By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1136&Inline=True This could be a short meeting! Remember when the Council voted to join Welcoming America instead of declaring Bloomington a sanctuary city? This is on the agenda, after it passes apply here: https://cityblm.seamlessdocs.com/f/MayoralAppointmentApplication Other Boards and Commissions might have openings too. Apply! Private Sector Entertainment! They see a need and want […]
By: Diane Benjamin The memorial tribute of Jelani Day was taken down because the Town of Normal is authoritarian. You can’t talk at a Council meeting until the end, whenever that happens to be, if what you want to say doesn’t pertain to the agenda. You could wait hours to get 3 minutes of their […]
By: Diane Benjamin One reason: https://illinoisavengers1.wixsite.com/savederek/post/covid-cash That link has a BUNCH of questions school districts MUST answer. You can access all the payouts Illinois forked over to schools in emergency relief funds from that link too. I pulled out McLean County. Here’s your homework: Start sending FOIA’s. Blind copy me please, blnnews@yahoo.com Since lots of […]
By: Diane Benjamin More information concerning this story from yesterday: https://blnnews.com/2021/10/06/one-more-on-normal-more-must-watch/ Yes, more sewer tap on fees. This is deep stuff you must read carefully! It’s your money. The development that was approved at Monday’s meeting was charged a sewer tap on fee by the Town even though it was not on the Tap On […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Pantagraph article on the Normal Town Council meeting: https://pantagraph.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/watch-now-mural-controversy-raises-new-questions-about-disconnect-in-normal/article_9ea2ebcb-99b6-55e9-8798-76e5962bb873.html Excerpt: Did the reporter watch the meeting? A “number of people” were disrupting the meeting. Was the reporter told not to mention the only reason Public Comment was moved is because Stan Nord made a motion to let them speak? It wasn’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin I wonder if municipalities that hate the 1st Amendment right to address government will also call on the DOJ to declare citizens terrorists? Teacher unions and school boards have: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-addresses-violent-threats-against-school-officials-and-teachers It looks like Antifa doesn’t protest Marxists in government. For a meeting that only lasted slightly more than an hour, it was […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normally Chris Koos would have been banging Stan Nord out of order at the urging of Kevin McCarthy for doing what he did at Monday’s meeting. Koos didn’t Monday night. First the back story: At the previous meeting the Council (minus Stan) voted to spend $81,018 from the Water Enterprise Fund to […]
Nobody asked any questions at the Justice Committee meeting! By: Diane Benjamin The County Justice Committee is meeting today. See the documentation here: https://mcleancountyil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/8339 The coroner’s report is included every month, year to date numbers aren’t. See PDF page 5 for August 2021 numbers. I had to chart the suicides by looking at reports for […]
By: Diane Benjamin More videos from last night. Koos lost control early. The crowd did not respect his “business meeting”. Stan Nord made a motion to let them talk, Scott Preston seconded. Koos asked for head nods if the Council approves, I don’t see all the heads moving. Koos deemed it passed: The video below […]
By: Diane Benjamin I hope the Normal citizens who never confront Koos and his bobbleheads were watching last night’s meeting. Passion shut down Chris Koos, Kevin McCarthy couldn’t even get a Point of Order recognized. More on that one later. Last night I posted a screen shot showing how many citizens showed up, many: https://blnnews.com/2021/10/04/koos-and-crew-not-having-fun-tonight/ […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Below is a short clip of a discussion before the meeting started last night. Chris Koos was not going to allow all the people who showed up to speak, he wanted Public Comment limited to 30 minutes. He also had no intention of letting them speak at the beginning […]
By: Diane Benjamin I suggest any readers click this link to watch the meeting now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC8s6_w_7Tk One speaker broke the rules. He told the Town he wanted to talk about chemical purchases and then went on a rant about Jelani Day’s memorial picture being taken down. This is what the Council is looking at right […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington has a calendar of events. Meetings are listed, but so are other events like Ice Cream at the Zoo and BCPA events. https://www.cityblm.org/government/advanced-components/calendar Missing are the Farmers Markets which actually do get people downtown on Saturday mornings. Also missing are Saturdays on the Square. In case you missed the 2013 extensive […]
By: Diane Benjamin I couldn’t find what I was looking for on the Bloomington website, not surprising – it’s a BAD website. Instead, I found something I wasn’t looking for! https://www.cityblm.org/home/showpublisheddocument/26749/637628729553900000 The people who have believed for years that just millions more will get people downtown did a study. Keep in mind, the COVID shutdowns […]
I hear he’s still taking applications! By: Diane Benjamin H/T an associate who did some research on the Ward 6 candidates. Replacing Carrillo with a liked minded individual validates her vote buying with candy bars. Ward 6 didn’t know who they were voting for, she didn’t win with overwhelming support from the Ward. Since Democrat […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday might actually be a 10 minute meeting, especially when bills can’t be questioned. https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4088 The list of bills paid has a ton of performance fees again. I wonder if the Sweet Corn Circus made any money or if it’s just another event to get people in Uptown? Is that what Make […]
By: Diane Benjamin More details in this story: https://blnnews.com/2021/09/10/chemberlys-activist-training/ Below is one more short video from the last Normal Town Council meeting. Chemberly Cummings is trying to find kids to turn into activists for the democrat party. Of course she is using tax dollars to do it. Once again, not all 9th-11th graders in Normal […]
By: Diane Benjamin The below information is from the Illinois Comptroller website: https://tinyurl.com/w25h7sk9 Start with the Total OPEB Liability. In TWO years it increased 42.86%. What is OPEB? Other Post Employment Benefits, in other word promises to retired employees other than a pension. The Town of Normal pays these costs as incurred. Unlike the private […]
