By: Diane Benjamin Who runs this state? It isn’t the people paying the bills! See this site: https://www.illinois.gov/idol/Laws-Rules/CONMED/Pages/Rates.aspx This link shows how much government if FORCED to pay in McLean County for labor: https://www.illinois.gov/idol/Laws-Rules/CONMED/rates/2015/january/MCLEAN99.htm It is the law in Illinois that any project funded by taxpayers has to pay the prevailing wage rate. Try that […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when Bloomington bought new garbage trucks and cans? Why doesn’t the City know how much money they are saving by automating? How many MILLIONS did that cost, evidently the Council didn’t ask how much would be saved before spending the money and now the City doesn’t know if they are saving money. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Renner now has green light to create another TIF district in downtown Bloomington so he can have a hotel. Bloomington elected his candidates last Tuesday, so the only thing that can stop him is the local taxing bodies that have to agree to not get any increase in property taxes if any […]
By: Diane Benjamin In Bloomington only 9.23% of registered voters voted. The only thing that will change on the Bloomington City Council is all votes will now be 8-1 instead of 7-2. The taxpayer paid lunches for aldermen with Tari Renner and David Hales will continue so all the Council meetings are fixed in advance. […]
By: Diane Benjamin After the Bloomington City Council voted for the Coliseum – every member who voted YES left the Council. If citizens had elected like-minded people you wouldn’t be saddled with the Coliseum today! Failure to vote in local elections put aldermen on the Council who didn’t represent you! It’s happening again: Tari Renner […]
By: Diane Benjamin The last time next year’s budget was discussed was March 7th. Since then – crickets. Why? Council meetings were held on 3/9, 3/16, and 3/23. Budget discussions disappeared, but then there is an election Tuesday. The new budget has to be in place on May 1st. Last year the budget wasn’t approved […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal has FOUR TIF districts as of 2011: (the latest info on the comptroller’s website) http://www.comptrollerconnect.ioc.state.il.us/Office/LocalGovt/ViewTIFReports/DisplayTIFRpt.cfm?CFY=2011&BetaSel=N The City of Bloomington has TWO as of 2011 and wants another one to fund a downtown hotel: http://www.comptrollerconnect.ioc.state.il.us/Office/LocalGovt/ViewTIFReports/DisplayTIFRpt.cfm?CFY=2011&BetaSel=B Why isn’t the information listed more current than 2011? Maybe government doesn’t want you […]
By: Diane Benjamin Which is more important 1) Fixing Roads 2) Downtown Bloomington The current budget proposal spends more on Coliseum upgrades than it does on roads. Did you notice the budget discussion has been dropped until after the election? Why are roads not the priority? Do you prefer spending tax dollars on new lighting […]
By: Diane Benjamin Here’s the problem with candidates running for office: They are unwilling to stand on principles and values Almost every candidate tries to hide where they stand on the issues because they know they would not get elected saying what they really think. In 2013 I filmed Aaron Schock at a Town Hall […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s way past time to quit calling local elections non-partisan when the candidates bring their ideology to their elected office. Voters deserve to know what the candidates will do when elected. Reading campaign literature where they call themselves fiscal conservatives may be enough to fool some people, but look deeper. When virtually […]
By: Diane Benjamin Today’s Editorial (written by a no-name person) laments lobbyists in Springfield. Elected officials leave office and become lobbyists for State funds, the paper wants it to end. Pantagraph: What is the difference between a State lobbyist and your brand of media lapping at government’s feet? Is your building in downtown Bloomington still […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Renner has a limited supply of Democrats to appoint. Evidently that’s why Amelia Buragas was appointed to two positions by him. (Zoning Board of Appeals and Evergreen Memorial Cemetery Board: http://blnnews.com/2015/02/04/ward-4-forum-buragas/) With a limited pool of potential appointees, Renner appointed Amalia’s husband to the McLean County Regional Planning Commission. http://www.mcplan.org/department/board.php?structureid=16 The […]
