By: Diane Benjamin Check out the Coliseum’s Income and Budget numbers from 2006-2007: Income: $3,353,392 fell short of the budgeted $3,580,500. Now look at the numbers from 2014 – 2015: (click to enlarge) Income is over $1.3 Million less, the Budget is over $1 Million less! Admitting defeat? In April 2008 they reported income of $3,251,651 […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader filed a Freedom of Information Request for food receipts where charges were listed without explanation. He filed for what showed on the statement approved for payment at the April 27th Council meeting. Keep in mind, all the PCard charges used to reflect dates and who the meal was with. Changing how the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Tari wants the Front and Center building torn down so he can get a downtown hotel. Other City departments want the windows and roof fixed. Um. Haven’t citizens been told over and over and over the City can’t force Huffs to fix the building? It would take too much time and […]
By: Diane Benjamin At Monday’s Council meeting Tari shut off public comment. Unless the rest of the Council refuses to tolerate it, citizens have a much smaller voice at City Hall now under Tari. The rules say 15 minutes is allotted. 3 minutes for 5 speakers weren’t a problem before Tari’s agenda was revealed because 5 people […]
By: Diane Benjamin The work session last night before the Council meeting was more interesting than the Council meeting. Alderman Sage had questions for the Council about the direction his budget work group should be taking. Code: They want tax increases, but didn’t want to look stupid bringing them back to the Council without permission. Since […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below are some interesting items on the Bloomington City Council’s Bills and Payroll for tonight. http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8638 BENSINGER DUPONT & ASS EFT 06/08/2015 1 10011410 70690 HR Purch Serv 2,742.75 Invoice Net 2,742.75 CHECK TOTAL 2,742.75 Who are these guys? Consultants. Here’s their Mission statement: http://www.bensingerdupont.com/mission Reshape At BDA, we help people change their lives by adjusting […]
By: Diane Benjamin On Monday night the City of Bloomington will hold another Council meeting. Lots of you have commented on this site about the Dukowitz-Renner-Hauman attempt to silence the Press. I STRONGLY encourage you to speak at Public Comment. Too often the Council sees the same people at every meeting. The Council can ignore your […]
By: Diane Benjamin Facts: The Normal police did NOT arrest Fistbump for knocking on Nora Dukowitz’s door. Dukowitz dropped civil action against Fistbump the day before it went to court. Tari proclaimed in open session that Fistbump was being investigated for a felony: Start watching at 5:30. https://youtu.be/PzTrILJQlLY Diana Hauman believed a person representing Cities 92.9 is not fit […]
By: Diane Benjamin Citizens of Bloomington need to watch Public Comment from tonight’s meeting. It starts about 5:30. https://youtu.be/PzTrILJQlLY Cities 92.9 sent a different representative tonight. He was a must see first speaker. Since the camera was on the speaker, viewers didn’t see Alderman Hauman get up and leave. Renner said after the speaker that she […]
By: Diane Benjamin Does anybody read the City Code? Do you know elected officials who might be benefitting “indirectly” from the Giebelhausen fleecing? Chapter 16 : Section 57A : City Officers Not to Have Interest in Municipal Contracts. http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=262 No officer of the City shall be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract made and entered into under the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday I wrote about the exchange at Monday night’s Council meeting between Alderman Lower and Public Works Director Jim Karch. Numbers to fix the roads were revealed, much higher than the current budget. http://blnnews.com/2015/05/12/13-7m-9-5m-what-tari-didnt-want-to-hear/ Karch referenced a report on the City website, I looked for it. I couldn’t find it, so I emailed Jim. […]
UPDATE here: http://blnnews.com/2015/04/28/they-found-the-video/ I was flying around looking for video from last night’s Council meeting. The work session is on-line, but not the Council meeting. Was David Sage embarrassed when everybody in the room stood and applauded Judy Stearns while he sat? Was David Sage embarrassed by his fawning over David Hales and demand for a […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.elections.il.gov/campaigndisclosure/ContributionsSearchByCandidates.aspx Amelia Buragas and Joni Painter filed campaign contributions, I don’t see where Diane Hauman, Jeremy Kelly, Lupe Diaz, or Alton Franklin have. They may have not spent enough to require filing. Below is what was reported.
