I have two Council meetings to report on plus Normal’s Work Session, but I have to take a detour for what I received from WordPress this morning. The meetings will be spread out over several days, there is a lot to cover. If I had been able to post on Saturday, the “days in a […]
By: Diane Benjamin True socialists. They were never taught everybody isn’t guaranteed equal outcomes. People who develop talents worth more earn more. Systemic injustice exists only in the brain of those expecting compensation inconsistent with their abilities. This is why the Bloomington City Council should disregard Jenn’s demands. Her goal is forcing socialism, not personal responsibility. […]
Brief recap of tonight’s cannabis discussion: The city radicals lost on everything but dispensaries. No on-site consumption, no other type of businesses for now. Jenn Carrillo constantly spoke when not being recognized and then attempted to insult the other aldermen who didn’t agree with her social justice agenda. Crabill was right with her. Crabill.quoted studies.that […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council only had ONE meeting last night instead of 2 or 3. It didn’t help them not spend your money, but at least they only contemplated how to shovel out more. Of course, it was on downtown. More later. Jamie Mathy did not attend, so Ward 1 had no […]
Bloomington City Council Members: At this point, I have to trust that during the search and decision process for a new City Manager, you all garnered significantly more knowledge and capability, than any single citizen has, linked to selecting the best candidate for City Manager. At this point your constituents can only hope that the future provides […]
By: Diane Benjamin The local paper has an editorial declaring the new City Manager the right guy because Decatur re-did their downtown. They think Normal did, so there is no reason Bloomington can’t. They forgot Normal was in ZERO debt before they spent around $100,000,000 on Uptown. (Is that restaurant space on the Circle still […]
By: Diane Benjamin It sounds like both Unit 5 and District 87 are as tired of TIF Districts as the citizens. Both Barry Reilly and Mark Daniel spoke about 23 years of diverted taxes being ridiculous. The Council tabled any changes until better language agreeable to the school districts could be worked out. Bloomington may […]
See links in the comments, the actual space for lease may be other locations in the same center. Source: http://www.pantagraph.com/special-sections/e-edition/page/page_b5e544d3-36fc-5e66-9c1a-b8ae5b5b1705.html Bloomington MUST quit spending money now and cut personnel. A bloodbath is coming. (Maybe they just need a bigger store in a better location) h/t a reader . . . . . . . […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington Council meeting last night did not produce much to report. We did learn from a lady during public comment that Bloomington has an epidemic of at risk kids. Holly (didn’t catch the last name) volunteers many hours at the Boys and Girls Club. They currently serve almost 1000 kids and […]
By: Diane Benjamin The 2014 video of Tari Renner attacking Judy Stearns during a Council meeting because of cuts she proposed now has been viewed over 15,000 times. 13,000 of them have come in the last few months. I have no idea why! A viewer left a comment last night that perfectly summed it up: […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Council thinks they can make downtown a destination. The Coliseum and the BCPA were supposed to do the same thing. Since the Council spent close to two hours last night discussing beautification and streets, it proves the MILLIONS already spent have failed. There were some tiny shreds of fiscal responsibility when […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council is holding a Committee of the Whole Monday night. Before Tari, the Council didn’t have 4 Council meetings a month and an additional meeting in between. Think the endless hours of meetings have something to do with the spending being out of control – of course it does! […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://wglt.org/post/charges-dismissed-former-coliseum-general-manager#stream/0 Charges were dismissed today against one of the main guys involved at the Coliseum, Bart Rogers. He was John Butler’s main sidekick. The judge said the statute of limitations is three years, which means any theft or crimes that may have occurred prior to three years can no longer be prosecuted. […]
By: Diane Benjamin It isn’t possible to have verbal or email permission from government to do anything and expect it to be honored. If boats on Lake Bloomington are so hazardous to the drinking water that supposed “illegal” docks must be removed, why are any boats allowed on the Lake? $250 fine per day? Send […]
