By: Diane Benjamin See this story is you forgot: https://blnnews.com/2022/04/24/69-million-for-water-projects-so-you-wont-notice-the-cii-east-giveaways/ That story is from last April. I was in Downtown Bloomington yesterday. Many of the roads are new, the flowers pots are gorgeous, and the raised beds have actually been taken care of. I don’t see why downtown needs a streetscape plan since by day […]
By: Diane Benjamin EDC director Patrick Hoban showed up at the Bloomington City Council meeting to push for the $750,000 downtown study. He claimed downtown is the heart of the City (heard that before?) and he has studies that claim the Return on Investment is between 100 and 500%. He also claimed we don’t need […]
By: Diane Benjamin Note to Jamie Mathy: Future Councils are not bound by actions of past Councils. The Tari Renner “ramp” pension funding plan means zero if it can’t be afforded. Tari knew he wouldn’t be around to find at least $10 million more a year in the future. Renner already locked the Council into […]
By: Diane Benjamin See agenda for the committee of the Whole Monday: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/f77ad2e4-b41c-11ec-a5da-0050569183fa-36dc0a47-f3e1-4a7f-ab53-55227cac04fe-1660245682.pdf Nothing from the presentation is included in the packet. It’s all a secret until it can be presented without inference from mere taxpayers. Roads are way underfunded, but you get a revamped library, a water park for a couple of months a […]
By: Diane Benjamin On the 7/25/2022 Bloomington Bills and Payroll report was an Accelerated Payment to IMRF for $5,568.15. Since the Sick Leave Buy Back policy was FINALLY phased out, I FOIA’d information on this payment. This is the explanation I received from the City of Bloomington: Their note doesn’t explain what I received from […]
By: Diane Benjamin The actual meeting was only around an hour. The Council was in Executive Session for the rest of the video. Gary Lambert lambasted the City for the cash reserve levels during Public Comment, this is a must listen: Hit play below to hear the City is only spending around $9 million on […]
By: Diane Benjamin Packet: The City will be spending $5,220,438.92 on general street resurfacing. Of course that isn’t nearly enough to even begin catching up. See PDF page 245 and following for a list of streets. Bills and Payroll: https://www.cityblm.org/home/showpublisheddocument/28184/637951356778730000 Number of employees is now 947. The meeting looks pretty boring. Maybe somebody can liven […]
By: Diane Benjamin No recent reports have been posted to the website, I had to FOIA them again. Why is the City of Bloomington hiding this information? https://www.cityblm.org/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-1993 Better sit down. Two events made money, overall loss however: $17,431.46 No events happened in June, July, and August. The City switches to billing taxpayers for downtown […]
By: Diane Benjamin The longer a City Manager hangs around their progressive ideology become more apparent. Tim Gleason was evidently hired from Decatur because he spearheaded redevelopment there. Decatur’s is busy during the day because people work downtown. It dies at night, they don’t have the bars Bloomington has. Progressives think government creates prosperity and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Donna Boelen wanted this on the record, unless you see her Council comment at the end of the meeting it is only on the record for staff. Donna asked again about the updated Intergovernmental Agreement with Connect Transit. Supposedly Bloomington has done their work and it’s sitting in Normal stalled. She shouldn’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Council meeting last night was relatively tame. The most friction came from which Ward Map to approve. It will go into effect immediately since petition packets will be distributed at the end of August for the LOCAL election early next year. Map number 2 was chosen 6-3 with Jeff Crabill, Mollie […]
By: Diane Benjamin See 1:12:00 Tim Gleason tells the Council they can’t discuss the 2nd dispensary location because the city might get sued. You will never know the details of who is behind this location or hear if any ways have been found to detect drivers under the influence. Discussion was shut down by a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Taxpayers OWN Bloomington government, they work for you! Why is it so difficult to get information? Instead of fixing the functionality of the City website, they just redesign it. They have many useless tabs that aren’t used, nobody is cleaning them up or making SEARCHING for information easier. It’s almost like hiding […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) BN Advantage is back after mostly disappearing for years and a lot of tax dollars. https://www.bnadvantage.com/ The website is much better than years ago, contact information takes you to the EDC. Just Bloomington threw BN Advantage $423,867. https://blnnews.com/2019/04/29/bn-advantage-magazine/ Search BlnNews for more stories on BN Advantage. You might want to explore […]
