by: Diane Benjamin Did you notice Alderman Rob Fazzini didn’t think the meeting was important enough to stay long? He had to run to Normal to testify before their Council about his new project – turning garbage into jet fuel. Instead of representing his ward, he left for personal reasons. He plans to make money […]
by: Diane Benjamin Usually the public doesn’t get to know how the Council evaluates City Manager David Hales. These discussions take place in Executive Sessions – secret meetings – then the Council votes NOT to release the minutes to the public. Evidently they don’t want anybody to know what they think. Surprise – now you […]
by: Diane Benjamin Maybe Mayor Renner thought he could take Alderwoman Stearns out last night because the media has given him very little push back. It was irresponsible for Cities 92.9 to run Renners degrading comments about Stearns and StarCom for 2 days without fact-checking the Mayor. After all, he is a well documented liar. […]
by: Diane Benjamin This morning Mayor Renner was on WJBC still denying he had anything to do with the Modified Wards referendum. Once again Mayor: Are you lying or is Rob Fazzini: Look for more lies to come as the budget debate goes forward. Mayor Renner will try to blame City Manager David Hales for […]
By: Diane Benjamin The local press doesn’t care that Mayor Tari Renner still wants you to think Modified Wards is Rob Fazzini’s idea. Renner acts like he has nothing at all to do with it. Either Renner or Fazzini is lying: Don’t forget the other names listed either! Who do you think is behind the […]
by: Diane Benjamin In a very recent Rasmussen poll, 80% said the country is going in the wrong direction. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/right_direction_or_wrong_track But we are NOT powerless! Politicians do one of 2 things when challenged on their decisions: 1) They modify their policies to the will of the people 2) They dig their heals in a say […]
by: Diane Benjamin I previously reported Geoffrey Tomkins is running for GOP precinct committeeman and the he was Tari Renner’s Treasurer for his mayoral campaign. http://blnnews.com/2014/02/28/running-as-gop/ If working for a Democrat while claiming to be a Republican isn’t reason enough, try this one: Tomkins worked with Rob Fazzini to get Modified Wards on the primary […]
by: Diane Benjamin Last November the Bloomington City Council held a retreat. The big topic was a “Culture Change” at the City. I previously reported on it here: http://blnnews.com/2014/01/27/culture-tales-bloomington-council-retreat/ Remember, this is the retreat that triggered the Open Meetings Act violation filed by Alderwoman Judy Stearns. It also triggered Mayor Renner and David Hales hiring […]
by: Diane Benjamin I’m surprised anybody is still publicly supporting Modified Wards since former supporters are now in hiding and changing their stories (http://blnnews.com/2014/02/02/say-it-together-hypocrisy/), but another Letter to the Editor appeared in the Pantagraph today. The writer, Carol Koos, is trying to sell Modified Wards on the 4-votes talking points. Rob Fazzini has already made […]
by: Diane Benjamin Yesterday there was a fascinating Letter to the Editor in the Pantagraph by Mike Matejka. He came out against the March referendum for Modified Wards! It was only a few months ago Matejka helped Rob Fazzini craft a different Letter to the Editor in support of Modified Wards: http://blnnews.com/2013/12/13/expect-to-see-this-in-the-pantagraph/ Is Matejka running a […]
by: Diane Benjamin Add this name to the list of supporters for Modified Wards. Sunday, Darrell Hartweg and wife had a letter printed in the Pantagraph supporting taking away your personal representation on the Council. There seems to be pattern emerging – Citizens get FOUR votes instead of just one. Evidently, you are supposed to […]
by: Diane Benjamin Bloomington is being investigated again by the Attorney General – this time for illegally redacting emails. I wrote this post explaining part of my claim: http://blnnews.com/2013/12/27/proof-bloomington-has-no-transparency/ I sent that information to the Attorney General, but there is more to my complaint. The email from Normal City Manager Mark Petersen was not the […]
by: Diane Benjamin Recently I filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the City of Bloomington for all emails From or To every City employee regarding the Modified Ward System. I included Alderman Rob Fazzini’s personal emails in the request. Yes, they are subject to FOIA requests. I included 2 court decisions in the […]
