By: Diane Benjamin Remember the church at 411 E Mulberry that caved in? The City of Bloomington tore it down because it was an extreme hazard. Previous story: https://blnnews.com/2025/07/15/last-night-bloomington-council-2/ How much did that cost? (Invoices below) $300,606.18 + $10,794.77 + $59,727.80 + $11,546.11 + $12,217.00 = $394,891.86. How much has the City been reimbursed by […]
By: Diane Benjamin 29:50 public comment – guy has a problem with the Bloomington police. Has he taken his proof to the PSCRB? 36:50 public comment about Flock Cameras. Of course they are an invasion of privacy while making policing much easier. Many cities have determined that tradeoff isn’t worth it. Nothing was pulled from […]
By: Diane Benjamin Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4103/files/agenda/12675 I don’t have time today to analyze, read it yourself. The only regular agenda item is exchanging some property with IWU: . Just so you don’t forget, the City has $1,400,000 in that part marked 807. https://blnnews.com/2025/07/16/flashback-to-2016/ The City bought it in 2016 to control development. So far no one […]
By: Diane Benjamin Filing a Statement of Economic Interest is required by law to reveal conflicts of interest. Evidently the fines of $100 a day don’t start the day filing is past due. Fines should start immediately to cover the cost of Certified Mail and the staff time it takes to process mailings. Filing was […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Diana Hauman made a drive-by comment to me as she left the data center meeting. She thinks I need to know more about the League of Women Voters before writing about them. I spontaneously burst out laughing! I’ve been writing about the LWV since 2013. See every story at this link: […]
By: Diane Benjamin On December 8, 2025 the Bloomington City Council heard a presentation on Proactive Property Maintenance Enforcement Update: . Since I didn’t write much about this, I asked GROK AI when it happened. I remembered it, just not when. Grok gave me the answer in 10 seconds. PDF page 5: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1012/files/agenda/9377 As long […]
By: Diane Benjamin For awhile yesterday this video was not in the story: https://blnnews.com/2026/05/05/nchs-violence-reason-for-evacuation/ Evidently some people don’t understand that students acting like animals at school wouldn’t hesitate to call in a fake bomb threat to get out of going to school. . Today is Data Center Day: . Did you know the United States […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you missed it, see yesterday’s story on the League of Women voters: https://blnnews.com/2026/05/04/uncovering-the-truth-about-mclean-county-elections/ 1) Diana Hauman spoke at a Bloomington Council meeting last August on behalf of the “nonpartisan” League of Women Voters that isn’t actually nonpartisan. Is Hauman still a League member? Is she pushing for Rank Choice Voting? The […]
By: Diane Benjamin Same property as previous stories – picked at random. https://blnnews.com/2026/04/30/congrats-how-much-is-stolen-from-you-is-posted/ For context on the airport tax: Bloomington and Normal properties are still being taxed by the airport — see Central Il Reg Airport Auth. In 2025, it appeared on bills as “BLM-Nrm Airport Auth.” This year’s 2026 in-town bills now show $0.00 […]
By: Diane Benjamin In other words, the new property tax bills have been posted. You will never own your property, you are renting it from government. If you live in the County you will be charged for the airport without a vote by you. Springfield elected officials passed it because Dave Koehler presented it. Taxation […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s nice to see everything the Council considers is no longer hashed out during 2 on 1 meetings. Previously every agenda item was decided behind closed doors making Council meetings mostly useless. Of course that means meetings are longer as Council members ask questions and state their opinions. Last night was 2 […]
By: Diane Benjamin From Bills and Payroll: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/32515/639124583137330000 Another spiked pension taxpayers have to cover: Why did Bloomington buy a lot? Tonight’s Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4115/files/agenda/12646 The Welcoming America Committee is being discontinued and absorbed by Human Resources. Failures to consistently have a quorum at meetings is blamed. The Empire TIF Fund needs $500,000 to pay the […]
By: Diane Benjamin April 28th Meeting Packet: https://connect-transit.com/file/4167/2026%2004%2028_BoT%20Meeting%20Packet.pdf Imagine earning this much revenue in March 2026: . Now imagine how much that $100,000 cost you to earn: . $1,624,319 taxpayer dollars were spent to earn $100,211. When that number gets to $2 million tax dollars every month will people finally realize they are being robbed? […]
By: Diane Benjamin This meeting was held in response to the damage caused by the tornado that hit Bloomington on April 17th. Just hit play to see some pictures, most I haven’t seen in the media. Slides are included showing the 911 and non-emergency calls during and after the storm. No injuries or deaths have […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you aren’t a subscriber to their emails, you should be: Subscribe here Last week the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) released its seminal, annual Rich States, Poor States report, which ranks all 50 states on their economic competitiveness using metrics like total tax burden, labor laws and the cost of debt service. Open […]
By: Diane Benjamin Staff doesn’t see the humor in calling Committee of the Whole COW. I do. 😁 This is posted for tonight’s scheduled meeting: . The next Committee of Whole meeting is on May 18th. The next regularly scheduled meeting however is next Monday.
