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 Ever hear old socialists claim socialism works, it just hasn’t been “done right” yet? https://indyfuelhockey.com/news/2024/01/echl-approves-expansion-team-for-bloomington-illinois?fbclid=IwAR0DUNbpdJRU-hb_t0NIK5p_tgmb_tv_VRZTwX0WuamFTEAcZIf43UKQ7zc Hallett Sports & Entertainment out of Indianapolis will be bringing a hockey team to Bloomington later this year. That story is still calling the Coliseum Grossinger Motors Arena. Grossinger quit paying years ago when they went out of business […]
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 See the details of the jobs here – Bloomington is hiring 15 people. (For a new fire station?) https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/departments/fire/employment-opportunities?fbclid=IwAR2bDraNBWTeknqwqcQx_A_hfPzFzVuzUfF5GXy5WDYmMHH4HQFYkxO8Xaw I don’t think the City meant to imply after hired you can live anywhere in Illinois. Did they mean no one outside of Illinois can apply? Why go to college when No Experience Is Necessary to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Is the City this desperate to get people downtown? I bet the City won’t be advertising any religious Christian activities – even if they are downtown. On Facebook: . Per Google search – they did the highlighting: See the irony in Krampus originating in Germany?
By: Diane Benjamín h/t a reader This is the never used Fire Station #5 on Six Points Road: . Those aren’t City trucks but the reader couldn’t read what they say. I’m sure one of you will recognize them. Last January the garage looked pretty packed with extra vehicles: https://blnnews.com/2023/01/18/no-response-to-foia-bloomington/ Maybe the City is now […]
By: Diane Benjamin City Manager Tim Gleason really wanted your property taxes increased. The main reason Alderman Boelen was against it was the water rate increase the Council recently passed. If you forgot: 33% increase for 3 years because the City needs to spend around $300,000,000. Gleason stated again last night that water rates haven’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Council will take the final vote on raising your property taxes. Tis the season . . . The Finance Director will give his monthly report – he should present it before the property tax vote but won’t. The City has plans for your money. You aren’t allowed to keep and spend […]
By: Diane Benjamin You already know it if you read this story: https://blnnews.com/2023/11/29/connect-transit-wants-you-to-love-them/ The whole messaging campaign is supposed to be a secret until they develop some slogan EVERYONE can repeat over and over and over. They want a planned rollout. I bet you can’t wait to see how they counter all the “disinformation”. (like […]
By: Diane Benjamin A few people stood up for you at Public Comment. Just hit play to hear them below. You can hear the Mayor’s stupid Public Comment statement too – no Public Comment is for citizens. The council doesn’t care what speakers say, especially when only a few bother to address them. The City […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington is looking for Revenue Enhancements. Cute words that mean they need more of your money. It’s hilarious that government has their own language so you don’t notice what is being done to you. The same government that built a never used fire station and a never used water […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Coliseum opened April 1, 2006 – more than 17 years ago. It still isn’t paid for. https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/29854 The city just paid INTEREST only: $317,771.25. Of course all the interest paid in 17 years wasn’t included in the cost to build it. Just to be clear, the City of Bloomington expects you […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you thought Unit 5 was bad, wait for the City of Bloomington! They are projecting ending the year with $51 million in reserves. Inflation has been devastating to citizens, credit card debt is record high. Government is fine, you aren’t. If Tim Gleason didn’t have the votes for this it wouldn’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington wants $1.1 million more from you, the library wants $309.4 thousand more all while your government is sitting on RECORD high reserves. Of course they use the same graphic as every other year to show they aren’t why property taxes chase people out of Illinois: It appears every […]
By: Diane Benjamin $51,000,000 is expected to be in the City coffers at year end. They have big plans to spend your money, none of that money can be used to pay for essential spending like Public Safety pensions. Your taxes are going up to fund them. The vote last night was temporary, the final […]
By: Diane Benjamin Pic H/T a reader Since I try to never cross Veterans Parkway, I didn’t know State Farm was on the sign at the “arena”. I FOIA’d the City for the sponsorship agreement with State Farm, Grossinger quit paying years ago: https://blnnews.com/2023/03/14/grossinger-motors-arena-isnt-and-more/ The agreement with State Farm expired in May, the FOIA showed […]