by: Diane Benjamin Previously I questioned if Rob Fazzini was trying to hide the truth to get signatures to put the Ward change on the March ballot: http://blnnews.com/2013/12/18/was-rob-fazzini-trying-to-cover-up-the-truth/ He managed to convince WGLT’s Charlie Schlenker of his Six Wards and Three At-large plan. Listen to an interview aired today with Alderwoman Judy Stearns: http://wglt.org/wireready/news/2013/12/07670_12-20stearnsqa_web_085852.shtml Schlenker […]
The Pantagraph printed Rob Fazzini’s letter today KNOWING he didn’t write it. Thanks Pantagraph! I know the Pantagraph is aware of this post. When they print the Rob Fazzini letter, are they going to add Mike Matejka’s name? If you don’t know who Mike Matejka is: http://www.bntrades.org/link.php?id=2 This part was sent to the people getting […]
by: Diane Benjamin In July of 2012, I filed an Open Meetings Act violation against the Bloomington City Council concerning a road trip 4 Council members and Mayor Stockton took to Peoria. The Pantagraph and 2 other citizens filed the same thing I did. The Public Access Office that handles these complaints is overwhelmed with […]
by: Diane Benjamin Bloomington Alderman Rob Fazzini sends a Ward report every month to people on his email list. It’s a work of art in that he tracks every possible thing he does for the month and then calculates that he works for way below minimum wage. Rob, are citizens suppose to kneel before you […]
by: Diane Benjamin After I exposed the email written by Normal City Manager Mark Peterson (http://blnnews.com/2013/11/13/city-manager-mark-peterson-liables-me/), he wrote the following email to Bloomington Alderman Rob Fazzini: Fazzini then responded with this email: . Peterson doesn’t seem all that concerned on November 13th. Maybe today is a little more unhappy. I have filed a complaint […]
by: Diane Benjamin See this story from yesterday: http://blnnews.com/2013/11/13/city-manager-mark-peterson-liables-me/ The International City Manager Association has a code of ethics. Mark Peterson broke it by sending a lie laden, derogatory email to Bloomington Alderman Rob Fazzini who then forwarded it to MANY other people. At the very least, Peterson’s actions show a complete lack of intelligence. […]
by Diane Benjamin Yesterday Bloomington Alderman Rob Fazzini wrote a long email to me stating his position on the hostile takeover, nothing new that I haven’t already reported, just more dribble. For some reason, he copied the City Manager of Normal, Mark Peterson. Why? Normal is all about limiting citizen representation, so maybe Peterson is […]
by: Diane Benjamin Rob Fazzini and Scott Black have been telling people the attempt to change the Ward system in Bloomington is grassroots. Sorry guys, but you and Jim Fruin are behind this effort. Since you are members of the Council, this isn’t grassroots. I have the documents to prove it, want me to […]
by: Diane Benjamin Back in May of 2011, Alderman Jim Fruin decided the Council needed a code of conduct. Only these members signed it: Bernie Anderson Ward 1 Mboka Mwilambwe Ward 3 Jennifer McDade Ward 5 Karen Schmidt Ward 6 Rob Fazzini Ward 8 Jim Fruin Ward 9 Stephen Stockton Mayor Anderson and Stockton are […]
by: Diane Benjamin I hear Rob Fazzini already has people going door-to-door getting petitions signed to steal the City Council. He wants a modified Ward system where some members are elected at large, the remaining Wards would be huge. The effect is to take away your alderman, the one person who represents your section of […]
Spoken by Alderman Rob Fazzini as reported in the Pantagraph: “I want to make it more difficult to run for office because the more difficult it is to run for office, the more you want it and the more you want it the better job you’re going to do when you’re elected.” When does the […]
by: Diane Benjamin Shouldn’t elected officials be in charge of City business? Why does a City Manager get to write the agenda for Council meetings and then hand a packet to the elected representatives a few days before the meeting – often with 400-500 pages? Then, items without any previous discussion, are supposed to be […]
Update: 3 Alderman who weren’t on the Council when Tom Hamilton was City Manager voted not to release ANY information about his time running the City: Jennifer McDade, Rob Fazzini, & Mboka Mwilambwe. Who are they covering for? Judy Stearns proposed an amendment to add the info for release. Only Scott Black, Kevin Lower, and […]