By: Diane Benjamin So far I haven’t commented on the financial statements Normal released a few weeks ago. It is much easier to show you facts when the Illinois Comptroller gets around to posting the information in a way it is easier to understand. They finally did today. Debt: Look at the Original Issue Amount […]
By: Diane Benjamin I didn’t get around to posting this after the September 20th meeting. Since Normal will be meeting next week, Pam Reece can apologize to Stan Nord then. During comments at the end of the meeting Reece stated that Nord doesn’t agree with spending local motor fuel taxes on sidewalks. Here is her […]
By: Diane Benjamin I talked to a Bloomington resident yesterday who lives in an area that was severely affected by sewage spewing from drains in his basement. He is more interested in getting the problem fixed than financial help. I sent him the links below to information to share with his neighbors. Amazingly most citizens […]
By: Diane Benjamin All of the information below came from the Illinois State Board of Education website: https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Annual-Statistical-Report.aspx During the 1969-1970 school year 2,324,516 students were enrolled in Public Schools. During the 2018-2019 school year 1,984,519 students were enrolled in Public Schools. That’s a 14.63% decrease. Note the increase in bilingual education, see if you […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) 2 more things from Bloomington Council meeting last Monday: Tim Gleason thinks he has to obey whatever Pritzker utters, of course getting money is involved. Gleason is going to require all fire department personnel to be vaccinated or test twice a week. No mention of people who have had COVID and […]
By: Diane Benjamin The meeting, including Township before Council, was over 3 hours. Your representatives look ridiculous behind masks. Normal doesn’t wear them at Council meetings, citizens deserve to see your faces! Of course the camera operator makes seeing faces difficult since it always isn’t in the right location. It was much more fun seeing […]
I emailed Mboka last night about this vote. He answered a few minutes ago. This is the explanation he provided on why a re-vote will be taken: The Illinois Municipal code requires 5 votes one way or another for an ordinance and that’s why it will come back. Had 5 voted against it last night […]
By: Diane Benjamin Jamie Mathy was not at last night’s Council meeting, Ward 6 is still vacant. Therefore, only 7 alderman took part in discussions. The Council had 3 options for how to assist residents that suffered flood damage: (copied from the documentation) Option A: A Resolution in Support of Utilizing the Illinois Housing Development […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.cityblm.org/home/showpublisheddocument/26961/637679239022670000 Evidently what is charged on Credit Cards in Bloomington is now a secret, details used to be listed: The BCPA event report tab doesn’t even have a spot yet for this year. When do we find out how much each show lost (or made)? In 2 days there is a show […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight Bloomington will increase funding to help defray the cost to residents for installing an overhead sewer system. Current funding is $40,000, it will increase to $250,000. Residents are eligible for up to $4,500 after navigating the bureaucracy: https://www.cityblm.org/government/departments/community-development/overhead-sewer-grant-program-application What is an overhead sewer? I found this article from a plumber in […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is always a great event! If you are Pro-Life, here’s your chance to prove it: If you haven’t registered yet, there’s still time! Go to www.bnprcevents.org today!
By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1134&Inline=True The 2.5% raise is on the Consent Agenda which means nobody will talk about it unless it gets pulled: Tim Gleason’s new salary isn’t reported unless you go to the ordinance to be approved: One more change: Instead of receiving the $550 a month car allowance, the City will be paying […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night I attended the preview performance of the Evergreen Cemetery Walk. It is a fabulous event that brings local history to life. The acting is superb! The dress worn by the lady portraying Mary Ann Marmon (Jennifer Maloy) is worth the price of admission. Jennifer said it was made by a […]
By: Diane Benjamin I filed a FOIA request with the Illinois Department of Public Health last week. The data I really want they don’t track! They can’t tell me how many COVID infections today are in fully vaccinated people. That means they also don’t know how many of the cases are in unvaccinated people. IDPH […]
By: Diane Benjamin Racism is so prevalent at ISU you are expected to forget this guy used to run the place: Yesterday the ISU Academic Senate passed a recommendation to require all students to take a course on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access in U.S. Society in order to graduate. These courses are classic Karl […]
By: Diane Benjamin Kathleen Lorenz and Scott Preston claim to be Republicans. This story proves they are fakes. First a quick review of what Enterprise Funds are. Local government decided years ago people need to pay for what they use. Hence, Enterprise funds were created to specifically tax you based on usage. Water is one […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Since I don’t read the Pantagraph, a reader told me what Bill Flick wrote in a column last Sunday. https://pantagraph.com/opinion/columnists/flick-from-jimmy-fallon-to-jay-janssen-in-no-time/article_af765d10-bbb8-5b2a-8412-bf30d1fd8685.html Maybe Flick can be forgiven for not knowing the truth since his paper dutifully printed the bogus Profit/Loss numbers reported by the former managers and NEVER the audited numbers […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday night the residents with damaged property due to flooding last June didn’t show up at Council. They have been to every other Council meeting since June making Public Comments. Maybe they were too appalled the Library would claim $20 million+ was all they need for GLORIOUS while their homes remain damaged […]
WGLT fixed the story, Normal annexed the property years ago. They don’t own it I’m leaning toward WGLT has the story wrong. No records indicate Normal owns the land. By: Diane Benjamin WGLT has a story about last night’s Normal Town Council meeting: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2021-09-20/council-approves-loves-truck-stop-rv-park-on-30-acre-normal-site I didn’t make it past this paragraph: The Town of Normal […]
