By: Diane Benjamin This meeting happened less than a year ago – July 19, 2021. It was difficult to pick the part taxpayers need to see. Listening to the entire discussion shows how government operates, it starts at 1:24:00. Take free money, figure out the details later. The part I picked shows taking the Federal […]
By: Diane Benjamin You have to watch the Kathleen Lorenz video in this story to understand Chris Koos wasn’t listening: https://blnnews.com/2022/05/03/kathleen-now-hears-what-we-hear-when-watching-meetings/ Directly after Lorenz called for unity and better leadership Stan Nord made a Trustee comment. I hope Kathleen was paying attention to Chris Koos’ snide remark when Stan was finished. Kathleen: You saw first […]
By: Diane Benjamin In case you didn’t know, the Town of Normal took $81,018 out of the Water Enterprise Fund to buy snow plow equipment. The plows could have easily been paid for out of general reserves, but the Town chose to use the money you pay for the delivery of water instead. https://blnnews.com/2022/03/11/3-things-normal-doesnt-understand-but-citizens-must/ The […]
By: Diane Benjamin The video below is from the March 7th Normal Town Council meeting where the budget was approved. Chris Koos talked about the old days (2008) when they were forced to make cuts, now they have money to do things they couldn’t do then. Soon history will repeat, he has to spend before […]
By: Diane Benjamin Refer back to this story from yesterday: https://blnnews.com/2022/02/22/normal-council-wouldnt-be-normal-without-koos-being-a-jerk/ The specific part that applies to this story is Koos’ attack on Stan Nord for wanting to know why only one bid was received in response to a Water Department request for bids. Stan mentioned citizens can not know they are getting a good […]
By: Diane Benjamin More than one citizen is questioning the integrity and ethics in the Town of Normal. Below is a letter from a citizen with the name illegally redacted. Writing an email to the Council is no different than Public Comment at a meeting. Normal redacted the name in violation of the FOIA law. […]
By: Diane Benjamin All you taxpaying citizens in Normal aren’t allowed to go speak to the Council and be first up if your topic isn’t on the agenda. You have to wait until the end of the meeting which could be hours of waiting. Of course special people get to speak out of order. Remember […]
By: Diane Benjamin Water rates go up 2% every year without a Council vote. That isn’t enough money for the Town however. 1:08:15 – Chris Koos tells Stan Nord to quit bringing up past Council actions. This story is for you Mr. Mayor because past Council actions are why the Town wants to increase water […]
By: Diane Benjamin The National Fitness Campaign installation was not bid out. I previously posted a picture of equipment from another company who courted Normal: https://blnnews.com/2022/01/21/want-to-see-what-a-scam-looks-like/ The FOIA I received had yet a third company: No mention was made at the Council meeting about these two other companies. It appears Doug Damery, head of Parks […]
By: Diane Benjamin I FOIA’d what Chris Koos read at the January 4, 2022 Council meeting. This video is 20 seconds, it includes a little of Scott Preston before Chris Koos: The camera was not on Chris Koos when he was reading his statement, I could not tell he was reading from his phone: This […]
By: Diane Benjamin Hey Kevin, did you do your homework? Sit back and watch an elected official lie on video folks. The National Fitness Campaign vote came up several times during last night’s meeting. Kevin McCarthy used his comment time to blame everybody who was defrauded by the vote, not the two people who provided […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal’s latest plan was written in 2017. It wasn’t written by Town staff or even the Council. The McLean County Regional Planning Commission wrote it. It is 389 pages long: https://mcplan.org/file/692/Full%20Plan.pdf The Town uses this plan to justify spending, they did it again last Monday night. This is likely why they claimed […]
By: Diane Benjamin At the Normal Town Council meeting last night Chris Koos admitted the Bike Share program Normal instituted benefits his business. People started biking and realized they needed their own bike – so go to the guy selling them: Chris Koos. Is that why Normal keeps building trails too Chris? The entire Council […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos proved last night he doesn’t know what an Open Meetings Act Violation is. A violation occurs when a majority of a quorum discuss Town business in private. Koos accused Stan Nord of violating OMA by whispering to a fellow Council member. If TWO people is a violation Chris, the Town’s […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal attorney made a lot of money last year: Yep, $195,105 because he’s a LAWYER. I’ve written before about things he gets wrong, last Monday night he did it again. He is supposedly the resident expert on Roberts Rules of Order, Koos frequently asks him procedural questions. Monday night […]
