By: Diane Benjamin A couple of days ago a comment was made on Facebook saying Republicans were trying to suppress the vote at ISU, and that’s why kids had to stand in long lines. The person who made that comment must have not realized the election was a primary. Suppressing democrat votes does nothing to […]
I was just informed the petition challenge failed! In November citizens of Bloomington can abolish ONE unit of government! Many more to go.
By: Diane Benjamin I find it hilarious that Democrat Tari Renner threw and continues to be upset that his petitions were challenged. Tari thinks he should not have been challenged, even though 204 signatures were found to be fraudulent. Meanwhile another Democrat, Board Chair of the Bloomington Election Commission, is challenging the petitions for a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois has far more units of government than any other state. Your taxes are higher because of it! In 2014 the Bloomington Election commission violated the Open Meetings Act, the Attorney General didn’t tell them until 2016: AG 12/12/2016 letter This article contains rulings of two more Open Meetings Act violations in […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bills and Payroll: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=18588 Expenses that can be avoided by eliminating the Bloomington Election Commission: Renner feeding himself in MARCH: Remember when America was a melting pot? People didn’t come here to be different, they came to be Americans. Those days are long gone in favor of “diversity”: Even Americans don’t want […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner was on WJBC this morning. He stated elections should be taken away from the County Clerk’s office and put in the hands of a non-partisan election commission. City elections are supposedly non-partisan. What were the first words uttered by Tari Renner when he was first elected? He announced is was […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15938 Lots of travel and professional development is included. Browse the link above yourself. Check out pages 83 and 84 for who got loans and grants. Miscellaneous other spending Tari got some free lunches: The Bloomington Election Commission handed out pay raises, plus these expenses: http://www.becvote.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Minutes-Dec-5-2017.pdf Salt!: I wonder if tires and […]
By: Diane Benjamin If early voting had been started on February 8th, a Democrat running for Attorney General could have been disenfranchised. Scott Drury won in court and will be on the ballot. How many early voters would not have voted for him because he might be kicked off the ballot? How many people have […]
By: Diane Benjamin I reported yesterday about the Comptroller’s Warehouse website. The Bloomington information from last year is available there when the City hasn’t bothered to release it to you yet. I found a fun page that recaps all expenditures in a succinct format that’s easy to understand. Want to know where your money goes? […]
By: Diane Benjamin The State of Illinois has way too many units of government now. Corruption is rampant because there aren’t enough watchdogs to watch every one of them. (Hopefully news soon about another huge case) Media decided it wasn’t their job either. The LAST thing McLean County needs is a separate Election office created […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’m only writing because I received a ruling from the Attorney General yesterday regarding the Bloomington Election Commission’s violation of the Open Meetings Act. It still stands that I am not going to work for mostly free. If everything I have exposed the last five years isn’t worth $5 or $10 a […]
By: Diane Benjamin A few weeks ago I wrote about an Open Meeting Act violation Lisa Madigan’s Public Access office was asked to review. It was filed in 2014 against the Bloomington Election Commission and evidently lost because no ruling was made until I asked for the resolution. First they claimed the number I provided […]
By: Diane Benjamin From WJBC website: Article and News Reports Tari submitted 785 signatures, the election commission found 581 valid. Not only did Tari Renner turn in over 200 fraudulent signatures, WJBC choose not to report that! See below. The reporter ignored the conclusions reached by the Bloomington Election Commission. Isn’t the conclusion the most […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve been accumulating Renner quotes for a few days because they show his character. If his petitions looked legitimate they wouldn’t have been challenged. They didn’t. If Kevin appeals the Election Commission ruling to a higher court, I bet more signatures would be thrown off. They allow looking for patterns of fraud, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner still had enough signatures approved to stay on the ballot, but my sources say 204 were thrown out. That’s an invalid rate of almost 27%. Evidently gathering legitimate signatures wasn’t a high priority. My sources also say more many people were not registered to vote at the addresses them wrote […]
