Written by Diane Benjamin - editor
Month: June 2024
Weekend Eye Roll
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Bloomington broke ground on a new water tower
By: Diane Benjamin From 2015: https://blnnews.com/2015/08/04/more-ineptness/ That story has details of how much taxpayer money was wasted on the water tower Bloomington built in northeast Normal. It has never been used. This is where it is: . This water tower is never mentioned. According to WGLT, Bloomington broke ground on a new tower in south […]
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FOIA Denied in Full
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2024/06/19/foia-fail/ That story shows I requested two things: The emails were all redacted, at the time of that story they were still looking for Gleason’s letter. Yesterday they denied Part 2 because: Unfortunately, the City was unable to find the document requested after an extensive search. Did Tim […]
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Jurgens vrs Gleason salaries:
By: Diane Benjamin Link to Jeff Jurgens salary: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/30312/638496297817500000 Link to Tim Gleason’s 2023 salary: PDF page 7 https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/30290/638487793683670000 Hard to read? Of course it is. Jeff Jurgens Total Compensation negotiated when he became City Manager: $262,802.52 Tim Gleason Total Compensation for 2023: $241,614.68 For the math challenged: Jeff Jurgens is making $21,187.84 more than […]
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Excess reserves and spending it
By: Diane Benjamin From the Monthly Financial Summary presented Monday night at the Bloomington City Council meeting: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/30491/638543232820130000 General Fund balance projected for the fiscal year ending 4/30/24: Don’t get excited about the City having almost $50 million in reserves. They’ve already spent around $15 million of it on buying the Owens property and paying […]
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So Close Connect Transit!
By: Diane Benjamin The Connect Transit Board is meeting today at 4:30 with newly re-appointed Bloomington Board rep/chair Ryan Whitehouse: https://connect-transit.com/file/2527/06%2025%202024_Board%20of%20Trustees%20Meeting%20Packet.pdf For May they came soooo close to losing $1.5 million in ONE MONTH. Not included as an expense is this gem: I’m sure they capitalized spending $493,083.28 on a bus overhaul. Without a FOIA […]
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No surprise on this appointment
By: Diane Benjamin Congrats Bloomington! You have a socialist on the Library Board now. (Maybe more than one) Vote for socialists you get socialists! . Surena Fish spoke about a new topic during Public Comment. According to her, a group of social service agencies wants to buy the old Pantagraph building and all relocate there. […]
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Ugh meeting
By: Diane Benjamin Below is a slide showing topics for discussion: 33% of the Council was not at this meeting: Danenberger, Hendricks, and Lee didn’t show up. How can any decisions be made with 3 of the 9 wards not represented? This discussion reinforced why I hate meetings. I didn’t see anything decided, just bloviating. […]
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More government needs – your money
By: Diane Benjamin This is on the website for the BCPA: https://www.artsblooming.org/about/history I guarantee this tax won’t expire in 2025. The sales tax passed to fix the “structural deficit” will never expire either even though the deficit was gone years ago. See this document: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/Home/ShowDocument?id=6644 It shows all the tax increases to balance the 2015 […]
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Bloomington tonight: NEEDS
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight’s Agenda: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/f70d9db5-5bbe-11ee-ae13-0050569183fa-791fe512-602c-4d20-98c8-ecdbbed39134-1719001395.pdf There is a public hearing on re-allocating federal money for a park: . This statement is in the attachment to this item. It shows a huge problem with government: Government “needs” are frequently not the “needs” people identify. Did you “need” a water park or just two new pools? […]
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Weekend Merriness
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Unusable Fire Hydrants in Bloomington
By: Diane Benjamin Received by FOIA. Public safety is the job of government. Is Bloomington going to be able to put out a fire at your house? Check the list. Below is not the complete list of all the problems with fire hydrants. Stem too tight means the hydrants is rusted shut and can’t be […]
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If the mayor is enthused, hide your wallet
By: Diane Benjamin See this WGLT story: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2024-06-17/bloomington-mayor-enthused-about-housing-symposium-results 1st Excerpt: . Public-Private partnerships leave PUBLIC holding the bag. If you didn’t read this story a couple days ago, you need to: https://blnnews.com/2015/07/23/bloomington-developer-gets-freebies/ Snyder Development partnered with Bloomington and didn’t pay, I still haven’t heard if they ever paid. That means all other taxpayers paid more […]
