By: Diane Benjamin
The Proclamation – https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4101/files/attachment/8470 – was postponed to sometime in the future – See 12:25.
How about ending ALL proclamations?
The department heads talking about their budgets was delayed until next Monday. Instead of a Committee of the Whole, it will be a Special meeting because they have something they need to vote on. Nobody said what that is.
This slide was shown by the City Manager, it recaps how much the water level has gone down. When it got to 11 feet since early February, it got critical. Conservation is still urged.
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Reports are that 30% of the water pumped is lost. When infrastructure is 100 years old and the City has entertainment and downtown as their priority, citizens now get to pay more to fix the system. That is why your water bills will be going up again on May 1st. This will completes the 100% increase in 3 years. Citizens get what they vote for, or in the case of local elections – what nobody voted for because they didn’t bother voting and those that did vote weren’t told this was coming.
Budget books are now online: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/departments/finance/annual-budget
Alderman Molly Ward went on another tirade – just hit play below. She is rightfully upset about gun violence in her neighborhood. Remember when she demanded a new group to recommend how to curb violence? Evidently her Commission for Safe Communities hasn’t come up with a fix after meeting for over a year.
Molly has a new idea. She thinks the Police Department will have an extra $100,000 next year since they won’t be buying new guns. She has no concept of the real world, that money is already allocated to other needs. Molly wants $100,000 allocated to fixing the problem, of course she didn’t say how that would work.
She has no concept of how violence ends. There is only one way – remove the culprits from society. Morality cannot be legislated. Parents can be held accountable for violence their unsupervised kids perpetrate but usually aren’t. $100,000 won’t even pay for an additional police officer to patrol her neighborhood. Illinois, with no cash bail, releases people that shouldn’t be roaming civilized society. Is Molly now admitting her Commission was a waste of time?
The question before all of us Conservatives, is how do we encourage like-minded folks to get out and vote? That is one thing that Democrats do very well. We need to lean on our Conservative relatives, friends, and neighbors to get out and vote. That is the only way to reclaim your state and community! Otherwise, you will continue to see the downward spiral of a system run by idiots who love to spend other peoples’ money, and fall all over themselves trying out projects which do not help anyone.
No solutions presented, not attending next weeks meeting, Blah, blah, blah. What a waste. Wait till we get another 100 year rain Molly. A lot of the houses in your ward are going to flood again and there will be piles and piles of ruined personal property stacked on the curbs like the last time. Fix the sewers! Oh, and keep letting the perps out of jail. Thanks for posting Diane.
She doesn’t care, she didn’t do anything then and won’t do anything if it happens again. She doesn’t even respond when people reach out to her with questions/concerns…she’s in it for herself and what she wants!
“Morality cannot be legislated.” I would disagree. The law cannot force someone’s heart to change, it cannot legislate salvation or faith.
However, the law does and should help enforce, promote, teach, and correct the public virtues and morality of the people and rulers. Romans 13 clearly states the power of the government (the sword) shall be used to promote good and punish evil. The law isn’t just punishment, it is also an example of good public and private conduct, it demonstrates what social and relational conduct is valued or discouraged in a nation. Our founders were very clear on this, there are numerous quotes from them about how our nation, our constitution, is only made and only works for a moral and religious people. Religion shapes from the inside out, concerned with man’s heart. Government shapes from the outside in, concerned with our interpersonal conduct and the public square. God the father, through the work of the Son on the cross, and through the effective power of the Holy Spirit, trains our hearts to love what is good and hate what is evil. Our Civic Fathers, the magistrate, trains us as well, to promote good and punish evil, the law (derived from private morals applied collectively through the legislative process) teaches us what “good” and “evil” are as well.
The Perils of Government Entanglement with Specific Religious Perspectives:
It is a fundamental principle of our democratic society that government should refrain from promoting religious proclamations, holidays, or festivals—even when motivated by ostensibly positive ideals such as kindness, love, empathy, or compassion. Such actions, regardless of majority approval, undermine the neutrality essential to a pluralistic nation and risk eroding the foundational safeguards against state-sponsored favoritism.
Equally concerning is the practice of elected officials, administrators, and public employees selectively consulting specific theological viewpoints, church leaders, or religious groups to shape local ordinances, strategic goals, messaging, policies, or initiatives. This selective engagement fosters public distrust and anxiety, given the vast diversity of theological doctrines among citizens. By prioritizing certain faiths or beliefs—such as convening with liberal religious organizations while excluding conservative ones—the government inadvertently endorses particular religions, a direct contravention of the First Amendment’s prohibition on establishing or favoring any religion. This is not an invocation of the oft-misconstrued “separation of church and state” doctrine, but rather a recognition that laws promoting one faith over others, or proclamations that highlight some while ignoring the rest, constitute an unconstitutional endorsement.
The ethical and moral implications are profound: forging close ties with select religious entities for civic policy discussions, while convenient, compromises the impartiality expected of public servants. Such collaborations raise serious constitutional questions and erode public confidence in leadership.
Should these practices persist, incorporating invocations of faith—such as references to Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth—into city and county council proceedings, it behooves us to respond with unwavering resolve. Let us arm ourselves with the full armor of God, His Word, and the Holy Spirit as our spiritual arsenal, engaging not in confrontation but in principled advocacy.
To safeguard our communities and uphold these vital principles, I urge you to take action today. Contact your local city and county representatives to voice your concerns and demand transparency and neutrality in governance. Attend council meetings, join civic committees, or volunteer for community initiatives—your involvement is the cornerstone of accountable leadership. By becoming active participants in the democratic process, we can ensure that our government serves all citizens equitably, preserving the integrity of our shared republic for generations to come. Reach out now; your voice matters.
I would point out that at the time of the ratification of the US federal constitution, 10 out of 13 states had some combination of 1)an established state church denomination, 2)a taxpayer supported church, 3) Christian religious tests for office. The same was true for almost all county and city governments in the young nation.
Only the federal government, specifically Congress, is prohibited from passing laws to make an established state church, (think the Anglican church) or prohibit the free exercise of the Christian religion among the various denominations. Same with no federal religious tests for office.
So it is entirely constitutional for a state, county, or city to do these things then and now.
Some may argue that the gross misapplication by the FDR loyal liberal Supreme Court in Everson v. Board of education in 1947, of the 14th amendment due process protections intended for the recently freed slaves(in 1868), to somehow mean the entire bill of rights now applied to the states, specifically the establishment and free exercise clauses of the 1st amendment, would thus also prohibit the states and local governments from doing so today.
But considering it took 80 years after the 14th amendment was passed for a radically liberal supreme court, full of FDR appointed leftist Justices (he appointed 8), to artificially fabricate a direct state application of the bill of rights, it is highly suspect this was actually the reconstructionist Republicans intention or desire in the 14th amendment. In fact, none of their ratification debates, speeches, or writings suggest anything remotely close to the conjurations of the 1947 SCOTUS.
And all it would take is a new court case and a scotus ruling to overturn this terrible decision precedent. Scotus is about to rule on the 14th amendment birthright citizenship clause. They could also revisit due process applying bill of rights to the states.