By: Diane Benjamin I wrote previously about filing a Request for Review with the Illinois Attorney General. Coliseum Management is refusing to comply with a Freedom of Information Act Request. Details here: http://blnnews.com/2015/02/06/coliseum-investigated-by-attorney-general/ As the Council considers spending another $2,510,00 on the less than 10 years old Coliseum, they need to consider how Central Illinois […]
By: Diane Benjamin The audited financial statements for the Coliseum show a loss last year before depreciation of $782,945: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=7481 I predict losses this year will be much greater because very few events have been held. The 3rd Quarter statement prepared by CIAM has not been issued yet – the Quarter ended on January 31st. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Coliseum Management has refused to turn over documents I requested under the Freedom of Information Act. I asked for the payroll for calendar year 2014 and various Micros reports for events held in the building. (the City owns the Micros equipment) I even included rulings from the Attorney General’s office saying […]
By: Diane Benjamin The contract signed between CIAM (Central Illinois Arena Management) and the City of Bloomington state that ONE General Manger is required AND that person is not allowed to have any other job. You probably know that clause has been broken for years. Management Agreement CIAM Here’s what the TWO Mangers do instead: […]
By: Diane Benjamin The judge is supposed to make a final ruling today, 9:00 am, in my Freedom of Information case against the City of Bloomington. She may be interested in an email I have Tari Renner wrote to a citizen blaming me for all the lawyer fees incurred by the City fighting transparency. He […]
by: Diane Benjamin For the year May 2011 – April 2012: CIAM reported an operating loss of $51,281 Source: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=6561 The auditor reported an operating loss of (1,071,599) Depreciation of 911,269 = loss of $109,049 Source: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=4650 Reporting by CIAM was off by: $57,768————— For the year May 2012 – April 2013: CIAM reported operating income of $ 176,759 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Coliseum Management issues Quarterly reports. The media used to widely report their numbers as truth, lately not so much. The year-end for the Coliseum was 4/30/14. The statements they produce are only audited once a year, Concessions are never audited and no proof exists that taxpayers are getting their share of the […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve written many stories about the Coliseum and the history of mismanagement and fraudulent reporting by Central Illinois Arena Management (CIAM). I was contacted today by a person who wishes to remain anonymous. Read the story, then you decide if John Butler and Bart Rogers should be fired. The City of Bloomington […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington has posted the 2nd Quarter financial statement for the Coliseum as prepared by Central Illinois Arena Management (CIAM): http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=7613 By the time the auditors get done correcting all the errors, the statements will look even worse, but they only do that once a year. Citizens are expected to […]
By: Diane Benjamin The audited financial statements for the Coliseum year ended 4/30/2014 are finally posted on-line: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=7481 Below is the auditors statement of Revenues and Expenses. The numbers in RED are what CIAM (Central Illinois Arena Management) reported. See their report here: Coliseum 4/30/2014 Note that CIAM reported more revenue than the auditors. Including […]
by: Diane Benjamin The following is from this site: https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3929/15316643827_bedbfcb0e6_o.png More details in this post: http://blnnews.com/2014/10/12/coliseum-strikes-again/ See the second column under Rumors. Bloomington is listed as Up For Sale AND Bad Checks. Click on the picture to enlarge. . . . .
by: Diane Benjamin It looks like no indoor football at the Coliseum. This article lists the participating teams for this year, Bloomington is missing: http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=4876206 FOOTBALL Champions Indoor Football: The Wichita-based team in the new CIF, which was created after the 2014 indoor season through a merger of the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) […]
by: Diane Benjamin Look at the schedules events on the Coliseum website: http://www.uscellularcoliseum.com/calendar-of-events/ Nothing is scheduled that will make money in October. Go back to January 2014. There have been few if any big money events all year. Thunder Hockey has started with a dismal number of paying fans. There is no football, the new […]
by: Diane Benjamin The pieces are falling into place. Last year Alderwoman Stearns filed an Open Meetings Act violation against the City of Bloomington for discussions that took place in Executive Session – those secret meetings citizens aren’t suppose to know about. To be fair, there are some things that must be discussed secretly, but […]
by: Diane Benjamin According to the City of Bloomington: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=18&recordid=1177&returnURL=%2findex.aspx Coliseum 1st Quarter Impact Over $2M Total economic impact in 1st quarter $2,026,789 Posted Date: 9/8/2014 . The Coliseum lost $139,667, but you are supposed to believe losing money is good because of the impact it has on the local economy. . I’ve reported before on […]
by: Diane Benjamin Everybody understands that you want the citizens of Bloomington to believe you are doing a great job. The citizens want to believe their government is working for them, not the other way around. Citizens want to see government providing essential services without making their lives more difficult, or more expensive. Bloomington […]
by: Diane Benjamin At Monday’s Council meeting, spending over $1,000,000 to fix the Coliseum parking garage was on the agenda. Aldermen submitted questions for City staff before the meeting, the questions asked by Alderwoman Stearns weren’t included on the City website. She questioned Renner and Hales at the meeting as to why hers weren’t included, […]
by: Diane Benjamin Here is the August Calendar for events at the Coliseum: http://www.uscellularcoliseum.com/calendar-of-events/?month=8&year=2014&m=#markerdown Look at the other months too while you are there. ISU Hockey used to play at the Pepsi Ice Center, not many fans attended. The stands are NOT going to be filled with paying customers when the games are in the […]
by: Diane Benjamin I’ve written MANY times about the company hired to manage the Coliseum – CIAM (Central Illinois Arena Management). Type CIAM into the search box at blnnews.com to see them. The City of Bloomington has failed in their fiduciary duty to the citizens of Bloomington by not providing over-site at the Coliseum. Concessions have […]
The buzz is NO football this year! The last owner left town and a lot of bills. Just add that to the list of CIAM (Central Illinois Arena Management) contract violations. Is anybody even managing the Coliseum?
