By: Diane Benjamin My FOIA for the current enrollment is due today. The highest enrollment in the last 13 years was in 2016: 13,751. Last school year enrollment was only 12,304 – that is a DECREASE of 1,447 students. If classrooms are overcrowded it has to be because Unit 5 refuses to use their resources […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Gun Back Back event held Sunday was as much of a fiasco has the Gun Safe giveaway with safes that aren’t made for guns. The ordinance passed by the City Council allotted $60,000, reports from John Boch, Executive Director of Guns Save Life, said $50,000 was handed out to the first […]
By: Diane Benjamin At this week’s meeting it was mentioned that Champaign is trying hydrogen buses. It was mentioned Connect Transit might go that direction when they need more buses. Of course that would require different infrastructure. It would have been a lot easier to keep diesel buses and a lot faster to refuel them. […]
Details tomorrow That is a new record.
By: Diane Benjamin Everyone but Tim Gleason managed to show at last night. Gleason might have been attending another meeting. Jenna Kearns: Just stay seated during the Pledge of Allegiance. You would look like less of a hypocrite: The upcoming presentation for downtown wasn’t mentioned, supposedly the room in the Government Center will be done. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is what Bloomington’s downtown needs: This is a man-made canal through the heart of downtown Indianapolis. It is complete with gondolas and singing gondoliers. Paddle boats are available for rent. There is very little retail on the wide walking paths but there is a lot of expensive condos. I think water […]
By: Diane Benjamin Connect transit is tired of people noticing the empty or close to empty buses roaming Bloomington-Normal so they fixed the problem. Check out of the new electric buses. h/t a reader They’ve gone from darkened windows to covering them completely. We still know the bus is mostly empty. CT didn’t have a […]
By: Diane Benjamin It is going to take more than 1 story to cover the Bloomington Council/Township meeting last night. In case you missed the update, the room in the Government Center will not be done as scheduled. It won’t be ready until October. Can the camera be any farther away from the stage? None […]
By: Diane Benjamin I was shocked when Connect Transit picked Proterra as their electric bus supplier. It appears the Board members appointed by the mayors of Bloomington and Normal didn’t bother to do a simple Google search. Plenty of stories were easily available detailing the problems with these buses and cities that quit using them […]
By: Diane Benjamin Maybe Bloomington can acquire a tank next. Tonight buying one of these is on the Consent Agenda: This is a link to the documentation for this purchase: https://d2kbkoa27fdvtw.cloudfront.net/cityblm/ce402438fb1c517ffdd971eb63e404010.pdf The cost is $249,229. Watch the first video at that link. It shows a military operation, the exact opposite of de-escalation. I know the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Fitch downgraded the US credit yesterday: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/shock-u-s-credit-rating-downgrade-by-fitch-rings-alarm-bells-about-economy/ar-AA1eGOTE This is a quote from the story: According to the company, despite the fact that the debt ceiling standoff was resolved two months ago, “the repeated debt-limit political standoffs and last-minute resolutions have eroded confidence in fiscal management.“ Let me interpret: Fitch would rather see […]
By: Diane Benjamin City is handing out ARPA money tonight – American Rescue Plan money is a driver of inflation. Handing out money that has to be borrowed/printed increases the money supply and therefore inflation. There is nothing on the agenda for action other than the Consent Agenda. https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/2595281e-7d4f-11ed-9024-0050569183fa-791fe512-602c-4d20-98c8-ecdbbed39134-1688669950.pdf There is a Public Hearing on […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mollie Ward’s initiative is back: Anybody want to guess how many of these “experts” will be FOID card and gun owners? Definition of expert is: People who claim some hidden talent not available to normal people. The Council will approve it and it will develop zero solutions because morality can’t be forced […]
By: Diane Benjamin Celebrate now Bloomington – your water bills will increase. The City did a study and you just aren’t paying enough as compared to other area municipalities. See 43:30 on the video below. Water rates haven’t increased since 2012, everything else the City charges on your bill goes up 3% automatically every year. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unlike Chris Koos in the Town of Normal, Mboka Mwilambwe asked the Council if they wanted to extend time for Public Comment. They all said yes so they could hear from two final citizens. Recently Koos used his tyrannical powers to end Public Comment, nobody on that Council objected: https://blnnews.com/2023/05/03/one-guy-stood-up-to-koos/ The actual […]
By: Diane Benjamin The streets and sidewalks presentation from Monday night is now online: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/29386 PDF page 2 states Bloomington has 842 Lane Miles (streets). Below is the same graphic I posted earlier, except this one is readable – PDF page 12: From 1995 to 2022 Bloomington resurfaced a total of 359.6 lane miles. 27 […]