by: Diane Benjamin Since the 1990’s spending on roads in Bloomington has been less than $1,000,000. In 2000 ZERO was spent on roads, according to Rob Fazzini. Wasn’t that BEFORE the economy melted down? Pensions are severely underfunded. But, there is plenty of money for new parks, west-side gateways, and extending Constitution Trail north. The […]
The program for troubled west-side youth is getting glorious reviews – by the organizers. The council members who voted against it are getting vilified by none other than Rob Fazzini: The city council members who voted for the small financial investment should be proud of these impressive results. Thanks to the Mayor and those who […]
by: Stanley Wonders (Where have you been hiding Stanley? Welcome back!) Since Bloomington is a proud “Not in Our Town” town, surely we can never go too far to prove it! Especially in our elected officials! But just to BE SURE, some of them have given you the apparent ultimate PROOF. In response to a […]
Update: I sent a copy of this post to the guy who was suppose to issue a final ruling before the election. He finally issued it: 23271 rfr o vio mun The only remaining question is: What will the City now release? I hear they don’t want to release anything. Personnel issues, union contract negotiations, maybe land purchases or […]
by Diane Benjamin City Council elections are in April. Alderman Bernie Anderson was up for re-election, but he dropped out of the race due to health problems. I wish him a speedy recovery! The only candidate challenging Anderson is Kevin Lower. Since petitions can no longer be filed, Mr. Lower will be the only name printed on […]
By: Diane Benjamin Several media outlets claim Tari Renner is trying to decide whether to run for a third term. From his 2017 run for office: https://illinoissunshine.org/committees/32320/ Remember Tari’s campaign chairman in case he tries to slide Justin in to replace him. Fazzini is running for County Auditor, a good reason not to vote […]
By: Diane Benjamin If the voters of Bloomington had been intelligent enough to abolish the Bloomington Election Commission when they had a chance, results would be easier to understand. Now, for many races, the results from Bloomington need to be added to the rest of the County to see who won. It is a waste […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=20759 Tari is giving his State of the City address – it will be a can’t miss event! Listen for “Right Fit” and “Structural Deficit”. Of course everything is rosy. Amelia (let’s move the library) Buragas is being reappointed to the B-N Economic Development Board. Rob (gas taxes don’t raise the price […]
By: Diane Benjamin Note: I could keep posting links – but I’m severely bored. Besides, it’s obvious from the ones I have linked who votes to fleece taxpayers! Note #2: One name is missing from every Yes vote: Kevin Lower See this story from yesterday: https://blnnews.com/2016/10/02/renner-vrs-lower-vrs-hauman/ Below is the list from yesterday’s story. The nice […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Renner, David Hales, and members of the City Council blame The Grove housing development on East Ireland Grove Rd for taking too much tax money. Some members did it again last Monday night. Tari frequently says the development contracts are bad. So who is at fault? Former City Manager Tom Hamilton? […]
Update: The City promptly replied to my FOIA for missing information I amended the information received below in BOLD. See the receipts here: 201503241124_Redacted Even if only one person ate, why are taxpayers paying the bill? Does your boss pay for your lunch? By: Diane Benjamin http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8396 ADMIN City Council Expenses American AI $ 384.20 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Contrary to what government believes, all documents belong to the citizens unless it can be proven under the law they should remain secret. VERY few exceptions are available – the writers of the FOIA law realized that government DOES NOT exist without taxpayer confiscation of money and therefore the people paying the […]
by: Diane Benjamin If you are robbed by somebody with a gun – at least you know it happened. The City of Bloomington would rather you not know. Below is JUST the Admin Pcard spending for 1 month. Many more pages of spending by other department are at the link below. So far Tari Renner […]
By: Diane Benjamin I found the following while reading the mountains of emails I received from the Town of Normal via the Freedom of Information Act concerning Paradigm. First email is from Rober Fazzini. Koos’s answer: Tari’s response, can he say any clearer “I don’t care what you say”? […]
