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 City Manager Jeff Jurgens STRONGLY urged residents to conserve even more water. Of course the below isn’t all that happened last night, just what I thought was notable. Last night’s Bloomington City Council meeting was tortuously long. Two items were pulled from the Consent Agenda. Both serve as a lesson in government […]
By: Diane Benjamin Today’s agenda: https://connect-transit.com/file/4024/2026%2001%2027_BoT%20Meeting%20Packet.pdf The packet is for November and December. There isn’t near as much information in the packet as usual. Missing are reports from their consultants in Springfield and DC. $42,059 for what? . Ridership is up, so are the losses: . Flex is still up almost 9% fiscal year to […]
By: Diane Benjamin One more thing happened at last Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting. City Manager Jeff Jurgens called again for water conservation. If you are letting faucets drip so your pipes don’t freeze, make sure nobody knows. This is part of slide Jurgens showed, the rest is fuzzy: . In 131 years Bloomington […]
By: Diane Benjamin The meeting wasn’t 1 hour and 13 minutes long as the video shows. Almost 17 minutes is pre-meeting commercials. Now that January is more than halfway over, the City declared the month Human Trafficking Awareness month. There was also 28 minutes of Public Comments. All but one was by people representing Care […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since some Federal Holidays are more important than others, the Bloomington City Council is delaying the Committee of the Whole meeting until tomorrow night. Remember when they met on Columbus day? https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4125/files/agenda/9240 The Council held a retreat in November to set priorities. Of course there is no video since it wasn’t held […]
By: Diane Benjamin The meeting was short! Nothing was even slightly controversial until comments by aldermen. More on that in a minute. The only agenda item concerned swinging doors downtown hitting pedestrians. This downtown picture is from the slide show presentation: Businesses like Windy City Wieners want more indoor floor space, so they want the […]
By: Diane Benjamin I know most residents of Normal don’t care or they would quit electing the same people over and over, but just for the few who do care: https://www.25newsnow.com/2025/12/01/normal-city-manager-line-49-raise-topping-what-peoria-bloomington-managers-make Quotes: Normal Mayor Chris Koos is recommending a 4.9% pay raise for City Manager Pam Reece, which would lift her base salary above what […]
By: Diane Benjamin Next May Bloomington water bills go up to make the trifecta of 100% increase in 3 years complete. All other fees go up 3% every year without a vote. Your property tax bills, courtesy of the City and Library, are also going up. There was an election in April of 2025. Cody […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://illinoiscomptroller.gov Data Bloomington submitted I’m using Bloomington’s numbers they sent to the Controller’s office: Population: 2023: 78,864 2024: 78,587 2025: 78,680 Number of Employees 2023: Full time: 665 Part time: 542 2024: Fill time: 687 Part time: 569 2025: Full time: 678 Part time: 1,111 Salary Paid to All Employees: 2023: $58,611,055 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Instead of a Committee of the Whole meeting, the Bloomington City Council is holding a retreat tonight: Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4096/files/agenda/8026 Since it is being held at the library, no video will be produced. . If citizens want to know what is being planned they have to attend. See the agenda for details.
