By: Diane Benjamin I FOIA’d the City of Bloomington for awards given to Ty Carlton for the past 15 years. What I received isn’t the whole story. From the Bloomington Police Facebook page where Ty is mentioned a lot, this isn’t mentioned in the FOIA: This is what I received by FOIA, notice no details? […]
By: Diane Benjamin Three years ago a lawyer, Samantha Walley, tendered her resignation as the City Manager of Leroy. At the time she was in a kerfuffle with the Leroy Police Chief. She was and is married to a Bloomington Police Detective named Steve Moreland. Walley had previously worked in the States Attorney’s office. Walley […]
By: Diane Benjamin The policy under Tim Gleason in the City of Bloomington is to hire employees who resemble the people they serve. Just listen for 25 seconds: Gleason is talking about the rebranding program the Council never approved but now is expected to continue funding. If the majority of the Council wasn’t socialist the […]
By: Diane Benjamin There was a Township meeting before the Council meeting, Council doesn’t start until 59:00 on the video. This item on the Consent Agenda was pulled before the meeting: . The documentation says this Review Board hasn’t had a case since August of 2011 after being established in 2011, but that didn’t keep […]
By: Diane Benjamin Alderman Donna Boelen mentioned at the Council meeting last night Connect Transit hasn’t presented their budget to the City as required by the Inter-Governmental agreement. They never do. The budget includes $800,000 more for them anyway. It was reduced last year when CT said they didn’t need the money. Now it’s back. […]
By: Diane Benjamin That’s to IMRF (Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund) for answering my FOIA request the same day it was filed! I filed it because there is another Accelerated Payment to IMRF on the Bills and Payroll to be approved Monday night. That practice should have ended years ago. If you don’t know what it […]
By: Diane Benjamin Payroll approved at the last Bloomington City Council meeting showed 953 employees. Payroll tonight shows 999. Source 1: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/30070/638429797206570000 Source 2: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/30104/638441880489500000 Evidently that still isn’t enough employees since two items are on the Consent Agenda to “brand” the City. $10,960 + $55,450 = $66,410 to make them Employer of Choice! I […]
By: Diane Benjamin H/T to the person who gave me this tip All of this information was received by FOIA. A formal investigation by the State Police was launched last August. Why Carlton was fired is detailed in this document: . What this document doesn’t say is how the police found out. The multi-page documents […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night the Bloomington City Council heard Capital Projects plans for FY 2025, that starts May 1st. You can see all the slides from the presentation here: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/30100 My highlights: This is the City’s portion, the County and Normal also contribute. A grant pays for most of this trail. Ever see anyone […]
By: Diane Benjamin Just info: Tari Renner got the City to buy this property on North Main so the City could control what was built there. 3 Kirk Holdings was involuntarily dissolved in 2018 according to the Secretary of State website. Search corporations here: https://www.ilsos.gov/departments/business_services/business_searches.html After years of realtors unsuccessful trying to unload it, the […]
By: Diane Benjamin EV owners don’t pay motor fuel taxes, even though they drive on the same roads as those of you who do. Buy an EV (that most people can’t afford) and the taxpayers will subsidize it with a tax credit. In 10 years, that EV will likely be junk because replacing the batteries […]
By: Diane Benjamin Even though the City has 3 top Administrators now, according to the meeting documentation THEY requested this proclamation: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2392365/Health_for_Humanity_Yogathon_Day_Proclamation_2024.pdf It recognizes the Health for Humanity Yogathon Organized by Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA. The event happened from January 13th – 28th. Definitely on top of everything with 3. 😉 Unlike Normal that only discusses the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember this story? https://blnnews.com/2024/02/07/is-normal-doing-a-secret-survey/ I wrote that story on February 7th. On February 12th WGLT did this story: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2024-02-12/normal-seeking-public-feedback-on-future-environmental-priorities The Town of Normal is doing that survey. See this quote by Town Planner Mercy Davidson in the story: . Let me interpret: This survey is only for supporters of the Town agenda. If you don’t believe in their […]
By: Diane Benjamin The 1/22/24 payroll showed 880 employees. Pay rate averaged $17.90 per hour for seasonal employees. https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/30014/638410997409630000 Tonight’s Bills and Payroll shows 953. Pay rate averaged $18.22 per hour for seasonal employees. https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/30070 Seasonal hours worked increased by 1,615. So, people are forced to take temporary jobs because full time jobs aren’t available? On the Agenda for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Why do so many water main breaks occur around Laesch Acres? The latest: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/Home/Components/News/News/9944/1394 Greenwood Avenue, Laesch Avenue to West Hamilton Road Closed Effective Immediately Post Date:02/05/2024 11:02 AM BLOOMINGTON, IL – Beginning immediately, Greenwood Avenue, from Laesch Avenue to West Hamilton Road will be closed to all traffic due to water main repair. This […]