By: Diane Benjamin Did you know some Bloomington officials SEARCH on this website because it is impossible to find what you are looking for on the City of Bloomington website? Instead of concentrating on function, the City is changing the look of the Bloomington website and providing LESS vital information. Example: https://www.cityblm.org/government/city-council/meetings-and-agendas Details from this […]
By: Diane Benjamin At Monday’s Bloomington Council meeting approving money for the Ecology Action Center was on the Consent Agent. Everything on it was passed with one unanimously vote including this to the Ecology Action Center: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/5a1a631e-a62d-11ec-8a90-0050569183fa-36dc0a47-f3e1-4a7f-ab53-55227cac04fe-1654897109.pdf One problem – h/t a reader: Julie Emig is listed on the Ecology Action Center website as a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Two Council members didn’t bother to attend, Billie Tyus covered for Tim Gleason who also wasn’t there. See if you can figure out who is MIA: Everything passed with little discussion. The video is an hour and 10 minutes long, only because a Township meeting took place before the Council meeting. Obviously […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1170&Inline=True Tari Renner stacked all the Board and Commission. Mboka continues to just reappoint the same people. No Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Mboka? This item shouldn’t be on the Consent Agenda, it should be pulled for further discussion. Does the City want to risk an abandoned property if the owners can’t use […]
By: Diane Benjamin Proof COVID is over, Bloomington employees are back to traveling: https://www.cityblm.org/home/showpublisheddocument/27940/637884879474800000 Go to PDF page 130 and following see for yourself. Don’t miss this one: $6754.00 for ONE Conference. I could say I hope more than one person went for that price, but then I’d have to ask why more than one […]
By: Diane Benjamin I probably have at least 100 stories since 2012 on road conditions. Tari Renner ran for office promising to fix them – twice. https://blnnews.com/2018/01/24/its-the-roads-stupid/ In 2012 the City passed an Action Plan that included “smooth rides on quality well-maintained street”. https://blnnews.com/2015/02/26/if-you-like-your-roads-you-can-keep-your-roads/ In late 2013 or early 2014 the City borrowed $10,000,000 for […]
By: Diane Benjamin There is MUCH more to cover from last night’s meeting, stay tuned. How many people did this guy speak for last night? Just hit play: Donna Boelen had one of the many “comments of the night”. Tim Gleason stated again only Rowe Construction bids on road work. Donna thinks out of town […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington could have a short meeting tonight: http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1163&Inline=True Some highlights: Is anyone going to ask why businesses keep leaving downtown for the East side? Is anyone going to admit the City Core is Veterans Parkway not downtown? Sick Leave Buy Back is still being paid, it just can’t be used to spike […]
By: Diane Benjamin One Public Comment was exceptional last night. Gary Lambert speaks pretty often, always showing lots of common sense. Gary responded to something Mayor Mboka wrote in the Pantagraph wanting the State to quite keeping more of the local tax money than they used to. Gary threw that letter back in his face […]
By: Diane Benjamin I posted how much Normal earned last year from their TIF districts in this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/03/26/hey-unit-5-jackpot-ahead/ A quick primer on TIF districts – Tax Increment Financing: TIFs are supposed to be used to revitalize blighted areas. An area is designated as a TIF district, money is invested in the TIF which hopefully […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight’s packet: http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1162&Inline=True Take a trip down memory lane to 2017: https://www.cityblm.org/home/showpublisheddocument/9854/636130888246430000 That link is to the proposed 2017 budget. PDF page 19 shows the General Fund including the percent held in reserves. The City planned to collect and spend $104,794,506. The RESERVES percent of the General Fund was 12.87%. Jump to […]
March Meltdown was at the Coliseum, so the BCPA is still looking for their first show this year to make money. The Performance Fee below is from a show called the Adventures of the Tortoise and the Hare. I still don’t have that report. I was missing one report from the BCPA – March Meltdown. […]
By: Diane Benjamin It was nice to see everyone back in the same room last night and not mumbling through masks! While inflation is raging and gas prices are wiping out disposable income, Jeff Crabill sees increased revenues to the City as a pot of gold. He claims there were things they couldn’t do in […]
By: Diane Benjamin Instead of listening to the City Manager list all of the accomplishments last year, Kathrine Murphy narrated a video. It is an engaging way to present the information. Entertaining and worth your time – just hit play.
