by Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has a HUGE fear of being exposed for their bias reporting. This is in YOUR hands. They will never reform unless the citizens DEMAND it or quit paying them. Maybe their advertisers need to be contacted and asked why they are willing to support the spreading of flat out lies! […]
Byline: Stanley Wonder Would it be too much to ask why some of our Bloomington aldermen are taking “road trips” to observe other City Councils? The Pantagraph recently reported on a possible Open Meetings Act violation when four of them plus the Mayor trucked off to the Peoria meeting and met privately to talk city […]
Just the Facts: The United Auto Workers received a 39% Equity stake in the company Over 1000 GM dealerships were forced out of business Bond holders received a 10% stake – much less than invested Salaried employees lost most or all pensions benefits $50 billion of taxpayer money is still invested in GM – 500 […]
by Diane Benjamin In a previous post I explained that “visioning” and citizen involvement is nothing more than a ruse. The plans are already made, now the elected will manipulate you into going along. This video shows the process.
The City of Bloomington is “Visioning” – so what exactly is it? The Town of Normal “Visioned” the Uptown project – now the formerly sleepy town is BURIED in DEBT. Of course they have a plan to pay for it! Raise taxes – they already have. See this previous post: http://blnnews.com/2012/05/30/normal-il-what-is-up-with-the-debt/ A large part of […]
Bloomington and Normal both DEFEATED electric aggregation in March for numerous reasons. The biggest being: Nobody informed the voters it would be on the ballot! It was cutely worded to make people think the “government is looking out for you”. Bunk. Did they inform you THEY would make money too? Did they tell you it […]
August 9, 2012 DAY 6! Investigators are now looking into what’s going on-hopefully more information today. One possible theory: The contract to sell electricity has expired and they don’t presently have a customer to purchase the electricity. The Carlock Wind Farm has not been operating for at least the last 2 days either. The 2 […]
Click on the links below to see the current pensions being paid to retirees of District 87 and Unit 5. In 2009 the average HOUSEHOLD income in McLean County was $56,027 http://www.city-data.com/county/McLean_County-IL.html The average Social Check in 2012 is $1,230 or $14,760 a year http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/13/~/average-monthly-social-security-benefit-for-a-retired-worker The pension system at ALL levels of government was set […]
by Diane Benjamin Let’s get one thing straight: This post has nothing to do with whether being gay is right or wrong. It’s about Integrity. If you pay any attention at all to politics, you know that several state and national Illinois GOP elected officials are suspected of being “in the closet”. It has now […]
. . . and while they’re watching us, we’re watching them right back – this video explains a why – This is what we do. And, we could use your help. Let me explain. I am by no means a fan of Hillary Clinton (sorry), but some years back, Ms. Clinton wrote a book entitled, “It […]
Received from the Town of Normal: Diane, Wendy provided me a copy of your email and asked that I respond. As you see from the documents supplied to you the Town Council authorized purchase of the parking lots from One Main for $500,000. This was about $240,000 more than the amount budgeted for these […]
From the Pantagraph Jan 19, 2010 BLOOMINGTON — McLean County Board member Tari Renner made it official Tuesday: He is resigning from his board seat effective Feb. 28 because he is moving out of District 8. “It has been my distinct honor and privilege to have served the residents of District 8 since 1998,” Renner […]
The properties pictured are all connected to the Uptown project. The Town of Normal is listed as the owner on all yellow properties. All of the properties were checked on the McLean County Assessor’s Office website. The parcel pictures are all from the Assessor’s site. The Town of Normal, McLean County, Unit 5, and all […]
I spoke this morning to the Attorney General’s Office (7/30/12). Bloomington is responding to Request For Review today. The Attorney General will forward a copy of the response to me when they receive it. by Diane Benjamin I thought the Pantagraph was going to file – Pantagraph?