By: Diane Benjamin In case you have never read it, the contract is posted on-line: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=7935 This version is from April 2013, retro-active to January 12, 2013. The contract expires January 11, 2017. Hales was due for evaluation on or before January 12, 2015, but it still hasn’t happened except in emails from some Council […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when Bloomington bought new garbage trucks and cans? Why doesn’t the City know how much money they are saving by automating? How many MILLIONS did that cost, evidently the Council didn’t ask how much would be saved before spending the money and now the City doesn’t know if they are saving money. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Here’s the link to what the Council WILL pass Monday night to still not solve their garbage service problem: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8454 As predicted, the $50 per bucket charge was just to make citizens happy the City settled on $25. Celebrate now, keeping in mind the taxes you already pay used to pay 100% […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below are some of the items on the agenda for Monday’s City Council meeting: Bills and Payroll: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8450 LEGAL Contracted 59,280.00 (Springfield law firm) LEGAL Outside Legal Co 22,519.42 The Council will also approve the payment to me ordered by the judge even though the check has already been cut. Budget: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8447 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Which is more important 1) Fixing Roads 2) Downtown Bloomington The current budget proposal spends more on Coliseum upgrades than it does on roads. Did you notice the budget discussion has been dropped until after the election? Why are roads not the priority? Do you prefer spending tax dollars on new lighting […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s national Sunshine Week! “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis – on the benefits of openness and transparency. The premise behind FOIA is that the public has a right to know what the government is doing. Who said that? The Illinois Attorney General: http://foia.ilattorneygeneral.net/pdf/2015_PAC_Annual_Report.pdf Page 11. Nonsense Joni? […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Renner has a limited supply of Democrats to appoint. Evidently that’s why Amelia Buragas was appointed to two positions by him. (Zoning Board of Appeals and Evergreen Memorial Cemetery Board: http://blnnews.com/2015/02/04/ward-4-forum-buragas/) With a limited pool of potential appointees, Renner appointed Amalia’s husband to the McLean County Regional Planning Commission. http://www.mcplan.org/department/board.php?structureid=16 The […]
By: Diane Benjamin I wonder if Tari Renner wrote the campaign materials his picks are using for the Bloomington City Council: Hauman, Painter, Buragas! They all say pretty much the same thing. Luckily 2 of the 3 have a voting history on the Council. Yesterday I wrote about Joni Painter’s campaign materials and her voting […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight the Bloomington City Council will hold more discussions on the Solid Waste program. Renner and Hales are not going to be happy until the fees are raised – they need the money for stuff they want, not stuff you want! David Hales can’t make a decision on anything. The consults hired […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader sent me this picture of Bloomington in 1971. It clearly shows where the private sector thinks money should be! Mayors for decades have been trying to make downtown Bloomington a destination – using YOUR tax money. You got a lot of debt and a Coliseum eating a hole in the […]
By: Diane Benjamin 10 short years ago Bloomington did not charge for ANY garbage or bulky waste pickup. In 2005 the Council decided they could no longer cover the cost. Previously the cost was part of the services provided by the City through the taxes you paid. This is from the FY 2005 budget, page […]
By: Diane Benjamin From 4/28/14 City Council meeting: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=6699 Item 10 E. Discussion of FY 2016 Budget Priorities. Motion by Alderman Fazzini, seconded by Alderman Stearns to lay this item over until the Council’s May 12, 2014 meeting. The April 28th meeting was where the budget was finally approved with tax increases. Renner promptly started […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tomorrow – the Bloomington City Council will hold a budget work session from 8-5 in the Osborn room. IT WILL NOT BE LIVE-STREAMED. I need video of the discussion, citizens should attend for as long as they can take it. Public Comment will start the meeting. Monday night is the regular City […]
By: Diane Benjamin “When the people fear the government, that’s tyranny; when the government fears the people, that’s freedom.” Thomas Jefferson Last night the Normal City Council raised 2 taxes. Remember, there is an election in April. Bloomington is holding off votes on a downtown hotel and raising garbage fees until after the election. Obviously […]
By: Diane Benjamin Today I received a LARGE stack of emails from the City pursuant to the lawsuit I won against the City yesterday. I hadn’t received it earlier because the package was sent by mistake to an address in Cooksville. Maybe somebody had fun reading all the emails when they received them by mistake, […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’m just getting started looking at Bloomington’s budget. One point citizens MUST understand: Paying for needs used to be in the General Fund. Taxpayers probably think their taxes go for Roads, sewers, etc: essential services. Instead, roads are now funded only by the new Motor Fuel Tax. If your taxes had not […]
By: Diane Benjamin The censure approved by the Bloomington City Council Friday night is just a piece of paper. Citizens demanded that something be done to Tari Renner for his vile comments, so you got a piece of paper. Nobody knows who wrote it. If you hadn’t been outraged, the Council would have done nothing. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight’s agenda: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8217 1) The library union members are getting 2.25% raises for 3 years: SUBJECT: Ratification of Contract with AFSCME Local 699 for the Bloomington Public Library for the period of May 1, 2014 through April 30, 2017 FINANCIAL IMPACT: The financial impact of the Tentative Agreements includes: • Increase in […]
By: Diane Benjamin Nothing has been disclosed yet, but I guarantee the proposed budget will increase at least 2%. Tari has mentioned numerous times that costs are up 2%, so in his mind he has no other choice but to increase the budget. Meanwhile, median income per household in the country has been decreasing for […]
Video: . This is the resolution passed:
By: Diane Benjamin Tari loves to say I savage Council members and City employees. He must mean David Hales, who I believe is doing a lousy job and wasting MILLIONS of taxpayer dollars. If you are new to Blnnews.com, it would be impossible to catch up on everything I’ve written since beginning almost 3 years […]
Correction: http://blnnews.com/2015/02/09/sorry-i-know-what-it-is-now/ Details for Bills and Payroll are now posted: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8179 Why does it matter, other than Council is approving over $2 Million in bills? The Council voted 7-2 at the last meeting to let David Hales spend $50,000 without their approval. See the next story – I know what they are hiding! […]
By: Diane Benjamin I will be posting videos from other candidates. The views expressed Tuesday night at the Ward 4 forum by Amelia Buragas need to be heard by Ward 4 residents. Finding a replacement for Alderwoman Judy Stearns who will fight for the citizens is vital to stop spending and tax increases. Buragas is […]
By: Diane Benjamin I have video of the entire debate last night between the 5 candidates for Ward 4. I will post it later. I will also be posting more clips, but I will start with the two below, turn your sound up! First, you need to understand who Amelia Buragas is. -Amelia is a […]
By: Diane Benjamin I wrote yesterday about the Council voting to hand their power over to David Hales: http://blnnews.com/2015/01/26/bloomington-city-council-becomes-congress/ Dining at taxpayer expense with Renner and Hales makes it easy to be immaterial. (http://blnnews.com/2015/01/22/remember-the-post-make-sure-you-are-calm/) SEVEN people aren’t on the Council to represent their Wards. They think the job is to rubber stamp whatever is brought […]