By: Diane Benjamin Besides raising water rates 100% over 3 years, the City of Bloomington raised your property taxes too this year. Excerpts from when the water rate increases were passed 11/27/2023: https://d2kbkoa27fdvtw.cloudfront.net/cityblm/9f871a978bec4858933e854eec3650e40.pdf The capital projects will include approximately: (1) $75M to $100M in systemwide distribution improvements; (2) $100M in lead service replacement; (3) $125M […]
By: Diane Benjamin In case you forgot, May 1st your water rates are going up again. https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/departments/water/resident-community/water-rate-increase-and-capital-project-updates
By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Brady is looking for volunteers to serve on Boards and Commissions. The Japanese Sister City Committee has a lot of vacancies! The Citizens’ Beautification Committee has a lot of vacancies too. Those are just 2 that wouldn’t require an extensive amount of time. See the long list of City Boards and […]
By: Diane Benjamin One big difference between Mayor Mwilambwe and Mayor Brady: Meetings start at 6:00. I don’t remember time mattering to Mboka. Arbor Day got a proclamation. Trees are wonderful, I’ve got a bunch of them still dropping dead branches from the last ice storm years ago. I hope since Bloomington has two arborists […]
By: Diane Benjamin Link to tonight’s agenda Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4102/files/agenda/12569 I bet some local business is kicking themselves for not jumping on the naming rights for the Coliseum. You could have gotten free advertising forever—nobody else seems to want their name on the building. Just pay for a few years, cancel the contract afterward, and your […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Code of Ethics Normal passed last night is really cute, but it has no enforcement mechanisms. Therefore it is meaningless. Four Council members will continue to ignore the citizens who don’t want money thrown away on a $40+ million underpass. Those four will continue to vote for spending whatever it takes […]
By: Diane Benjamin Meeting is at 4:30 today. February statistics I care about, others are in the packet: See PDF page 11. New Fare Structure! And Evidently how it is collected: PDF page 4: PDF page 15: BUDGETED 2027 loss: Income: $1,752,000 Expenses: $27,632,170 27,632,170 – 1,752,000 = 25,880,170 25,880,170 / 12 = Connect Transit […]
By: Diane Benjamin Even though Bloomington’s website looks the same, it is now MUCH faster. Try it: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/ Did these guys do something to it? . This was passed at the last meeting. https://blnnews.com/2026/03/26/bloomington-waiting-until-the-last-minute-again/
By: Diane Benjamin The story below is the most comprehensive one I’ve seen. Mayors from more than two Illinois cities are headed to Rome on diplomatic mission that includes meeting with the Pope. Maybe Koos and Brady can give everyone a report on what they accomplished – other than site-seeing. What happened to separation of […]
By: Diane Benjamin This needs a re-visit: . This spending happened because the City website is not ADA compliant. The Department of Justice is requiring all cities with a population of more than 50,000 to be compliant by April 2026. How long has the City of Bloomington been looking at making their website compliant? I […]
By: Diane Benjamin The item that should never have been on the Consent Agenda as mentioned yesterday got pulled: https://blnnews.com/2026/03/23/bloomington-tonight-3-23-26/ The Clerk read the names of email public comments and many others showed up at Public Comment. Some were opposed to the City paying Flock cameras bills. The documentation claims those charges were for work […]