By: Diane Benjamin Everybody knows the streets aren’t being fixed. Bloomington can’t even find money in the budget (that has skyrocketed under Tari Renner) to invest in infrastructure. https://blnnews.com/2018/03/26/nice-pantagraph/ They will happily raise your taxes though to pay for a couple of roads. Yesterday we learned there was a “disconnect” ordering tickets for the One […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this recent WGLT story: http://wglt.org/post/new-documents-link-vague-coliseum-contract-criminal-charges The former Coliseum management could get greatly reduced sentences because the documents WGLT presented prove the City didn’t care – as in David Hales didn’t care. Hales was paid huge bucks to manage the City, he failed. I really hope he is called as a witness to […]
By: Diane Benjamin (Something isn’t right about the Habitat solar panels, I’m waiting to hear back from an expert.) The $135,000 sales tax rebate to Habitat got tabled. Austin Grammer stated the City asked Habitat how they could help them with their project. In other words, the City volunteered to give them money. Solar panels […]
By: Diane Benjamin Forbes magazine printed the latest addition of what states people are fleeing based on data from United Van Lines data. Illinois is #1 https://tinyurl.com/Forbes-United-Van-Lines While McLean County and Normal were smart enough to cut spending, Bloomington is looking for more revenue tonight. Tari Renner is quoted in the paper saying City budgets […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the February 12th meeting when alderman comments had Karen Schmidt accusing Tari Renner of disparaging public remarks about the 5 alderman blocking his Welcoming Ordinance? Remember Alderman Bray pulled the minutes at the February 26th meeting because they didn’t accurately summarize the comments made? https://blnnews.com/2018/02/27/bloomington-council-festivities/ The February 12th meeting minutes are still […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last week the local media reported the low local unemployment rate. Here’s an example from WJBC: http://www.wjbc.com/2018/03/15/bloomington-normal-jobless-rate-remains-lowest-in-state-2/ They must be afraid to report the rest of the story: https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/SMU17140100000000001?amp%253bdata_tool=XGtable&output_view=data&include_graphs=true This chart is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics These numbers are the actual number of people employed – in thousands. In the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The majority of the Council thinks government creates prosperity. The failure of the State of Illinois should be instructive, to them Illinois just isn’t doing it right. Congrats – you are getting another City employee with salary and benefits. That makes 3 new downtown employees. The Council failed to understand that past […]
By: Diane Benjamin Documentation for the 7:00 pm meeting is 648 pages: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=16030 The 5:00 pm meeting is only 35 pages: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=16026 This item is on the agenda for discussion at the 5:00 meeting: Another City employee complete with benefits and pension! Then it gets funny because approval is on the Consent Agenda for the 7:00 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Source for below: https://blnnews.com/2017/03/11/the-budget-workshop-that-wasnt/ Tari Renner is the problem: Tari was elected in 2013. That budget was already done. The Renner exploding budgets started in 2014. 2018 is the budget currently in place. Bloomington shows NO sign of understanding the local economy is declining. They are planning to keep spending and fleecing. […]
By: Diane Benjamin More than one story will be needed to cover the meetings. First some unusual items: Karen Schmidt motioned at the beginning of the meeting to take hiring the development manager for the BCPA off the agenda and move it to a Committee of the Whole meeting or Work Session. Alderman Bray pulled […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15932 Now for the meat of tonight’s Bloomington City Council meeting! Finally we have arrived at the tax increases. Solid Waste – AGAIN! PDF page 130 The Council will get a choice – all of them cost you more: Ordinance 1: “High Service Level, High Fee Increases” Ordinance 2: “Medium Service Level, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Your government runs over you when you don’t bother to stand up to them. 5 people did stand up last night, more need to join them. Public Comment: The first guy owns Joe’s Pub and is concerned about raising video gaming fees. He asked when the tax increases are going to end […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington will NEVER have enough of your money. Complete control of the local economy means your money is theirs and they are free to take it at will. Monday night they will discuss taking more for their vision. http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15904 Want your roads fixed? Even though Tari Renner and […]
By: Diane Benjamin The email below was written by the Bloomington Public Library Board President. I redacted who it was written to. It’s the content that is interesting. Alex was obviously worried about getting the tax increase passed the Board wanted. According to this story, the library didn’t say at the Council meeting why they […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner is desperate to score political points that have nothing to do with welcoming immigrants. He is pandering to his base and Karen Schmidt is standing in his way. Illegal immigrants are just pawns in this game. Radicals think they can “progress” their fundamental transformation of America and use illegals to beat […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington’s AFSCME Union is actively campaigning on Facebook for their jobs: Of course they are worried about losing jobs, so are State Farm employees. The difference is SF employees can’t do a thing about it. AFSCME gets pay, benefits, and pensions with taxpayer dollars, but they expect you to lobby for them! […]
By: Diane Benjamin Number ONE priority of citizens: Fix the roads! The budget being considered by the Bloomington City Council has no money for roads except taxes they already increased to pay for repairs: .04 a gallon gas tax 1/4% Sales tax The Council will be happy to double the gas tax to fix roads. […]
By: Diane Benjamin All you need to know about what happened at last nights extremely long Council meeting: Your gas tax is going to double to .08 per gallon because you want the roads fixed and they can’t find any money You will get an estimated $10 million aquatics center, no word whether it will […]
No discussion! Passed 9-0 along with the rest of the consent agenda. By: Diane Benjamin Citizens are OUTRAGED that City employees have been allowed to spike their pensions by accumulating sick days. The costs to taxpayers is close to $2 million. Tonight the Council will approve a new union contract, with a $200 signing […]
By: Diane Benjamin Saturday the Pantagraph cried in an editorial wanting to be relevant. Today they printed the City talking points. They don’t understand that regurgitating what government buddies want you to say doesn’t drive people to read! See: http://www.pantagraph.com/opinion/columnists/bechtel-daily-newspapers-worth-the-price/article_a10766c7-c709-5c81-b62f-519f8800ec01.html http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/government-and-politics/city-staff-to-give-council-options-for-m-deficit/article_5e8cdbfc-3bf5-508b-9d97-f0307f5331e2.html The packet for tonight has very little information on the new budget – See […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s David Hales fault! That is John Butler’s claim to justify the missing bucks. I blame David Hales too, and the Council, and the Mayor who all shut their eyes and pretended nothing nefarious was happening with taxpayer money. The joint was audited! Except concessions never were. Johnny Butler made sure of […]
By: Diane Benjamin The contemporary term false flag describes covert operations that are designed to deceive in such a way that activities appear as though they are being carried out by individual entities, groups, or nations other than those who actually planned and executed them. This statement perfectly describes the meeting Tuesday night held by […]
By: Diane Benjamin I just got back from seeing All the Queen’s Horses at the Normal Theater. It’s the story of the $53.7 million theft by a City employee in Dixon Il. The movie is fabulous, you have one more chance to see it tomorrow night at 7:00. Buy tickets on-line, the theater was close […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday’s Bills and Payroll: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15550 More spiked pension expense: More Interest-Free loans? I don’t care how great the cause is, what statute allows the City to hand out your money to people they chose? Most people call this vote-buying: More handouts: I’m guessing the City if buying tickets to a Chamber event for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Back in June of 2015 I took pictures under the Center Street bridge for this story: https://blnnews.com/2015/06/03/24853/ It appeared then to be failing apart. Last Monday a guy named Rick Phillipi (sp?) spoke during Public Comment at the 7:00 Council meeting. He has been tracking this bridge for many years, he is […]
By: Diane Benjamin State Farm has an Employees Activities group, it sounds similar to the City of Bloomington except the activities aren’t during working hours. One activity I know they organize is golf tournaments. This message was on the SFEA site today: The SFEA area is going through a redesign and all SFEA activities for […]
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