by: Diane Benjamin CPA, reg http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/article_f82ad694-a293-11df-8558-001cc4c03286.html The total cost figures for the multi-modal transportation station vary from report to report – but I will use the ones listed in the Pantagraph above: Total Cost: $43,300,000 Tiger grant: $22,000,000 […]
Eminent Domain was meant for government to obtain land from private citizens for the public good. Until 2005, public good meant for schools, public buildings, & roads, but the Supreme Court decided eminent domain could be used against a private citizen for use by another private citizen. The Town of Normal is now famous for […]
I drove by this lot today to see who is allowed to park there. The part labeled 2 is mostly reserved for the Coffee House on Beaufort. 3 – I didn’t see how to access it, but I may have missed something. This is NOT a straight parking lot where it is clear what you […]
All the the following is public information or it was obtain under the Freedom of Information Act. On August 20, 2008 – Simon Wilson sold the following parcels to One Main Development for $1,412,500: 14-28-435-013 114-122 E Beaufort 14-28-435-027 North of -013 to College 14-28-435-014 North of -013 to College 14-28-435-030 North of -013 to […]
by Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal doesn’t have just 1 or 2 Tax Increment Finance districts, it has 4 – all started since Chris Koos became mayor. The original intent of TIF districts was to encourage developers in blighted areas. According to one of my sources, TIF districts are now used more to provide […]
Normal didn’t stop at 2 Tax Increment Finance Districts – More tomorrow by Diane Benjamin The last report on properties bought – sold – given away – and held by the Town of Normal focus on the Normal Uptown Increment Redevelopment. Part of that strategy is to pay for the plan using the difference between […]
by Diane Benjamin Since Chris Koos has been elected Mayor more than once – You Did! In previous posts about the Town of Normal, I stated in 2003 every citizen was $11.52 in debt to Normal. By 3/31/11 every citizen was $1725.18 in debt. The 3/31/12 financial statements have not been issued yet. A look […]
Yes – ILLEGAL Immigration. Stop calling law breakers immigrants, they are illegal aliens. That said, politicians seem unable to solve the problem. Illinois spends billions on illegals because following the law isn’t an option, much like the rest of what happens in Illinois. Because the elected are intimated, politically correct, or just plain weasels – […]
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 YOUR COUNCIL AT WORK – Bloomington City Council Bloomington City Council’s Work Session on Monday night gave citizens the opportunity to hear City Manager, David Hales, update the previously approved Action Plan. Problem with that was, among others, is that there weren’t many citizens there. The video below helps a […]
by Diane Benjamin CPA reg. Many factors are not available for analysis of this project. This process must continually be updated when REAL data becomes available. Some of the factors are: Cost per KWH for purchased electricity over the next 20 years – it most likely will not remain constant Amount of electricity generated by […]
BIKES AND DEMOCRACY? – Give me a Representative Government DIRECT DEMOCRACY/BLONO FACEBOOK PAGE May 21, 2012 Direct Democracy. What is it? James Madison defined it as “…a number of citizens, whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the […]
by Diane Benjamin I think I still live in the United States of America, but maybe the globe shifted or I entered a time machine. Or maybe WEAK leadership at all levels of our current government brings out the crazy people. Following is what I received in the mail today. Note the return address […]
In 2003 every citizen was $11.52 in debt to the Town of Normal. By March 2011 every citizen was $1,725.18 in debt. Was Uptown Normal worth a 15,000% increase in YOUR debt? This is a perfect example of what happens to citizens when they aren’t paying attention, trust the people elected to have their best […]
From Illinois Center Right Coalition: In May 2012, the ICRC Steering Committee passed this resolution: ICRC RESOLUTION TO RECALL ILLINOIS GOP CHAIRMAN PAT BRADY WHEREAS, the platform of the Illinois Republican Party contains the following: “To conduct ourselves in such a way as to rebuild the public trust in the Republican Party” and WHEREAS, the […]
February 5, 2012 WHAT IF OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS WEREN’T DOING THEIR JOBS? You might ask why and how that might happen? What if they weren’t aware of what their jobs were? What their duties were? Or, what their obligations were? These are all very valid questions, especially if we, the citizens, aren’t aware of what their […]
See original post from April 30th This email was sent to the contact person listed in the magazine: Susan, As a graduate of Illinois state I am appalled by the May issue. Two stories are at best left wing propaganda. The Occupy story says nothing about the true intent of the movement and it attempts […]
Some correspondence requested under the Freedom of Information Act was denied by the City of Bloomington. A complaint has been filed with the State’s Attorney’s Office in Springfield with the Public Access Officer. What are they trying to hide? The denial listed “personal information” as the reason. We are not interested in phone numbers and […]
Before and after – Tent burned around 2:00am 4/22/12