By: Diane Benjamin I saw a social media post asking why the arena was built downtown instead of along the interstate that could have brought people in from nearby cities. (Common sense?) I didn’t respond but the answer is clear. It was built downtown because the people who are elected to represent you have been trying for DECADES […]
By: Diane Benjamin Everyone should know by now the Coliseum never performed as sold to the citizens of Bloomington: It will never cost you a dime! Billy Tyus, Deputy City Manager, admitted the obvious to WGLT: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2024-02-01/with-hockey-team-in-place-bloomington-looks-to-bring-arena-back-to-life?fbclid=IwAR1YSf-4fJksOpolUowyg7i2Qz9WmQlSCllxjwsP0BTE2Yb7G6tkVC6F_6k Excerpt: Note: The hockey team won’t be around long if they have to help the city recoup costs. Meanwhile, Mike Matejka who […]
By: Diane Benjamin All previous electric bus stories: https://blnnews.com/2024/01/30/3-more-shocking-emails-electric-buses/ https://blnnews.com/2024/01/30/foia-emails-from-rivian-to-connect-transit/ https://blnnews.com/2024/01/24/connect-transit-random-finds/ https://blnnews.com/2024/01/23/one-more-connect-transit-for-now/ https://blnnews.com/2024/01/23/proterra-is-solyndra/ From this story: How much of your money has been wasted on Proterra buses? Since ADHD is both a blessing and a curse, I could have missed some payments. Note, Proterra filed for bankruptcy in August of 2023. The oldest electric buses are two […]
By: Diane Benjamin Something you probably didn’t notice: https://d2kbkoa27fdvtw.cloudfront.net/cityblm/f2efd24f88047e9277e32f4da448e4460.pdf You might know him better from this:
By: Diane Benjamin See this story: https://www.illinoispolicy.org/5-illinois-metro-areas-await-pandemic-recovery-most-add-jobs-in-december/ Can anyone explain why Bloomington is losing jobs? Are business owners leaving this wonderful town because it can’t suck enough money out of your pockets? Are illegals working for cash and taking jobs away from citizens? Imagine how much worse it would be without Rivian!
By: Diane Benjamin It’s getting more difficult to match event reports with artists fees because the dates listed are frequently wrong. I don’t know if all the performance fees stating 12/15/23 are actually for that date. I haven’t found an artist fee dated 12/20. If all apply to 12/15 that show lost a lot of money. Look at the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Council met yesterday afternoon after canceling Monday night’s meeting due to ice. It was short even with 3 Public Comments. Just hit play below to hear the first two. The new hockey owners made a brief presentation with slides that aren’t on video. The person who films at night usually switches the view so people […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader It’s going to be hard to see, but this is a City of Bloomington truck dumping salt at a private gas station – corner of Main and Oakland. Did they salt your business or is this just a “government friend”?
By: Diane Benjamin I have not finished reading everything I received. There is likely more to report. Make sure you read to the bottom. Connect’s General Manager doesn’t want you to know any of this. Refer back to the HUGE November loss: https://blnnews.com/2024/01/23/connect-loses-more-than-the-coliseum/ Salaries were almost twice normal. I thought Connect had a hiring spree of drivers and were no longer […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Connect Transit Board meets at 4:30 today. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFica7k-pGY Will any of the below be discussed? 🤣😂 Remember when Solyndra was supposed to create a ton of solar panels, got tons of federal money, and then declared bankruptcy. Of course no one was ever held accountable, so this “making friends of government […]
By: Diane Benjamin November is a new record loss. See wages and stay tuned. This is going to take more than one story. I have proof the Proterra Electric buses are junk. Connect has 12. One might still be operating, the count of working electric buses changed weekly. It never went up – only down. Many millions of your tax dollars were […]
Meeting was rescheduled for Wednesday because of the ice. By: Diane Benjamin Payroll for the last meeting showed 1009 employees: https://blnnews.com/2024/01/08/bloomington-employee-increase-are-they-making-your-life-better/ Tonight’s payroll shows many less: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/30014/638410997409630000 4 years ago for the same payroll period the City had 783 employees: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/23757/637153013415300000 Is your life better now? Growing government is what progressives do (you pay!) Tim Gleason will announce […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this story: https://blnnews.com/2024/01/20/more-coliseum-event-reports-%f0%9f%98%ab/ I didn’t have the artist fee for this one: Now I do: -$20,988.67 A clean losing sweep!
