Category: Tim Gleason

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Hockey returns

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington meeting: 8 minutes 52 seconds

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tonight’s Bloomington Agenda

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington handed out ARPA money – see to who

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington employee increase: Are they making your life better?

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

No experience earns $67,500

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Moving In or Moving out?

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

The Buck Stops at Gleason

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington’s Last Meeting of the Year

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Want to know a secret?

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington MIGHT take more than 1 story:

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Coliseum still isn’t paid for

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tax until nobody is left to tax

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington’s Greed

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

$51 million in reserves, raise taxes anyway

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Coliseum freeloaders

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington tonight: Property Taxes

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington’s short meeting

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Congrats Bloomington, your property taxes will go up

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington goes Hollywood

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington: Laws don’t apply to us

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Comptroller’s office finally tells the truth

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” <[email protected]> wrote: Hmmm… […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Comptroller’s office responded, just not with an explanation

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Hear a sucking sound from the BCPA?

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Coliseum Reports finally posted

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

What happened to $10,000?

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Illinois Comptroller must have decided to void transparency

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Bloomington: Can’t afford housing and food? Better see what Gleason wants you to pay for:

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Strike TWO for Bloomington Police

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Remember Bloomington Fireman #6?

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 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Truths we used to know, hook up the Uhaul

By: Diane Benjamin In case you missed this story in the media: https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_bc96b2e2-5338-11ee-a876-73caeb277433.html Clever Real Estate teamed up with moving company Allied Van Lines and found that Illinois has had more outbound moves than any other state in the past six months. Why would people continue to flee Illinois? The Bloomington City Council is encouraging out-migration. 5 of […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

New Alderman Jenna Kearns is Jenn Carrillo 2.0

By: Diane Benjamin Thanks to no one else running in Ward 1 last April a socialists walked on to the Bloomington City Council without a fight. Nice folks. You should know Jenna Kearns does not say the Pledge of Allegiance which means her oath of office to the Constitution of both the US and State […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Chicken Time again in Bloomington

By: Diane Benjamin The Special Use Permit for chicken keeping on Durham Dr was back on the Consent Agenda: https://d2kbkoa27fdvtw.cloudfront.net/cityblm/a66201e455c5f8574bd36e9daacfb3d60.pdf Only one item was pulled from the Consent Agenda and this wasn’t it. When the vote was taken to approve the rest of the Consent Agenda, including the chickens, Donna Boelen and Sheila Montney voted […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tonight Gleason gets a raise

By: Diane Benjamin Unlike Normal that tried to hide Pam Reece’s raise on the Omnibus Agenda, Bloomington has Tim Gleason’s as the only item on the Regular Agenda: See the entire agenda here – should be a short meeting: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/259d37a5-7d4f-11ed-9024-0050569183fa-791fe512-602c-4d20-98c8-ecdbbed39134-1694194607.pdf Still no report on the $750,000 downtown study last August that was projected to take […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Update: Watch NONE of the Trustees gag tonight!

By: Diane Benjamin Population of Bloomington as of 7/1/2022: 78,864 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/bloomingtoncityillinois/PST045222 Population of Normal as of 7/1/2022: 52,838 (Many ISU kids who don’t stay all year) https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/normaltownillinois,US/PST045222 Bloomington reported 645 Full Time employees to the Comptroller last year (They want many more) https://illinoiscomptroller.gov/constituent-services/local-government/local-government-warehouse/processsearchresults/?DisplayMode=GETAFR&AFRDesiredData=Population,%20EAV,%20and%20Employees&Code=064/025/30&CFY=2022&Menu=Yes&PrintIt=No Normal reported 369 Full Time employees https://illinoiscomptroller.gov/constituent-services/local-government/local-government-warehouse/processsearchresults/?DisplayMode=GETAFR&AFRDesiredData=Population,%20EAV,%20and%20Employees&Code=064/095/31&CFY=2022&Menu=Yes&PrintIt=No Bloomington population is 39.5% bigger […]