and the debt was piling up so fast that even Jeff Fritzen stepped in to run against Koos for mayor. Fritzen however, was not enough to stop the Koos machine and lost the election. Fritzen then formed a pack with Koos to never cross his path again and the two have marched lock step ever since.
And the debt continues to grow. So did the TIF districts that just haven’t produced the promised results. Yet, Koos and his council continue to extend them to keep the Utopian idea afloat. Citizens have continued to be shut out of the process with illegal systems and procedures specifically designed to keep them out. Normal town government is unduly burdensome to citizens by design. It helps keep people silent while the utopian dream gets expanded with special favors going to friends of Koos.
Today, our public pensions in the town of Normal are severely underfunded, taxes are higher and the debt continues to grow. There is no way out of this hole and Koos and his rubber-stamps on Council will do whatever is necessary to hold on to their power. Meanwhile as we look at the buildings that were built in Uptown, many are empty, some have never had renters and those that do charge some of the highest office rent in downstate Illinois. For who? You guessed it, town of Normal employees. Even Subway, one of the largest fast food franchises in the world cannot afford the rent in Uptown.
So, a new vehicle for the mayor? Well maybe, but why not another Mitsubishi? Why not another like vehicle to the others in Normal’s fleet? No, Chis wants a luxury Rivian. All told this purchase of two of these will cost the taxpayers of Normal over $140,000. Some will no doubt say, it’s a small price to pay for all the things Chis Koos does for Normal. Or, what a great way to promote Rivian in our community for all the wonderful things they’ve done. But, if you take that view then you see government as the means of getting what you want. And that’s the problem. Too many in Normal think nothing of this. Where is the buy local mentality for other goods and services that this Council continues to wave the formal bidding process for in order to get what government wants for people who see government as the answer for getting what they want?
I, on the other hand, and a lot of others who read this site, believe this is an abuse of power, a dereliction of an elected official’s fiduciary responsibility and overall, not a good look for the town of Normal. While others are struggling to pay their taxes and are paying more for everything in an inflationary economy, they’re being asked to foot the bill for a luxury vehicle for the mayor. Add that to the sneaky way he went about obtaining it and it’s clear the mayor of Normal has an entitlement mentality that could care less about the average tax payer. A complete abuse of power of a man with a severe ego problem who ought to be ashamed of himself.
I’ve got more, but I’ll let other reader fill in the missing details.
Looking forward to, “the rest of the story.”