By: Diane Benjamin
Jackie Beyer was the only commentator during the public hearing about the budget. If you want to find out why she is holding the bag, watch the video.
She also talked about property taxes and how they are making rent unaffordable.
Congratulations to the new head of engineering at the City of Bloomington, Jim Karch.
See his presentation on resurfacing and sidewalk replacement starting at 1:52:30.
Karch showed this slide of resurfacing that will be done on Prospect from Oakland to Empire, as well as parts of Oakland and Washington:
All of that is way past due, as is Eastland Drive between Prospect and Hershey. Would it be that hard to include that small section, Jim? The equipment will be right there!
See 1:26:30 for more discussion on water quality and treating the lakes for algae. The Water Department Director, Ed Andrews, was asked if the treatment would kill fish. He stated that catfish might be affected, but the lakes can’t support large populations of them anyway.
The city received the water testing machine well ahead of schedule. However, they won’t be trained on how to use it until mid-April, so they will continue treating the water based on test results that take a week to receive.
As always Jackie comes to the table with facts. Yes, we renters to pay property tax. It is mixed in within our rent. Krystle Able wants rent control. Her moronic spewing about rent control just blows my mind. She does not understand that you can’t have rent control while her buddies continue to raise property taxes. An owner would not be able to make ends meet with rent control, but hey, Krystle believes that no one should make a profit. Great job Jackie. You know your stuff. The bag? Merch to make all feel warm and cozy. Lose the merch COB. Not needed. Stop spending money that is not necessary.
Jackie pointed out another frivolous waste of money from our city. She is spot on about the schools accounting to both Bloomington and Normal for the ridiculous amount of tax money they receive from us