By: Diane Benjamin Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4114/files/agenda/12519 1) Guess what’s back? 2) Since the PUBLIC isn’t paying attention, few if any will show up to speak: 3) The City of Bloomington will be tracking people using YOUR cell phone data. See 8G. Add that to Flock cameras. 4) This one should NOT be on the Consent Agenda […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington has MANY short roads badly in need of resurfacing. See this story: https://blnnews.com/2024/05/10/road-ratings-part-4/ The major roads that have been resurfaced, like GE Road, were contracted. It would be close to impossible to contract fixing all those short roads. Bloomington solved that problem and I don’t think they have made a big […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington and Normal used to have an understanding both cities needed to have the same tax rates (except property tax). Bloomington Budget – Book 1 PDF page 90: I blacked out the other cities so you only see Bloomington and Normal: This chart is already updated for the Normal increases going into […]
By: Diane Benjamin One public comment at 11:05 was by a guy calling for the City to quit burning the brush in parks every spring. He claimed it destroys wildlife habitat. It probably does but it is also the opposite of “being green” because it pollutes. Citizens aren’t allowed to burn brush inside the city, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Committee of the Whole was switched to special meeting because one item needs a vote: Remember when BNWRD tried to buy 3 properties and one showed it was owned by the City of Bloomington and not the guy BNWRD thought they were buying it from? https://blnnews.com/2025/12/31/bnwrd-story-6/ Tonight: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4376/files/attachment/8566 Bloomington is Quit Claiming […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) City of Bloomington has been doing a lot of surveys. The results are dependents on who completes the survey. In the past, surveys had low participation and therefore did not reflect real citizen values. Remember Bring It On Bloomington? https://blnnews.com/2016/10/13/bloomingtons-award-good/ If you live in Bloomington, this is the link: https://engage.thinkconfluence.com/miller-park-plan 2) […]
By: Diane Benjamin This payment was approved at last Monday’s Bloomington City Council meeting: If you still don’t understand what Accelerated IMRF Payments are: SOME Bloomington employees are still allowed to SPIKE their pensions. Sick Days (possibly others too) are accumulated and then the employee is compensated for unused days when they retire. That compensation […]
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 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Separation of Church and State is immaterial tonight. Do Christians ever get a Proclamation? The Islamic faith will: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4101/files/attachment/8470 I dare you to name any Islamic country where Freedom and Liberty prevail and women aren’t second class citizens. Don’t even ask about LGBTQ rights, they don’t exist. Nice job Administration Department. Is […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you live in Bloomington and haven’t reviewed the proposed budget, now would be a good time: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/32355/639074561303430000 PDF page 21: . Every chart in the budget would be more informative with a ten year history instead of just a comparison with the previous budget. First note: The population isn’t changing. What […]
By: Diane Benjamin A 97 year old lady asked the Council to pass an ethics ordinance. She didn’t mention any specific reason other than it will install TRUST in government. Novel idea! Of course City Code is meaningless, an ethics ordinance would be ignored too. Trust is lost when there are penalties for peons and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4113/files/agenda/12437 From the Consent Agenda: . Bloomington will approve hiring this firm to make the Sign Code make sense. Meanwhile, the first item on the Regular Agenda makes a change to the Sign Code: . The only other item is a first look at the budget. . Historic Total! . Of […]
By: Diane Benjamin The video below was played at Monday’s Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting. It shows what the priorities were in 2025: Downtown. That priority hasn’t changed in decades. The video is a little over 3 minutes long. Downtown got a about half of it. The slide at 3:00 say 28 lane miles […]
