By: Diane Benjamin Veterans Parkway and Route 9: My FOIA Request: This statement was included: None of the documents I received have the name of who is inquiring with Prairie Signs to build these. Mostly what I received are drawings. Below is an example, it’s HUGE: Roads can’t get fixed, but you just might be […]
By: Diane Benjamin Due to Christmas the Bloomington City Council is changing their meeting schedule. They will be meeting tonight. One item on the agenda: It should be riveting to hear discussion of data that is 8 months old. Congrats Bloomington, you aren’t supposed to know any facts in a timely manner. I wonder if […]
More information: https://blnnews.com/2020/12/07/due-process-normal/ By: Diane Benjamin https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3828 At 6:15 tonight the “professional staff” will present options to the Council to retaliate legally against any business that is not kneeling to Pritzker’s Restore Illinois edicts. Since the legislature didn’t pass it, not complying isn’t against any laws and can’t be prosecuted. Pritzker can’t get compliance so […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.wglt.org/post/renner-calls-city-rejoin-metcom-system#stream/0 Tari Renner has been mayor for 7 1/2 years. On his way out he finally gets around to calling for Bloomington’s dispatch to return to METCOM! Leaving METCOMN was a boneheaded idea and should NEVER have happened. Think government works for you? Tari, you could have done something much earlier to […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-SgGF0uzhIlXeWqdYlJ0blXEhDPLrrfh/view I could write the same story as every other month. Expenses for October were over $1,1 MILLION, Income was a little less than $59,000, meaning a loss for ONE MONTH of $973,317. No big deal since government keeps throwing them millions of dollars to them to run empty buses. Of course […]
By: Diane Benjamin Figure out LIMITED Government yet? I remember posting about limited government years ago and getting comments like “you don’t want police and fire”. Obviously that isn’t what LIMITED Government means. Government uses your money for their folly because they can. You would have much more money in your pocket if government only […]
By: Diane Benjamin Of course we know the local elections are not non-partisan. Koos and Renner don’t hide the fact they are Democrats. Carrillo and Crabill don’t hide they are socialists. Scott Preston is involved with the local GOP party. The association list goes on and on. When elected, ideology isn’t suddenly thrown out the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Public Comment was filled with the far left again wanting special treatment for illegals. Of course they hate Donna Boelen’s Welcoming America initiative because it doesn’t ban dealing with ICE. I wonder how Corey Cottrell’s family fells since he was killed by an illegal? https://blnnews.com/2019/07/12/corey-cottrell-memorial-ride/ The far left doesn’t care that Corey […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner started last night’s meeting with a Small Business Saturday proclamation. I wonder how he explains reports on social media of the POLICE being used to close down restaurants in town that refused to stop in-door dining. (Possibly more on that one in the future) Reports are the police told the […]
By: Diane Benjamin From Facebook: 1) The Dobskis should sue Jeff Crabill for defamation. Executive Order’s aren’t law Mr. Attorney. You should know that: 2) Quit being the SILENT MAJORITY! Hundreds of “them”, TENS of THOUSANDS of YOU!
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday I got an email from a citizen after they saw leaves being collected in their neighborhood on Sunday. They wanted to know if staff was being paid overtime to do it. I’ve also had inquiries about staff emptying garbage cans on Sundays in parks. I asked Public Works about both. The […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner won’t be doing a proclamation tonight about being thankful this Thursday, but he will be doing one declaring November 28th Small Business Saturday. I wonder if bars and restaurants qualify? What small businesses haven’t been put out of business yet Tari? Some items on the Consent Agenda: Bloomington will authorize […]
By: Diane Benjamin Vowing to uphold both the Constitution of the United States and the State of Illinois is beyond the left. Tari Renner proved that again at the emergency Liquor Commission meeting yesterday. See the short video clip as reported by Cities 92.9: https://www.cities929.com/2020/11/21/bloomington-mayor-renner-whines-at-liquor-commission-hearing-about-the-states-attorney/?fbclid=IwAR3IAg490VjyNCDqMzrrp8xgykB7fmsDgfxZdlbgmHMyl4m6kPGO9oEyrO0 Tari expect State Attorney Don Knapp to enforce Pritzker Executive […]
By: Diane Benjamin Someday SLBB is going to end. It cost you MILLIONS because employees were allowed to spike their pensions which meant additional funds had to be paid into the retirement system. Add that to the MILLIONS spent on a never used fire station and more spent on a never used water tower. Add […]
By: Diane Benjamin I received a FOIA yesterday from the Town of Normal. This isn’t the only communication you need to see, but I will start here. I didn’t redact the senders information because she deserves praise for writing it. Her thoughts represent many.
