By: Diane Benjamin
The Town of Normal has only received delivery of ONE Rivian vehicle, the one parked at Chris Koos’ house.
The other one Normal put a deposit down on is an SUV. I have no idea when it will be delivered.
How do I know Koos has the Town’s Rivian? Freedom of Information Act:
The pic on the left is the plate in Koos’ driveway, the right was received by FOIA
Note: The Town did not buy a Government plate for this vehicle that would have been a one time purchase. The “professional staff” bought a regular plate that must be renewed every year. Would it look bad if Koos drives around town in an expensive vehicle taxpayers bought? Yes it would. The Town did the same thing with the Mitsubishi he used to drive. https://blnnews.com/2021/03/10/koos-car/
The Town paid $73,631 for the vehicle in Koos’ driveway. I will be filing another FOIA to find out how much he is paying the Town for his personal use of a Town vehicle. The Mitsubishi was a whooping $45 a month.
But, that wasn’t all the Town paid:
Chris Koos used his credit card to pay a bill at the Marriott for $2,330.95. Below is the description of the charge:
Since the Council meeting where this purchase was approved without a price was October 17th, the timeline fits. The Town knew delivery was imminent.
I asked an employee of the Clerk’s office what this bill was for. Below is her response:
So, we know the Marriott bill is related to the purchase, that brings the total cost of the vehicle in Chris Koos’ driveway to almost $76,000.
Has the Council figured out the “professional staff” lied about this vehicle being part of the fleet? If it was a fleet vehicle it would have government plates.
Karyn Smith and Kathleen Lorenz need replaced in April, they fell for it. Watch the video: https://blnnews.com/2022/12/24/did-taxpayers-buy-koos-a-christmas-present/
See the entire FOIA I received here:
.
.
.
Normal’s motto should be:
Normal, IL – The US Town where your can watch your taxes lavish it’s mayor and town staff in luxury, like royalty.
As much as I’m not a fan of Kathy Lorenz, in fairness she voted against this purchase. She’s far too politically smart to have voted for it. She knows she’s up for reelection and this would be used against her. It doesn’t matter. There are too many others who are all too willing to give Koos what he wants and there are far too many in the town of Normal who don’t care.
Yes indeed, get ride of Kathy and Karyn in April, if you can.
Lorenz surprisingly voted No. She knew it would pass without her vote.
Both Lorenz and Preston will occasionally vote no on something to maintain their pretense of Republicanism, but only when their no vote won’t actually stop the predetermined outcome. They did screw up one time and ended up Not raising property taxes, so they just took a new vote at the next meeting where Kathleen changed her vote so the tax increase could go through.
The plate renewal fee is $406.00? Is Jelly Belly raising sticker fees again?
EV’s I think are higher since they don’t pay Motor Fuel taxes.
Great work Diane! Now who knows how we get the vehicle removed from his driveway?
I live nearby and can confirm also seeing the vehicle parked in his driveway over numerous days.
The only way to get it out of his driveway (and not just temporarily as a political move) will be to either vote him out of office or vote in 4 new councilmembers who know the town government are supposed to be servants to the people, not the reverse as it is now.
We have the opportunity to get 3 public servants into office this coming April – Marc, Stan, and Karl are the bottom three on the Town Trustee ballot. Last election the incumbents swept it due to a combination of a great ground game of mobilizing previous non-voters and special interests like the Realtors spending huge amounts to keep their gravy trains intact. If you want change, we need word-of-mouth, volunteers, and donations. (Some have also alleged fraud, but IMO the other two factors were the main reasons.)
Just wondering what the results of the poll are from the previous story on this? I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that the town of Normal owns the Rivian in Koos’ driveway. I’d be surprised if they didn’t. There is so much self serving corruption in all of this, I don’t see how anyone will ever get to the bottom of it. I appreciate BLN trying, but this just gets bigger. Hiding this in a hotel bill in October is quite troubling. Just in case Koos needs an attorney, the town of Normal already has an established relationship with Mike Madigan’s.
This all ought to be quite humbling to this Council for enabling this to happen, but I’m afraid it just emboldens them in their demonizing Stan Nord.
I will have to figure out how to show the results. Maybe more people will want to go back and vote now. New story soon.
Only 67 people bothered to vote, some might want to go vote now: https://blnnews.com/2022/12/24/did-taxpayers-buy-koos-a-christmas-present/?preview_id=115008&preview_nonce=6954d300e7&preview=true
I mistook it for a rhetorical poll – just a graphic, not an actual working poll. My answer would have been the same before I found out I was right anyway…
Geesh! Hope somebody is there to remind me to be very careful if i ever find myself in my hardly road worthy old Dodge pick’em up truck parked next to the King’s Rivian child. I’ll have to be extra careful to give myself room and not door ding it. That would be awful. Surely the thought of the town not paying me for a flat tire suffered once due to poor road maintenance won’t enter my mind.
I predicted this months ago…and also the reply to my post by a BIG Koos fan accusing me of inciting “class warfare.” Written in the mentality of a clueless college sophomore fresh off of reading Karl Marx for a class. And here we are. Look for the next “town” Rivian going in and out of Bloomington Country Club (among other posh places including Pam Reeces’s garage). And nothing will be done. There are perks and protection for being a Fatty Pritzker lackey.
This is why the plates were $406. They will be $251 next time.
Newly acquired vehicle/first-time issuance – $406 ($155 title fee + $251 registration fee)
I’m surprised he didn’t opt for the mayor plates, I didn’t even know the state had them.
https://ilsos.gov/departments/vehicles/license_plate_guide/presmayor.html
I stand corrected. 🙂
This clown really does think he’s king. SMH.