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Tent City update
By: Diane Benjamin Two things before I get to Tent City: Two versions of what is happening with the people camping downtown: City Manager Jeff Jurgens reported Monday night there have been 80+ people there. He also reported this: Now listen to Surena Fish’s Public Comment. She claims the encampment simply relocated. The video was […]
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FOIA fail
By: Diane Benjamin I FOIA’s 2 things from the City of Bloomington: The City can’t find Gleason’s letter, they want another 5 days: Part 2 of your request, which includes “Copy of Gleason’s Letter of Intent to work with Vieweg Real Estate”, requires additional time to complete a thorough department search. I have attached a […]
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Some history and the rest of the meeting
By: Diane Benjamin The meeting is going to take one more story after this one, probably tomorrow. The majority of the Council has zero business experience but Alderman Sheila Montney did a great job bringing them to reality. More on that later. First you need to know some history: I wrote this story on July […]
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Bulk Pickup isn’t changing
By: Diane Benjamin The code changes the City needs apply only to landlords. They don’t get City garbage service, they have to contract privately. I have no idea who created this plan, Normal picks up everything including bulk whenever it’s on the curb-not just twice a year. The problem for years has been landlords cleaning […]
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What is Bloomington doing at Rt 9 and Veterans?
By: Diane Benjamin Remember this story? https://blnnews.com/2021/06/29/whats-so-secret-bloomington/ It contains this pic: . Next, keep in mind Bloomington will be rebranding itself: https://blnnews.com/2024/02/28/do-you-only-see-white-doctors-gleason/ Of course rebranding is just one of the many things government employees do for themselves when their job is supposed to be making life better for citizens. A reader sent this pic last […]
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Usurping free markets: Bloomington tonight
By: Diane Benjamin Committee of the Whole: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/4a800d2b-5bc1-11ee-ae13-0050569183fa-791fe512-602c-4d20-98c8-ecdbbed39134-1718308867.pdf Bloomington wants to solve the local “housing crisis”. Since they can’t lower interest they can’t solve it. That isn’t going to stop them from trying: People who work at Rivian but don’t live within the boundaries of Bloomington-Normal don’t necessarily want to move here. If ridiculous housing […]
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Weekend Truth Memes
(Title suggested by a reader)
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About the County Auditor
By: Diane Benjamin An EXTERNAL AUDITOR does not do what an elected auditor does. External Auditors check a few transactions and make sure all the numbers are in the right columns. An elected auditor checks every transaction against what is budgeted. The problem has always been THIS auditor. She has no or few staff – […]
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How Public Schools Became Ideological Boot Camps
By: Diane Benjamin This story could be the reason test scores are dismal in public schools: https://www.thefp.com/p/how-public-schools-became-ideological-boot-camps?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email Everyone should read the entire article! Public Schools can’t be fixed. School Choice is the only way to fix education. Illinois won’t allow it since Springfield is captive to teachers unions. Excerpts: The answer has a lot to […]
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Change your status to illegal
By: Diane Benjamin Senator Chapin Rose included this chart in a recent email. Compare your coverage to what non-citizens (illegal aliens) receive in Illinois – at your expense. Democrats value illegals, you are just their piggy bank.
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Pablo and Tyrone are dead
By: Diane Benjamin Both were memorialized on a Facebook page created by Bloomington Fire Department employees. This is not an official government page, just firefighters sick of cockroaches where they live while on duty. They named the latest 2 Pablo and Tyrone: . . Someone created this page because of an infestation, I’m sure these […]
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Update: Illegals could be voting in Illinois
I was just information DMV isn’t allowed to ask immigration status. That means the country no longer belongs to those who were legally born here. Congrats! By: Diane Benjamin On July 1st illegal aliens can get a driver’s license without any identifying information that shows they are here illegally. Their license is going to look […]
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More from last night’s City Council meeting
By: Diane Benjamin There was only one Public Comment – Marty Seigel. She spoke about local zoning policy. She is against the local “pack’m and stack’m” policy that has been promoted across the country for at least a decade. There is no proof housing becomes more affordable by encouraging developers to build infill apartment buildings. […]
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Gleason should be investigated!