By: Diane Benjamin There is a Facebook Group called: Save the Uptown Mural and Historic Buildings On November 29th this story was posted to the group: Against Master Developers The best lines in the story are at the end: Master planner-based developments, with their large, centralized buildings, inhibit the growth of local businesses and reduce […]
By: Diane Benjamin There is a vacancy on Normal’s Uptown Design Review Commission: https://normal.org/403/Uptown-Design-Review-Commission Remember when the Connect Transit seat was not filled for I think 2 years? Appointees have to do Koos’s bidding, maybe he’s having trouble finding people. Apply anyway if you are interested! Rejected by the mayor is a badge of honor. […]
By: Diane Benjamin One more story from last Monday’s Normal Town Council meeting: If you missed the video of Chemberly Cummings’ stating Chris Koos can’t be questioned over appointments, watch it now: https://blnnews.com/2021/10/19/quick-hits-from-normal-last-night/ Cummings claims to have 8 Unit 5 students signed up for her “local government” class. The taxpayers of Normal are funding her […]
By: Diane Benjamin The memorial tribute of Jelani Day was taken down because the Town of Normal is authoritarian. You can’t talk at a Council meeting until the end, whenever that happens to be, if what you want to say doesn’t pertain to the agenda. You could wait hours to get 3 minutes of their […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normally Chris Koos would have been banging Stan Nord out of order at the urging of Kevin McCarthy for doing what he did at Monday’s meeting. Koos didn’t Monday night. First the back story: At the previous meeting the Council (minus Stan) voted to spend $81,018 from the Water Enterprise Fund to […]
By: Diane Benjamin More videos from last night. Koos lost control early. The crowd did not respect his “business meeting”. Stan Nord made a motion to let them talk, Scott Preston seconded. Koos asked for head nods if the Council approves, I don’t see all the heads moving. Koos deemed it passed: The video below […]
By: Diane Benjamin Kathleen Lorenz and Scott Preston claim to be Republicans. This story proves they are fakes. First a quick review of what Enterprise Funds are. Local government decided years ago people need to pay for what they use. Hence, Enterprise funds were created to specifically tax you based on usage. Water is one […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington reports monthly to the Council and citizens on financial trends. We all can see exactly how much money has been collected for various taxes. Normal doesn’t! Normal dumps all tax revenue in the General Fund, including Local Motor Fuel Tax. Pay attention Kevin McCarthy, you obviously missed City Manager Pam Reece […]
By: Diane Benjamin The three second clip I posted earlier this week of Chemberly Cummings throwing Martin Luther King under the bus is from the June 1, 2020 Council meeting. Her entire speech is below as well as Karyn Smith’s tearful response and Chris Koos stating we have to agree with Chemberly’s lived experience. No […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when Target was looted back in June of 2020? We’ve never heard a reasonable explanation of why the police didn’t use any force to stop it. Many people have wondered why something as easy as tear gas wasn’t used. We don’t know, Mayor Chris Koos (who was there watching) has only […]
By: Diane Benjamin How to tell when a Normal Town Council meeting will go bad: Stan Nord is attacked in the first 14 minutes. Of course Nord has a problem with sewer tap on fees, some developers get charged the big bucks and some get by with paying nothing. He didn’t say it, but he […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a citizen of Normal The video below starts where Chris Koos is introducing Julie Hile at 2:20:30. He instructs her that she has 3 minutes to speak. Hile starts talking at 2:20:48, she finishes at 2:25:30. Chris Koos: That’s way over 3 minutes. You didn’t stop her, therefore YOU have changed […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember Doug Fansler? He’s the guy trying to get the Town of Normal to remove the stop signs in the middle of the roads in Normal: https://blnnews.com/2021/08/19/mia-common-sense-in-normal/ Yesterday we found out why the Town has no common sense: Chris Koos Doug was on Linden stopped at the train tracks by Uptown because […]