By: Diane Benjamin What causes deficits? What causes “structural deficits”? Duh! Spending more money than you take in. Bloomington has a spending problem! Every budget includes spending every penny they expect to receive in taxes. That allows them to “cry” when they don’t receive what they feel entitled to. (Just like you right?) Every budget […]
By: Diane Benjamin Obviously the City of Bloomington is not going to hold elected officials or the City Manager accountable for violating City code. In case you forgot: https://blnnews.com/2025/07/11/the-latest-people-bloomington-prosecuted-for-violating-city-code/ Add City Manager Jeff Jurgens to that story. He is allowed by code to spend $50,000 (needs reduced!) without Council approval. He exceeded that amount with […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve done many stories on Opticos and Missing Middle Housing. Review this story, it contains what the Council told staff they wanted back in July 2024 to solve the “housing crisis”: https://blnnews.com/2025/05/31/remember-when-i-told-you-staff-wouldnt-drop-it/ There is ZERO in those instructions about creating “walkable neighborhoods” or hiring a consultant from California. That didn’t stop Jeff […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is Part 1, a short Part 2 is next. Last night’s festivities were full of misinformation by citizen speakers. Of course that’s why the 1st Amendment exists. It’s vitally important for all people to have free speech and the ability to address their government. Public Comment had to be extended over […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington obviously doesn’t believe in Martin Luther King’s vision of not judging people by the color of their skin. It appears they think no person of color is capable of succeeding on their own merits. In the latest version of expanding government and wasting money on non-essential events, see […]
By: Diane Benjamin It didn’t take long! The Planning Commission will be hearing a presentation about Missing Middle Housing next Wednesday: Meeting agenda: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/22c56154-ab60-11ef-ab4b-005056a89546-71aa7719-c1df-4797-9411-79d5d861f4b4-1748660679.pdf Staff decided to hire the consultant from Berkeley California. The Opticos mission is right on their website: https://opticosdesign.com/ We are urban designers and architects who believe in the transformative power of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Jenna Kearns violated City Code by claiming she was the only candidate that supports Democrats: https://blnnews.com/2025/03/24/jenna-kearns-violates-city-code-too/ Local elections are nonpartisan because local issues aren’t political. Essential services, which citizens can’t provide themselves, are why local government exists. Elections in Bloomington have taken a nasty turn toward partisan politics because far-left candidates either […]
By: Diane Benjamin Of course everything passed. Of course the outgoing members of the Council received plaques and praise. Only two items of note: This video is a part of a Public Comment by Jackie Beyer. She watched a bid opening for the downtown streetscape. It came in much higher than projected – 63% higher. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since equal justice under the law no longer exists, Bloomington citizens have no reason to believe the City Code matters. If elected officials Cody Hendricks and Jenna Kearns don’t have to follow City Code, citizens can’t be expected to either. If you receive a parking ticket or ordinance violation, mail it back […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night’s meeting lasted 2 hours, not including an Executive Session to discuss a raise for Jeff Jurgens and a land purchase. No details were given on either. Since Jeff Jurgens is not only City Manager but also a lawyer, one would think he cares about sitting Council members violating City Code. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight’s agenda: 4/4/2025 The agenda omits penalties for Cody Hendricks and Jenna Kearns’ flagrant City Code violations (details: https://blnnews.com/2025/03/25/cody-hendricks-chief-cheater/). In two years, Bloomington’s consolidated elections will become fully partisan due to this lack of accountability. Worse, residents will question why they must follow City Code when elected officials don’t. This ‘rules for […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) The Connect Transit website shows a vacancy for Bloomington Trustee. https://connect-transit.com/board-of-trustees/meet-the-trustees The current mayor may try to stack that board like past mayors, but if you are interested in serving apply here: https://cityblm.seamlessdocs.com/f/MayoralAppointmentApplication There were two public comments at the April Connect Transit Board meeting. Just hit play below. The lady […]
By: Diane Benjamin How many water projects are you paying for because these people aren’t paying? As of 3/27/2025 Bloomington had $1,723,690 in past due water bills. This information was received by FOIA. The top offenders are below – there are interesting names among them. See if you can find them. At least one person […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Bloomington agenda for tonight: https://d2kbkoa27fdvtw.cloudfront.net/cityblm/8941a8856acf86d8eb133ec7a8132d1a0.pdf 3 Public hearings will be held. All 3 items are on the Consent Agenda. That means the hearings are meaningless. The Consent Agenda is usually passed without comment. Also, the City is spending another $215,366.27 on the water quality. This time they are treating both lakes […]