By: Diane Benjamin I wonder if Tari Renner wrote the campaign materials his picks are using for the Bloomington City Council: Hauman, Painter, Buragas! They all say pretty much the same thing. Luckily 2 of the 3 have a voting history on the Council. Yesterday I wrote about Joni Painter’s campaign materials and her voting […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Flex basketball team played at the Coliseum last night. I’d love to post pictures of the non-existent crowd – but the Flex put them on Facebook. You have to see them there: https://www.facebook.com/flexbasketball The page also has a pic of the sign the City is planning to replace – it appears […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader sent me this picture of Bloomington in 1971. It clearly shows where the private sector thinks money should be! Mayors for decades have been trying to make downtown Bloomington a destination – using YOUR tax money. You got a lot of debt and a Coliseum eating a hole in the […]
Corrected – David Hales budget increases By: Diane Benjamin In honor of the Supreme Court meeting today to decide if the plan passed by the legislature to fix pension is legal: 2014 Total Compensation Report – City of Bloomington http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=6713 Of course the report doesn’t include totals, so here they are: Salary: 37,123,891.83 Overtime: 3,308,160.59 […]
By: Diane Benjamin “When the people fear the government, that’s tyranny; when the government fears the people, that’s freedom.” Thomas Jefferson Last night the Normal City Council raised 2 taxes. Remember, there is an election in April. Bloomington is holding off votes on a downtown hotel and raising garbage fees until after the election. Obviously […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City issued the following explanation of TIF districts with the budget. See Book 2 – page 85 http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8223 A Downtown TIF District was formed in 1986. A TIF (Tax Increment Funding) District receives the incremental property tax revenue for properties located within the TIF district boundaries. The incremental difference is the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington owns many buildings that are deteriorating because maintenance is deferred. The can’t afford what they have now. Properties like the old Coachman Hotel could have been sold, but the City didn’t like the offer. The following is listed under accomplishments in the Capital Improvements Fund – Book 2, […]
By: Diane Benjamin The vile comments made by Tari Renner were posted to this story: http://blnnews.com/2015/02/10/does-tari-know-that-judy-isnt-running/ IWU students have commented at the last two Council meetings. The two took turns attacking Alderwoman Stearns. The obvious question is why since she isn’t running for reelection! Review last year – the answer is clear. Tari is getting […]
By: Diane Benjamin The only interesting parts of last night’s Council meeting were the public comment and Aldermen comments at the end. IWU students have suddenly taken an interest in local politics. It doesn’t hurt that one is a Renner student and the other is his girlfriend – see below. From twitter: Brexton Isaacs retweeted […]
Correction: http://blnnews.com/2015/02/09/sorry-i-know-what-it-is-now/ By: Diane Benjamin VERY Transparent Mayor. You must be afraid to have your potted plants vote in public right before an election! All the citizens surveys said NEEDS before WANTS. You want spending downtown regardless of how bad the streets and sewers are. What the citizens say is immaterial! All your […]
By: Diane Benjamin Contrary to what government believes, all documents belong to the citizens unless it can be proven under the law they should remain secret. VERY few exceptions are available – the writers of the FOIA law realized that government DOES NOT exist without taxpayer confiscation of money and therefore the people paying the […]
by: Diane Benjamin Th article below recaps what Decatur “invested”. Most of these projects are completed. $350 Million later, is Decatur “Quality”? Is their economy better? Are businesses flocking there? Keep in mind: Everything Decatur “Invested” came from taxpayers. Decatur is dominated by unions and Democrats. Bloomington elected its first Democrat Mayor. Seeing a pattern? […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City held a Citizens Summit. Participants sent a strong message: Fund essential services first – not wants! The City surveyed citizens. Citizens sent the same message: Citizens’ Priority Survey Results Citizens reiterated the same to the Council during public comment last night. Watch starting at 4:55 Following, Tari gave his State […]