By: Diane Benjamin It wasn’t that long ago when the Town of Normal was punishing businesses with fines who were just trying to stay open. Hypocrisy now should encourage those businesses to file lawsuits against Chris Koos and Pam Reece because TWICE in the past few weeks they have proven that Executive Orders and internal […]
Thanks to Sonja Reece for posting pictures on her Facebook page – h/t a reader. (Pam’s mother-in-law) Pam Reece requires all employees to wear masks on Town property, the Council and staff weren’t masked at last Monday’s meeting on Town property. Karyn Smith flipped quickly to not representing citizens because she likes to party with […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is a a clip from the Normal Town Council meeting 8/2/21. Chris Koos thinks GIS could be wrong after Stan Nord produced a map clearly showing Rivian does not own all of the property adjacent to Electric Avenue. Why do taxpayers fund GIS if it isn’t accurate Chris? Why should anybody […]
By: Diane Benjamin I guess the building owner’s mommy never yelled at him to turn off the lights. The pictures below are inside the still empty first floor of 1 Uptown Circle – one of Mayor Koos’ success stories filing a hole in Uptown: Yes the lights were on yesterday, but don’t worry – the […]
By: Diane Benjamin During the “attack” Stan meeting attorney Brian Day stated a long list of people and organizations he contacted concerning Pam Reece’s ethics. Mr. Day has no proof that actually happened since a FOIA sent to Normal by a citizens couldn’t even find an email: The emails below show why the results of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Refresh yourself on this story: https://blnnews.com/2021/06/16/stan-is-ethically-challenged-not-even-close-to-the-rest-of-normal/ I apologize to readers, this slipped my mind until I listened to Steve Suess’ show tonight. What is the Normal Public Comment policy? https://normal.org/854/Addressing-the-Council Citizens can only talk before the meeting if their comments are germane to the agenda. What was the agenda for the “attack” […]
By: Diane Benjamin As requested by Chris Koos: Of course the bobbleheads will approve the request. Being less than transparent however, this is in the actual ordinance: Unless you read the documentation above carefully, you wouldn’t know Pam’s Salary is now over $200,000 to manage what is in reality a small town. Normal is Ruled […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember this? Yesterday a citizen submitted a scathing letter to the entire Normal Council over their “attack” Stan Special meeting. If you haven’t watched any of it, “Must See” is an understatement. https://blnnews.com/2021/06/15/no-stan-you-arent-allowed-to-represent-voters/ Chris Koos responded to the comment, I redacted the name: The writer then sent this: Koos responded again: I […]
By: Diane Benjamin From a 2014 Pantagraph story titled: Normal gets award for being bike friendly https://www.pantagraph.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/normal-gets-award-for-being-bike-friendly/article_992c233d-4b52-55bc-88a7-f14cafee5883.html NORMAL — The town of Normal on Tuesday received a Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Community award from the League of American Bicyclists, joining more than 325 communities from across the country honored by the group. The award recognizes […]
By: Diane Benjamin Underpass work session: So far Normal has authorized spending $1.5 million on Phase 1 of the underpass. Chris Koos stated it can not be stopped now because of all the staff time, grants received, and other agencies involved that wouldn’t like Normal backing out now. It almost sounded like Wayne Aldrich (Director […]
By: Diane Benjamin Story from 2018: https://www.adaptbn.com/home/2018/6/25/going-local-vitesse-cycle-shop Excerpt: “Constitution Trail has been a big benefit to biking and to bike sales,” said Chris Koos, owner of Vitesse Cycle Shop in Normal. I bet you thought all those Bike Trail extensions Normal keeps making their citizens pay for while the roads are less than adequate were […]
https://www.normal.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2268 The Normal Town Council has never voted to build the underpass, that hasn’t stop “staff” from making it happen anyway. Citizens now have a chance to comment. Your comments will supposedly be forwarded to the Federal Railroad Administration. Read the description at the link above and then email comments to: [email protected] Utopia is only […]
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