By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington’s illustrious Mayor Renner was interviewed on WJBC yesterday. Hear it here: https://audioboom.com/boos/4222686-tari-renner-bloomington-mayor-2-24-16 Credit goes to Scott Laughlin for calling Renner out on the budget task force sham since all we’ve seen are massive tax and spending proposals ever since. But, it’s only another $20,000,000. If the population is still anywhere near […]
By: Diane Benjamin From the Proposed Budget Book 2: Page 191 http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=21&parent=9844 Basketball is dead. Look at hockey. In 2016 attendance was budgeted at 2000 per game. Does this look like 2000 people? Or this? This makes those Economic impact numbers immaterial.
By: Diane Benjamin David Hales confirmed last night the City will be extending the Coliseum Management Contract with the failures managing it now. Revenue is millions away from what citizens were told to expect. Profits don’t pay any of the bond payments – citizens do with higher Sales Taxes. Reports from before the Coliseum was […]
By: Diane Benjamin It should be obvious to long-time and new readers that David Hales, Mayor Renner, and the City Council aren’t supervising the management of the Coliseum. Why remains to be determined. It’s unconscionable for the City to be negotiating a new contract with CIAM considering all the violations perpetrated by them in the […]
By: Diane Benjamin I was contacted over a year ago by a company who saw some of my posts on the Coliseum. YES – there are professional arena managers, your government chose not to talk to any of them. The current Coliseum management continues to under perform based on what citizens were told when the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Justice isn’t swift. Two City lawyers showed up in court today, including the expensive guy from Springfield – Jeff Jurgens. The Coliseum had at least one lawyer present. At least 3 lawyers against little ‘ol me. City lawyer George Boyle referred to David Hales as a hostile witness. Congrats taxpayers. The judge […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since BlnNews has a LOT of new readers, allow me to briefly recap the lawsuit I filed against the City of Bloomington concerning the Coliseum. I filed a Freedom of Information request over a year ago for the concession reports from 2014 I also included a request for payroll records from 2014 […]
February 5th is the hearing date – all day. The City is going to claim CIAM does not perform a government function. They will also claim it would hurt them competitively if concession information is released. (No comment yet) They are calling witnesses, so I am too. Stay tuned. By: Diane Benjamin I have […]
By: Diane Benjamin !st Quarter Statement: 1st Quarter 2016 Coliseum Fund P & L CIAM continues to pay themselves 4% of everything listed as Revenue whether it’s actually revenue of not. See Event Income on the first page – 179,036.49. This is money from the acts to reimbursement the Coliseum. Some may be income, but […]
By: Diane Benjamin The year-end for the Coliseum was 4/30/15. (7 1/2 months ago) Since then one of these is true: CIAM hasn’t issued any quarterly statements The City of Bloomington is purposely not posting them on their website See this link: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=21&parent=6548 There should be a tab for 2016. There isn’t. According to the […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s no surprise Coliseum financial reports and audits going back to when it opened in 2007 are not on the City of Bloomington website. It’s easy to see why. Luckily, I have copies of what CIAM reported. For the partial year of 2007, total revenue was $3,469,708 For 2008, total revenue was […]
By: Diane Benjamin The lawyer for the City of Bloomington was a little late, so those of us present had time to talk. The court reporter told an interesting story: He parked downtown and forgot to hang his disabled placard in the window. He received a ticket. He headed to City Hall to dispute it, […]
By: Diane Benjamin I have a Status Hearing tomorrow on my court case against the City of Bloomington. This story recaps why I filed: http://blnnews.com/2015/11/02/court-update/ The Freedom of Information Act is very clear. The City of Bloomington wrongfully believes they are exempt, tomorrow I will find out if they plan to call witnesses. I already […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since McLean County only had one previous Freedom of Information case (filed by me) judges need time to familiarize themselves with the law and requirements. That’s another way of saying nothing interesting happened. The City is going to try to drag this case out as long as possible, just like the last […]
By: Diane Benjamin I guess Bloomington is now just like Washington DC – drop documents late Friday hoping nobody will notice. The financial statements for both the City and the Coliseum are now posted: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=21&parent=36 Remember the outrage and concern expressed when the Coliseum reported a loss of almost $500,000 last year? The audited losses […]
By: Diane Benjamin I just finished reading all 124 pages of the Coliseum Contract. Management Agreement CIAM Only around the first 35 pertain to CIAM’s management, the rest are naming rights contracts, a pre-opening agreement, and some miscellaneous this and that. I did find one very interesting page. Below is the projected INCOME for the […]
By: Diane Benjamin From the Management contract between CIAM and the City of Bloomington: Management Agreement CIAM Page 20 (b) CIA shall assign to the Coliseum a competent, full-lime general manager who shall have no duties other than the day-to-day operation and management of the Coliseum, and a full-time marketing executive to direct, among other […]
One note: 2007-2008 is only for 11 months. I’m trying to locate a 12 month report. It’s NOT on the City website. Revenues are down even more than this report shows. By: Diane Benjamin The below are from statements prepared by Central Illinois Arena Management. These are the un-audited version. The 2007-2008 statement is not […]
By: Diane Benjamin The financial statement issued by Central Illinois Arena Management (CIAM) for 5/1/2015 – 7/31/2015 has never made it to the City website. Your can view it here: 1st Quarter 2016 Coliseum Fund P & L I had to request it by FOIA. There are MANY problems with the report, but I will […]
By: Diane Benjamin The lawsuit I filed to obtain concession and payroll information from the Coliseum was a lot more expense than the last Freedom of Information lawsuit I filed. The County has raised fees! The last time I found a cheap process-server, this time I had to use the Sheriff’s department. The cost doesn’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin If the Council is stupid enough to pass tax increases tonight based on lies from Renner and Hales, I am forced to do their job for them. The reason for the vote tonight is so it can be filed before October 1st and go into effect January 1st. The Council just hired […]
By: Diane Benjamin The management agreement for the Coliseum specifies concessions will be handled directly by CIAM or an “independent contractor”. BMI Concessions is NOT independent, since John Butler owns both CIAM and BMI, I can’t find where BMI ever received approval from the City Council to operate as a separate company. From CIAM’s management […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council is being told by City Manager David Hales there is no reason to fire CIAM (Central Illinois Arena Management) when their current contract expires. CIAM has first right of refusal when a new contract is constructed. Hopefully it will be so radically different from the current contract that […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last week the Bloomington City Council voted to buy new scoreboards for the Coliseum. They were deceived into thinking the purchase was put up for competitive bidding. http://blnnews.com/2015/07/16/can-we-call-this-fraud/ Nobody on the Council brought it up last Monday night when John Butler and Bart Rogers made a presentation to the Council. Does anyone […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Coliseum was NEVER going to cost citizens a dime, at least that’s what citizens were told. Consultants predicted Revenues of more than $7,000,000 and large attendance at events. Income was projected to be $2,319,000 a year. See predictions here: Consultant: Hyman Review NOTHING predicted has come close to being true. Last […]
By: Diane Benjamin Maybe the local reporters aren’t very smart. Maybe the City is writing the articles for them. Either way, the result is to make sure citizens never know the truth. Today the Pantagraph did it again. Instead of reporting the AUDITED LOSS from last year, reporter Maria Nagle used the number CIAM reported – […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council is holding a Committee of the Whole meeting Monday night. The June Committee of the Whole meeting was NOT live streamed or video taped. Transparency? NOPE. That means, you better attend! John Butler and Bart Rogers from CIAM are scheduled to proclaim the greatness of what they have […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday night the City Council approved buying new video board equipment for the Coliseum – $1,389,605 before interest accrues from borrowing the money. The documentation and discussion claimed the purchase was competitively bid because a group called The Cooperative Purchase Network was used for the purchase. The documentation given to the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last Monday the Bloomington City Council voted to BORROW around $1.5 MILLION to buy video equipment for the Coliseum. Only Aldermen Scott Black and Kevin Lower voted against it. Karen Schmidt got out of the vote because she was acting mayor in Renner’s absence. Alderman Joni Painter evidently didn’t do her homework […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Council voted to give up $100,000 last night to pretend they are helping the environment. Where is that money going? All I heard was it goes to people promoting wind and solar. Like Solyndra? Campaign contributors who collect big bucks on government contracts? The Council didn’t think that part was important […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight the Bloomington City Council is asked to vote on changes to the Public Comment policy. Mayor AttackMyOpposition will demand the right to declare a speaker out-of-order, thus terminating their time, if he deems them threatening or disorderly. This is the same Mayor who wrote this on my site: NO! Diane! It […]
By: Diane Benjamin Lisa Madigan started a Public Access office so citizens and the press can hold their government accountable. Just like Not In Our Town doesn’t hold signers of their pledge accountable, virtually nothing happens when a complaint is filed with her office. Our local State’s Attorney could prosecute cases filed against the City, but […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Coliseum contract with CIAM states negotiations for renewal must start the year before the current contract expires. It expires next year, so negotiations are happening. Have you heard anything from Renner? Hales? City Council? NOPE! When your government refuses to communicate with you, you are not just uniformed. You are left to imagine […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Coliseum year-end report is finally out. The year ended 4/30/15. As I have reported many times, what CIAM reports is pure fiction. The birdcage liner is reporting the Coliseum lost $494,320 for the year. Of course, that number isn’t accurate. Worse, they reported CIAM’s reported loss last year of $183,727 instead of what […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember this story: http://blnnews.com/2015/04/29/austere-budget-short-staffed-really/ ? The opening and closing of a lane at Ireland Grove and Towanda Barnes continues, but I want you to remember the other part of the story. Two City employees were sent out to mow, one guy did while the other guy sat in the truck for almost 2 […]
By: Diane Benjamin The below information from 2008 was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act more than a year ago, the City of Bloomington does not have Coliseum reports on-line prior to 2012. Click on either picture below to enlarge. The 2014-2015 Budget numbers can be found here: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8264 Note: The revenue budget has […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yes the Coliseum is owned by the City of Bloomington, but that doesn’t make it legally exempt from property taxes. Central Illinois Arena Management has exclusive management rights. BMI Concessions is NOT a party to the original agreement between the City and CIAM. Until I wrote about them, 2 other companies were […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Flex basketball team played at the Coliseum last night. I’d love to post pictures of the non-existent crowd – but the Flex put them on Facebook. You have to see them there: https://www.facebook.com/flexbasketball The page also has a pic of the sign the City is planning to replace – it appears […]
By: Diane Benjamin Of course the Coliseum statements for the 3rd Qtr (Nov 14 – Jan 15) showed up today. The Pantagraph printed the fiction fed to them by Coliseum Management, so now they can release their statements. First, look at the attendance report below. Cirque Du Soleil was a 4 day event – it […]
By: Diane Benjamin I am going to keep using the City of Bloomington’s own documents to support what I write. Remember this quote from the proposed budget: Staff continued to build strong working relationships with reporters from The Pantagraph, WJBC, WGLT, and other area media. http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8224 Page 116 Today the bird-cage liner regurgitates false talking […]