by: Diane Benjamin Mayor Renner has declared Strip Malls dead. Bloomington’s future is downtown. There is a waiting list of millennials wanting to live downtown. Koos is planning to spend another $60 Million on Uptown so millennials can live in micro apartments. Anybody surprised they are uninformed? This article is from 2013: The Geography Of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Comments to Pantagraph stories concerning Gabriella Calhoun, Sgt Shumaker, and Tari Renner’s remarks have been disabled. Jeers Pantagraph – Did Renner demand you suspend comments? I saw some yesterday obviously made by “people in the know”. I guess only “approved” talking points are allowed. Jeers Pantagraph – For Jeering the Chateau and […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington has been trying to minimize the power of the City Council. The 9 aldermen are elected by citizens to be their representative, but the seven potted plants on the Council continue to defer to David Hales instead of making common sense decisions for themselves. Frankly, I’m surprised there […]
By: Diane Benjamin Much of the news about the City Council meeting last night concerned the Brady grant and Central Catholic. It was illuminating to see how the conversation turned from “this is the only use for the $750,000” to now “we can use it for any park or trail project”. Sen Bill Brady was […]
by: Diane Benjamin K-Mart is just the latest to announce it is closing. Many smaller businesses have or are closing. Both Bloomington and Normal have reported Sales Tax Revenue is down. The Pantagraph reported B-N homes sales have improved – but read the article to the bottom. New construction lags behind last year. It’s 1/3 […]
by: Diane Benjamin You probably didn’t hear, but the Coliseum had an audited operating loss last year of $1,637,477. The only Central Illinois Arena Management (CIAM) report posted for this year is for May-July. Is shows a loss of almost $140,000. Since there were very few events since July, that’s probably why nothing has been […]
Illinois has a law – union labor only needs to apply for construction contracts. Of course, they call it paying “prevailing wage” and require apprentice programs. Tonight Bloomington wants to require union labor for construction in TIF districts – like a new hotel downtown. Free market labor NOT welcome. Can anybody think of a union […]
by: Diane Benjamin Do you remember the budget discussions that took place earlier this year on the Bloomington City Council? Mayor Transparency Renner demanded tax increases and declined to consider any cuts. He publicly vilified Alderwoman Stearns for even presenting a list for consideration! Renner vetoed the budget – then he got his 3 new […]
Correction: The Department heads didn’t have to come today, they have Saturdays off. Only minimal staff and the Council are there today. The Council is really earning their $4500 a year salary. __________________________________________________ by: Diane Benjamin Yes, I stopped by the Den yesterday. If you want to see all the highest paid employees of the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is one of the debt tables I misinterpreted. Government accounting is different from the private sector. To me, as a CPA, listing a payment from 2020-2024 means that payment will be made for 5 years. To government, that amount is the total. This table is from the CAFR – the financial […]
By: Diane Benjamin The re-scheduled retreat for the City of Bloomington is going to be held Friday and Saturday. It is happening at the Den – no live streaming will be available. What does Renner and Hales have to hide? I’ve seen the room, the chairs don’t look all that comfortable. So why are they […]
Home sales are down Average sales price of homes is down Sales tax revenue is down Is local government adjusting to the new reality? Hotel in Normal coming Hotel in Bloomington coming Spend spend spend! It’s going to be great!
by: Diane Benjamin Downstate loves to blame Chicago politics for destroying the state, but there is little difference between Rahm Emanuel and Tari Renner. Chicago has one advantage, a real press. Bloomington doesn’t have that luxury. Corruption is much easier when the press doesn’t do their job. Chicago Tribune writer John Kass has […]
by: Diane Benjamin Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. I will do a history recap for you Tari, even though you will ignore it. You are brilliant, past failures won’t happen with you at the helm! There is no date on this document, but it is prior to the City […]
Interesting things can be overheard while buzzing around. How do you feel about soccer and volleyball fields in downtown? They can hold tournaments thus providing people to stay in the new hotel! I hear the old warehouse area is being looked at. No word on who is going to pay for it, take a guess. […]
