By: Diane Benjamin Since many of you contributed to get copies of the court documents before John Butler had a chance to get them sealed – I’m posting them below. I’ve got 9 PDF files, the latest information is in PDF #1. Here is what I do know, I haven’t read every page yet: Kelly […]
By: Diane Benjamin I can’t possibly follow everything going on in Bloomington-Normal, that’s why tips from readers are vital! I would have missed this story is a reader hadn’t sent it to me: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2021-10-20/former-bloomington-arena-manager-looks-to-seal-records-related-to-fraud-case John Butler of CIAM wants his records sealed. Maybe the IRS is after him, maybe he just wants to make sure […]
The case has been delayed until December. No reason given. By: Diane Benjamin Remember Bart Rogers? He was the number two guy at the Coliseum when CIAM managed it for 10 years. His jury trial is supposed to start on Tuesday, I doubt it will – a settlement is likely in the works. The 2018 […]
See this story for more information: https://blnnews.com/2020/08/25/john-butler-the-rest-of-the-case/ Page 1 of release from State’s Attorney Don Knapp. More documents should be coming, this summary doesn’t state why $450,000 was agreed to. It also doesn’t say if Butler agreed to jail time. See the entire document here:
If this trial was continued because Butler is trying to arrange a plea bargain it will be a slap in the face to the taxpayers of Bloomington. You deserve to know what happened! With two former CIAM employees ready to testify against him Butler should be scared. A plea bargain isn’t justice. The citizens of […]
By: Diane Benjamin The only hockey that still exist at the Coliseum is ISU. VenuWorks is charging them $2,000 a game – the event report for ISU vrs Bradley shows 120 tickets were sold, 181 people who attended got in free. https://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=22627 The Flying Aces were charged $5,000 per game. Since attendance was dismal, they […]
By: Diane Benjamin It really isn’t difficult to stop employees from pocketing your money. The City of Bloomington leaders buried their heads underground when they were repeatedly told about CIAM, evidently ISU did the same thing at Bone Student Center. Pantagaph article: https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/woman-accused-of-stealing-from-isu/article_e6587ca4-0cf7-531b-b17d-1b3b4ec87c73.html#tracking-source=home-breaking A woman is accused of stealing $161,000 going ll the way to […]
By: Diane Benjamin The new Bloomington City Manager seems to be launching a campaign to make citizens trust their government. No Tim, spending money on signs when a few roads get fixed isn’t going to cut it. The people paying more for gas will see that as just another waste of their dollars. Since Tim […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve been writing about the Coliseum and the lies media repeats for years! CIAM and VenuWorks created their own financial statements. Every local media uses their numbers and repeats them like gospel. Both can say anything they want in those statements – they create them. Numbers reported by both are not accurate, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Long time readers know the former Coliseum managers would issue their financial statements, and then the auditor would issue theirs. The media always reported the CIAM numbers but never the audited numbers. Audited losses were much higher! The media is continuing to report fake news because the audited number from VenuWorks aren’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin One of the 5 charged in connection with the Coliseum pleaded guilty yesterday. See this Pantagraph story: https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/guilty-former-bloomington-arena-official-gets-fine-probation-after-plea/article_00b6cb16-2aeb-5558-9614-2a50e543d503.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-2 One part of the story doesn’t make any sense: ________________________ I hope these numbers aren’t what the entire case against the five is based on. The commissions don’t make any sense either. According to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Note: Comments on this site will be deleted if it’s obvious the writer is only trying to attack. It’s my site – my rules. Either come here to have discussion or start your own site. Note to the idiot commenting about BEC. The election results are not posted where they should be […]
By: Diane Benjamin Five people involved with running the Coliseum have been charged with felonies. The failure by the City of Bloomington to protect taxpayer dollars deserves to be exposed in open court. The citizens didn’t want it built, there was a non-binding referendum stating it. It was built anyway and has been a constant […]