By: Diane Benjamin Agenda for tonight: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/65c0e1b9-7cc2-11ee-852f-0050569183fa-d969cfc2-89f9-4a31-922c-c0ff80c0370c-1700256371.pdf Remember being told local government units don’t set the Tax Rate? They don’t, but the documentation proves they know what it is going to be. Start reading on PDF page 21. Your taxes are going up to fund police and fire pensions. The rate will go down because […]
By: Diane Benjamin The regular agenda had NOTHING on it, the Consent Agenda was passed without any discussion. Since the City doesn’t want controversy at meetings, the two on one meetings held before the Council meets are used to pacify objectors. The video of the meeting is slightly over an hour, half of that was […]
By: Diane Benjamin City Manager Tim Gleason announced at last night’s meeting that next week’s Committee of the Whole is being turning into a special meeting to talk property taxes. He of course used the obligatory fallacy that the City portion of your tax bill is small, it’s the school districts that get the most […]
By: Diane Benjamin This must be an effort to reach younger people who troll YouTube videos. Bloomington has their own upcoming YouTube star, this isn’t the only video by “Mose” Rickey. All of them are short, perfect for short attention spans. “Mose” (Paul) Rickey provides an entertaining performance. See the City YouTube channel for more […]
By: Diane Benjamin There isn’t much on the agenda for tonight’s meeting, just one gem. PDF page 21: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/25a8ec96-7d4f-11ed-9024-0050569183fa-d854eb82-3702-4140-9de6-ac3a8e3f379d-1699838465.pdf The Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act (820 ILCS 192/1 et seq.) was signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker on March 13, 2023. Bloomington is using Home Rule as the reason for opting out […]
By: Diane Benjamin More on these two stories: https://blnnews.com/2023/11/07/illinois-comptroller-must-have-decided-to-void-transparency/ https://blnnews.com/2023/11/09/comptrollers-office-responded-just-not-with-an-explanation/ As I stated in one of the stories above, government employees would rather talk to me over the phone instead of in writing. That eliminates the paper trail, the email below proves it: On November 9, 2023, at 3:41 PM, “Pallasch, Abdon” <abdon.m.pallasch@illinoiscomptroller.gov> wrote: Hmmm… […]
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2023/11/07/illinois-comptroller-must-have-decided-to-void-transparency/ I didn’t send that story to them, somebody must have or they found the “tag”. I received an email yesterday: . I didn’t use an email address because the on-line contact form doesn’t have one. See it here: https://illinoiscomptroller.gov/about/contact-us/phone-mailing-addresses I rarely make phone calls because I want […]
By: Diane Benjamin That is the sound of your tax dollars disappearing – $25,120. Figure out government isn’t capable of “business type” activities? Losses don’t matter because it isn’t their money. Loss: $5,423.36 Loss: $9,967.73 I hope that wasn’t paid twice – it is listed on page 145 and again on 151: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/29818 Loss: $14,131.85 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Evidently the Arena doesn’t have a name, the City just calls it “arena”. Does the building still have Grossinger signs? Link to reports: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-2063#docan2735_6873_64 ISU rents the ice for hockey, the City actually makes a little money on those. Below is the report posted on line for the September 27th concert: Of […]
By: Diane Benjamin 2 pieces of information I received from the City of Bloomington about the Gun Buy Back event: The document showing what the Bloomington City Council approved is in this story: https://blnnews.com/2023/10/24/the-120000-waste/ It says $60,000. https://pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-courts/bloomington-police-gunbuyback/article_fe7fde22-7a61-11ee-b957-affb35824762.html Excerpt: According to BPD’s social media post, “There was a total of $50,000 allocated for the cash […]
By: Diane Benjamin The purpose of the Local Government Data on the Comptroller’s website is to present finances in a way citizens can understand. When the data isn’t available it should make everyone wonder why! Normal’s year end was last March 31st. The “landing page” for Normal has been updated to reflect the FY 2023 […]
By: Diane Benjamin 5 socialists sit on the Bloomington City Council. There aren’t have enough common sense votes to stop spending that increases the size and scope of local government. You better see the downtown vision: https://downtownforeveryone.com/renders/ Government never produces prosperity. Bloomington will try anyway since they know where to get money. I’m sure they […]
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 […]
Fire Department? The only cash they have comes from you. Even grants are still your money. Google gun buyback programs for more information. When the majority of the Council is socialist . . . .
By: Diane Benjamin James Buenrostro was arrested in 2021 for domestic violence: https://blnnews.com/2022/02/03/bloomington-fireman-6/ Those charges were eventually dropped. I don’t know if the female involved decided not to testify or the State’s Attorney got tired of the case. Rumor is James faced no consequences with his job as a Bloomington Firefighter either. When there are […]