By: Diane Benjamin A couple more things from Bloomington’s Monday meeting: Jeff Jurgen, who was promoted to the 2nd Assistant City Manager has a base pay of $186,134. With benefits the total is $234,297: https://bloomingtonil_redesign.prod.govaccess.org/home/showpublisheddocument/29259/638174076712770000 An employee now with the State’s Attorney’s office has been hired to replace Jurgens as Corporate Attorney – Christopher Spanos. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The report presented last night is supposed to be on-line, so far I don’t see it. Instead of posting reports before meetings, staff likes showing slides that are frequently barely readable on the screen. The presentation was very comprehensive! If you want to know about the roads and sidewalks, watch the whole […]
By: Diane Benjamin What did Bloomington do right? The audio and video of the council meeting actually synced last night! Even with 3 proclamations the entire meeting was less than an hour. I don’t remember council approval for moving any offices to the government center, they just appeared there. If the HUB was approved I […]
By: Diane Benjamin 33:10 – Mayor Mwilambwe recognized the 4 aldermen that are leaving office April 30th. Mboka gave a short speech and presented each with a plaque. (Remember when Normal totally ignored Stan Nord’s 4 years?) Public comment starts at 44:00. Two speakers thanked their outgoing aldermen. Gary Lambert is a can’t miss at […]
By: Diane Benjamin I had to file a FOIA request to get this reports posted. Some dates of performance fees don’t match any performance dates. Loss: $206.84 Loss: $7,932.72 Loss: $6,854.53 Here’s where report dates don’t match event reports: There wasn’t an event on 2/23/2023. https://www.artsblooming.org/events/calendar?cury=2023&curm=2&curd=28&curview=month Three performance fees are listed as 3/23/2023, there were […]
Roads resurfacing scheduled: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/Home/Components/News/News/9524/1394?backlist=%2fdepartments%2fpublic-works%2fbloomington-streets Oakland isn’t one of them. by: Diane Benjamin Oakland and Macarthur are major roads, they both become one way streets in West Bloomington. Oakland is a disgusting mess of holes and patches long before it becomes one way. I drove the whole thing today and heading back East on Macarthur. It […]
By: Diane Benjamin The only reason to have TIME LIMITS for Council discussion is to limit discussion. It started under Tari Renner, Mboka is continuing it. Common Sense should tell your elected officials discussions should take as long as somebody has something to say. Instead they stop and have a vote to extend the time. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last nights meeting was over two hours long, it will take more than one story to cover. You will find out next week why the Water Park won’t open this year when 4 presentations will be heard at the Committee of the Whole. Grant Walsh revealed the Water Park during budget discussions: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight’s Agenda: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/25885a08-7d4f-11ed-9024-0050569183fa-791fe512-602c-4d20-98c8-ecdbbed39134-1680815202.pdf PDF page 56: Police buying 3 drones. See this link recapping an early morning crime spree on 4/2/23: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/Home/Components/News/News/9507/1394 At least drones are cheaper than a helicopter! PDF page 66: The Lake Bloomington Maintenance Facility burned down in March of 2019. Now 4 years later bids are being rejected […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thank you Nick Becker for asking why the Bloomington Election Commission exists and why this redundancy needs to continue. See 1:57:45. Donna Boelen was acting mayor last night. She claimed she couldn’t vote, I remember other acting mayors voting in Bloomington. She is still an alderman so not voting meant her Ward […]
By: Diane Benjamin Wow – 3 Public Hearings where likely no public will show up to speak: That last one will lead to approval of that Annexation Agreement. I’m the first one to admit I am map challenged, but this sure looks like the land on the SW corner of Ireland Grove and Hershey that […]
By: Diane Benjamin Budget book 2 – PDF page 132 https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/29127 The paragraph below sure sounds like the City let Grossinger Motors off the hook for naming rights long before the contract was over last summer. Grossinger is still on the building anyway. The City still refers to it at Grossinger anyway. The EXCESS reserves […]
By: Diane Benjamin Watching the video is much more difficult than listening. The mouths and the sound continue to not match. Spending millions on IT evidently can’t get quality video. Most of the meeting was reviewing the budget again. You can page through the presentation slides beginning at 17:40. See 20:24. Unit 5 thinks the […]
By: Diane BenjamÃn Bills and payroll: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/29123 IMRF wouldn’t have required this payment if some pension wasn’t spiked: . . Agenda for tonight: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/25841e19-7d4f-11ed-9024-0050569183fa-791fe512-602c-4d20-98c8-ecdbbed39134-1678461338.pdf The meeting is mostly budget. PDF page 30 might be interesting. Take a look. .