By: Diane Benjamin Making budget cuts isn’t a matter of cutting BIG things. It a myriad of small things that add up to big bucks. Here’s one example: This pic is from Normal’s budget: Normal will be handing over $109,250 to the CVB and $100,000 to the EDC. Why is Bloomington also giving the EDC […]
By: Diane Benjamin PDF page 114: http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1159&Inline=True Are you ready for electricity rates to double? How are your natural gas bills going? Government interference in the markets because of PRETEND Climate Change has only 1 goal: bankrupt you: When nuclear power plants can’t be built which would produce cheaper electricity than solar panels and wind […]
By: Diane Benjamin’ I think the Grossinger Motors naming rights expire next year. It was a 5 year agreement in June of 2017. Expect something really original like Bloomington Arena to replace it. Of course that means new signage. Maybe the City can just paint the name on the building instead (don’t hold your breath). […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1158&Inline=True Honoring Judy Markowitz didn’t make the agenda for tonight, did they get the message? https://blnnews.com/2022/02/22/slap-in-the-face-to-the-citizens-of-bloomington/ Lots of other things did make the agenda, it could be a long meeting: Presentation by Heartland College President Grant awards for John M Scott Healthcare Trust 2023 Budget Update Presentation of Bloomington Police 2022-2024 Strategic […]
By: Diane Benjamim From the capital spending plans: Jamie Mathy signaled he is opposed to new subdivisions east of Towanda Barnes Rd and will oppose the spending that allows The Grove to expand when it officially comes to Council. There is a housing shortage but Mathy wants to tell people where they can’t live. Maybe […]
By: Diane Benjamin More on last night’s meeting tomorrow, start with this. Tim Gleason announced last night the Council will consider honorary street names for: (you have to hear it for yourself – 8 seconds) First, Bloomington is completely incompetent at zoom. Tim Gleason is talking, see his face up there anywhere? Hold a meeting […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington is holding a Committee of the Whole meeting Monday night. The main item on the agenda is presenting the Capital budget for next fiscal year. Luckily it is posted in advance of the meeting here: https://www.cityblm.org/home/showpublisheddocument/27623 The first page shows $7 million for asphalt and concrete, don’t get excited. Jump to […]
By: Diane Benjamin I don’t know if it’s Bloomington who has a criminal problem with their firefighters or if other departments are just better at hiding malfeasance. Number 6 was charged with domestic violence last December. The charges aren’t for beating up his wife, they are for beating up his girlfriend the wife evidently knew […]
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/01/26/no-vote-bloomington/ I received two responses to my original FOIA request wanting a list of what departments are at the Olive Street address, luckily both gave me the same information: Human Resources, Parks & Rec, Legal, Finance, IT Now you know everything I know! Other than the “Hub” and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unlike Normal who only spends one day presenting the budget, Bloomington is rolling their’s out. Last Monday was the first look. You can see see the slides on the video or at this link: https://www.cityblm.org/home/showpublisheddocument/27448/637786270147270000 See 1:28:40 on the video below. The City of Bloomington anticipates having a General Fund Balance of […]
By: Diane Benjamin I am WAY behind on stories, so you readers have homework. Contract Transit didn’t meet and report their loses for months, so this board packet includes reports for 3 months. It also includes minutes from the retreat they held. It is way past time for all of you to see what they […]
By: Diane Benjamin I filed a FOIA request with Bloomington earlier in January. Since I watch every Council meeting and never heard a discussion about moving offices to the Government Center, I wondered how much it cost. I also wondered who was still working at the Old City Hall. I got the FOIA yesterday, I […]