by: Diane Benjamin Look at the schedule of events for the Coliseum: http://www.uscellularcoliseum.com/calendar-of-events/?month=6&year=2014&m=#markerdown June: Highschool graduation 3 day Jehovah Witness convention 2 day Lomis Brothers Circus July: Chris Tomin/Brandon Health Feast Bash August: Crossfit Competition September: 2 ISU Hockey games 1 Thunder Hockey game October: 7 ISU Hockey games 4 Thunder Hockey games How is […]
I hear another Coliseum team has gone out of business. Football is gone, owner David Holt left town months ago. He said the team would continue without him, but now he has cleaned out his office permanently. Anybody sensing a pattern? The CIAM contract requires a football team. How many contract violations is CIAM up […]
by: Diane Benjamin According to the Pantagraph today the Coliseum lost $183,727 for the year that ended April 30, 2014. Funny how no un-audited financial statements are available. The CIAM throws un-audited numbers out as fact and the local media laps them up and dutifully reports them. CIAM issues a Press Release and you are […]
by: Diane Benjamin Bart Rogers was listed on the Coliseum website as the General Manager. Now there is no General Manager, Rogers is a Vice-President There are a couple of Assistant Managers though and an Associate General Manager. Could the changes have something to do with the contract terms CIAM has with the City of […]
by: Diane Benjamin 9/21/2005 http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3225416 “A tremendous amount of time and energy has been put into making this day a reality,” stated Mike Nelson, General Manager & Chief Marketing Officer of the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. “We feel that we have chosen the right league for the great city of Bloomington. The UHL is a league […]
by: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington built the Coliseum and handed it to CIAM (Central Illinois Arena Management). There has been little oversight of concessions and limited oversight of the building. The yearly audit is ineffective at best. At last night’s Council meeting, Alderwoman Stearns stood up for the citizens. CIAM wants the contract […]
by: Diane Benjamin If the Bloomington City Council doesn’t void the contract with Central Illinois Arena Management (CIAM) for violating the terms, this could be who they are bringing in: And this is the group I was told by two sources would be the ownership group of the USHL Bloomington entry. One helluva group, for sure. […]
Update: According to the link – John Butler took money from the Junior Hockey team wanting to locate in Bloomington without Council approval. What if the Council votes to CANCEL the CIAM contract and doesn’t approve a Junior Hockey team? If the 7 potted plants were interested in the citizens welfare instead of being buddies […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has the demise of local professional hockey in the sports section today. The real story isn’t hockey, it is City oversight of a building that is costing taxpayers a lot of money. Putting the story in the Sports section is an attempt to cover up the truth. I’ve written […]
by: Diane Benjamin Allow me to set this up: The City of Bloomington owns the Pepsi Ice Center. I reported earlier the Pepsi Ice Center showed a profit: http://blnnews.com/2013/10/15/how-much-does-the-pepsi-ice-center-cost-you/ The City of Bloomington own the Coliseum, but they handed it over to CIAM to manage. The Pepsi Ice Center now has so many users they […]
by: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington WANTED an arena, so they built it. Not knowing anything about how to run one, they handed management to a private company. Common sense would say that at least one City employee should be working at the Coliseum to keep an eye on the taxpayers investment. There isn’t […]
by: Diane Benjamin I’ve posted a number of stories about the Coliseum. The Coliseum saga exemplifies why government isn’t capable of running a business. Who is looking out for taxpayer dollars? The Coliseum was built and turned over to a private company to run. CIAM posted an income statement that posed more questions than answers. […]
by Diane Benjamin You will have to read the previous post to understand this one: http://blnnews.com/2014/02/13/more-coliseum-nonsense/ Look once more at the Income reported by CIAM. These items are listed as INCOME because the Coliseum is reimbursed for these expenses from the events held at the Coliseum. CIAM is taking their 4% without netting the Income […]
by: Diane Benjamin This information is from the Coliseum Report compiled by the Company hired to manage the Coliseum – CIAM and the contract the City has with CIAM. CIAM Report: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5459 City agreement with CIAM: (I don’t know why the contract calls them CIA!) Management Agreement CIAM 10.1 Management Fee. (page 20-21) As base […]
by: Diane Benjamin 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 know the truth. The City has a contract with Central Illinois Arena Management (CIAM) to run the daily operations. The Coliseum Fund is audited by an independent […]