By: Diane Benjamin Two things in the budget you won’t know unless you watched last night. Chemberly Harris is getting $19,000 for her Youth On A Mission. Pam Reece has a $750,000 slush fund. Of course it’s for contingencies (wasn’t needed for the previous 2 years). https://www.normalil.gov/DocumentCenter/View/21181/Town-of-Normal-2022-23-to-2027-28-Five-Year-Operating-and-Capital-Investment-Budget PDF page 121 Nothing aggravates citizens more than […]
By: Diane Benjamin The budget isn’t called Proposed Budget, but it is on line as a 5 years budget. Good luck reading it: https://www.normalil.gov/DocumentCenter/View/21181/Town-of-Normal-2022-23-to-2027-28-Five-Year-Operating-and-Capital-Investment-Budget Tonight – a whole 5 minutes is devoted to a Public Hearing about the Proposed budget. Even though the announcement below claims the budget is on line it isn’t. Kathleen was […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unit 5’s own data shows controlling costs isn’t happening. They have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Start with this chart complied from OpenTheBooks: https://blnnews.com/2022/04/01/unit-5-did-esser-funds-inflate-salaries/ Compared that chart with the one below compiled by Unit 5 – PDF page 15 https://www.unit5.org/cms/lib/IL01905100/Centricity/Domain/51/CAC%20Financial%20Presentation%2002-02-2022.pdf Why did PERSONNEL costs (blue line) skyrocket since 2015? The […]
By: Diane Benjamin If Unit 5 has a deficit of $12 million in the Education Fund, why is the referendum going to give them $20 million? This is the wording on the ballot: The below is a screenshot of the now deleted Frequently Asked Questions on the Unit 5 website: There is no guarantee the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington is expecting to end this fiscal year with more than $37 million in General Fund Reserves. This is a huge increase compared to pre-Tim Gleason. See PDF page 2: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/29073/638125001757630000 The $7 million is this years budget, next year $10 million is budgeted. Asphalt and Concrete is roads and sidewalks, not […]
By: Diane Benjamin The budget is the big item for tonight. Will anyone notice fixing the streets isn’t allocated enough money to even begin catching up? Streets are becoming like pensions. It doesn’t matter how much money is thrown at them, they will never be rated well funded. Is Bloomington investing pension money with companies […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is just spending on Capital Projects. FY 2023 ends on 4/30/2023, FY 2024 is what matters. Asphalt and Concrete should have been $10M years ago, it needs to be that high for MANY MORE years. See the slide at 30:13. It’s not all roads however. The Coliseum will forever be a […]
By: Diane Benjamin FYI: The Council that hired Tim Gleason and that mayor are long gone. Gleason was hired to revitalize downtown because he revitalized Decatur’s (sort of). After 5:00 very little happens in the closed up downtown businesses. It is nothing like Bloomington’s downtown that exists for lawyers, people accused of crimes, homeless people, […]
By: Diane Benjamin More on this story: https://blnnews.com/2023/02/14/i-could-have-predicted-this-one/ Tim Gleason wasn’t at the meeting where hiring a federal lobbyist firm for $270,000 over 3 years was voted down. It wouldn’t have gone that direction if he had been there, he’s a master at changing the minds of council members. Tim Gleason is the employee of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington failed at Live Streaming the meeting last night. There was no audio! The incompetence shown by City staff should make you wonder what else they are incompetent at doing. Below is this year’s budget for Information Technology. Almost $6 million and they can’t get a Live Stream to work in a […]