By: Diane Benjamin The Financial Statements for Bloomington appeared on-line with no fanfare. Usually the auditor makes a presentation to the Council, I didn’t see that happen this year. https://www.cityblm.org/government/departments/finance/financial-statements The information is always moldy by the time they get around to putting it on their website. The year-end was 4/30/2020, more than 7 months […]
By: Diane Benjamin Meaning it is already a done deal, the Council will hear a presentation on expanding the library: http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1095&Inline=True I bet you didn’t know expanding the library will great a prosperous downtown – just like the Coliseum, the BCPA, resurfacing the roads, Wayfinding signs, the Visitor’s Center, and planters did. Long time readers […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington can’t find a company to process payments closer than Kansas City, Mo? Buy local? Bloomington sends your tax dollars out of State on purpose. I remember hearing payments are outsourced to limited carpal tunnel claims. It also could be because of a huge embezzlement case years ago. The household billed below […]
By: Diane Benjamin Have you heard Joe Biden calling for civility because we are all Americans? It’s cute but he forgot his base isn’t civil. Funny how all the protests and burning businesses have stopped. I suggest businesses don’t dispose of the boarding-up materials: Joe Biden isn’t president-elect. The media doesn’t get to declare a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal Mayor Chris Koos posted this on Facebook yesterday: Maybe Koos doesn’t need the money since his business wasn’t affected by the shutdowns that destroyed many others. Didn’t he say his business is up since more people are biking? This is the Op-Ed Koos is referring to: https://www.pantagraph.com/opinion/columnists/justin-m-boyd-mayor-salary-limits-our-selection/article_253139e1-6b21-5b57-b164-2dd0ccd184f6.html Is Justin is trying […]
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2020/11/06/bloomington-monday-socialist–day/ When the far left wants to jam something down the throats of people they despise, what do they do? Attempt to rally the troops! It didn’t go too well for one of them who posted in a Facebook group where people actually don’t swallow cancel culture socialism. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Cancel Culture led by socialist Jenn Carrillo made the agenda for Monday: http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1094&Inline=True Carrillo’s attempt to cancel Christopher Columbus from history will probably pass because some on the Council think her version of re-written history is trendy. Funny how countries around the world have celebrated Columbus Day for centuries: “It should […]
by: Diane Benjamin The establishments readers have said are staying open: Times Past Inn, Tony’s Diner, and Jacks. Let me know if you hear of others. Below is the letter Mayor Tari Renner sent to Illinois’s one-term governor. Complaints will be referred to the McLean County Health Department who must prove in court the establishment […]
By: Diane Benjamin List of mayors who have announced they will not enforce Pritzker’s illegal ban on in-door dining: Libertyville, Orland Park, Morton Grove, Itasca, East Peoria, Springfield We don’t live in a dictatorship even though Pritzker has anointed himself one. Many courts have ruled against him, yet he continues to fail basic government: Call […]
Is that the upper echelon of management at City of Bloomington in full panic mode? They just now found out there is an election next week? They just heard they should be prepared for chaos? Oops, this might be a secret. . . . . .