By: Diane Benjamin I caught part of a video live stream on Facebook from the hearing of Bruce Meeks’ challenge to Diana Hauman’s petitions. It was enough to know the hearing was a lawyer’s game of procedures, not based on evidence. The Bloomington Election Commission has a lawyer and so did Diana Hauman. Bruce Meeks […]
By: Diane Benjamin Back in 2014 one of the guys that filed challenges to petitions for candidates in Bloomington knew the Bloomington Election Commission wasn’t following the law as required by the Open Meetings Act. Bruce Meeks filed a Request for Review with Lisa Madigan’s Public Access Office. In February 2014 the Attorney General decided […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday a hearing was held on Kevin Gerrard’s challenge to Tari Renner’s petitions. WJBC has a report on their website: HERE As usual, they left out some facts. The email below was sent to the writer last night by Kevin Gerrard: . Eric, It always amazes me that you and other reporters […]
By: Diane Benjamin Local elections pretend to be non-partisan. I remember Renner claiming that everybody wants to make Bloomington the best it can be (or something to that effect). The problem is that his ilk think government, more taxes, and more spending will make Bloomington great. Most citizens believe IT’S THEIR MONEY and they make […]
This video should be done processing around 2:15. See this story for what the video is: https://blnnews.com/2016/12/09/3-of-4-hearings-canceled/
By: Diane Benjamin I attended the 9:00am hearing this morning on the challenge of Bruce Meeks to the petitions filed by Tari Renner. As I reported earlier (HERE), Meeks was incorrectly served for his 4 hearings today. This appears to be the fault of the Sheriff’s Department. Paul Shannon reported BEC gave them 4 packets […]
December 9, 2016 These hearing are scheduled for today: Bruce Meeks objections to Tari Renner petitions – 9:00 am Bruce Meeks objections to Diana Hauman petitions – 10:00 Bruce Meeks objections to Joni Painter petitions – 11:00 Bruce Meeks objections to J Balmer petitions – 12:00 Bruce was served the wrong documents for the Renner, […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader sent an email to Paul Shannon at the Bloomington Election Commission detailing Bloomington’s Public Comment policy. He asked Paul why the Election Commission doesn’t have the same policy. This was Shannon’s reply: We are not funded through the city of Bloomington, but operate from funding with an intergovernmental agreement between […]
By: Diane Benjamin The integrity of elections matter. The reason for filing petitions to run for public office is to show support from voters. If any part of the petitions are falsified, signed by citizens not registered to vote, or not properly notarized the election becomes a joke. The Bloomington Election Commission is required to […]
December 7, 2016 BLOOMINGTON, IL. (ECWd) – We have already pointed out two recent examples of the Bloomington Election Commission violating the Open Meetings Act, and have also found another one – from 2014. The Commission admitted in a letter to the Attorney General’s office that it had violated the Open Meetings Act in February 2014 by […]
December 6, 2016 BLOOMINGTON, IL. (ECWd) – In a day when adherence to the law is a revolutionary act, this one drives that message home. An objection was made to the nomination petitions for Bloomington’s Mayor, Tari Renner – and he accused those wanting the law followed of being “fringe right-wing” people who are “trying […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is the video shot by John Kraft of Edgar County Watchdogs at the meeting to hear the protest to Renner’s petitions. John kept the video running after the meeting was recessed. At 6:48 Jason Chambers, State’s Attorney, announced he was not going to intervene because his office would be responsible for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is the video from the beginning of the meeting – up until when the police were called. Almost everything you need to know about what happened this morning at the Bloomington Election Commission hearing is in this video. I have more video I may post later. The Edgar County Watchdogs also […]
By: Diane Benjamin Before the hearing this morning at the Bloomington Election Commission started, Kirk Allen of Edgar County Watchdogs informed the Commission that the meeting was illegal because it violated the Open Meetings Act. The meeting time was not posted on the BEC website and no agenda was posted. The agenda was important because […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader has done an extensive investigative look at the petitions Tari Renner filed with the Bloomington Election Commission. They are riddled with addresses that look like the same person completed the address part. He thinks it is worth his time to compare the signatures with the ones BEC has on file […]