By: Diane Benjamin John Butler wants his trial moved out of McLean County because of remarks made by David Hales and Tari Renner. I was also mentioned as a reason because my lawsuit made him look guilty! Yes it did! Since MANY readers are new, this story recaps the information I was able to obtain: […]
By: Diane Benjamin The contract between CIAM and the City of Bloomington gave the City the right to exam anything they wanted to. Nobody at the City ever looked at reports – especially concession sales. Don’t forget, the City bought the Point-Of-Sale equipment. They could have printed off monthly reports to verify what the City […]
By: Diane Benjamin According to this Pantagraph story, the charges in the Coliseum case have been dropped against one of the 5 defendants and three others are in negotiations for a plea deal: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/arena-defendants-involved-in-talks-with-state/article_db37d3a5-218c-5fb4-8d6a-812671ec0118.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-2 Can anybody guess why comments aren’t allowed to this story? The LAST thing any level of government in McLean County wants is […]
By: Diane Benjamin The next time you are present when Tari talks about his transparency award – please start laughing! Bills and Payroll for Monday night are not posted. Normally delaying them means they are hiding something. (as of 10:30 Saturday morning) http://www.cityblm.org/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-1609 They know what they are paying because the total is on the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Every once in a while I have to clean up some files. I found a FOIA request I received in December of 2015. It clearly shows that John Butler and CIAM pretended they had no responsibility to the City of Bloomington and the taxpayers forced to cover their losses. I remember filing […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this recent WGLT story: http://wglt.org/post/new-documents-link-vague-coliseum-contract-criminal-charges The former Coliseum management could get greatly reduced sentences because the documents WGLT presented prove the City didn’t care – as in David Hales didn’t care. Hales was paid huge bucks to manage the City, he failed. I really hope he is called as a witness to […]
By: Diane Benjamin February events – net profit on each event is listed Bacon a Beer Fest – 12,230.53 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15976 8 tickets were comp’d, I wonder to who? Hockey 2/17 – 6,231.53 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15978 452 tickets Comp Hockey 2/7 – 1,109.92 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15928 384 tickets Comp Guns and Hoses – 2,799.53 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15926 0 Comp IHSA Cheerleading – 46,391.53 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15830 302 […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s David Hales fault! That is John Butler’s claim to justify the missing bucks. I blame David Hales too, and the Council, and the Mayor who all shut their eyes and pretended nothing nefarious was happening with taxpayer money. The joint was audited! Except concessions never were. Johnny Butler made sure of […]
By: Diane Benjamin I just got back from seeing All the Queen’s Horses at the Normal Theater. It’s the story of the $53.7 million theft by a City employee in Dixon Il. The movie is fabulous, you have one more chance to see it tomorrow night at 7:00. Buy tickets on-line, the theater was close […]
By: Diane Benjamin While I was reading a mountain of stories from before the Coliseum was built, I saw mention of the City obtaining insurance to protect them from fraud or theft involving the management company. I filed this FOIA request: My request was denied in full. The interesting part is the reason given for […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve been reading a TON of media stories from before and after the Bloomington City Council voted to build the Coliseum. Judy Markowitz didn’t care what people thought. She was going to build it and nothing was going to stop her. She really believed she was saving downtown. Mike Matejka and former […]
By: Diane Benjamin The 111 felony count indictment against CIAM employees was returned by the Grand Jury on September 20, 2017. In case you forgot, CIAM formerly managed the Coliseum. Every story the Pantagraph has written since has mentioned the Illinois State Police investigated for 18 months. Since it takes time to put together a […]
By: Diane Benjamin The newspaper is reporting CIAM (of 111 felony counts fame) is suing the City for commissions they are owed. . . . . . . . . . Sorry, I couldn’t help it. Maybe the City could counter sue them to recover the costs of the auditors trying to figure out […]
By: Diane Benjamin One more recap from Monday’s City Council meeting: VenuWorks recapped what they wanted to bring to the BCPA, including saving an estimated $200,000 a year in operations. VenuWorks has access to an email list of 409,000 people in Central Illinois to help promote shows VenuWorks has plans for new revenue including concessions […]
By: Diane Benjamin The 10 year agreement with CIAM to manage the Coliseum contained numerous paragraphs granting the City rights to everything happening at the Coliseum. Tari Renner, David Hales, and the Council either never read the agreement or are lying because they failed to protect taxpayers from John Butler and company. See the agreement […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday WGLT published a comprehensive story about the Coliseum. Ryan Denham proved journalism isn’t dead in Bloomington-Normal yet. Read the story here: http://wglt.org/post/how-coliseum-blind-spot-tripped-bloomington-city-leaders I do have some comments and things I would have written differently: To much emphasis was put on the “bad contract”. The contract had plenty of statements allowing […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Joliet Herald News was attacked by the City of Joliet for reporting the truth about their new City Manager: David Hales. The Herald isn’t cowering in a corner, they are putting the facts in front of the citizens. They are probably getting a tons of reads, people want real news – […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is the Pantagraph story announcing CIAM (John Butler) would not be renewing the contract to manage the Coliseum: http://www.pantagraph.com/entertainment/u-s-cellular-coliseum-to-receive-new-management/article_194a2f7c-d482-5d82-8885-7e5eafddb2b4.html That was March 8, 2016. Tari Renner is quoted saying CIAM might get a short-term contract to help with the transition – maybe 30-60-or 90 days. Obviously Renner had no urgency to remove […]
By: Diane Benjamin Official Misconduct? Flash back to April 14, 2014 The meeting minutes provide a little information, the video below provides much more. Minutes 4/14/14 Alderwoman Judy Stearns knew concessions were not audited at the Coliseum. She knew other problems existed and she wanted answers. Changing hockey from professional to junior was the perfect time […]
I was asked by the Sheriff’s department to take the pictures down because they have rules! Media must be credentialed through a lady at the Pantagraph. Of course the Pantagraph doesn’t consider me real media, so I was never informed of this credentialing process. A report is being written and sent to the State’s Attorney […]
The Illinois State Police are still investigating! If you have information applicable to the case call them. 815-844-1500 Follow the prompts to Investigations – Leave a message I’m posting this at their request! . . .
By: Diane Benjamin Attn: Council If your information on ANY topic, especially the Coliseum, is from David Hales or Tari Renner you are getting “Fake News”. Jamie Mathy is quoted in today’s paper saying the Management Agreement with CIAM “literally forbid the city from having access to the raw numbers”. SOURCE Jamie, why did the City […]
By: Diane Benjamin Your elected aldermen in Bloomington really have guts! On the same day they found out at least $1 Million was stolen from you – they voted to slap higher sewer and storm water rates on the victims of their ineptness! Yes, that would be Bloomington taxpayers. The conversation was really amusing. Scott […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below are some of the stories I’ve written about the Coliseum. Some are opinions, some questions, and some proven facts. This isn’t everything, but it’s enough to prove the 5 Coliseum employees would NOT be under indictment of I hadn’t started investigating in 2013! Each link has a quote from the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Celebrate! Tari is returning from his “medical related” leave October 1st. Just like everything the City of Bloomington does, his return will have NO Transparency. Does he still have his government credit card? If he does, Freedom of Information Act requests are about to spike! Remember the citizen survey a few weeks […]
By: Diane Benjamin The oldest story I wrote about the Coliseum is from December 2013: https://blnnews.com/2013/12/11/coliseum-bleeding-bloomington-taxpayers/ But, look at this story from February 2014: https://blnnews.com/2014/02/06/is-coliseum-management-giving-bloomington-their-share/ First lines of the story: Operations of the Coliseum are extremely complicated. Management hired by the City is operating some functions without any over-sight or accountability. The taxpayers deserve to […]
By: Diane Benjamin I knew the lies were going to be instant! The City of Bloomington did NOT uncover the fraud at the Coliseum. They were warned many times. David Hales did not do his job – I hope Joliet is thrilled with their choice for City Manager. The fraud could not have happened if […]
