By: Diane Benjamin Long time readers know finding a prosecutor is almost impossible. Public corruption prosecutions must be demanded by many people before equal justice under the law actually exists. Then there is McGrath Law Office in Mackinaw. These guys represent many small units of government who evidently aren’t capable of reading the Open Meetings […]
By: Diane Benjamin From the Illinois Comptroller website: Allin At a Glance In 2016 they borrowed $103,309 and paid back $39,131 http://warehouse.illinoiscomptroller.com/ProcessSearchResults.cfm In 2015 they borrowed $45,000 and paid back $10,000 Source: 2015 In 2014 they borrowed $90,000 and paid back $68,000. Source: 2014 Anybody see a problem? (These are numbers Allin Township gave the Comptroller!) […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Open Meetings Act was created to make sure citizens are informed about actions their government takes. Imagine what would happen if all government actions took place in secret and you got the bill for whatever they dreamed up! The Edgar County Watchdogs wrote an easy to understand version of the Open […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last November I wrote about the ever-changing hourly wages paid to Josh Deterding: https://blnnews.com/2015/11/13/allin-township-ask-eidenmiller-to-explain-this/ There was always more to the Deterding story than media has reported. Investigations should have included public officials. Josh filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor. They found in his favor and ordered Allin Township to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Less than 600 people live in Stanford. It’s so tiny that understanding “limit government” should be easy. I still don’t know why pitchforks and tar haven’t been deployed over dropping Danvers police patrols because “they couldn’t afford it”, and then hiring their own force for twice the cost. https://blnnews.com/2015/10/28/stanford-do-you-ever-get-mad/ Now see these minutes […]
By: Diane Benjamin See what the Allin Fire Protection District reported to the State of Illinois here for the year ended 5/30/2015: http://warehouse.illinoiscomptroller.com/ProcessSearchResults.cfm?DisplayMode=GETAFR&AFRDesiredData=Revenues&Code=064/010/06&CFY=2015&Menu=Yes&PrintIt=No The link shows Revenues of $208,281 It shows Expenses of $203,005 _________________ According to this document: Allin Fire Revenues were $238,906.88 (including a $45,000 operating loan) Expenses were $237,647.56 Neither number is […]
By: Diane Benjamin On November 12th I wrote about the illegal time change for the Allin Township Fire Protection District meeting: http://blnnews.com/2015/11/12/illegal-meeting-allin-tfpd/ The minutes from the meeting show people did show up late. Were they expecting the meeting to be at the regular time of 7:00 pm? See the minutes below. The time wasn’t the […]
By: Diane Benjamin On October 14, 2015 the Allin Township Fire Protection District held a Trustees meeting. The minutes show they accepted an insurance payment from Selective Insurance. See minutes here: Minutes 10/14/2015 The check is believed to be for more than $19,000. People at the meeting don’t remember the check being discussed. Josh Deterding […]
By: Diane Benjamin How would you like to receive paychecks with the per hour rate calculated at the whim of the guy writing the checks? All of the below are from the pay stubs received by Josh Deterding. All the pay stubs are computerized and, unless listed, all paychecks were for 80 hours. The rate […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night the trustees for the Allin Township Fire Protection District held a meeting at the fire station. It started at 6:00pm. The problem is the meetings always start at 7:00. The Open meetings Act requires 10 days notice of a meeting change. Starting an hour earlier than normal is a […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve written a long list of articles concerning the Village of Stanford and the Allin Township Fire Protection District. Just for the record, Sheriff Sandage isn’t investigating and State’s Attorney Jason Chambers isn’t prosecuting anything I’ve written about. They probably won’t care about the Allin Township Fire Protection Trustees appointing an illegal […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Freedom of Information law was written to protect the rights of taxpayers. Since government has no money unless they take it from citizens, it is presumed under the law that all documents BELONG to the citizens, not government. Here’s the opening paragraph of the law: (5 ILCS 140/1) (from Ch. 116, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is the debt report Allin Fire Protection District made to the Illinois Comptroller’s Office. Note: The report shows debt at year-end (May 31, 2015) of $167,000. See the report here: http://warehouse.illinoiscomptroller.com/ProcessSearchResults.cfm?DisplayMode=GETAFR&AFRDesiredData=Indebtedness&Code=064/010/06&CFY=2015&Menu=Yes&PrintIt=No The report correctly shows a new loan of $45,000 Minutes 12-10-2014 The ambulance purchase reported here: http://blnnews.com/2015/10/14/allin-fire-truth-report/ is still not […]
By: Diane Benjamin Agencies of government in Illinois are required to file reports with the Comptroller’s office. Below is a screen shot of the 2014 report for the Allin Fire Protection District showing debt. The District’s fiscal year runs from 6/1/13 through 5/31/14. The report below shows $90,000 in new debt during fiscal year 2014. […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve written lots of stories about the Village of Standford and the Allin Fire Protection District. Even though the Supreme Court has ruled that “bloggers” are media, the Standford Police Chief doesn’t care. Ed Petrey refuses to answer my emails. Earlier in August I asked Ed to refer investigations to the McLean […]
By: Diane Benjamin According to this bird-cage liner story from 2007, Allin Township Fire Protection District Trustee Mick Owen was superintendent of the Bloomington division of Entler Excavating. http://www.pantagraph.com/news/company-submits-new-plan-for-asphalt-plant/article_32724b55-645f-5c85-96e7-c12d061031f6.html In 2008 the Trustees awarded a $12,000 no-bid contract for demolition of a house to Entler Excavating. At least Mick didn’t make the motion himself. Did Mick […]
By: Diane Benjamin When citizens trust the people who run government, but fail to watch their actions – you get this: Scott Eidenmiller is a trustee who voted for his own raise. In fact, they all voted to raise their own pay. Scott’s $3000 is a problem though. According to the law, trustee salaries for […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this story from yesterday: http://blnnews.com/2015/08/11/more-that-stanford-needs-to-explain/ The Allin Township Fire Protection District has the right to bill out of district victims for any assistance provided, like vehicle accidents requiring EMT services. Illinois law states that an ordinance must be on file allowing these billings. I filed the following Freedom of Information Request […]
