By: Diane Benjamin If Normal is a Town, why is Angelia Huonker a City Clerk? If Normal is a Town why is Pam Reece a City Manager? Does it make them feel more important with a “City” title instead of Town? More fun: the packet for Monday night has a sliver of minutes from the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Kathy Michael got the referendum court date moved to this Friday because early voting starts September 29th. (before any debates happen!) It will happen over Zoom so we can’t pack the court. Morning Giggles from League of Women Voters: The LWV decided as expected. When they picked Normal’s former City Manager as […]
By: Diane Benjamin Patrick Dullard thinks he has the right to stand against 2200 people who signed petitions to put the Districts referendum on the ballot. Of course he’s just a stooge Koos buddy. We have proof at least two “professional staff” people have been assisting him. Oh what a tangled web they weave . […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember this story? https://blnnews.com/2020/10/19/is-koos-profiting-from-lockdowns/ Does Amtrak want a director that openly taunts people who don’t agree with him? Yesterday Koos proved yet again he doesn’t tolerate people who disagree with him: https://blnnews.com/2022/09/09/village-of-normal-discriminates-against-stan-nord/ Mayor Chris Koos was one of the votes to not allow Trustee Stan Nord to participate in the Executive Session […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last time Chris Koos was nominated to the Amtrak Board he didn’t get a hearing. https://www.congress.gov/nomination/116th-congress/1915 The seat he is nominated for has been vacant for years, this time it only took 4 months to get a hearing: If Koos ever gets a vote in the Senate he won’t be quitting his […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve seen a copy of what David Shestokas filed Friday with the Circuit Court. I could review the court cases Normal listed to support their position, but that would be tedious on a holiday weekend. Let’s just say Shestokas rips their ruling to shreds. Can we agree what Koos and company wrote […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal ignores their taxpayers as evidenced by their ridiculous Public Comment policy meant to discourage citizens from speaking. It’s long past time for some non-violent civil disobedience. Sign up for Public Comment for an agenda item and then talk about Village abuse instead. Video of Koos cutting off citizens while speaking is […]
By: Diane Benjamin Kathleen Lorenz said in an interview that companies wishing to locate somewhere watch social media and negative comments affect their decision. Last night will make them rethink locating in Normal where citizens who don’t fall in line are despised. Kathleen: Your support of Chris Koos will not only get you fired, Chris […]
By: Diane Benjamin I wonder if Koos and company voted for Dullard on the first count because they are afraid of lawsuits for operating like a Town when they aren’t one? They did vote against Dullard on his claim of not having enough signatures. We will find out in court who is right. David Shestokas […]
By: Diane Benjamin The hearing was short. The two Public comments are in the third video, if you watched them from yesterday’s story you can skip through them. They aren’t the entire video. If you want to see what happened, now you can:
By: Diane Benjamin Kevin McCarthy didn’t bother to show up so the commission is Koos and the Clerk. Maybe Kevin knows Dullard doesn’t have a case and doesn’t want to look stupid voting with Koos. Essentially Koos doesn’t want the referendum and Angie Hounker won’t vote against him if she wants to keep her job. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Districts referendum challenge will be heard on Monday at 3:00 pm in the Town of Normal Council Chambers. It will be held before Chris Koos, Kevin McCarthy, and Town Clerk Angie Huonker. This biased Election Board doesn’t have to give a reason for voting against the referendum, so it likely won’t matter […]
By: Diane Benjamin Refer back to this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/08/03/normal-planning-commission-tomorrow/ Town Planner Mercy Davidson sent me an email stating they don’t livestream or video Board and Commission meetings. Keep in mind, all the appointees were picked by Chris Koos himself. The public doesn’t know in advance and the elected Trustees (all but one) think it is […]
By: Diane Benjamin Correction: this was his hearing the last time he was appointed. No hearings are scheduled yet for his current appointment. If he isn’t confirmed by the end of this Congress this year the process starts over. If you were wondering about Chris Koos’ appointment to the Amtrak Board, hearings are scheduled for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Jeanne Ives: Americans who think they can go through life without being impacted by politics are mistaken, which is why it behooves voters to pay attention to every election. Not voting in a primary today means somebody else gets to pick who is on the ballot in November. Lots of people only […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) The special meeting Normal called at 5:45 last night was a waste of time. The promised PASER report is still not done, supposedly it will be by the end of June. Chris Koos wasn’t there, neither was Scott Preston or Karyn Smith. The license plate reading camera presentation will have to […]
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:Â 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 […]