By: Diane Benjamin If you missed the update to this story – see it now: https://blnnews.com/2024/01/19/bloomington-threw-themselves-a-party/ Lesson: Government isn’t capable of BIG things. They regularly waste your money on things you didn’t ask for while not doing the things your expect them to do. It’s seems safe to assume payments for the artists are NOT reflect on this reports. […]
Only ONE person noticed this happened in 2017? By: Diane Benjamin I was looking for something else when I found this: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/14804/636432458496930000 . Chris Koos throws a party too, since he spends many thousands of dollars that made me wonder how much this party was. I FOIA’d the cost. Of course staff time isn’t included, invitations if Bloomington […]
By: Diane Benjamin I didn’t get a chance to watch Bloomington’s Committee of the Whole meeting until yesterday. The City has the same goal they’ve had for decades: Get people downtown. All the empty buildings will never be developed until you comply, so your tax dollars will be “invested” yet again. If at first (or second or third) you don’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this story: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2024-01-16/bloomington-mayor-says-migrant-arrivals-are-an-opportunity?fbclid=IwAR3sk1vSuXaYjJpAoVD7JzKIiefInecaDL3F2HE4CZuaX7RlA2UXXaVG24Q_aem_Ac-7erlnSRtzkVEj2ctv7mKVdaRhb_7AO3U0opqMbcMf0h77UtpKx_QX-t_C6tOdMA0 Elections for local offices – like Bloomington Mayor – will be early in 2025. Since few vote Mboka could easily be re-elected by the majority who vote socialist. He won’t run as a socialist because that’s a loser, he just needs to act socialist. Read the story, he welcomes people illegally in this […]
By: Diane Benjamin Why are water mains in newer subdivisions breaking? If 30 year old pipes break the City will never catch up replacing lead and older pipes before they break. Where is the press release or Social Media post? Lots of citizen chatter, I haven’t found anything official. Maybe everybody is off today. Say a prayer for the people […]
By: Diane Benjamin Did you know Normal canceled their first meeting of the year last week? Bloomington is trying hard to be them with everything being discussed in private meetings with the City Manager long before votes. This is the local government version of “democracy”. There was only one Public Comment – Surena Fish. The Safety Commission (Molly Ward’s […]
By: Diane Benjamin I had a HARD time getting past the Bills and Payroll report – here’s one more to see: Yes, staff wire transferred .30 to themselves. Agenda: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/f6e3a861-5bbe-11ee-ae13-0050569183fa-d854eb82-3702-4140-9de6-ac3a8e3f379d-1704407204.pdf The regular agenda has nothing on it. Plenty of other stuff on the Consent Agenda though! 1) We hear there is severe housing shortage locally, but lets […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City Council decided how to hand out all the free COVID money, a lot of it went to fixing the sewers but some was allocated to Economic Development. The Bills and Payroll report for tonight shows who got a bunch of that money, without looking it up I don’t know if this […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington payroll shows 202 more employees now than just 2 years ago: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/29950 https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/27390/637770534053800000 Go back to payroll reports January 2019 – pre Covid. Some employees were paid weekly, others were bi-weekly: Total: 777 December 2023 the City of Bloomington had 1009 employees. December 2018 the City of Bloomington had 777 employees. 2020 population: 78,680 2022 […]
By: Diane Benjamin READ to the bottom! City of Bloomington Live Stream video YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@cityofbloomingtonil/streams Feel free to check all videos is you like wasting time! On May 1st 2023 numerous socialists were supposedly sworn into office. Video from the previous 3 swearing in ceremonies are posted, but not 2023. I only checked because of this story […]
By: Diane Benjamin Constitution: Article 4, Section 4: The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; Open borders is an invasion. Just in December at least 302,000 people turned themselves in at the southern border. The Mexican cartels are rich trafficking humans. In […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://blnnews.com/2023/12/27/coliseum-event-profits/ I found two payments for artist fees: The reports for both shows say NET co-produce produce. I hope alderman asks if these fees are already in the NET listed or if these are additional costs. At least both shows made money either way. I don’t have any fees for the October 13th Mercy Me […]