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council did vote to buy the former Owens Nursery location but not before Alderman Sheila Montney revealed what Tim Gleason did. In January he made a verbal agreement with a realtor in Decatur to look for somewhere to relocate Public Works. He sent an email to the Council in […]
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Taxation without a referendum?
By: Diane Benjamin Democrats need to explain why they passed this one: Excerpt: Â Amends the School Code. Provides that, beginning September 1, 2024, no referendum shall be required to build or purchase a building for school classroom or instructional purposes if, prior to the building or purchase of the building, the board determines, by resolution, […]
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Bloomington buying Owens Nursery property
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight’s agenda: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/f7099398-5bbe-11ee-ae13-0050569183fa-791fe512-602c-4d20-98c8-ecdbbed39134-1717791762.pdf Since the City is flush with cash they are paying $5,425,000 from the General Fund to create a new Public Works Campus. The cash is available for a variety of reasons: All tax increases by government need to be opposed because they NEVER go away. Even if they say […]
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Weekend Giggles Galore
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Event Reports!
By: Diane Benjamin More on this story from yesterday: https://blnnews.com/2024/06/06/foiad-bloomington-payments-coliseum/ That story showed a payment for the Disney on Ice show of $539,703.57. It also showed the event report wasn’t posted on the City website. This morning it is! In fact it’s posted twice: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-2104#docan2735_6873_64 Note: There used to be a tab to find documents, […]
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Remember D-Day
80 years after 4,400 American soldiers died and another 6,600 were injured to liberate Europe, are schools teaching about their bravery and sacrifice? Read this story: https://thefederalist.com/2024/06/06/80-years-later-remember-the-d-day-invasion-that-liberated-the-world/ Young men sacrificed their lives for freedom. Young people today need to know history. The schools aren’t teaching it, parents need to. Start by watching this video as […]
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FOIA’d Bloomington payments: Coliseum
By: Diane Benjamin I saw two payments on Bloomington’s last Bills and Payroll I wanted to know more about, so I filed a FOIA. No event reports are on the City website for either of the events even though one took place in early May and the other took place in April. https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-2104#docan2735_6873_64 The lack […]
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Solving Tent City – quit enabling
By: Diane Benjamin City Manager Jeff Jurgens showed this slide at the last council meeting. All of these groups are working on a solution to the tent city. Jurgens stated more organizations might be added: From Public Commenters at meetings the problem isn’t homelessness. The people living in tents downtown aren’t allowed in shelters because […]
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The local landlords who don’t believe in capitalism
By: Diane Benjamin If you opened a business I doubt you would expect government to set special property values just for you. And you sure wouldn’t expect those values to be fixed for 4 years so your business wasn’t adversely affected if conditions change. You also wouldn’t be telling government you will sue them and […]
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Challenges and Inefficiency: Analyzing Connect Transit’s Performance and Losses
By: Diane Benjamin More on this story: https://blnnews.com/2024/05/29/a-new-low-for-connect-transit/ In April Connect Transit crossed the $1.4 million mark for the first time. That is with Fixed Route ridership up, expensive Mobility ridership down, and Flex providing 4,684 rides. PDF page 8: https://connect-transit.com/file/2405/05%2028%202024_Board%20Meeting%20Packet.pdf Most of the high loss has to be contributed by: If 60 huge buses […]
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Weekend The Rest of the Story
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The School Results you DON’T want to see
By: Diane Benjamin Evidently many parents don’t want to see how bad their child’s school really is. Waiting until your kids grows up to find out they can’t read or do math? The local Public School system is robbing you and your children and charging you more to do it! Enrollment at both Unit 5 […]
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Weekend Hum. .
Abbreviated version until my main source sends me his collection:
