By: Diane Benjamin I will be filing today for a 28 day extension in submitting my Amended Motion. The reason is to discuss the case with possible attorneys. The only information I will reveal now is: they aren’t local they specialize in FOIA cases
By: Diane Benjamin Monday night the Council is holding a Work Session to hear the results of the Fee study. See the packet information here: Fee Study Enterprise Funds were created to raise taxes. Solid waste pickup was included in the taxes you already paid just 10 short years ago. Monday night the Council will […]
By: Diane Benjamin I was contacted over a year ago by a company who saw some of my posts on the Coliseum. YES – there are professional arena managers, your government chose not to talk to any of them. The current Coliseum management continues to under perform based on what citizens were told when the […]
By: Diane Benjamin According to the BCPA website, seating capacity is 1180. I don’t know if that includes the balcony. Only tiny people can fit in those jammed together rows. Maybe it’s been fixed, I haven’t been there for years. On Bills and Payroll for approval Monday night: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=242&parent=9535 RT PRODUCTIONS LLC INV PERF FEE […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council meeting didn’t have much on the agenda last night. That usually means they are preparing big things for the next meeting. Your wallet isn’t safe. Public comment showed the deep divide between citizens and the Council. Think we are ignored by the people in Washington DC and Springfield? […]
By: Diane Benjamin More legal expense will be racked up tonight when the Bloomington Council meets in Executive Session. Yep, it’s a secret. I wonder if my case against the City concerning the Coliseum will be a topic. I wonder if my subpoena for City Manager David Hales is worrying them? Maybe, maybe not. I […]
By: Diane Benjamin From Bills and Payroll, Monday night’s Bloomington City Council meeting: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=242&parent=9535 Just the beginning of the bills for Renner’s trip to DC: City Council Expenses American Airlines $ 305.20 US Conf of Mayors Wash DC Transportation for Mayor City Council Expenses US Conf Of Mayors $ 650.00 Reg. Mayor ‐ US Conf […]
By: Diane Benjamin Sick of hearing about Solid Waste funding yet? The Council has been discussing it since at least 2013! Don’t worry, it will end soon when fees are raised again. The neighbor wars are going to be great. Somebody dumps junk in front of your house and you get the bill. You […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night’s Bloomington City Council work session never did ONE thing, clarify the purpose of government. The elephant in the room is sucking the life out of the City because local government has no core values. Alderman Fruin tried to start a discussion of Council priorities – start watching at 1:11. His […]
By: Diane Benjamin Two Council meetings ago one person complemented the Council (during public comment) on how much better they are at working together. Just hit play: . The Council “working together” has gotten taxpayers huge deficit spending and a 1% Sales tax increase. Expect more increases soon. Is their job to “work together” or […]
By: Diane Benjamin It appears obvious the ordinance the City of Bloomington has for inspection of rental property is illegal. It was illegal before it was changed Monday night, but with the City wanting to hire a second inspector, it is tyranny. Not just illegal – it is massive over-reach by government. All the City […]
Another link, more info: http://www.athensmessenger.com/news/local-impact-not-expected-from-federal-ruling-on-rental-inspections/article_445cb108-ea0f-5498-b9e4-433713621313.html By: Diane Benjamin Last night at least one landlord showed up too late to speak, he didn’t know the public comment rules. He wondered why nothing was done to stop the local boot on his neck. Easy! You aren’t paying attention. Nobody cares until the fees and taxes affect them. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Besides the two aldermen who didn’t care enough about their constituents (Painter/Hauman) to actually attend the Bloomington City Council meetings, one other moment proved the complete incompetence of government. Government uses your money, so logic, common sense, and fiscal responsibility don’t need to be deployed. Back in July of 2014 the Council […]
By: Diane Benjamin So, the few of you that actually voted in the last local election thought you were voting for representation. Joke is on you. First, most of the Council works for David Hales and Tari Renner, not you. Vote results are predetermined by free lunch. Tonight 2 alderman didn’t show – Painter and […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council only has ONE employee: David Hales. He gets huge raises around this time of year. Tonight the Council is discussing “personnel” in Executive Session. Since Hales is in charge of making all other personnel decisions, will the Council hand Hales another raise? Last year Hales was paid $229,615.36 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday night the Council is holding a Special Session with secret meeting (Executive Session), a Work Session, and the Council meeting. Theme for the work session: Ever program must pay for itself (except the Coliseum) No, the Coliseum isn’t on the agenda. They can lose as much money as they want and […]
Merry Christmas to BlnNews readers. I ask , no plead with you, when you are with your family and friends celebrating the birth of our Savior – please discuss where we are in Bloomington. How are continued increased fees, taxes, and council members who ignore the citizens who put them in office working? How about […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below are the points I find interesting. You can read the entire report here: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=21&parent=8106 BCPA: That’s 218 people per event! (Hint: if you don’t want facts distorted, frame them differently) ___________________________ Police: Another problem that’s been discussed for years! Page 15 ___________________________ Zoo – Page 24 Revenue from admissions was up […]
By: Diane Benjamin Here’s all you need to know about last night’s 2 meetings of the Bloomington City Council: You aren’t using enough water, therefore your storm water bill is too low. You therefore have to pay more because the fund doesn’t have enough money. (Government forced you to be sustainable – now you will […]
By: Diane Benjamin Not by accident, since it’s close to Christmas and a lot of people won’t be paying attention: The horse race for your bucks starts at 5:00 tonight! Lane 1: City Employees . Lane 2: Storm Water Fund Lane 3: City throwing away more money to dismiss […]
By: Diane Benjamin !st Quarter Statement: 1st Quarter 2016 Coliseum Fund P & L CIAM continues to pay themselves 4% of everything listed as Revenue whether it’s actually revenue of not. See Event Income on the first page – 179,036.49. This is money from the acts to reimbursement the Coliseum. Some may be income, but […]
By: Diane Benjamin This fiscal year Bloomington began issuing monthly financial recaps. See this link: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=21&parent=9043. September is the last statement posted, yes this is December. The chart below is from pages 11 and 12 of the September report. Enterprise Funds are not included since they are not part of the General Fund. (Solid […]
By: Diane Benjamin All the tax and spending increases since Renner became mayor he blames on one thing: inflation. See this report from the City website: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8145 Total spending for 2009 through 2014 is listed. Click it to make it more readable. Since 2015 has not been added, I looked it up. Actual 2015: 144,183,767 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Back in 2009 a company called Lyle Sumek Associates, Inc out of Florida was hired as a consultant. From their website: http://lylesumek.com/ Lyle Sumek Associates, Inc. is a consulting organization that specializes in team building, strategic planning and goal setting for local governments, developing more effective governing bodies and governance processes; assisting […]
By: Diane Benjamin Here’s the latest craze in Bloomington-Normal: If you can’t afford local housing prices, government has a responsibility to help you. Nothing about personal responsibility. Nothing about doing whatever it takes to support yourself. Wealth redistribution is the obvious answer. It’s immaterial if a permanent underclass of people living on subsidies is created […]
By: Diane Benjamin The October City Manager’s report is now on-line: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=9452 Miller Park Zoo Revenue from admissions was up 13.3% for the current fiscal year. Last year, the revenue from admissions broke the all-time record for the Zoo in a fiscal year. This represents the fourth consecutive year the all-time attendance revenue record was […]
By: Diane Benjamin Ever wonder how much debt Bloomington and Normal have forced on taxpayers? Nothing beats a picture: (More next!) Source: http://www.comptrollerconnect.ioc.state.il.us/Office/LocalGovt/LGReportCardvs2/index.cfm?RptCrdFY=1999&code=064%2F025%2F30&C4=30&BetaSel=&OptionSel=SnglRptCrd
By: Diane Benjamin Steve Vogel announced in the Pantagraph today that Alderman Lower is expected to run for Mayor against Steve’s buddy, Tari. Remember his daughter was Renner’s campaign manager twice. Since Vogel didn’t add that to his story, I need to make sure you know the truth. Now it’s clear why Tari Junior (Scott […]
By: Diane Benjamin No mater how worthy a cause is, what City Ordinance gives the Council the right to give your money to a non-profit: HOME SWEET HOME MINIST INV 11/10/2015 DONATION CHECK TOTAL 1,956.00 MCLEAN COUNTY HISTORIC INV 10/26/2015 CAP CAMPGN FY16 CHECK TOTAL 50,000.00 Internal Auditors – so when are the taxpayers going […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Saturday edition of the retreat has been cancelled. Tomorrow, expect a Pantagraph article saying the City decided to delay the meeting because they didn’t have everything ready. Truth is immaterial. The truth is: Somebody forgot to post it. Today’s Pantagraph story about the two-day retreat didn’t write itself. Renner is quoted […]
Don’t miss the follow-up story: http://blnnews.com/2015/11/19/so-who-is-getting-fired/ By: Diane Benjamin Part one of the November Council retreat is tonight at 5:30. At the 11/9 Council meeting, David Hales announced the second half would be on Saturday November 21st at 8:00am. According to the Open Meetings Act law, an agenda must be posted 48 hours in advance, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thursday night the Bloomington City Council is holding a retreat starting at 5:30. It could be held in the Council Chambers where live streaming is available, but it’s not. This time it’s at the BCPA. They aren’t holding it there because large crowds are expected. The agenda is boring at best. Communication […]
By: Diane Benjamin The citizens elect Aldermen to represent them. We could talk all day about who they really represent, but how can they represent the people when they don’t attend Council meetings? Last Monday Aldermen Sage and Black were absent. No mention of the empty seats – 2 of 9. The roll was […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois ranks very close to the top of the worst run states in country. Illinois should be a wonderful place to live – natural resources, centrally located, world-class universities, Fortune 500 companies with headquarters here, just to name a few. Instead, we don’t even have a budget. Illinois’s government exists for government […]
By: Diane Benjamin A Work Session was held before the Council meeting. The most remarkable discussion was started by Alderman Fruin. It pertained to employee benefits. Watch his comments starting at 15:30, other people join the conversation, so keep watching. Jim actually stands up for citizens! That’s until he gets to an off-hand comment about […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday night the City Council approved: Consideration of adopting a Resolution endorsing BN Advantage: A collaborative economic development strategy for the Bloomington-Normal-McLean County Region The Vote was 8-1, Alderman Lower was the NO vote. . BN Advantage is composed of: EDC – Economic Development Council McLean County Chamber of Commerce Bloomington-Normal Convention […]
By: Diane Benjamin I doubt you noticed, but I haven’t written about last Monday’s Council meeting. I still can’t convey the outrage I feel properly, but I will give it a shot. A number of items shocked me, it’s hard to believe the people claiming to represent you didn’t just immigrate from a communist country. […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader sent one of my Coliseum stories to Alderman Painter and politely asked if she thought it raised issues that needed answers. (http://blnnews.com/2015/10/01/coliseum-info-buried/) This was her response: On Oct 3, 2015, at 7:41 AM, Joni Painter <jpainter@cityblm.org> wrote: Redacted, I don’t read Diane’s website any more because I have found it […]
By: Diane Benjamin The following information was received by a reader under the Freedom of Information Act. Remember Lynn Montei? She’s the facilitator who leads retreats. The goal is getting the Council to all agree with David Hales. Montei led last November’s retreat and the one this summer. (maybe others) I thought Alderman Hauman was […]
By: Diane Benjamin The only way to know what both developers proposed last night is to watch the video of the meeting. Nothing was included for either developer in meeting documentation to the Council. The Giebelhausen presentation was vague. He claims to have 3 hotels interested, but only if they get taxpayer money. Why invest […]