By: Diane Benjamin I received a comment on my site last night that is sad on many levels. It doesn’t bode well for the future of especially Bloomington: Your citizens no longer feel safe living in Bloomington Tari. Thanks to Jenn Carrillo and Jeff Crabill for adding the destruction of the civil society. When good […]
By: Diane Benjamin WGLT revealed why Mollie Ward was Renner’s pick to fill out the rest of Scott Black’s term: https://www.wglt.org/post/renner-tabs-fierce-advocate-west-bloomington-council-vacancy#stream/0 “Mollie Ward, left, of Not In Our Town, kicked off a vigil outside Bloomington City Hall in March of 2018 in a push for a welcoming city ordinance” Renner evidently wants the Council and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is the data reported to the Illinois Comptroller’s office by the City of Bloomington. Bloomington hasn’t released their 4/30/2020 financial statements to the public yet – just to the Comptroller who makes them available to everyone. 4/30/2020: 4/30/2019 Population dropped 632 in just one year. Meanwhile full-time employees increased by 7. […]
By: Diane Benjamin I hope the next mayor eliminates most if not all proclamations. Tari wasted a lot of time last night reading 3. Two of them were to declare the month of October something important. He made these pronouncements 5 days before October will end. Guess they weren’t important enough to announce earlier. Public […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington City Manager Tim Gleason made it official last night: If you are white, don’t apply for a job with the City. Marin Luther King’s vision of a colorblind society is officially dead. Post COVID no money needs to be spent celebrating MLK Day ever again. Bloomington now has a Diversity and […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=25362 I thought there was a deadline for City of Bloomington employees to retire if they wanted to spike their pensions, but evidently it’s still happening: These two employees will receive much higher pension benefits merely because nobody at the City stopped them. This fleece has cost Bloomington taxpayers MILLIONS of dollars […]
By: Diane Benjamin $270,944,173 Again this year Bloomington’s finances are on the Illinois Comptroller’s site BEFORE the City gets around to releasing the CAFR (financial statements). The fiscal year ended 4/30/2020 – almost 6 months ago. Why rush? What do they show? Bond Debt: 47,780,000 IMRF pension debt: 12,821,451 Police Pension Debt: 77,693,023 Fire Pension […]
By: Diane Benjamin BlnNews.com now has a ton of history – all the way back to early 2012. Here’s a nugget you might have forgotten: Bloomington didn’t have a gas tax until 2014. They didn’t have an Amusement Tax either. Fazzini and Fruin voted for for both. The gas tax only meant nothing had to […]
By: Diane Benjamin PDF page 21: Citizens can no longer know how employees with PCards spend your money. A list is no longer published. You won’t know who ate on your dime and who traveled and to where with your money. Remember when Tari proclaimed over and over “There are no free lunches” except he […]
By: Diane Benjamin One of the worst roads in Bloomington was scheduled to be resurfaced this year. The calendar of work kept changing. The last time I checked Hershey Road was scheduled for October, now it isn’t: https://www.cityblm.org/government/departments/public-works/bloomington-streets#ad-image-1 By spring parts of Hershey will be an off-roading adventure. West Oakland was also in really bad […]
Below is Tari’s announcement on the City of Bloomington website. Announcing a political decision on a taxpayer owned website? Renner forgot a few facts about his tenure as Mayor. The total budget when he took office was $167,000,000. https://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=2014 The total budget now is $230,320,572. https://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=24730 That is $63,320,572 spent by government instead of the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council had a short meeting, only around an hour. Did you miss Tim Gleason’s announcement Bloomington got named the happiest city in America? This is actually from five months ago, but here’s the announcement: https://www.zippia.com/advice/happiest-city-each-state/ Since the City is full of happy people and all the problems are fixed, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Committee of the Whole meeting tonight: http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1092&Inline=True Only two items are on the agenda: Creation of a Public Arts Commission Making Juneteenth a City holiday Obviously Bloomington doesn’t believe government is a necessary evil and therefore should only do what is necessary. Every other essential government service like roads, sewers, and water […]
By: Diane Benjamin Ward 6 had no representation last night – Jenn Carrillo decided not to show up and nobody said a word about her missing except in Public Comment. Maybe Jenn had to get ready for her court hearing today: She is charged with disobeying a police officer and improper parking on a roadway […]