By: Diane Benjaminb A motion was made at the beginning of last night’s Council meeting to suspend parts of the Agenda until the March Committee of the Whole meeting. Alderman Danenberger wanted the staff and Council to have the opportunity to attend the candlelight vigil for the weekend murder victims. Aldermen Cody Hendricks seconded the […]
By: Diane Benjamin From the Bloomington Police Union Contract: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/30481/638539641805070000 . Does suffering a heart attack while on duty qualify as a “duty related injury”? Not if you are a Bloomington Police Officer. Police administration is actively ignoring State Law and refusing to pay benefits: . The officer was told he had to use personal […]
By: Diane Benjamin The below was sent to City of Bloomington employees by City Manager Jeff Jurgens before the November 18th Council meeting. (Yes I’ve got a stockpile of things I haven’t gotten around to writing about!) Expect “structural deficit” to raise it’s ugly head again. That was Tari Renner’s excuse for raising taxes. Under […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember this story? https://blnnews.com/2024/02/21/bloomington-police-sergeant-fired/ I filed more FOIA’s I didn’t write about. I got emails that said nothing, some pages were totally redacted. Some emails had the text redacted. I received text messages that were also hearvily redacted and didn’t say who was texting who. Re-reading them it appears Ty’s wife and […]
By: Diane Benjamin The BCPA reports are harder to match now with the artist fee because the description on payments is no longer clear. Someday I will get around to filing a FOIA for them instead of wasting my time trying to match them. The BCPA does at least post reports – minus the artist […]
By: Diane Benjamin I only got involved because the director of Recycling Furniture for Families contacted me since funding was cut off without a good explanation. Everyone was blaming PATH for failure to file grant applications. This resulted in loss of funding for numerous organizations and jobs at PATH when funding for hotline employees was […]
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By: Diane Benjamin Remember this meeting? . Don’t look for video because the library has no way of broadcasting or taping meetings. Expect more meetings to be held there when transparency isn’t wanted. If you just want the basics about this meeting, read any media recap like this one: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2024-08-29/police-leaders-field-questions-from-the-public-on-hiring-accountability?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook If you want more keep […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night Nick Becker, Jenna Kearns, and Kent Lee didn’t attend the meeting. That is 1/3 of your elected representatives not representing their wards. Since every vote is pre-planned it doesn’t really matter anyway. Democracy! PSCRB Board member Surena Fish wants to make sure the public knows about this meeting tomorrow: https://granicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/cityblm/2f098c7371fcadaa33ede54dd302dbd50.pdf […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal took a huge hit by Fitch: https://blnnews.com/2024/08/15/normal-is-no-longer-rated-aaa/ Bloomington took a much smaller hit and now has the same rating as Normal AA. Excerpts below, the ability to tax you to death does impact government credit ratings. Did you know the population is declining? You can read the rest of the report […]
By: Diane Benjamin Continuation of this story: https://blnnews.com/2024/08/09/foia-report-part-1/ The City of Bloomington redacted emails written by aldermen and the City Manager in response to a HUGE problem. Didn’t they realize nothing prevents the person who received those emails from giving them to me? The story concerns a local non-profit called Recycling Furniture for Families. This […]
By: Diane Benjamin The meeting wasn’t as long as the video shows. It includes close to 14 minutes of commercials before the meetings starts. If you want to know about upcoming events, watch them. 4 people spoke at Public Comment, 3 wanting the Council to go with Mboka’s Liquor Commission recommendation to deny the Liquor […]
By: Diane Benjamin On a different device I can see this post. I suggest everyone read the comments themselves – especially alderman who will be funding this. The below was posted on Facebook. It was dated June 8th. I said “was” because it disappeared. There were tons of comments not supporting the project. There were […]
By: Diane Benjamin It is likely your public school didn’t tell you the Pilgrims tried socialism/collectivism and found out it didn’t work. https://www.aier.org/article/the-pilgrims-tried-socialism-and-it-failed/ McLean County used to be a beacon of freedom, after the November elections the county will probably have a County Board control by socialists/collectivists, also called Democrats. Lucky you! Your tax dollars […]
